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Thread: New archeological weapon discoveries

  1. #31
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    Not Chinese but still cool

    November 19 2018 16:40:00
    1,000-year-old Viking sword unearthed in ancient city
    ANTALYA



    A Viking sword thought to be over 1,000 years old has been unearthed during excavations works in the ancient city of Patara in the southern province of Antalya’s Kaş district.

    “It is very difficult to determine how this Viking sword has come to Patara. However, this unearthed sword will shed new light on the history of the ancient city of Patara,” an academic conducting the relevant studies on the sword was quoted as saying by Demirören News Agency on Nov. 19.

    “Up until now, the only physical cultural remains that pointed to the existence of the Vikings on Anatolian geography was the Viking sword unearthed in 2010 at the Yumuktepe Mound,” Feyzullah Şahin told the agency, referring to the historical site in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin, dating back to the 7,000 B.C.

    “This is why [we believe that] the sword found at the Liman bathhouse in Patara is a Viking sword,” she said.

    There are two possibilities as to who the owner of the sword was, according to Şahin. It either belonged to a soldier who had stopped by Patara during a military campaign, or it belonged to a Viking who had already settled in the city in the ninth or 10th century.

    The head of the Patara excavations, Prof Dr. Havva İşkan, told the agency she was “proud” of her student Şahin’s works, which “would shed light on Patara’s history.”


    Vikings, sword, Archaeology, Patara
    Who takes their sword to a bathhouse? Did Vikings even use bathhouses?
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  2. #32
    Hi Gene! Indeed it was viking culture to be armed absolutely everywhere, even in bed.

    Look how similar the early European swords are to the Jian. Also the early korean peninsula and Japanese swords. Definitely all from an early source and use.

  3. #33
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    Here's a pre-Viking sword

    Quote Originally Posted by NotGreg View Post
    Look how similar the early European swords are to the Jian. Also the early korean peninsula and Japanese swords. Definitely all from an early source and use.
    Basically all the early bronze age/iron age swords were the same. There's only so much you could do practically with those metals. Did you see our Man at Arms: Art of War Season 2: Episode 8? We did a bronze jian. That was fun to handle. I had never worked with a sharp bronze sword before.


    ©Museum Vestsjælland

    Well-preserved 3,000-yr-old pre-Viking sword unearthed in Denmark is still sharp
    BY MICHAEL WING
    December 17, 2018 Updated: December 19, 2018

    On the large island of Zealand, located in eastern Denmark, two amateur archaeologists fortuitously decided to bring their metal detector along with them on a stroll through a field one evening.

    While on their walk, the metal detector’s alarm sounded, and the pair from the small town of Svebølle, Ernst Christiansen and Lis Therkelsen, made a startling discovery: They dug into the earth, about a foot underground, and uncovered what appeared to be one end of a sword.


    Courtesy of Museum Vestsjælland

    Believing that it might be a discovery of considerable significance, they decided to get ahold of someone with more expertise before extracting the find. So, they reburied it, and the next morning they contacted the Museum Vestsjælland to report the discovery.

    The museum’s inspector, Arne Hedegaard Andersen, went out with them the next day, and together they unearthed “an incredibly well-preserved sword,” dating back approximately 3,000 years—to a time that predates the Vikings by about 1,000 years.


    Courtesy of Museum Vestsjælland

    The weapon is 82 centimeters in length, and although the leather hilt had long since rotted away, still, it was in remarkably good condition, considering its age.

    “The sword is so well-preserved that you can clearly see the fine details. And it is even sharp,” stated the museum in a press release. It is also believed that the artifact had remained untouched since the Nordic Bronze Age, between 1,100 to 900 BC.


    Courtesy of Museum Vestsjælland

    Although it is hardly unheard of for people in Scandinavia and northern Europe to uncover ancient relics such as jewelry or coins under the soil, swords such as this one are incredibly rare. This sword in particular seems to have been more of a status symbol for its owner rather than a weapon. The intricate bronze-work likely required great skill to fashion. Used more commonly in those days were clubs and axes as a means for actual fighting.

    The sword is one of many that has been unearthed in the last few years, and the Danish National Museum currently has a backlog of ancient finds still waiting to be properly studied and cataloged. In the meantime, though, this sword will be displayed in Kalundborg Museum, where sightseers may enjoy its splendor, while it waits its turn.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #34
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    another viking sword

    Man, Vikings just dropped their swords everywhere.

