Magia ornamentu / Galeria / Sword with incrustation

Sword with incrustation
Chronology:
Roman period, early 3rd c. AD
Location:
Podlodów, Lubelskie, Poland; cremation grave
Dimensions:
87.5 cm (total length), 6.2 cm (blade width)
National Museum in Lublin

A forged-iron sword with a copper incrustation depicting Roman deities: Mars and Victoria. It is a double-edged weapon with a straight blade with four fullers (grooves). The incrustation was made by installing a copper plate into the recesses of the iron blade at its base. The plate was additionally decorated with dotting and engraved lines. The sword was bent for ritual purposes; it now consists of four sections. This rare weapon, made in the Roman Empire, belonged to a warrior from the elite class of the Przeworsk culture, its people inhabiting the area of the Lublin region, then Barbaricum, in the early centuries AD.