The sword from Vlčí Pole

Abstract

Finds of early medieval Schlingen-type swords are mostly concentrated in present-day southern Germany, where they are known from a number of graves dating to the end of the late Merovingian period. On the contrary, these swords are completely absent in contexts of the early Carolingian and Great Moravian periods. This paper presents a new find of Schlingen-type sword from Vlčí Pole in the northeastern part of Central Bohemia and its archaeometric analysis. We consider the sword from Vlčí Pole to be the only unambiguous find of a fully preserved long-bladed weapon of the late 7th to 8th century in Bohemia. As it is one of the few late Merovingian swords to have been examined using X-ray computed tomography and metallography, it also contributes to a general understanding of phenomena such as the development of the use of pattern-welded marks and blades with cutting edges of hardened steel.

Keywords

• sword
• Bohemia
• late Merovingian period
• metallography
• pattern welding
• pattern-welded marks