    1,200-Year-Old Viking Sword Discovered On Norwegian Mountain
    By Gabe Paoletti
    Published September 6, 2017
    Updated December 18, 2018
    Researchers were able to determine that the sword dates back to 850-950 AD, and was likely owned by a Viking swordsman.


    Einar Åmbakk

    Reindeer hunters in Norway were surprised to find an amazingly well-preserved Viking sword while they were hunting in a high altitude area.

    Secrets of The Ice, a Norwegian glacial archaeology organization, reports that a 1,200-year-old Viking sword was discovered by reindeer hunters in Norway. Reindeer hunter Einar Åmbakk and two friends were hunting in the high mountains of Oppland County, Norway, when they stumbled across this ancient sword.

    The sword was wedged between two rocks on a plain filled with the small rocks that pepper the Norwegian countryside, known as scree. Though the blade was rusted, and any organic material that was attached to it like leather straps or bone and wood adornments had rotted away years ago, it was remarkably well preserved. The extreme cold and low pressure may have prevented further rusting or degradation from occurring.


    Espen Finstad, Secrets of the Ice/Oppland County Council
    The Viking sword.

    He then posted a picture of this sword on social media, which spurred researchers to further investigate the sword, as well as the site of the find. Researchers were able to determine that the sword dates back to 850-950 AD, and was likely owned by a Viking swordsman.


    Researchers also returned to the scree-covered mountains with the reindeer hunters, a local metal detectorist and a local archaeologist.

    This team investigated the site, but were unable to find any further artifacts. However, they were able to determine that the blade had not been covered by any permafrost or had been buried under the rocks. Rather, they realized that the sword must have been simply left on the surface of the mountain thousands of years ago.

    Why the Viking was traveling in this desolate countryside, and how the sword, an incredibly valuable tool and commodity at the time, came to be left there, we will never know, but researchers theorize that it may have been left there after a Viking got lost during a particularly horrible blizzard.



    Though we’ll never know exactly what happened, this sword provides us with a glimpse into the past, capturing a moment when a sword was abandoned on a barren hill over a thousand years ago.
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  5. #35
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    sewer sword

    Still sharp! Man, they really knew how to make blades back then.


    Medieval Sword, Blade Still Sharp, Pulled from Sewer in Denmark

    Experts think its owner may have been defeated in battle and dropped the luxurious weapon in the muddy streets


    Plumber planner Jannick Vestergaard and engineer Henning Nøhr posing with their discovery. (Nordjyllands Historiske Museum)
    By Brigit Katz
    SMITHSONIAN.COM
    FEBRUARY 11, 2019

    A sword was a status symbol in the Middle Ages, toted around both on and off the battlefield and frequently interred with its owner as a precious grave good. So it came as something of a surprise when a very fine medieval sword was recently found deep within a sewer in Denmark.

    As Live Science’s Laura Geggel reports, the relic was uncovered by pipe layer Jannick Vestergaard and engineer Henning Nøhr, who were conducting work on a street in Aalborg, Denmark’s fourth-largest city.

    According to the Local Denmark, the sword was subsequently examined by Kenneth Nielsen, an archaeologist at the Historical Museum of Northern Jutland. In a statement by the museum, Nielsen said the sword was found in a layer of waste that had formed on top of the oldest layer of pavement running through Algade, one of the city’s central streets. “Findings from here have always pointed to the 1300s,” he explained.

    But it is possible that the sword was forged some time earlier than that. Experts think it may have been in use by the 12th century, suggesting that it had a rich history by the time it was discarded on the ground in Aalborg. And though the sword wasn’t buried in a warrior’s grave, as is typical for artifacts like this, the museum says that it is “completely intact and well-preserved”—so well preserved, in fact, that the double-edged blade is “still sharp.”

    Weighing in just over 2 pounds, the sword was rendered with a recess called a “blodrille,” which translates to “blood groove,” and in spite of its macabre name, simply helped make the weapon lighter. A disc-shaped knob, or pommel, crowns the sword’s hilt, and a metal bar over the blade would have protected its owner’s hand. The quality of the craftsmanship is, according to the museum, “extremely high.”

