I was fascinated by these before-and-after images of what a poster on Gab described as, “A 2000-year-old Roman silver dagger, that was discovered by an archeology intern in 2019 in Germany, before and after nine months of careful restoration work”. Click the image for a larger view.
Intrigued, I looked for more information, and found a detailed article at Live Science.
Archaeologists in Germany were “lost for words” after the discovery of a 2,000-year-old silver dagger. The weapon was found in its sheath in the grave of a Roman soldier who once fought against the Germanic tribes.
The dagger was so corroded, it took nine months of sandblasting and grinding before the sharp, 13-inch-long (35 centimeters) weapon was restored, at which point researchers were easily able to remove it from its richly decorated sheath.
. . .
An intern with the Westphalie department, 19-year-old Nico Calman, discovered the dagger and sheath, as well as the remains of the decorated leather belt, during an archaeological dig at Haltern am See (Haltern at the Lake), a town in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in April 2019.
During the Augustan period, from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, Haltern was home to a Roman military base, known as “Hauptlager,” or “main camp.” Archaeologists have known about the site since 1900, making the newfound discovery of the dagger all the more surprising, Tremmel said.
. . .
After the dagger was X-rayed, CT scanned and restored, archaeologists marveled at the dagger; its handle is inlaid with silver and decorated with rivets, and the iron blade has “deep grooves on either side of the midrib, a pronounced waist and a long tapering point,” Tremmel said.
The iron sheath is lined with linden wood and decorated with red glass, silver, niello (a black mixture, often of sulphur, copper, silver and lead) and red shiny enamel. Rings on the sheath were used to hang the dagger from a belt, which was also found in the grave.
The dagger was likely wielded by a legionary infantryman, an auxiliary infantryman or an officer known as a centurion, Tremmel said.
There’s more at the link, including photographs and a video report.
I’m amazed it survived two millennia of grave-robbers, various and sundry battles fought in and around the area, and the ravages of time in general. It’s in astonishingly good condition. The owner must have been a fairly wealthy man, or perhaps lucky in the loot he gathered during his service in the legions – a dagger like that would not have been an everyday possession. Was it perhaps a ceremonial blade? I guess we’ll never know, but it’s fascinating to speculate.
Peter
I am equally impressed with the skill and talent it took to create such a weapon and its sheath. I assume it was the task of several as the skills for all that would seem to be beyond the range of one person.
I love the press, they have not the foggiest idea of what they are writing:
"The dagger was so corroded, it took nine months of sandblasting and grinding before the sharp, 13-inch-long (35 centimeters) weapon was restored"
Sandblasting? Grinding? Maybe with dental picks and magnifying lenses and ever so gentle picking away at the accumulated covering. How exactly did a silver dagger rust? Please, the real story would be much more interesting.
30 years ago I remember reading about how the various bad guys in the xUSSR were digging up the battlefields of WWII because the superior weapons used in WWII were so rugged they could survive unscathed in a bog for 45 years, get dug up, cleaned up and be fired in robberies and other violent acts. I think that was the heart of digging up and retrieving the weapons of the buried over the centuries.
Just think, in 60 years somebody will be rummaging around in the radioactive ruins of Europe looking for the buried but still deadly Bolo combat units.
Many, many craftsmen. We underestimate the quality of work from that time period a lot. Some of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic work from the 'Dark Ages/early Medieval' is particularly spectacular. Especially when you consider that the cutting of the gems had to be done by hand with minimal magnification. Considering the quality of the work that exists, we can only speculate on the quality of leather, wood, or ivory/bone work; it must have been equally elegant. And to get that level of consistent skill, there must have been a surprising amount of decorative work floating about.
As for why a 'silver' dagger corroded, the article is clear: it and its sheath are iron, inlaid with silver. And very controlled sandblasting (though not with sand) probably was used, very carefully!