Hello,

could someone tell me something about the development of the Celtic anthropomorphic hilted swords? They were used in the Hallstatt and the La Tène period, is there a difference between the swords of both periods?

Thanks in advance!

This might help some: http://www.ironagearmoury.com/swords_of_the_early_iron_age.htm

Thanks, that could help, but I am actually more searching for the hilt himself.

Here are some previous threads on the subject:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=8977
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=7745
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=3990 (this one has more info on the La Tene finds than the other two)

And there are more threads on our forums than these. I used the Search function to find them.

Hello Patrick,

There is a huge difference between the swords of the Hallstatt period and that of the La Tene. Hallstatt is where we see the change over from bronze to iron, as well as swords disappearing by the end of the period. Daggers from the end of the period continue on into the early La Tene. Then the sword comes back into use early in the La Tene as well.

As far as anthropomophic hilts go, there are only one or two odd and/or questionable full sword sized ones found in the La Tene. For the most part they were dagger sized. One of the big questions is then the intended function of the anthropoid daggers. They are not all that often found in graves from what I remember, like swords often are. It has been speculated that they could be ritual based, sacrafical, an execution weapon, and maybe all of the above. There are a few early examples in iron, but bronze is the most common. Hilt styles vary depending on time and place during the La Tene.

There is one very good booklet out there about the anthropoid daggers and a number of scientific articles. Just today I got a copy of daggers of the early iron age in britain from a friend that looks like it will be an interesting read.

Shane

The anthropomorphic hilt seems to have been developed from the antenna hilted bronze age swords. The development is still a bit difficult for me to trace. But apparently the antenna hilted bronze swords evolved into the Hallstatt D daggers, which suddently swept away all full sized swords as the Mindelheim type in northern Europe. The latest antenna hilted or related swords I know from southern and eastern Europe, though only from a few examples. And what makes it even more difficult is that while up to hallstatt C, and from the start of the la tene period, swords follow pretty standard shapes that are a result of continuous development, while in Hallstatt D the daggers and hilt constructions are all completely unique, and it seems to be the trend not to base any new one in any way on a previous existing design. However, there does seem to be some trend visible from antenna to anthropomorphic. Now bear with me, my knowledge on these swords is very vague after the bronze antenna hilted swords. The pictures below I got from Kirk Spencer, so I don't have the accompanying literature for more information:

First a typical bronze antenna hilted sword from Heraion von Samos, Greece:

[ Linked Image ]

Secondly, a later iron bladed antenna hilted sword from Chauchitsa, Macedonia:

[ Linked Image ]

And an Iberian (iron?) antenna hilted sword (evolved into the stubier double disc pommeld iron daggers typical for Spain):

[ Linked Image ]

A hallstatt D transitional dagger (origin unknown). Notice the little guys in the pommel:

[ Linked Image ]

And here are more transitional forms:

[ Linked Image ]

That Macedonian sword has something that looks suspiciously akin to a Frearson head screw. Is it the tang, twisted and decorated, or does it have a structural function?

On the Hawkes image, (figure 6, I), the hilt appears very tiny with a large, bulbous decoration not unlike the others presented (the waist of the man that gives the hilt its name). What is the length of the hilt, if you know? I figure it's just an out of scale drawing, and it's not really all that small.

M.

Thanks for your replies, I was confused because it was stated in a myArmoury article that:

"A mushroom-shaped pommel, typical of the culture, surmounted the grip and was often decorated with gold or other precious materials. An iron-bladed example from the Hallstatt tomb still had its magnificent grip made of ivory with carved bands of zigzag patterns and traces of the original coloration. Another grip typical of this culture was the "anthropomorphic" type; the lower limbs, carefully fashioned, were positioned on either side of the blade; the upper limbs, raised above the shoulders, shielded the head; the body formed the actual handle."

Do they mean the more abstract forms that Jeroen Zuiderwijk described, do you think?