    How did this luxurious weapon end up in sewer sludge? Experts can’t say for certain, but Nielsen suggests that it may have been lost during a violent battle. For much of the 13th century, according to the statement, Denmark was beset by power struggles and “civil-war-like conditions”; perhaps during one of these conflicts, the sword was dropped and pushed so deeply into the mud that it went unnoticed for centuries.

    “The best explanation we can come up with is that the owner of the sword was defeated in a battle,” Nielsen elaborates, according to the Local. “In the tumult, it was then trod down into the layer of mud that formed the street back then.”

    The weapon has now been cleaned and preserved, and it's set to go on view at the Aalborg Historical Museum, which is located on Algade street, not far from where the sword was first discovered. Archaeologists, for their part, will continue to keep an eye on sewage work being conducted in the area, in case additional artifacts from Aalborg’s medieval history come to light.

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    About Brigit Katz
    Brigit Katz is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World.
    Gene Ching
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  6. #36
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    100 Viking Swords Found in Estonia

    Huge Hoard of 100 Viking Swords Found in Estonia
    Oct 12, 2019 Ian Harvey


    Viking swords

    No sword is quite like Viking swords. During the period between 800-1200 AD, large numbers of Scandinavians began leaving the lands of their birth in search of a better life. The Vikings took to the seas and began raiding coastal areas in search of spoils and resources. At that time, Vikings raided, traded, and sometimes settled across the British Isles and throughout much of Europe. They also ventured to Newfoundland, Russia, Iceland, and Greenland.

    ERR, the English-language service for Estonian Public Broadcasting, reported an unusual find last week. Archaeologists uncovered two caches holding the fragments of approximately 100 Viking swords. The discovery was made in the northern part of the country, in the area which held the territory of the old Estonian country of Ravala.

    The fragments were in two separate caches, but the sites were located close to each other. Inside there were a multitude of items, most of which were fragments of broken swords and a few spearheads.


    Two sword hilts on exhibit in Hedeby Museum. The sword on the left is from a Viking Age burial at Busdorf, Schleswig-Flensburg; Petersen type S, with silver and copper inlay work. Photo by viciarg ᚨ CC by 2.5

    Archaeologist Mauri Kiudsoo, keeper of the archaeological collection of Tallinn University, said that the two sites were only about 80 meters apart. The swords appear to date from the middle part of the 10th century and were probably used as cenotaphs, grave markers for people who were actually buried somewhere else, such as those who fell in battle and had to be buried where they were or those who died while elsewhere on missions of trade or diplomacy.


    Swords from the Viking age, found in Sæbø, Hoprekstad, Vik i Sogn, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. Exhibited at Bergen Museum. Photo by Arild Finne Nybø CC by 2.0

    The reason the swords were in pieces, according to Kiudsoo, is that the practice of the time involved burying weapons that were broken or otherwise beyond use.

    Despite the fact they’re in pieces, historians could still easily identify what sort of weapons they were by looking at the shape of the grips. The grips revealed that the swords were H-shaped, double edged swords of the type that was most common during the Viking era. Hundreds of swords of this type have already been found in various parts of Northern Europe.


    The Viking sword hilts found in Estonia. (Estonia Dept for the Protection of Antiquities / ERR)

    By 1991, eight more-or-less intact examples of this type of sword had already been discovered in Estonia, and the number has risen to around 100 in the years since then. Such relics are usually discovered along the country’s northern coastline, near an important trade route for the Vikings.

    Historically, Viking warriors were known to raid the area which is now Estonia, according to Ancient Origins, and they erected hill forts and outposts for trade in the vicinity. They were always located near the coast, however, as the marauding Vikings never made any significant advancement into the country’s interior, which was held by Finnic tribes.



    This find represents the largest of such caches ever found in Estonia, but, more importantly, according to Kiudsoo, the grips were what allowed archaeologists to determine what type of weapons they were, and, by extension, to have firm proof that the H-shaped weapons were in use in the area during that time.

    By the middle of the 10th century, the Danes had been Christianized and united under one king, according to History; at the same time, a second Viking age began with increased large scale raiding on the coasts of Europe and Britain, driven by successful military action in a number of parts of Europe and taking advantage of political instability.

