Additional Pictures - Chapter 11.1

Here are Gündlingen type bronze swords from Holland.
   
Bronze swords in Dutch National Museum
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This picture is a small section - in the original colors - of the large color table "Metal Age Culture (Early period) in Meyers Konversations-Lexikon from 1885, It shows he Mindelheim and Gündlingen type sword but also swords and daggers with "antenna" hilts. What the real thing looks like can be seen here.
   
Hallstat sword types
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Bronze swords from a hoard, found in Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh, Scotland. This hoard from the West End of Edinburgh forms part of a group of sword finds in Mid- and East Lothian. The swords are supposed to be from the "Late Bronze Age", i.e. 1200 BC - 800 BC, probably from the very end if not a bit later. They are of the "Gündlingen type" or at least rater close.
   
Bronze swords (Gündelheim type) from Edinburgh
Bronze swords (Gündlingen type) from Edinburgh
Source: Scottish Archaeological Research Framework website; Copyright NSA
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The guys below are presumably Celts, on top of so-called anthropoid swords or daggers. Only about 50 have been found; typically in rich graves from the 1st century BC. They are not very good for fights and thus might be just show-off or "magical" items for the well-to-do.
  Bronze or iron may have been used for the hilt / blade. There are bronze hilts with bronze blades, bronze hilts with iron blades (the most common combination) and iron hilts (rare) with iron blades. Sources are not always clear about that.
The Metropolitan sword is dated to 60 BC; the "Stuttgart exhibition" one to the middle of the 1st century BC.
 
Special Module

Anthropoid Swords
There is a big difference between bronze hilts and iron hilts! The first kind could be cast, the second kind needed to be forged. It is thus no surprise that the bronze figures are far more detailed (and less corroded) than the iron ones. And we have the old "Luristan sword enigma" again: how did the smith make fine sculptures from iron?  
Since I keep finding more and more Celtic anthropoid sword hilts, I dedicated a special module (that includes large pictures) to them  
   
Celtic Anthropoid Swords
(see text for details)
Celtic anthropoid swords
Celtic anthropoid swords Celtic anthropoid swords
Source: "Pininterest; gepinnt by Olga Stroganova.
Celtic anthropoid swords
Iron hilt?
Celtic anthropoid swords
Source: Niels Provos (thanks!); photographed in the in the "Reichsmuseum Rothenburg"; Germany. Source: Niels Provos (thanks!); photograped in the British Museum, London.
Celtic anthropoid sword Celtic anthropoid sword
Front and back of anthropoid "Cu alloy" hilt, iron blade. Also in the British museum, dated to 300 - 100) BC
Source: British museum pages
Celtic 
anthropoid sword handle Celtic anthropoid iron sword
""Ballyshannon Bay" Bronze hilt, dated to late 2nd / 1st century BC
Source: Photographed 2015 in the Dublin museum
Iron hilt and blade
Source: Hermann Historica 2015 catalogue.
Celtic anthropoid iron sword Celtic anthropoid iron sword
The "North Grimston" hilt once more.
It is dated to (606 - 508) BC (???)
Iron hilt and blade
Source: Hermann Historica 2015 catalogue
Source: Yorkshire World Collections objects
Celtic anthropoid sword This beauty I found in 2017 in the Net (Pininterest) but (like almost always) without clear reference to the origin. Probably, in Russia, judging be the cyrillic letters in parts of the page.
Celtic anthropoid sword
These two beauties are form from Mouriès (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Tesson (Charente-Maritime), France
Source: balkancelts Journal of Celtic Studies in Eastern Europe and Asia-Minor; Internet
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Celtic anthropoid sword
Celtic anthropoid sword
Three early / primitive ones form Budapest.
Source: Photographed in the Hungarian National Museum in Budpest, 2015
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Surprise! The iron sword on the left-hand side (up three) has a pattern welded blade involving striped rods:
     
   
Celtic anthropoid iron sword; pattern welded
     
Hermann Historica, a Munich-based auction house, attributes this sword to the 3rd century BC. It comes from a "South German private collection" and appears in the Oct. 2015 auction. The starting price is € 2.500.-.
Here is the full description of this sword and pictures of a second one.
Like always, there are also "in-betweens" or proto-anthropoid swords. Here is one:
     
