Casgliadau Arlein

Bronze Age bronze sword blade fragment

Dimensions: maximum surviving length 93.7mm; blade thickness at upper break 10.8mm; thickness at lower break 10.0mm; maximum blade-width near upper break 34.1mm; minimum blade-width near lower break 30.5mm; surviving weight (prior to conservation) 116.9g.

This is the blade fragment of a bronze Carp's Tongue type sword with straight sides, tapering gently towards the lower break, indicating this is a lower blade fragment, whose tapering tip-end is now missing. The blade has a distinctive rounded midrib, precisely defined by single grooves down the line of the blade. Each blade margin is defined by a rounded and tapering blade bevel, whose inner margin is defined by an incised scored line located 3.5-4.5mm from the blade-edges. Two scored lines are present on each face, therefore, running parallel with the midrib, lateral grooves and blade-edges. The blade-edges are blunt, though not markedly eroded. In side-section, the blade is markedly bent with a sinuous profile, indicating much force was used to break the blade. The breaks are soil covered and eroded, indicating breakage in antiquity.

The blade surfaces are rough, with large areas covered with a white and light-grey surface concretion. One face has a number of black concretions attached with internal linear grain structure evident, suggesting this to be charcoal. This suggests the sword blade was burnt immediately prior to deposition, the surface effect and concretions deriving from burnt ash in chemical reaction and attachment with the bronze blade-surfaces. One upper blade edge has a nick exposing bronze metal, suggesting damage caused during the recent discovery of the artefact. The blade has a pale-grey to grey surface patina, with some areas of grey-green metal exposed on one face.