    Estonia served as a staging post for the trade routes that went through Russia to Persia. The Vikings first came to raid, but eventually they ended up establishing trade relationships with the natives and even established some permanent trading posts.

    Perhaps finding the two caches of sword fragments will stimulate further investigation and excavation in the area, leading archaeologists to new finds and a deeper understanding of both the Vikings and of what life was like in Estonia during that period of time.
    Wow. What a find.
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  7. #37
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    Sword pulled from rock at bottom of lake:

    https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/...ottom-of-lake/

  8. #38
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    Celtic Shield

    An Ornate Shield Found in a Celtic Warrior’s Grave Is Challenging What We Know About Ancient Combat
    The piece of armor, found on a UK housing development, is being called “the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium.”
    Caroline Elbaor, December 10, 2019


    An Iron Age shield recently uncovered in the UK. Courtesy MAP Archaeological Practice.

    In a story seemingly fit for Game of Thrones, an ornate Iron Age shield that was unearthed from a “warrior grave” is now being deemed “the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium,” according to Dr. Melanie Giles, of the University of Manchester’s archaeology department. The sweeping proclamation comes after two years of extensive conservation work was conducted on the bronze shield, the results of which found design features—the most prominent being its scalloped border—never before seen in any other Iron Age object.

    Measuring 30 inches, the piece of armor boasts an elaborate, detailed pattern, which would have required its maker to hammer from the opposite side in order to render the asymmetrical formation of mollusk shells that culminate at the shield’s raised center. Experts categorize this swirling design as early Celtic art, estimating its date between 320–174 BC, and say it is typical of the La Tène culture that dominated Europe during the late Iron Age.

    Moreover, conservators identified a sword puncture hole and signs of repair work on the artifact, suggesting that the object was functional and practical. Such discoveries have the potential to debunk opposing theories suggesting that sumptuous shields were decorative items only. “The popular belief is that elaborate metal-faced shields were purely ceremonial, reflecting status, but not used in battle,” said Paula Ware of MAP Archaeological Practice, who oversaw the excavation. “Our investigation challenges this….Signs of repairs can also be seen, suggesting the shield was not only old but likely to have been well-used.”


    Pocklington Iron Age shield conservation during excavation. Courtesy MAP Archaeological Practice.

    It indeed appears that the shield was a cherished belonging; it was initially found underneath the skeleton of a man—presumably that of the “warrior” for which the grave is nicknamed—with its prominent location next to the body suggesting great value and personal significance.

    The burial site itself was originally discovered in 2017 in a housing development near the town of Pocklington in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. In addition to the so-called “object of the millennium,” archaeologists found an upright and intact chariot; a brooch of bronze and red glass; and the remains of six sacrificial pigs and two horses, which were arranged so as to appear to be caught in mid-leap. Experts believe the warrior was over 46 years of age, and that the extravagance of his grave propounds that he was a highly respected member of the community.

    “The magnitude and preservation of the Pocklington chariot burial has no British parallel, providing a greater insight into the Iron Age epoch,” Ware concluded. For those seeking more details on the warrior grave, a detailed compilation of the research will be published by Oxbow Books in spring 2020.
    “the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium.” Really? The Battersea Shield appears in better condition.

    But still, cool find.
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  9. #39
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    2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

    Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger
    After a nine-month restoration, the elaborately decorated blade and its sheath gleam as if brand new


    The restored dagger and sheath, following nine months of sandblasting and grinding (LWL / Eugen Müsch)
    By Katherine J. Wu
    SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
    MARCH 2, 2020

    As far as internships go, Nico Calman arguably had an especially good one.

    During his stint with the Westphalie Department for the Preservation and Care of Field Monuments in Germany last year, 19-year-old Calman unearthed a 2,000-year-old silver dagger that may have helped the Romans wage war against a Germanic tribe in the first century A.D.

    Discovered still in its sheath in the grave of a soldier at the archaeological site of Haltern am See (Haltern at the Lake), the weapon was nearly unrecognizable thanks to centuries of corrosion. But nine months of meticulous sandblasting revealed a spectacularly ornamented 13-inch-long blade and sheath that once hung from a matching leather belt, reports Laura Geggel for Live Science.

    “This combination of a completely preserved blade, sheath and belt, together with the important information about precisely where they were found, is without parallel,” Michael Rind, director of archaeology at the Westphalia-Lippe council, tells Oliver Moody of the Times.

