A bronze sword made more than 3,000 years ago that’s so well preserved it “almost still sparkles” has been discovered in Germany, officials say
Berlin — A bronze sword made more than 3,000 years ago is so well preserved in Germany it “almost still sparkles”, officials say.
Bavaria’s state office for the protection of historical monuments says the sword, which is believed to date to the end of the 14th century BC – the middle of the Bronze Age – was found during excavations last week in Nördlingen, between Nuremberg and Stuttgart in the southern . Germany.
It has a bronze octagonal hilt and comes from a grave in which three people – a man, a woman and a boy – were buried in quick succession with bronze objects, the Bavarian office said in a statement this week. It is not yet clear whether the three were related or not, and if so, how.
“The sword and the burial still need to be further examined so that our archaeologists can classify the find more precisely,” said Matthias Pfil, head of the office. “But we can already say that the state of conservation is exceptional. A find like this is very rare.”
The office said it is unusual to find swords from this period, but they have emerged as burial mounds or individual finds opened in the 19th century.
