LATE BRONZE AGE, CIRCA 10TH CENTURY B.C.

This sword is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. As H. Born and S. Hansen (op. cit.) note, it belongs to a group of cup-pommel swords (T. Kemenszi’s Type 4), characterized by distinctive inward-sloping pommels, band-patterned hilts, and blades of a standardized length (61.4–65.5 cm). The sword has an elegant leaf-shaped blade, with extensive incised motifs including pairs of bands flanking the mid-rib along the length, which terminate in a semi-circle motif along the upper portion and forks outward towards the flaring shoulders. The separately-made hilt is rivetted in place above, adorned with an elaborate pattern of alternating bands of two rows of dots and dotted concentric circles on the handle, and additional semi-circular motifs under the flaring pommel. The interior of the pommel features a ten lobed design, interspersed with dotted lines and dotted circles, centered by a knob with more concentric circles. For a similar cup-shaped pommel sword with leaf-shaped blade, although less ornately incised, from the Carpathian sword workshop, see op. cit., pl. 91, no. AG 1015.