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Pattern-welded sword from the grave No. 715, Mikulčice, and its metallographic examination
Hošek, Jiří ; Košta, J.
The investigated sword comes from Mikulčice Stronghold, which was one of the main power centres of the Gr. Moravian Empire created in the first third of the 9th century and abolished by invasion of Avars into Carpathian basin at the beginning of the 10th century. The weapon was lifted from the grave No. 715, in which also a knife, an axe, and remnants of spurs were found besides the sword. It is supposed, on the base of badly preserved skeleton, that the interred man died in age of 40-60. The sword is due to its general sturdy construction, a two-piece pommel, and a short guard, obviously related to the early-Carolingian types and could be roughly dated to the first half of the 9th century. The sword ranks rather among display weapons, because its pattern-welded blade, which was presumably never destined for frequent combat, was only iron in preserved cutting-edges, and any previous effective improvement by steel and subsequent heat treatment cannot be evidenced in the cutting lines.
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