“Replica” sword is authentic Bronze Age artifact

A sword in Chicago’s Field Museum long believed to be a replica has been identified as an authentic Bronze Age sword dating to between 1080 and 900 B.C. The sword was retrieved from the Danube in Budapest in the 1930s. When it was acquired by the Field Museum shortly after its discovery, the sword was part of a large consignment of artifacts that were a mixture of authentic archaeological objects and replicas. This one was misidentified when it arrived and it stayed that way for almost a hundred years.

Its true identity was rediscovered when curators were preparing for the upcoming exhibition, First Kings of Europe. This exhibition explores how communities on the Balkan Peninsula transformed from small agrarian villages to enormously wealthy kingdoms between the Neolithic and Iron Age periods (6,000-500 B.C.) and brings together more than 200 artifacts from 11 countries, many of them never seen before in the United States. Hungarian archaeologists working with Fields Museum curators on First Kings of Europe asked to see that “replica” from Hungary and recognized it immediately as the genuine article.

The group of Field Museum scientists, including a chemist, and archeologists used an X-ray fluorescence detector, an instrument that looks like a ray gun. When they compared the sword’s chemical makeup to other known Bronze Age swords in Europe, their content of bronze, copper, and tin were nearly identical.

Bill Parkinson, a curator of anthropology at the Field who helped create the upcoming First Kings of Europe exhibition, says he was surprised by the results. “Usually this story goes the other way round,” he says– “What we think is an original turns out to be a fake.”

The sword was confirmed authentic too late to be included in with the other Bronze Age objects in the exhibition, but it will be installed in the main hall of the Field Museum instead to usher visitors in to the exhibition. The First Kings of Europe opens on March 31, 2023.

21 thoughts on ““Replica” sword is authentic Bronze Age artifact

      1. My curiosity has gotten the best of me. Who are you??! This is a wonderfully interesting webpage (although heavily laden with articles focused on human burial disturbance). I admire the effort it takes to provide such a continual stream of information).

  1. “from small agrarian villages to enormously wealthy kingdoms between the Neolithic and Iron Age periods (6,000-500 B.C.) ”
    That’s a 5,500 year period! Where were we 5500 years ago (3477BC)?

    ps: I like the new format

  2. Will take me awhile to get used to the new format but it’s great that we can post/read posts again.. Hopefully the “ hacker*troll*whoever” won’t take over again.
    I do like not having to click on pics to enlarge.
    Thanks for keeping this site going for all these years!

    1. I have things locked down to prevent the flooding that took over the comments, and thankfully all this time my posts have not been interfered with. Retro in looks is great; retro in tech not so much. Once I get the tech settled, I shall make changes to the theme so it’s closer to the way it was. History nerds like it old school! 😀

      Thank you for reading all these years!

      1. Thank you for maintaining this blog. You have given me many enjoyable hours over the years. Your reporting is always top notch and i love your sense of humor. I find the new format so much easier to read, especially on mobile.

  3. (Very) longtime reader here. I’ll second the praise for the new aesthetics. I know you’re probably just going with a new theme’s defaults for the moment, but the typeface strikes just the right balance between tradition and readability, and the site is just plain easier on the eyes.

    1. I only made basic changes (ie, background, link and font color) to the defaults so that it was roughly in the range of the old theme’s palette. Once the bugs are dealt with, I’ll do additional customizations but like you, I generally like the way it looks now. For the future, I do have an insanely complex vision for a header that I’ve been mulling over for years. That’s commission job, however, as it’s far outside my limited skill set.

      Thank you so much for sticking with the blog lo these many years, John.

  4. SORRY,BUT DON’T LIKE THE NEW FORMAT, FAR LESS APPEALING AND VISUALLY STERILIZED…STILL A GREAT SITE AND GREAT INFO…LOVE BEING ABLE TO CLICK AND ENLARGE PHOTOS….MUCH APPRECIATED ……JUST A BIT OF A SHOCK WITH THE OVER ALL LOOK…..IT WOULD BE NICE TO AT LEAST HAVE THE GREAT SUBJECT TITLE LIST BE THERE AGAIN…NOW THERE IS NO WAY TO SEARCH ALL THE WONDERFUL TITLES YOU HAVE …CAN WE HOPE TO SEE THIS AGAIN PLEASE IN SOME FORM ?…..NOT JUST A MONTH AND A YEAR…..THIS PART REALLY DOESN’T WORK……THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE GREAT WORK…..REGARDS…..C.ALLEN

    1. I’ve added the category list on the sidebar, if that helps at all. I’m actually planning on revamping the categories because they’re holdovers from when I started this blog almost two decades ago, and they’re too limited to really fit the wide range of topics I’ve written about since then. Another thing on my very, very long list of “I’ll get to it someday” plans. 😀

      Thanks for the critique and for reading!

  5. Could it be Scythian ? I have been surprised by this culture that his seldom recalled and had a rather large historic influence in Eastern Europe , in the Danube and Black Sea basins.

    Yessss, the new looks are an improvement, I like it better, and it also is easier to read.

  6. Looks good; as always, great posts. Having done a little blogging, know there is work involved here but it is obviously a labor of love. Hopefully the troll has been “slain.” Note: will NEVER use “Compacom,” whatever that is.

  7. What a relief! It felt so weird not to be able to post a comment whilst seeing the spam bot comments about spells and investment scams. Thank you for this wonderful blog!

    1. Thank you so much for coming back every day for the content even as the comments section was taken over by the barbarous bots. I’m relieved you were able to outlast them!

  8. Hello…Excellent article, thank you. I’m very curious about the dimensions (and the weight), of this sword. Any information available regarding these?
    Lowell

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