Mystery as ‘extraordinary’ 3,000-year-old sword unearthed
A team of archaeologists found a remarkable sword made over 3,000 years ago that is so well-preserved it ‘almost still shines’.
The Bronze Age sword was found in a grave with three people, a man, a woman, and a boy. It is unclear whether the three were related to each other and, if so, how.
The grave found in the town of Noerdlingen is thought to have been used for quick succession burials, meaning that the three people were buried within a short period of time.
Made of bronze, with an octagonal hilt, the sword is 70centimeters long and weighs 1.2kilograms. Strangely, it was found in excellent condition for such an old sword, with no signs of rust or corrosion.
‘The sword and the burial still need to be examined so that our archaeologists can categorise this find more precisely,’ said Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments.
‘But we can already say that the state of preservation is extraordinary. A find like this is very rare.’
Researchers found that the blade was still sharp and the hilt intact. How the sword stayed in such good condition for so long is still a mystery.
It could be that it was found in a waterlogged environment such as a bog which is often acidic and can help to preserve metal objects.
Quick succession burials were common in the Bronze Age, and it is thought to have been associated with a number of different factors, including disease, warfare, and famine.
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