Where did it appear? During excavations in the town of Nordlingen in Bavaria (Germany). Archaeologists discovered it. It is estimated to be more than 3,000 years old. There they found the thousand-year-old bronze sword.
The Bavarian State Monument Conservation Office announced the find. It issued a press release on June 14. The sword was found among a cache of goods and weapons. It was next to the remains of a man, a woman and a child. It is still unclear what relationship these people might have had to each other.
Complex manufacture
This is an octagonal sword with a bronze hilt. The manufacture of octagonal swords was complex and the hilt was cast over the blade. This is called superimposed casting. Decoration was done with inlay and the use of identification marks. Despite the rough manufacturing process and the absence of strike marks, it is assumed to be a real weapon.
The center of gravity at the front of the blade indicates a predominantly cutting balance. Whether the sword is Bavarian work or was imported is currently under investigation. During the Bronze Age there were three main centers of distribution of octagonal swords of this type. One in southern Germany and the others in northern Germany and Denmark.
Exceptional
Casting methods and decoration were compared. Some of the northern octagonal swords may be authentic imports or the work of “wandering craftsmen”. Others, however, may be copies of southern German designs.
“The millenary bronze sword and burial have yet to be examined. Then our archaeologists can classify this find more precisely. But one can already say: the condition is exceptional! A find like this is extremely rare”. Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Monuments Conservation Office, declared this.