Celtic proto anthropoid sword
Forerunner of Celtic anthropoid sword
Source: Photographed 2014 in the Mainfränkisches Museum, Würzburg, Germany
     
This short sword was found in Margetshöchheim (near to Würzburg, Germany) and dates to "middle Latène" (around 200 BC) and thus might be a bit older then the ones above.
In the graves of the nobles, this kind of dagger replaced the sword around 600 BC. This one is from the "Magdalenenberg" grave cluster in South Germany
   
Celtic dagger
Celtic show-off dagger
Link to text 1 Link to text 2
 
  Here are two more Celtic show-off daggers; see also this one:
     
ROemerhuegel
Celtic dagger from the "Roemerhuegel" near Ludwigsburg; South Germany
I could have walked to that place from my home town.
Source; Städtische Museen, Freiburg, Germany; Photo M. Schreiner.
     
   
Celtic dagger from Estavayer-le-Lac; Switzerland
Celtic dagger from Estavayer-le-Lac; Switzerland
Source: "Special Exhibition dedicated to the Celts of the First Millennium BC"
     
The Munich Pugio with a pattern welded core as it is presently displayed.
   
Pugio with pattern welding; Munich
A pugio with a pattern welded core for sure
Source: Photographed (2014) in the Archäologischen Staatssammlung, München, Germany
 
This pugio was part of the "Eisenhort von Künzing", a buried treasure containing many iron objects including weapons. Künzing in Bavaria was right at the limes in Roman times and the Romans had a fortress there that was taken and destroyed by Alemannis in 259 AD. One winner probably looted the place but was forced to bury his loot in a hurry. It was discovered in 1962. Well preserved if slightly "torched" iron objects weighing 82 kg were found, the by far largest collection of iron things from the third century AD. Here are some large pictures of the treasure; you can judge for yourself if there are more pattern welded objects
     
In April 2016, "Hermann Historica" a well-known auction house in Munich, offered the sword shown below. It was described as"
"Damaszierte Schwertklinge, Mittlere Latènezeit, 2. Jhdt. v. Chr. Lange, dünne Klinge mit konkav geschwungenem Übergang von Griffangel zu Klinge, der für das glockenförmige Heft latènezeitlicher Schwerter charakteristisch ist. Klinge sich nach unten zu leicht verjüngend und in abgerundete, seitlich leicht nach außen gewölbte Spitze übergehend. Mittig zweibahnige Damaszierung mit Fischgrätenmuster, außen die Fasen angesetzt. Elektrolytisch behandelt, was die Struktur der Damaszierung ausgesprochen klar zur Geltung gebracht hat. Scharten vor allem im Bereich der Fasen. Sehr aufwändig gearbeitete, keltische Schwertklinge. Länge 85,5 cm. Maximale Klingenbreite 4,2 cm. Süddeutscher Privatbesitz, übernommen aus der Sammlung des Großvaters, von diesem erworben in den 1960er Jahren".
I don't need to translate that except for the dating: Middle La Tène, 2nd century BC. Everything of interest is vispble below.
   
Celtic sword torsion damascene
Patterm welded sword from the La Tène Celts?
Source: Hermann Historica catalogue April 2016
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The two twisted striped rods are expertly done and so is the ensemble. The smith who made this sword must have had some prior experience in pattern welding with twisted striped rods. I bet that one of the two steels is a phosphorous steel and that the materials have been faggoted.
If the sword is really from the 2nd century BC (you can never been totally sure with swords of unknown provenience from the antiquity trade), we must date complex pattern welding back to 200 BC or even earlier. A close investigation of this sword might help but that still need to be done.
     

With frame With frame as PDF

go to 11.2.2 Metallurgy of Celtic Swords

go to Critical Museum Guide: Landesmuseum Württemberg; Württemberg State Museum, Stuttgart, Germany

go to 11.2.1 Background to Celtic Swords

go to 11.2.3 Roman Swords

go to Faggoting

go to 11.3.3 Evolution of Pattern Welding

go to Large Pictures 2 - Chapter 11.3

go to Celtic Anthropoid Sword Hilts

go to 11.1.2 The Bronze Sword

go to Additional Pictures

go to Large Pictures - Chapter 11.2

go to Sword Places

go to Maps of Various Cultures

© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)