A 3,000-year-old bronze sword that still glows found in Germany

June 19 () –

A bronze sword, which is over 3,000 years old but so well preserved that it still shines, has been discovered at an archaeological site in Nordlingen (Germany).

It is a full sword with an octagonal handle made entirely of bronze.unearthed as part of grave goods provisionally dated to the end of the 14th century BC, that is, the Middle Bronze Age.

In the burial the remains of three people were found who were buried with rich bronze objects: a man, a woman, a teenager. The link between them is not yet clear.

The manufacture of octagonal swords is complex, since the hilt is cast on the blade (called superimposed casting). The decoration is through a marquetry and by means of punches. While there are two actual rivets, another pair of rivets is only implied. Despite the manufacturing effort and the lack of cut marks, it is assumed to have been a real weapon.

“The sword and the burial have yet to be examined so that our archaeologists can classify this find more accurately. But a find like this is very rare,” he explains. it’s a statement General Conservator Mathias Pfeil, head of the State Office for the Preservation of aviera Monuments.