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Iron Age sword

January 01, 1970

Swords made of iron (as opposed to bronze) appear from the Early Iron Age (c. 12th century BC),[citation needed] but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC.

19th century illustration of Hallstatt swords

Early Iron Age swords were significantly different from later steel swords. They were work-hardened, rather than quench-hardened, which made them about the same or only slightly better in terms of strength and hardness to earlier bronze swords. This meant that they could still be bent out of shape during use. The easier production, however, and the greater availability of the raw material allowed for much larger scale production.

Eventually smiths learned of processes to refine smelted iron and make steel. By quenching (making the steel hard and brittle) and tempering (removing the brittleness), swords could be made that would suffer much less damage, and would spring back into shape if bent. It took a long time, however, before this was done consistently, and even until the end of the early medieval period, many swords were still unhardened iron. Several different methods of swordmaking existed in ancient times, including, most famously, pattern welding.[1][2][3] Over time, different methods developed all over the world.

History edit

The Celtic Hallstatt culture – 8th century BC – figured among the early users of iron. During the Hallstatt period, the same swords were made both in bronze and in iron. At the end of the Hallstatt period, around 600–500BC, swords were replaced with short daggers. The La Tene culture reintroduced the sword, which was very different from the traditional shape and construction of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, and much more like the later swords that developed from them [citation needed].

The iron version of the Scythian/Persian Acinaces appears from ca. the 6th century BC. In Classical Antiquity and the Parthian and Sassanid Empires in Iran, iron swords were common. The Greek xiphos and the Roman gladius are typical examples of the type, measuring some 60 to 70 cm (24 to 28 in). The late Roman Empire introduced the longer spatha (the term for its wielder, spatharius, became a court rank in Constantinople).

Chinese steel swords make their appearance from the 5th century BC Warring States period, although earlier iron swords are also known from the Zhou dynasty. The Chinese Dao (刀 pinyin dāo) is single-edged, sometimes translated as sabre or broadsword, and the Jian (劍 pinyin jiàn) double edged.

European swords edit

 
Celtiberian (Vettone) swords with antennas, National Archaeological Museum, Madrid

With the spread of the La Tene culture at the 5th century BC, iron swords had completely replaced bronze all over Europe. These swords eventually evolved into, among others, the Roman gladius and spatha, and the Greek xiphos and the Germanic sword of the Roman Iron Age, which evolved into the Viking sword in the 8th century.

There are two kinds of Celtic sword. The most common is the "long" sword, which usually has a stylised anthropomorphic hilt made from organic material, such as wood, bone, or horn. These swords also usually had an iron plate in front of the guard that was shaped to match the scabbard mouth. The second type is a "short" sword with either an abstract or a true anthropomorphic hilt of copper alloy.

Scabbards were generally made from two plates of iron, and suspended from a belt made of iron links. Some scabbards had front plates of bronze rather than iron. This was more common on Insular examples than elsewhere; only a very few Continental examples are known.

Steppe cultures edit

Swords with ring-shaped pommels were popular among the Sarmatians from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD. They were about 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24 in) in length, with a rarer "long" type in excess of 70 cm (28 in), in exceptional cases as long as 130 cm (51 in). A semi-precious stone was sometimes set in the pommel ring. These swords are found in great quantities in the Black Sea region and the Hungarian plain. They are similar to the akinakes used by the Persians and other Iranian peoples. The pommel ring probably evolves by closing the earlier arc-shaped pommel hilt which evolves out of the antenna type around the 4th century BC.[4]

