Bronze Age sword

Bronze Age swords appeared from around the 17th century BC, in the Black Sea and Aegean regions, as a further development of the dagger.

The technology to produce blades of such lengths appears to have been developed in the Aegean, using alloys of copper and tin or arsenic, around 1700 BC.

[5] An exceptionally well-preserved example, similar in construction to the Arslantepe swords, was discovered in 2017 in the Venetian Monastery of Lazarus.

The first weapons that can unambiguously be classified as swords are those found in Minoan Crete, dated to about 1700 BC, which reached lengths of more than 100 cm (39 in).

Swords from the Nordic Bronze Age appear from c. the 17th century BC, often showing characteristic spiral patterns.

The early Nordic swords are also comparatively short; a specimen discovered in 1912 near Bragby, Uppland, Sweden, dated to about 1800 to 1500 BC, was just over 60 cm (24 in) long.

The Vreta Kloster sword discovered in 1897 (dated 1600 to 1500 BC) has a blade length (the hilt is missing) of 46 cm (18 in).

[14] A typical variant for European swords is the "leaf shaped" blade, which was most common in North-west Europe at the end of the Bronze Age, on the British Isles in particular.

The blade of the carp's tongue sword was wide and parallel for most of its length but the final third narrowed into a thin tip intended for thrusting.

The design was probably developed in north-western France, and combined the broad blade useful for slashing with a thinner, elongated tip suitable for thrusting.

[16] Sword production in China is attested from the Bronze Age Shang dynasty, from roughly 1200 BC.