Wrist the hand: In the hand proper a total of 13 bones form part of the wrist: eight carpal bones—scaphoid, lunate, triquetral, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, and hamate— and five metacarpal bones—the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth metacarpal bones. The midcarpal joint is the S-shaped joint space separating the proximal and distal rows of carpal bones. The intercarpal joints, between the bones of each row, are strengthened by the radiate carpal and pisohamate ligaments and the palmar, interosseous, and dorsal intercarpal ligaments. Some degree of mobility is possible between the bones of the proximal row while the bones of the
Hamate bone of the hand. The ossification of the hamate starts between 1 and 12 months. The hamate does not fully ossify until about the 15th year of life. The bone is also found in many other mammals, and is homologous with the "fourth distal carpal" of reptiles and amphibians. The carpal bones function as a unit to provide a bony superstructure for the hand. The hamate bone is the bone most commonly fractured when a golfer hits the ground hard with a golf club on the downswing or a hockey player hits the ice with a slap shot. The fracture is