Archaeologists found an over 3,000-year-old sword in Germany, country officials reported Wednesday.
The sword was found in Nördlingen, a town in Bavaria, southern Germany, and is estimated to date back to the 14th century B.C. The sword is “so extraordinarily well preserved that it almost still shines,” the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection said in a statement about the archaeological find.
The “octagonal hilt is made entirely of bronze,” according to the press release. It was found in a grave in which three individuals – a man, a woman and a teenager – were buried alongside other bronze items, the statement said. It was not clear if the individuals were a family.
“The production of octagonal swords is complex because the handle is cast over the blade (so-called overlay casting). The decoration is made with an inlay and using hallmarks. While there are two real rivets, another pair of rivets are only implied,” the statement read, Newsweek reported. (RELATED: Huge, Ancient Burial Grounds Found Next To World’s Most Mysterious Archaeological Site)
Archaeologists from the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments have announced the discovery of a well-preserved Bronze Age sword in the town of Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany.
📷Dr. Woidichhttps://t.co/xN2VXfUGwG pic.twitter.com/51xTdsYXOF— Ticia Verveer (@ticiaverveer) June 15, 2023
Professor Mathias Pfeil, general conservator and head of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection, was thrilled by the find. “The sword and the burial still have to be examined so that our archaeologists can classify this find more precisely,” he said, Live Science reported. “But it can already be said: the condition is exceptional! A find like this is very rare!”
Nördlingen sits in a crater formed by an asteroid‘s impact on the Earth about 15 million years ago. It resulted in the creation of an abundance of microscopic diamonds in rocks that were then used to build much of the town, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. The crater explains the circular layout of the town, according to NASA.