A blade for coments; old, early, or very early

Bryan.H · 7th August 2010, 01:51 PM

This blade still intrigues me, and I'd love to know it's precise archaeological context. Stratigraphy is crucial to dating this piece I think, as the land has more than likely been subject to human habitation and invasions and armed conflict from Romans to the armies of Wellington and Napoleon.

I found a reference to 4th Century roman knives, that are smaller than your example Fernando, however the tang and pommel/ tang button appear similar.

http://www.comitatus.net/Documents/R...Atkinson-2.pdf

These are from the Romano-british Lankhills cemetery.

For what it's worth, I struggle to see how the blade profile could eventuate from the grinding down or sharpening of a blade over a long period of time. It could well be a butchers knife of some antiquity, as even today, the length is comparable, the blade shape not so different (wider at the tip and broad), and the hand actions involved in butchering have not changed greatly over time..

7th August 2010, 01:51 PM	#18
Bryan.H Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 51	Possible Gallo-Roman reference? This blade still intrigues me, and I'd love to know it's precise archaeological context. Stratigraphy is crucial to dating this piece I think, as the land has more than likely been subject to human habitation and invasions and armed conflict from Romans to the armies of Wellington and Napoleon. I found a reference to 4th Century roman knives, that are smaller than your example Fernando, however the tang and pommel/ tang button appear similar. http://www.comitatus.net/Documents/R...Atkinson-2.pdf These are from the Romano-british Lankhills cemetery. For what it's worth, I struggle to see how the blade profile could eventuate from the grinding down or sharpening of a blade over a long period of time. It could well be a butchers knife of some antiquity, as even today, the length is comparable, the blade shape not so different (wider at the tip and broad), and the hand actions involved in butchering have not changed greatly over time..