Stability edit

Polybius (2.33) reports that the Gauls at the Battle of Telamon (224 BC) had inferior iron swords which bent at the first stroke and had to be straightened with the foot against the ground. Plutarch, in his life of Marcus Furius Camillus, likewise reports on the inferiority of Gaulish iron, making the same claim that their swords bent easily. These reports have puzzled some historians, since by that time the Celts had a centuries long tradition of iron workmanship.[5] In 1906 a scholar suggested that the Greek observers misunderstood ritual acts of sword-bending, which may have served to "decommission" the weapon.[6] Such bent swords have been found among deposits of objects presumably dedicated for sacred purposes. The speculation has been repeated since.[5] Radomir Pleiner, however, argues that "the metallographic evidence shows that Polybius was right up to a point. To judge from the swords examined in this survey, only one-third could be described as conforming to the quality which he ascribed generally to Celtic swords. Even so, it is quite possible that even some of the better quality swords would have failed in battle."[6] Nevertheless, he argues that the classical sources are exaggerated. Plutarch's claim that Celtic swords would bend completely back is implausible, as only a slight bending would be likely.[6] Pleiner also notes that metallurgical analysis performed on Celtic swords suggests that they were only work hardened and only very few were quench hardened, even though they frequently contain enough carbon to be hardened (in particular the swords made from Noric steel). Quench hardening takes full advantage of the potential hardness of the steel, but leaves it brittle, and prone to breaking. Quite probably this is because tempering wasn't known. Tempering is heating the steel at a lower temperature after quenching to remove the brittleness while keeping most of the hardness.

There is other evidence of long-bladed swords bending during battle from later periods. The Icelandic Eyrbyggja saga,[7] describes a warrior straightening his twisted sword underfoot like Polybius's account: "Whenever he struck a shield, his ornamented sword would bend, and he had to put his foot on it to straighten it out".[8][9] Peirce and Oakeshott in Swords of the Viking Age note that the potential for bending may have been built in to avoid shattering, writing that "a bending failure offers a better chance of survival for the sword's wielder than the breaking of the blade...there was a need to build a fail-safe into the construction of a sword to favor bending over breaking".[10]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Maryon 1948.
  2. ^ Maryon 1960a.
  3. ^ Maryon 1960b.
  4. ^ Richard Brzezinski, Mariusz Mielczarek, Gerry Embleton, The Sarmatians 600 BC-AD 450 (in series Men-At-Arms 373), Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 978-1-84176-485-6, p. 34
  5. ^ a b Vagn Fabritius Buchwald, Iron and steel in ancient times, Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 2005, p.127.
  6. ^ a b c Radomir Pleiner, The Celtic Sword, Oxford: Clarendon Press (1993), p.159; 168.
  7. ^ R. Chartrand, Magnus Magnusson, Ian Heath, Mark Harrison, Keith Durham, The Vikings, Osprey, 2006, p.141.
  8. ^ Hermann Pálsson, Paul Geoffrey Edwards, Eyrbyggja saga, Penguin Classics, 1989, p.117.
  9. ^ The Saga of the Ere-Dwellers, Chapter 44 - The Battle In Swanfirth
  10. ^ Ian G. Peirce & Ewart Oakeshott, Swords of the Viking Age, Boydell Press, 2004, p.145.

Literature edit

  • C. R. Cartwright, Janet Lang, British Iron Age Swords And Scabbards, British Museum Press (2006), ISBN 0-7141-2323-4.
  • Andrew Lang, Celtic Sword Blades, in Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1907).
  • Maryon, Herbert (1948). "A Sword of the Nydam Type from Ely Fields Farm, near Ely". Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. XLI: 73–76. doi:10.5284/1034398.
  • Maryon, Herbert (February 1960a). "Pattern-Welding and Damascening of Sword-Blades—Part 1: Pattern-Welding". Studies in Conservation. 5 (1): 25–37. doi:10.2307/1505063. JSTOR 1505063.
  • Maryon, Herbert (May 1960b). "Pattern-Welding and Damascening of Sword-Blades—Part 2: The Damascene Process". Studies in Conservation. 5 (2): 52–60. doi:10.2307/1504953. JSTOR 1504953.
  • J. M. de Navarro, The Finds from the Site of La Tène: Volume I: Scabbards and the Swords Found in Them, London: The British Academy, Oxford University Press (1972).
  • Radomir Pleiner, The Celtic Sword, Oxford: Clarendon Press (1993).
  • Graham Webster, A Late Celtic Sword-Belt with a Ring and Button Found at Coleford, Gloucestershire, Britannia, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (1990).

