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As already explained in the previous sheet, in the first period of the Bronze Age, swords had blades made independent of the handles and were held by rivets. This circumstance gave them great fragility.
In the Late Bronze Age and with greater metallurgical knowledge, they had already discovered bronze, formed by the alloy of copper and tin, and were able to make swords from a single piece of this material, a circumstance that gave them greater resistance, and they were even able to lengthen the blades considerably.
The National Archaeological Museum reports in its inventory that these pieces were found in the Ría de Huelva and that:
“They are part of a set, thrown into the water in the Huelva estuary, of more than four hundred objects, among them about eighty swords, almost a hundred spearheads, more than sixty tips or regatons, as well as daggers, arrowheads and remains of at least two helmets. In addition there were elements of clothing, such as fibulas and belt clasps, as well as some isolated and difficult elements attribution.
This type of discovery of weapons thrown into the waters of rivers, frequent along the entire Atlantic coast, from Scandinavia to North Africa, and in the large European rivers, has been interpreted as a ritual act”
- GARNISH: in mold-cast bronze, forming a single piece with the blade. Knobs, both short and wide, fishtail-shaped. Fusiform cuffs with several holes to hold the handles, which would be made of organic material, either wood or antler. Small guard to protect the hand, also with holes like the grip handles and which would be made of the same material.
- BLADE: both bronze. Straight and long, shaped like a “carp tongue”, with a large central nerve and a theoretical edge throughout it until the tip, which is more pointed on one of them.
Carp Tongue Long Sword (1000-850 BC/1000-850 BC)
NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMAL
Photography by Ángel Martínez Levas and Verónica Schulmeister Guillén
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Author: Vicente Toledo Momparler (spadologist)
