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Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

newsingermany.com

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Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#31

Post by civilitty »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #25
automatic6131 wrote: post #17

What stands out to me is the pommel with the large handhold. That makes me think that it's a slashing sword, not a stabbing one. Then there's the fact that it's all metal, unlike how most ancient and medieval swords which were made with an handle of organic material around the tang of the blade. Probably not intended (ever) for use in fighting? Since it doesn't have a replacable handle.

If the handle is metal, why would it ever need to be replaced? It's not going to rot, and it's not going to break.

It’s not that the handle is going to rot, it’s that there’s zero shock absorption. The fact that it doesn’t have a replaceable handle probably means that it’s for ceremonial purposes, not fighting. Hitting another sword with it would be exhausting and painful.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#32

Post by svachalek »

lordleft wrote: post #12

It's funny to think that the fantasy/speculative fiction trope of "precursor civilization that has advanced tech" was probably grounded in the historical memory of people happening upon ruins, weapons and artifacts of extraordinary craftsmanship.

And oral history I'm sure. We will probably never know how advanced and widespread some of these ancient technologies are but the existence of artifacts that are far, far ahead of anything we would expect historically (e.g. Antikythera Mechanism, Gobekli Tepe) suggests there are some big, big holes in our records of the past.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#33

Post by hotpotamus »

automatic6131 wrote: post #17

What stands out to me is the pommel with the large handhold. That makes me think that it's a slashing sword, not a stabbing one. Then there's the fact that it's all metal, unlike how most ancient and medieval swords which were made with an handle of organic material around the tang of the blade. Probably not intended (ever) for use in fighting? Since it doesn't have a replacable handle.

I was under the impression that bronze swords' lifespans were limited by the metal; they can't be sharpened, but would need to be re-cast. A replaceable handle probably wouldn't help much.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#34

Post by George83728 »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #25
automatic6131 wrote: post #17

What stands out to me is the pommel with the large handhold. That makes me think that it's a slashing sword, not a stabbing one. Then there's the fact that it's all metal, unlike how most ancient and medieval swords which were made with an handle of organic material around the tang of the blade. Probably not intended (ever) for use in fighting? Since it doesn't have a replacable handle.

If the handle is metal, why would it ever need to be replaced? It's not going to rot, and it's not going to break.

If the blade breaks, that handle is fancy enough that somebody might want it fitted with a new blade.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#35

Post by cubefox »

beloch wrote: post #21
lordleft wrote: post #12

It's funny to think that the fantasy/speculative fiction trope of "precursor civilization that has advanced tech" was probably grounded in the historical memory of people happening upon ruins, weapons and artifacts of extraordinary craftsmanship.

Such myths are likely based on classical Rome rather than bronze age discoveries. For several centuries after the Western empire fell apart, Europeans lacked the capability to build settlements or structures anywhere close to the size typical of classical Roman civilization. Populations were depressed by pestilence, social order had declined, and most Europeans were within a short distance from a former Roman settlem…

There was also purely intellectual evidence from an advanced civilization, in form of surviving books by Greek philosophers, mathematicians and astronomers.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#37

Post by OJFord »

ct0 wrote: post #29
beanjuice wrote: post #19

Is there a website where you can view chronologically interesting archaelogical finds? Like a timeline of what has popped up from the ground made by human hands?

https://www.archaeology.org/news

I think GP means chronologically as in (best estimate) age of the artefact, not the time of discovery.

Re: Archaeologists find 3000-year-old sword, exceptionally well preserved

#38

Post by masklinn »

idiotsecant wrote: post #30
Luc wrote: post #13

More nice pictures here, very metal: https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article245860994/Archaeologie...

Wow! That really does look like it's in good shape. I understand it's because bronze doesn't oxidize as readily but it's not what I picture when someone says 3000 year old sword.

Fwiw bronze does oxidise quite readily, but the copper oxide is not porous, and becomes a resilient copper carbonate.

Which is why bronze and other copper-alloy artefacts are extremely resilient, unless they come in contact with chlorides and get bronze disease.

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