External links edit

January 01, 1970
iron, sword, swords, made, iron, opposed, bronze, appear, from, early, iron, 12th, century, citation, needed, become, widespread, before, century, 19th, century, illustration, hallstatt, swords, early, were, significantly, different, from, later, steel, swords. Swords made of iron as opposed to bronze appear from the Early Iron Age c 12th century BC citation needed but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC 19th century illustration of Hallstatt swords Early Iron Age swords were significantly different from later steel swords They were work hardened rather than quench hardened which made them about the same or only slightly better in terms of strength and hardness to earlier bronze swords This meant that they could still be bent out of shape during use The easier production however and the greater availability of the raw material allowed for much larger scale production Eventually smiths learned of processes to refine smelted iron and make steel By quenching making the steel hard and brittle and tempering removing the brittleness swords could be made that would suffer much less damage and would spring back into shape if bent It took a long time however before this was done consistently and even until the end of the early medieval period many swords were still unhardened iron Several different methods of swordmaking existed in ancient times including most famously pattern welding 1 2 3 Over time different methods developed all over the world Contents 1 History 2 European swords 3 Steppe cultures 4 Stability 5 See also 6 References 7 Literature 8 External linksHistory editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message The Celtic Hallstatt culture 8th century BC figured among the early users of iron During the Hallstatt period the same swords were made both in bronze and in iron At the end of the Hallstatt period around 600 500BC swords were replaced with short daggers The La Tene culture reintroduced the sword which was very different from the traditional shape and construction of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age and much more like the later swords that developed from them citation needed The iron version of the Scythian Persian Acinaces appears from ca the 6th century BC In Classical Antiquity and the Parthian and Sassanid Empires in Iran iron swords were common The Greek xiphos and the Roman gladius are typical examples of the type measuring some 60 to 70 cm 24 to 28 in The late Roman Empire introduced the longer spatha the term for its wielder spatharius became a court rank in Constantinople Chinese steel swords make their appearance from the 5th century BC Warring States period although earlier iron swords are also known from the Zhou dynasty The Chinese Dao 刀 pinyin dao is single edged sometimes translated as sabre or broadsword and the Jian 劍 pinyin jian double edged European swords editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message nbsp Celtiberian Vettone swords with antennas National Archaeological Museum Madrid With the spread of the La Tene culture at the 5th century BC iron swords had completely replaced bronze all over Europe These swords eventually evolved into among others the Roman gladius and spatha and the Greek xiphos and the Germanic sword of the Roman Iron Age which evolved into the Viking sword in the 8th century There are two kinds of Celtic sword The most common is the long sword which usually has a stylised anthropomorphic hilt made from organic material such as wood bone or horn These swords also usually had an iron plate in front of the guard that was shaped to match the scabbard mouth The second type is a short sword with either an abstract or a true anthropomorphic hilt of copper alloy Scabbards were generally made from two plates of iron and suspended from a belt made of iron links Some scabbards had front plates of bronze rather than iron This was more common on Insular examples than elsewhere only a very few Continental examples are known Steppe cultures editSwords with ring shaped pommels were popular among the Sarmatians from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD They were about 50 to 60 cm 20 to 24 in in length with a rarer long type in excess of 70 cm 28 in in exceptional cases as long as 130 cm 51 in A semi precious stone was sometimes set in the pommel ring These swords are found in great quantities in the Black Sea region and the Hungarian plain They are similar to the akinakes used by the Persians and other Iranian peoples The pommel ring probably evolves by closing the earlier arc shaped pommel hilt which evolves out of the antenna type around the 4th century BC 4 Stability editPolybius 2 33 reports that the Gauls at the Battle of Telamon 224 BC had inferior iron swords