A Koszider Period Sword from Tornyospálca-Sírkútgaz (Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary)

Abstract

The study discusses a metal-hilted sword from Tornyospálca-Sírkútgaz (Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary). This find is an “old debt” of local Bronze Age research since it was left unpublished in the prehistoric collection of the Hungarian National Museum for more than half a century following its accidental discovery in 1956. The Tornyospálca-Sírkútgaz sword is a unique weapon compared to other Middle Bronze Age (Koszider Period, Br B1) Carpathian weapons. The Valsømagle swords have a few related finds from this area and from the wider territory of Europe. This study introduces the weapon to the scientific public with a brief discussion of related finds and their relative chronological position. The production technology, use-wear traces, and the deposition condition of the Tornyospálca-Sírkútgaz sword have been studied by metalwork production and use-wear analysis, and the results are also compared to the swords and the dagger of the eponymous Zajta hoard (Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary).

Keywords

• Middle Bronze Age (Br B1), use-wear analysis, Valsømagle type swords, Zajta hoard