Skeletal Hand
| Skeletal Hand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Artifact |
| Artifact Spots | The Backwoods (4-8% [1]); The Beach (0.6%) |
| Monster Drops | Haunted Skull (1.3%) |
| Other Locations | Bone Node (0.8%) |
| Museum Reward | Sloth Skeleton L |
| Sell Price | 100g |
The Skeletal Hand is one of the bones behind the museum's Sloth Skeleton. Donating it with the Prehistoric Skull and the Prehistoric Scapula earns Sloth Skeleton L, one of the three pieces of the set. The Backwoods is the place to dig for it, with the best odds in Summer and Fall. Haunted Skulls in the Quarry Mine, Bone Nodes on Ginger Island, Vincent's booth at the Desert Festival and a well-loved pet dog are other ways to get one. Spares count toward Gunther's Fragments of the Past order, feed the Bone Mill and make the Skeleton Shirt.
The in-game description reads: It's a wonder all these ancient little pieces lasted so long.
Location
Little patches of wriggling worms on open ground are Artifact Spots. Every spot gives an item to a Hoe, and other tools cannot dig them. Reloading leaves the item unchanged, because it is fixed for the day. The number of spots rises sharply in Winter.
The Backwoods gives the hand a good chance. A second roll sets that chance, and it peaks in Summer and Fall, dips a little in Spring and falls to half in Winter. The Beach has only a small chance. The Archaeologist enchantment, applied at the Forge in the Volcano Dungeon, makes a Hoe twice as likely to pull an artifact from any spot. A Treasure Totem used in the Backwoods spawns a ring of fresh spots that draw from the same list.
Haunted Skulls are monsters found in the Quarry Mine. The Quarry lies past a broken bridge, and finishing the Crafts Room bundles at the Community Center repairs it. Each Haunted Skull has a small chance to drop a Skeletal Hand. The same monsters can drop a Prehistoric Skull, so a long fight in the Quarry Mine works toward two pieces of Sloth Skeleton L at once.
On Ginger Island, the Bone Nodes at the Dig Site have a small chance to hold a hand when broken with a Pickaxe. A fully befriended pet dog has a chance to leave a gift after being patted for the first time that day. The chance is one in five each day, and the Skeletal Hand is one of the rare gifts in that pool.
The Desert Festival in the Calico Desert offers a shortcut. When Vincent runs a booth there, a Skeletal Hand is one of the things it sells. Buying one is the surest way to finish Sloth Skeleton L without luck.
Museum
Gunther's Museum & Library in Pelican Town accepts one Skeletal Hand, as it does with every artifact. Donating the first Skeletal Hand adds it to the artifact collection and raises the donation count toward Gunther's milestone rewards.
The Skeletal Hand is one of three bones behind Sloth Skeleton L, along with the Prehistoric Skull and the Prehistoric Scapula. When the last of the three reaches the museum, Gunther gives the piece as furniture for the farmhouse. The Prehistoric Rib and the Prehistoric Vertebra belong to Sloth Skeleton M instead. The Prehistoric Tibia and the Skeletal Tail go toward Sloth Skeleton R.
A hundred bone items in one week is the goal of Fragments of the Past, a special order from Gunther. Every Skeletal Hand found while it runs counts toward the goal. Anything found before accepting the order is left out. On completion the order pays 3,500g and mails the Bone Mill recipe.
Prices
The Skeletal Hand sells for the same price as most of the prehistoric bones, and for twice as much as a Trilobite. The Treasure Appraisal Guide power book triples artifact sale prices, and the hand is one of them.
A Bone Mill offers another use for spares. Loading one hand into the mill gives a random batch of Quality Fertilizer, Speed-Gro, Deluxe Speed-Gro or Tree Fertilizer. Each batch has a small chance to come out doubled.
Gifts
Penny and the Dwarf like the Skeletal Hand, as they like every artifact. A liked gift raises friendship with both.
The shopkeepers Clint, Gus, Marnie, Pierre, Robin and Willy count the Skeletal Hand as a disliked gift. The same goes for Jas, Leo and Vincent, and for the older residents Caroline, Demetrius, Evelyn, George, Jodi, Kent, Lewis, Linus and Pam. Abigail, Alex, Elliott, Emily, Haley, Harvey, Leah, Maru, Sam, Sebastian and Shane dislike it too, and so do Krobus, Sandy and the Wizard. Handing it to any of them lowers friendship.
Notes
Putting Cloth in the feed and a Skeletal Hand on the spool of the Sewing Machine makes the Skeleton Shirt. With a dyeable piece of clothing in the feed instead, the hand works as a white dye.
The Prehistoric Rib, the Prehistoric Scapula, the Prehistoric Vertebra and the Skeletal Tail make the same Skeleton Shirt. Any spare bone from the sloth set can therefore cover the shirt.
All Artifacts
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Amphibian Fossil | 
|
150g |
| Anchor | 
|
100g |
| Ancient Doll | 
|
60g |
| Ancient Drum | 
|
100g |
| Ancient Seed | 
|
5g |
| Ancient Sword | 
|
100g |
| Arrowhead | 
|
40g |
| Bone Flute | 
|
100g |
| Chewing Stick | 
|
50g |
| Chicken Statue | 
|
50g |
| Chipped Amphora | 
|
40g |
| Dried Starfish | 
|
40g |
| Dwarf Gadget | 
|
200g |
| Dwarf Scroll I | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll II | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll III | 
|
1g |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
1g |
| Dwarvish Helm | 
|
100g |
| Elvish Jewelry | 
|
200g |
| Glass Shards | 
|
20g |
| Golden Mask | 
|
500g |
| Golden Relic | 
|
250g |
| Nautilus Fossil | 
|
80g |
| Ornamental Fan | 
|
300g |
| Palm Fossil | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Handaxe | 
|
50g |
| Prehistoric Rib | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Scapula | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Skull | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Tibia | 
|
100g |
| Prehistoric Tool | 
|
50g |
| Prehistoric Vertebra | 
|
100g |
| Rare Disc | 
|
300g |
| Rusty Cog | 
|
25g |
| Rusty Spoon | 
|
25g |
| Rusty Spur | 
|
25g |
| Skeletal Hand | 
|
100g |
| Skeletal Tail | 
|
100g |
| Strange Doll (green) | 
|
1000g |
| Strange Doll (yellow) | 
|
1000g |
| Trilobite | 
|
50g |