A bracelet on Tutankhamun's arm.

Found where it was worn

When Howard Carter's team examined Tutankhamun's burial in the 1925–26 season, they recorded several bracelets on the king's forearms. One, catalogued as 256.rr, lay on the right forearm, fifth from the elbow. It was not a jewel found loose in a box; its position was part of the discovery.

The maker's close work

Carter described light and dark gold, electrum, a front plaque joined to the back by tiny hinges and pins, and lotus buds along the sides. At its center sat a pale, barrel-shaped material. Even the excavation notes could not settle exactly what it was. Carter wondered whether it came from a crocodile; conservator Alfred Lucas later questioned whether it was stone at all.

What the records keep

The bracelet's surviving record gives us more than a photograph of gold. It tells us where the piece lay, how it fastened, what its makers shaped, and which details still resist a confident answer. A century after the tomb's discovery, that combination of craft and unanswered questions remains more compelling than calling it treasure and stopping there.

Related reading

• The Hope Diamond, delivered by mail.
• Elizabeth Taylor’s Jewelry Collection: The Stories Behind Her Most Famous Pieces