    Dating to the Augustan period, which lasted from 37 B.C. to 14 A.D., the blade and its accessories likely had a front row seat to some of the most humiliating defeats in early Roman history, according to the Times. At that time, Haltern, which sat on the fringes of the vast Roman empire, housed a military base for soldiers—up to 20,000 of whom were slaughtered when Germanic tribes swept through the region in 9 A.D.

    Many of these men were interred in a nearby cemetery where the Westphalie team has been slowly amassing artifacts. The dagger in question, embedded in an earthen block, appeared while Calman was digging through a trench.

    Though the dagger was swathed in a thick layer of rust, archaeologist Bettina Tremmel quickly recognized its value and contacted restorers to excavate and refurbish the blade. The treatment returned the weapon to startlingly pristine condition, showcasing a gleaming handle and scabbard inlaid with silver and glass atop a grooved, tapered iron blade. Also remarkable was the wood-lined sheath, accessorized with red enamel, that still clung to four rings that once attached it to the long-gone soldier’s belt.

    The dagger’s exquisite appearance was a clear indication of status. But the petite blade, useful only at very close range, probably didn’t get much action in the battlefield, instead being kept primarily as a backup weapon deployed only when swords were lost or damaged.

    Still, says Tremmel to Live Science, its discovery was “emotional” for the team.

    “We were lost for words,” she adds. “… Though thousands of Roman soldiers were stationed in Haltern over almost 15 years or more, there are only a few finds of weapons, especially complete and intact ones.”

    Even if the team keeps digging, the dagger may remain a one-of-a-kind find.

    “It was not the normal practice for Roman soldiers to be buried with their military equipment,” Tremmel tells Live Science; the researchers remain unsure why the weapon followed its owner to the grave.

    Now liberated from its tomb, the dagger will go on display in Haltern’s Roman history museum beginning in 2022.
    Wow. What a restoration job.
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  10. #40
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    5000 year old sword

    SMARTNEWS Keeping you current
    Graduate Student Discovers One of World’s Oldest Swords in Mislabeled Monastery Display

    At 5,000 years old, the weapon predates the era when humans first started using tin to make bronze


    Serafino Jamourlian of the monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni and Vittoria Dall'Armellina with a newly rediscovered 5,000-year-old sword (Andrea Avezzù)

    By Katherine J. Wu
    SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
    MARCH 16, 2020

    Just weeks after a team of German researchers announced that an archaeology intern had unearthed a spectacular, 2,000-year-old Roman dagger in North Rhine-Westphalia, headlines are touting another student-led discovery centered on one of the oldest swords ever found.

    Italian archaeologist Vittoria Dall’Armellina stumbled upon the blade in a monastery-turned-museum during her tenure as a graduate student at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University in 2017. Billed in its display as medieval—perhaps several hundred years old at most—the sword struck Dall’Armellina, an expert in Bronze Age artifacts, as something far more ancient.

    “I was pretty sure of the antiquity of the sword,” Dall’Armellina tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe in an email.

    Housed at a monastery on the Venetian island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni, the blade boasted a distinctive shape that reminded the young archaeologist of some of the oldest swords known to humankind, which date back to around 3,000 B.C. and were recovered from sites in western Asia. To confirm her suspicions, Dall’Armellina and her colleagues spent the next two years tracing the artifact’s origins back in time through a series of monastic archives.

    After much digging, the team realized that the sword was discovered at Kavak, a settlement near the ancient Greek colony of Trebizond in what’s now eastern Turkey, some 150 years ago. Shortly after, it fell into the hands of Armenian art collector Yervant Khorasandjian, who then gifted it to a monk named Ghevont Alishan. Upon Alishan’s death in 1901, the monastery acquired his belongings—including the sword, which they mistook for a recent construction.


    This 5,000-year-old weapon, made of an alloy of arsenic and copper, may be among the world's oldest swords. (Ca 'Foscari University of Venice)

    A chemical analysis of the sword solidified its ancient roots. Fashioned from a combination of copper and arsenic—one of the earliest forms of bronze—the weapon almost certainly predates the late third millennium B.C., when humans first transitioned to blending bronze using tin. The blade’s sculpting resembles that of a pair of twin swords found at Arslantepe, another archaeological site that’s been dated to about the third or fourth millennium B.C., according to a statement.

