Evidence from the era of a turning point: Bavarian archaeologists have found two iron swords around 2800 years old in graves of the Hallstatt culture. The weapons thus date from the time of the technological leap from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. They shed light on the beginnings of iron processing in southern Germany and provide information on the change in weapon technology, say the experts.
“There could be something slumbering in the ground”: a team of archaeologists from the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (BLfD) called the plan to build a new fire station on a field in the Frieding district of Andechs. Subsequent excavations confirmed the suspicion: the archaeologists discovered a total of eight burials of cremated dead on the site, which they were able to assign to the Hallstatt period based on the grave goods. This refers to the epoch of the older, pre-Roman Iron Age in large parts of Europe from about 800 to 450 BC.
Among the finds were a bowl-head pin, bronze jewellery, vessels and a spindle whorl that women used to make thread at the time. However, the archaeologists also came across martial evidence of the Hallstatt culture: they discovered two iron swords on the site, which were apparently also grave goods. According to the dating, they come from the 8th century BC – i.e. from the beginning of the Iron Age. They are among the oldest known swords made of the then modern metal ever found in southern Germany, reports the BlfD. “The two swords bear witness to a leap in technology. They tell of the beginnings of iron processing and give us information about the changes in weapon technology,” says General Curator Mathias Pfeil from the BlfD.
Once state-of-the-art weapons
The swords were carefully cleaned in Munich by a team of restorers using micro-fine blasting technology and examined more closely. As the BlfD reports, there are differences between the two weapons that seem to reflect a development: in the transitional period between the Bronze and Iron Ages, the smiths still made one of the iron swords in the shape and design of the previously used bronze weapons. The BlfD writes that the other sword, which was apparently created a little later, had already been adapted to the new, more stable material.
According to the experts, these are so-called grip tongue swords. In this type, the hilt was placed on an extension of the blade. The hilts of the swords have not survived, but the restorers found at least one clue to these former structures: they were able to identify horn marks on one of the hilts, which suggests a holder made of this material. In addition, four rivets have been preserved, which apparently held the horn plates on the grip tongue.
Grave goods of the regional elite
According to the experts, the remains of a multi-layered textile and a cord, which was apparently used for fastening, testify to the role as grave goods. The weapons were presumably wrapped in cloth and given to the dead. “There is no doubt that sword graves like those of Frieding distinguish a regional elite, whose status symbols also included the most modern weapons of the time,” says Jochen Haberstroh from the BlfD. As was customary at the time, the deceased were cremated. In addition to the swords, the archaeologists found a correspondingly high concentration of human remains, which probably come from the cremation. They assume that these were placed in the tomb in a now-decayed cloth bag or wooden jar right next to the weapons.
Finally, the BlfD quotes the first mayor of the municipality of Andechs, Georg Scheitz, who is pleased about the pleasant discoveries made in the course of planning the fire station in his municipality: “I am delighted at how well the finds are preserved, considering that they are often found in the field was plowed and these were not deep in the ground over a long period of time,” says Scheitz.
Source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments