"Such a Rare Discovery"... 3,000-Year-Old Bronze Sword Shines Brightly

Estimated Artifact from Late 14th Century BC... Perfect Preservation
Expert: "Made as an Actual Weapon, Not a Decorative Item"

A bronze sword that looks as if it were newly made despite being over 3,000 years old was excavated in Germany, drawing attention from the archaeological community.

According to reports from AP News and the US CNN on the 16th (local time), this bronze sword was unearthed last week in the southern city of N?rdlingen, located between Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (BLfD) in Germany stated that this bronze sword is estimated to be an artifact from the late 14th century BCE, during the middle Bronze Age.

The Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments explained, “The sword appears to have its center of gravity toward the front of the blade, indicating that it was primarily made for cutting something.” This means it was a weapon made for actual cutting, not a decorative item.

When first discovered, the bronze sword shimmered with a bluish hue as if it had just been made, and the zigzag pattern on the sword’s handle was perfectly preserved. The office also noted, “It is a rare feature that the entire sword, from the blade to the octagonal handle, is made of bronze.”

This bronze sword was among several bronze burial goods found in a tomb where three people?a man, a woman, and a boy estimated to be in his teens?were buried together. The relationship among these three buried individuals has not yet been determined.

A bronze sword from about 3,000 years ago discovered in the Nuremberg area of southern Bavaria, Germany
[Image source: Captured from materials of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (BLfD), Germany]

Matthias Feil, head of the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, said, “To classify this discovery more precisely, archaeologists need to further investigate the bronze sword and the burial method. However, I can say that the state of preservation is astonishing, and such discoveries are very rare.”

Bronze is an alloy of copper mixed with more than 10% tin and was the first metal to be widely used as a tool material in human history. In other words, the Bronze Age marks the period when humans began to make and use tools in earnest, and historians believe that ancient states were formed based on this Bronze Age culture.

Experts speculate that, considering the time over 3,000 years ago, regions capable of producing such swords were very rare even within Europe.

There is also an opinion that the bronze sword discovered this time may be related to the Urnfield Culture, a major culture across Europe during the Late Bronze Age (circa 1300 BCE to 700 BCE). One of the customs of the Urnfield Culture was to place cremated ashes in urns and bury them in fields along with weapons or ornaments.

The Urnfield Culture is known to have been located in an area stretching from western Hungary to eastern France, and from the Alps to near the North Sea. Related artifacts and sites reflecting this culture have also been found in Germany, Ukraine, and other regions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.