Early medieval swords from the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin in the light of a new typological-chronological and technological analysis (part 2)

Abstract

This study is devoted to four early medieval swords stored in the National Museum in Szczecin. The paper is a continuation of the weapon collection from the Szczecin Museum presentation, with first part published recently (Klimek, Kucypera, Kurasiński, Pudło 2011). All swords presented here were posted before, but, thus far, bereft of detailed formal, chronological and technological analyzes. The oldest presented specimen was found in Smołdzino, Słupsk District. No detailed location of the find is known, apart from the fact that it was uncovered by sand from a dune. It is preserved as a few pieces coming from a broken blade. Another two swords were also preserved partially, both with almost completely missing blades. They are most probably stray finds from the River Oder near Szczecin. The last, youngest specimen, is a loose find from Złocieniec, Drawsko District. The Smołdzino sword has been dated to the 2nd half of the 8th–half of the 10th centuries, however, it has to be noted that the technique in which its blade was forged (piled/sandwitched) does not allow to completely rule out the possibility of the sword’s earlier (La Tène period) metric. First of the Oder (Szczecin) swords has been classified as the younger type X by Petersen and dated to the 10th–half of the 11th centuries. The second specimen has been identified as Oakeshott’s type ?,B,3 and Geibig’s Kombinationstyp 15-III. It has been linked with the period of the 10th–beginning of the 12th centuries. Both specimens picked from the Oder River had blades forged by welding cutting-edge rods into central core pieces. Their lower guards and pommels (with, possibly, one exception) were formed from single homogeneous billets of iron. By far, the best preserved sword was the one from Złocieniec, classified here as type XI,E,1 by Oakeshott and Kombinationstyp 19 (hilt) and 10 (blade) by Geibig. In view of the presented analogies, it has been fixed to the chronological frame of the 12th–beginning of the 13th century. Unfortunately, due to external factors, no materials examination has been carried out on this weapon