which bent at the first stroke and had to be straightened with the foot against the ground Plutarch in his life of Marcus Furius Camillus likewise reports on the inferiority of Gaulish iron making the same claim that their swords bent easily These reports have puzzled some historians since by that time the Celts had a centuries long tradition of iron workmanship 5 In 1906 a scholar suggested that the Greek observers misunderstood ritual acts of sword bending which may have served to decommission the weapon 6 Such bent swords have been found among deposits of objects presumably dedicated for sacred purposes The speculation has been repeated since 5 Radomir Pleiner however argues that the metallographic evidence shows that Polybius was right up to a point To judge from the swords examined in this survey only one third could be described as conforming to the quality which he ascribed generally to Celtic swords Even so it is quite possible that even some of the better quality swords would have failed in battle 6 Nevertheless he argues that the classical sources are exaggerated Plutarch s claim that Celtic swords would bend completely back is implausible as only a slight bending would be likely 6 Pleiner also notes that metallurgical analysis performed on Celtic swords suggests that they were only work hardened and only very few were quench hardened even though they frequently contain enough carbon to be hardened in particular the swords made from Noric steel Quench hardening takes full advantage of the potential hardness of the steel but leaves it brittle and prone to breaking Quite probably this is because tempering wasn t known Tempering is heating the steel at a lower temperature after quenching to remove the brittleness while keeping most of the hardness There is other evidence of long bladed swords bending during battle from later periods The Icelandic Eyrbyggja saga 7 describes a warrior straightening his twisted sword underfoot like Polybius s account Whenever he struck a shield his ornamented sword would bend and he had to put his foot on it to straighten it out 8 9 Peirce and Oakeshott in Swords of the Viking Age note that the potential for bending may have been built in to avoid shattering writing that a bending failure offers a better chance of survival for the sword s wielder than the breaking of the blade there was a need to build a fail safe into the construction of a sword to favor bending over breaking 10 See also edit nbsp Asia portal Pattern welding Bronze Age sword Early Iron Age Noric steel Spatha Migration Period sword Celtic warfare Asi sword Khanda sword References edit Maryon 1948 Maryon 1960a Maryon 1960b Richard Brzezinski Mariusz Mielczarek Gerry Embleton The Sarmatians 600 BC AD 450 in series Men At Arms 373 Oxford Osprey Publishing 2002 ISBN 978 1 84176 485 6 p 34 a b Vagn Fabritius Buchwald Iron and steel in ancient times Kgl Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 2005 p 127 a b c Radomir Pleiner The Celtic Sword Oxford Clarendon Press 1993 p 159 168 R Chartrand Magnus Magnusson Ian Heath Mark Harrison Keith Durham The Vikings Osprey 2006 p 141 Hermann Palsson Paul Geoffrey Edwards Eyrbyggja saga Penguin Classics 1989 p 117 The Saga of the Ere Dwellers Chapter 44 The Battle In Swanfirth Ian G Peirce amp Ewart Oakeshott Swords of the Viking Age Boydell Press 2004 p 145 Literature editC R Cartwright Janet Lang British Iron Age Swords And Scabbards British Museum Press 2006 ISBN 0 7141 2323 4 Andrew Lang Celtic Sword Blades in Man Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1907 Maryon Herbert 1948 A Sword of the Nydam Type from Ely Fields Farm near Ely Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society XLI 73 76 doi 10 5284 1034398 Maryon Herbert February 1960a Pattern Welding and Damascening of Sword Blades Part 1 Pattern Welding Studies in Conservation 5 1 25 37 doi 10 2307 1505063 JSTOR 1505063 Maryon Herbert May 1960b Pattern Welding and Damascening of Sword Blades Part 2 The Damascene Process Studies in Conservation 5 2 52 60 doi 10 2307 1504953 JSTOR 1504953 J M de Navarro The Finds from the Site of La Tene Volume I Scabbards and the Swords Found in Them London The British Academy Oxford University Press 1972 Radomir Pleiner The Celtic Sword Oxford Clarendon Press 1993 Graham Webster A Late Celtic Sword Belt with a Ring and Button Found at Coleford Gloucestershire Britannia Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 1990 External links edithttp www berkshirehistory com archaeology iron age swords html Ross Cowan Gladius Gallicus Celtic Swords for Italic Warriors Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Iron Age sword amp oldid 1197317245, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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