German archaeologists have unearthed a very rare find during a dig in Nördlingen, Bavaria: a bronze sword believed to be over 3,000 years old still preserved in remarkable condition. The sword has an ornate octagonal hilt made of pure bronze and is “so extraordinarily well-preserved that it almost still shines,” the Bavarian State Office for…

BERLIN—A bronze sword made more than 3,000 years ago that is so well-preserved it “almost still shines” has been unearthed in Germany, officials say. Bavaria’s state office for the preservation of historical monuments says the sword, which is believed to date back to the end of the 14th century B.C.—the middle of the Bronze Age—was…

A tomb containing a pair of over 2,300-year-old scissors was uncovered by ordinance disposal officers in Germany during a construction project set to move forward in the Sendling district of Munich. Prepped for handling explosive devices left over from World War II, during an excavation the officers instead found a Celtic grave site containing several metal artifacts—including…

Perhaps it was war, or perhaps love, that motivated the ritual whereby a 3,000-year-old brown Bronze Age sword was plunged into the Danube River in what is now modern-day Budapest, Hungary. The descendants of the Eurasian nomads who once inhabited this region might have wished to commemorate a battle or the loss of a loved one…

HARTFORD, Conn.—A former University of Connecticut student pleaded guilty to murder and other charges Wednesday for killing a man and severely wounding another with a sword in 2020—one of two deadly attacks that led to a six-day manhunt in several states that ended with his capture in Maryland. Peter Manfredonia, 26, from Newtown, Connecticut, agreed…

The famed Ulfberht Viking swords were made of metal so pure it baffled archaeologists. It was thought the technology to forge such metal was not invented for another 800 or more years, during the Industrial Revolution. About 170 Ulfberhts have been found, dating from A.D. 800 to 1,000. A Nova National Geographic documentary titled “Secrets…

A sword believed to have belonged to a crusader who sailed to the Holy Land almost a millennium ago has been recovered from the Mediterranean seabed, thanks to an eagle-eyed amateur diver, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said on Monday, Oct. 18. Though encrusted with marine organisms, the meter-long blade, hilt, and handle were distinctive enough to…

While surveying the English countryside, amateur metal detectorist Jamie Harcourt stumbled upon a small jeweled piece of an Anglo-Saxon sword—that might once have belonged to a medieval lord or noble. No larger than the tip of a finger, the artifact was identified as a “sword pyramid,” a decoratively crafted gold and garnet (a red translucent…

One Ottawa man’s backyard home project yielded more than a new patio when his contractor removed a sword from under the earth. The find led home owner Brad Sigouin on a quest to solve the mystery of its origin. While installing concrete piers for a new deck in April 2020, a worker found the weapon…