    Believed to be among the first swords ever constructed, the Arslantepe duo now has company—though a few lingering questions about the San Lazzaro degli Armeni blade remain. After millennia of degradation, the weapon no longer carries traces of use, if any ever existed at all. Though swords were certainly invented for their utility on the battlefield, they also served as commemorative symbols, following warriors into the grave.

    “Local chiefs were buried with a lot of weapons and other precious objects,” Ca’ Foscari University archaeologist Elena Rova tells Live Science. “They probably wanted to emphasize their status as warriors.”

    Separated from its human partner, the sword still has much of its story to tell. But Dall’Armellina’s discovery, at least, adds a few thousand years to a history formerly forgotten.
    Wow, what an incredible bit of research.
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  11. #41
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    Crusader Sword

    October 18, 2021
    10:21 AM PDT
    Last Updated a day ago
    Middle East
    Sharp-eyed diver recovers crusader sword from Med seabed

    Reuters

    1 minute read
    CAESAREA, Israel, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A sword believed to have belonged to a crusader who sailed to the Holy Land almost a millennium ago has been recovered from the Mediterranean seabed thanks to an eagle-eyed amateur diver, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Monday.

    Though encrusted with marine organisms, the metre-long blade, hilt and handle were distinctive enough to notice after undercurrents apparently shifted sands that had concealed it.


    Yaakov Sharvit of the IAA holds a sword believed to have belonged to a Crusader who sailed to the Holy Land almost a millennium ago after it was recovered from the Mediterranean seabed by an amateur diver, the Israel Antiquities Authority said, Caesarea, Israel October 18, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

    The location, a natural cove near the port city of Haifa, suggested it had served as a shelter for seafarers, said Kobi Sharvit, director of the authority's marine archaeology unit.

    "These conditions have attracted merchant ships down the ages, leaving behind rich archaeological finds," he said.

    The sword, believed to be around 900 years old, will be put on display after it has been cleaned and restored.

    Writing by Dan Williams, editing by Ed Osmond
    That looks like it'll be tough to clean...
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  12. #42
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    dakō

    2.3-meter sword found in 4th-century tomb in Japan



    The largest bronze mirror and the largest “dako” iron sword in Japan were discovered at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound in Nara.

    Experts say the twin discoveries from the Tomio Maruyama Tumulus last November can be classified as national treasures, with the shield-shaped mirror being the first of its kind.

    The Nara Municipal Buried Cultural Properties Research Center, which excavates and researches Tomiomaruyama kofun, and the Nara Prefectural Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, which assists in the excavation, announced the discoveries on Jan. 25.

    The 2.3-meter sword with a meandering blade is also the largest iron sword made in that period in East Asia.

    The patterned surface of the mirror carries the designs of two more common “daryu” mirrors, distinctive with its designs based on imaginative creatures, which have been found mainly in western Japan.


    A team from Nara Prefecture examine the dakō iron sword found in the Tomio Maruyama burial mound. Photo: NARA CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION / KYODO
    The shield-shaped mirror is 64 cm in length, 31 cm in width at most, and weighs 5.7 kilograms. Typically, bronze mirrors that are found at archaeological sites are rounded, but this one is shield-shaped.

    The sword is the oldest of the dako swords, distinguished by their wavy, snake-like shapes, which give rise to their name. As burial goods, more than 80 other dako swords have been discovered throughout Japan.

    The latest sword has markings of a sheath and handle, and together, its length measures 2.6 meters, more than dominating the last longest dako sword discovered at around 85 cm.

    “(These discoveries) indicate that the technology of the Kofun period (300-710 AD) are beyond what had been imagined, and they are masterpieces in metalwork from that period,” said Kosaku Okabayashi, the deputy director for Nara Prefecture’s Archaeological Institute of Kashihara.


    A shield-shaped mirror discovered at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound in Nara | NARA CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION / KYODO
    Mirror and shields are considered to be tools to protect the dead from evil spirits. The sword is thought to have been enlarged to increase its power, and the possibility of its use as a battle tool is low, researchers said.

    The 109-m-diameter Tomio Maruyama burial mound, the largest in Japan and dating to the late 4th century, is believed to have belonged to a significant person who supported the Yamato rulers at the time.

