History of the Handshake
In Western cultures we recognize a handshake as being used to greet someone or to seal a deal or contract.
The handshake goes back centuries and once demonstrated that neither party involved was going to use a weapon as the right hand was the weapon holding hand and the left hand shielded the heart.
As far back as ancient Rome, men would offer their right hand and tightly grab each others forearm so neither could attack. This made it very difficult for them to kill each other.
The handshake evolved during Medieval times when the knights switched to grabbing each others hands and later shaking hands. The shaking started when knights began hiding weapons in their sleeves. The up and down shaking was used to shake loose any weapons they were hiding in their sleeves and cause them to fall on the ground.
The handshake was one of the earliest forms of weapons checks.
