Mar 17, 2020 08:44 PM
(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2020 08:44 PM by C C.)
Student discovers 5,000-year-old sword hidden in Venetian monastery
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-anat...stery.html
EXCERPT: . . . The ancient sword was thought to be medieval in origin and maybe a few hundred years old at most — but studies have shown that it dates back about 5,000 years, to what is now eastern Turkey, where swords are thought to have been invented, in the early Bronze Age. The weapon was spotted in November 2017 by Vittoria Dall'Armellina, who was then a doctoral student in archaeology at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
[...] The visit had nothing to do with her studies, and she'd never been there before. ... When she spotted the sword among the medieval artifacts on display in the monastery's small museum, Dall'Armellina was sure she'd seen its distinctive shape before, she said. She'd written her master's thesis on social status in the early Bronze Age, and her studies had included high-status grave goods, such as ancient weapons.
[...] One of the surprises is that the weapon is made of arsenical copper, an alloy of copper and arsenic used about 5,000 years ago, before true bronze was invented by alloying copper and tin. "I was pretty sure of the antiquity of the sword," Dall'Armellina said. But "when the results of the analysis revealed that the material was arsenical copper, it was a great satisfaction."
The style of construction of the sword, known as its typology, and its metallic composition indicate that the artifact dates from an early stage of the Bronze Age. The researchers also found that the sword was constructed in a similar way to that of the twin swords found at the ancient palace at Arslantepe, an archaeological site in eastern Turkey. Those have been firmly dated to about 5,000 years ago, according to a statement by the university.
Archaeologists think swords were invented in that region, and the sword from San Lazzaro degli Armeni is now thought to be an early example — perhaps even the oldest. (MORE - details)
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-anat...stery.html
EXCERPT: . . . The ancient sword was thought to be medieval in origin and maybe a few hundred years old at most — but studies have shown that it dates back about 5,000 years, to what is now eastern Turkey, where swords are thought to have been invented, in the early Bronze Age. The weapon was spotted in November 2017 by Vittoria Dall'Armellina, who was then a doctoral student in archaeology at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
[...] The visit had nothing to do with her studies, and she'd never been there before. ... When she spotted the sword among the medieval artifacts on display in the monastery's small museum, Dall'Armellina was sure she'd seen its distinctive shape before, she said. She'd written her master's thesis on social status in the early Bronze Age, and her studies had included high-status grave goods, such as ancient weapons.
[...] One of the surprises is that the weapon is made of arsenical copper, an alloy of copper and arsenic used about 5,000 years ago, before true bronze was invented by alloying copper and tin. "I was pretty sure of the antiquity of the sword," Dall'Armellina said. But "when the results of the analysis revealed that the material was arsenical copper, it was a great satisfaction."
The style of construction of the sword, known as its typology, and its metallic composition indicate that the artifact dates from an early stage of the Bronze Age. The researchers also found that the sword was constructed in a similar way to that of the twin swords found at the ancient palace at Arslantepe, an archaeological site in eastern Turkey. Those have been firmly dated to about 5,000 years ago, according to a statement by the university.
Archaeologists think swords were invented in that region, and the sword from San Lazzaro degli Armeni is now thought to be an early example — perhaps even the oldest. (MORE - details)