    The burial chamber where the discoveries were made is thought to have belonged to someone close to that person, according to Naohiro Toyoshima, an archaeology professor at Nara University. He also said that the ritualistic sword and the shield-shaped mirror may indicate that the individual was involved in military and ritualistic matters.

    Cover Photo: Photo taken on Dec. 5, 2022, shows a sword discovered at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound in Nara, western Japan. (Photo courtesy of Nara city board of education)(Kyodo)
    That's 7 1/2 feet of sword...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  13. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    That's 7 1/2 feet of sword...
    I don't think "possibility of its use as a battle tool is low". If one is tall and strong enough a sword that weight can be handled. You just have to modify your sword forms to deal with the momentum. I almost bought a replica one at Anime Expo a few years ago, because I sometimes practice with weight bars in large sizes...

  14. #44
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    agreed

    Giant swords exist in many cultures. They are more of a showpiece, a demonstration of the sword makers prowess and the wealth (power) of those that can afford to spend the money on such exaggerated pieces. It's a collectors' thing, largely symbolic.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  15. #45
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    Slightly OT

    Italy's Sword In The Stone Isn't A Fake, According To Chemical Analysis
    According to an analysis of the artifact, it is probably the real deal.

    JAMES FELTON
    Senior Staff Writer

    May 3, 2023

    Analysis confirmed it is from the right time period. Image credit: Fabio Gismondi/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
    At the Montesiepi Chapel in Siena, Italy, there is a strange artifact that will be instantly familiar to fans of Arthurian legend and anybody who has watched Disney's The Sword in the Stone, being that it is a literal sword embedded inside a stone. According to a chemical analysis of the artifact, it is probably from the right time period rather than a recent fake.

    The legend around the sword says that it was the weapon of Galgano Guidotti, a ruthless knight born in 1148 who went on to become a Catholic saint. According to the story – which largely comes from the canonization process which took place shortly after his death – Galgano's father died early in Galgano's childhood.

    A rebellious child, Galgano fell in with a bad crowd. In today's terms, that might mean people doing drugs, but at the time this meant participating "very eagerly in internal wars led by local lords of Gherardesca, Pannocchieschi and others, shedding blood of his neighbors".

    Galgano continued in this way for years, relishing the violence, before one day falling off his horse and having a religious revelation, converting shortly afterward to Christianity. According to legend, he abandoned his fiance and began a hermit's life, all the while being served visions nagging at him to build a hermitage of his own.

    Galgano was said to have thrust his old sword into the stone, a symbol of how he was abandoning his violent life. Rather than acting like a rock, it "yielded like butter" according to versions of the legend, leaving the hilt protruding from the top and the tip poking out the other end of the rock. Since then, the sword has remained in the stone, now housed inside the Rotunda in Siena, Tuscany.

    As nonsensical as that sounds, there is a bit of a curveball coming up – in the form of scientific analysis. In 2001, chemist Luigi Garlaschelli examined the artifact and found a number of surprising details, while dispelling the myth that the sword was a recent fake.

    "The style of the sword is consistent with that of other similar weapons from the same time," Garlaschelli wrote at the time, "we can even label it as an Xa-type sword, typical of the late twelfth century".

    Garlaschelli retrieved samples of the sword from within the rock via a hole drilled into it and submitted them for analysis.

    "Although iron artifacts cannot be unequivocally dated," he wrote, "the composition of the metal did not reveal that modern alloys had been used, and so it is fully compatible with a medieval origin".

    Further analysis added weight to the sword being an authentic artifact from the time of Galgano's life.

    "We compared the 'fingerprints' of trace elements within the sword’s metal with that of pieces of iron slag that can still be found around the great abbey of St. Galgano. This slag is the waste from the small foundries used by the monks to manufacture their small iron objects, using local iron ore," Garlaschelli explained.

    Weirder still, a pair of mummified arms held near the sword – said to be those of thieves who had tried to take the stone, before being struck down by god ~ were also carbon-dated back to the 12th century. Meanwhile, it was also determined that the hilt protruding out of the rock and the sword blade underneath are one piece.

    As annoying as it is, it remains a mystery precisely how the sword got in there, beyond vague legends that the stone somehow turned into butter.
    the sword in the butter...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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