La Tene sword identification -- myArmoury.com

Spencer Mills · Posted: Mon 06 Mar, 2017 4:55 pm Post subject: La Tene sword identification

Hi all!

It has been some years since I have been on the forum so I come seeking advice to anyone who would be kind enough to share it. I am a 39 year old husband, father and huge history nerd. I love studying everything from deep ancestry to material culture to ancient warfare. One of my biggest goals in life was to acquire a few nice artifacts that might represent some small part of my ancestral heritage. Mostly to used as an educational tool for friends and family and to also have a physical connection to a wondrous and incredible ancient past.

All this to say, is that I have finally saved enough funds to recently purchase a Middle La Tene sword from an auction house in Austria. The only provenance is that it have belonged to an older private German collection and that it may have been found in Austria or Hungary but that is uncertain. What I find interesting is the overall length being 39 inches and the use of a bronze scabbard instead of iron. However, only the front plate of the scabbard survived and includes some simple motif at the top. For some reason I thought that the longer La Tene swords were more common in Northwestern Europe and that bronze scabbards were more often found in Britain. I will include these photos and humbly ask that if anyone would be willing to comment on its possible origin, then I would certainly be grateful.

Thanks everyone for your time and consideration!

Spencer Mills · Posted: Fri 10 Mar, 2017 5:26 am Post subject: Help identifying La Tene sword

Update to details of sword, it is actually 37 inches.

Niels Just Rasmussen · Posted: Sun 12 Mar, 2017 10:42 am Post subject:

I'm not a La Tene sword expert, but I just wanted to add this image of different finds of La Tene swords.

Source (click for large image): https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/illustr/celt_latene_large.jpg

So your type is one with a raised midline and no grooves. Fairly simple un-elaborated guard and the blade ending in a broad point (so not the cut-off type). It seems you can find some comparables to your sword in the early/middle La Tene types given in the image.

Spencer Mills · Posted: Sun 12 Mar, 2017 10:50 am Post subject:

Thanks for the response and info!

Luka Borscak · Posted: Mon 13 Mar, 2017 10:54 am Post subject:

That size and blade shape, mid to late la tene, I would say. Thin grooves are rather unique element, so they aren't very useful for dating. Happy

Niels Just Rasmussen · Posted: Mon 13 Mar, 2017 12:03 pm Post subject:

Luka Borscak · Posted: Thu 16 Mar, 2017 12:07 pm Post subject:

Well, there is no guard... Blade shape and size means it's not an early la tene blade, but mid to late blades were very diverse, so it's hard to date precisely without knowing more about the find, other stuff found in grave etc...

Dan Howard · Posted: Thu 16 Mar, 2017 1:45 pm Post subject:

Without provenance it can't be dated any more accurately. We can't even be sure that it is La Tene.

JG Elmslie · Industry Professional