RomanArmyTalk

I'm looking for reports or articles about Feltwell Roman villa and especially the discovery there of a 5th century Germanic Spatha. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

According to this review:
[attachment=3887]Britannia21-1990-EAArchaeolRep31.jpg[/attachment]
... the volume you need is D. Gurney, Settlement, religion and industry on the Fen-edge (East Anglian Archaeology Report 31) (Dereham: Norfolk Archaeological Unit, 1986) ISSN 0307 2460.

I'll do a search for it on our library database at work for you tomorrow.

Thanks Duncan and Moi!


What I have found so far is this drawing- which implies a proper archaeological report= a comment in a non archeological context that xrays had found that the sword was etched rather than properly pattern welded (so an original fake (!) but implies proper analysis) and that it was found under a floor.

As fifth century swords are as rare as hens teeth, I am amazed that this is not better known - it was certainly new to me when Matt B mentioned it to me (thanks Matt.)

Caballo I first heard of it in Barbarian Warriors 1997 by Dan Shadrake it has a picture as well as a brief description of its find origin. Hope it is of use
Regards Brennivs

Sorry - we seem to have every copy of East Anglian Archaeology Reports apart from this one! :roll:

Thanks anyway Moi. Tony- I looked it in Dan Shadrakes book- very useful and thanks. Thoughin the reconstructed drawing I do nt understand why the typical Saxon pommel cocked hat top has been added, as it would presumably have survived given the excellent state of preservation of the other metal and antler items.

Foolish boy, did you think that I'd suggest it if I didn't have the report?
I've scanned and emailed it to you and would love to have another go at making the crappy scabbard that goes with it.

There's nothing in the report to suggest that it was etched, just that x-rays have shown that it wasn't pattern welded. Having seen it in the museum in Norwich (I've got pictures if you want to see them), I doubt if any evidence of etching remains visible, so I don't know where that little nugget of information came from.

I reckon that the upper and lower guards were wood, possibly in a Snartemo V or Sundsval style.

hello, i recently contacted norwich museum and they put me onto another anglian find that is hilted in organic material, there was a horn hilted spatha found at snape, but i'd never heard of it until recently, anyone have any other info?

The Anglo Saxon burial field at Snape has been known about since the first excavationsd in the early 19th century. Excavations have uncovered a large boat burial and a number of log-boat burials. The latest of those, in 1991 contained the sword you're talking about plus three spears, a shield and other stuff (including horse remains). Unfortunately this grave had been badly damaged by ploughing but it's been dated to late 6th to early/mid 7th century. I'll dig out the pics of the hilt, but it's nothing particularly special; most hilt remains of this period are organic.

But surely this makes it more sensible to recreate, if we only recreated the high class peices the public would think this was the norm and the difference in materials and quality would not be shown to them.

Quote:But surely this makes it more sensible to recreate

Did anyone say otherwise? I just meant that it's one of many, many examples of organically hilted Anglo-Saxon swords of the period that I know of, although the Snape example is unusual in that the horn of the handle has survived.

Swords like this should be and are reproduced by those of us who do 7th century re-enactment. I'm making one for a customer at the moment, based on the entirely organically hilted sword from the young nobles burial from Mound 17 at Sutton Hoo (evidence that high status individuals could be buried with organically hilted swords).

i apologise if i was a little short or standoff-ish, i would be very interested in seeing your creation and the images you have spoken about, its the belief that too much of what the public sees is what the museums deem good enough to show to the public and the things which traders believe that they can sell rather than a more true spread of quality and class.

"Early 5th Century" ... how early is it please?

Impossible to pin it down to anything more precise than the first half of the 5th century.
Stylistically, some elements suggest a very early date, possibly even very late 4th but the scabbard fittings are so crude that it's impossible to place them any more accurately within the evolution of other continental scabbard fittings.