Archaeologists have made a rare find during excavations in the Nördlinger Donau-Ries: In a Bronze Age grave they discovered an unusually well-preserved bronze sword that is more than 3000 years old. The Bronze Age weapon is an octagonal sword and thus a rare subtype of full-hilt swords known only from Germany. So far, only a few such swords have been found, most of them as individual finds or with insufficiently documented find circumstances. This makes this find particularly valuable.
Sword making is closely linked to the advent of metalworking. Because unlike blades or axes, there are no precursors from the Stone Age for this type of weapon. They could not be made until humans mastered the casting and forging of first copper, later bronze and iron. The oldest specimens known to date are approximately 5,000-year-old swords made of copper containing arsenic, which were made in Arslantepe in eastern Anatolia. In Central Europe, the first swords appeared in the Bronze Age, around 1600 BC. They belonged to the full hilt swords, where the hilt was made of solid bronze.
Three dead and a bronze sword
Archaeologists from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation in Nördlingen have now discovered a particularly rare type of these Bronze Age swords from the early days of Central European sword manufacture. During excavations in the Donau-Ries they came across a grave from the 14th century BC in which three people had been buried: a man, a woman and a youth. Rich bronze grave goods suggest that these dead people were of high social status during their lifetime. They were not buried at the same time, but one after the other in this tomb. It is not yet clear whether they were a family.
The outstanding find in this tomb, however, is a bronze sword that was apparently placed in the tomb as an accessory. The weapon is in such good condition that it almost still shines and all decorations on the hilt and grip are clearly visible. The shape and style show that it is a so-called octagonal sword – a sub-form of the full-hilt sword, in which the massive bronze handle is octagonal. The manufacture of such octagonal swords was very complex because the handle was cast over the blade using so-called overlay casting. The sword found in the grave also has an embossed wave pattern and other decorations on the hilt. They were first embossed with a hallmark, then filled with a color-contrasting material.
Real weapon, subtype still unclear
According to the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, this sword find is a real rarity. Because such octagonal swords are extremely rare worldwide and have so far only been found in Germany. However, the few known specimens were either individual, presumed sacrificial finds or were removed from Bronze Age graves by robbers or archaeologists as early as the 19th century. As a result, little is known about their origin and the context in which they were found. The discovery of the Nördlinger sword in an intact Bronze Age tomb now offers archaeologists the chance to find out more about these swords and their wielders.
The archaeologists assume that this sword, despite the lack of any traces of use, was not a symbolic weapon that was only made as a burial object – it would be far too expensive to produce for that. Instead, the octagonal sword was probably also used by its bearer. The center of gravity in the front part of the blade indicates a predominantly slashing balance. So far, two variants of such octagonal swords are known, one of which was widespread in southern Germany and one in northern Germany and Denmark. Further analyzes should now clarify which of these subtypes the sword from Nördlingen belongs to.
“The sword and the burial still have to be examined so that our archaeologists can classify this find more precisely,” explains General Curator Mathias Pfeil, head of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation. “But we can already say: the state of preservation is exceptional! A find like this is very rare.”
Source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments