Hi Alifer. AFAIK this blade belongs to the Port Nidau find in Switzerland. In dates to the La Tene III period, so 1st or 2nd century BCE. Sorry but I have no idea what museum this piece is kept in or what it's measurements are, but swords of this type seems to have averaged in around the 30" mark if thats of any help.
Hello Alifer,
as Stephen Curtin wrote, your blade might belongs to a group of La Tène D swords (around 60) found in the site of Port-Nidau (Bern), in the ancient riverbed of the Zihl stream (it is interesting to notice that the word Zihl can be traced back to the Celtic word Tela – cow).
The major parts of the metallic finds of Port-Nidau are preserved in the Historisches Museum of Berna (like the sword attached, dated between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century BCE).
Sorry but right now I haven’t found drawings that demonstrate the precise dimension of the sword… only the photos from De Navarro book. If I find something I will tell you.
Best
S.M.
Hi Aleksey, do we are still friends in facebook? I have replica of very close sword to this one here because i am donig la Tene III. I suggest you look in our historical forum Forum Gallicum about this item because the member Konrad form Germany asked the same question there: where can he find the orig. items of the Port Nydam finds of the swords and i found and wrote there some books and link suggestion about the finds from Port Nydam.
But the typical sword form of the la Tene III you can find by the Skordisc in Bulgaria, Serbia, by the other Celtic tribes like here in Slovenia, Germany, Nord Italy, etc ...
You should know that this blade form has typical scabard form of the la Tene III, aswell but their forms are not the same. This kind of the swords are normaly long ab 100 cm, sometimes more, but in Port Nydam you can find the same blades they are shorter, adapted in short variante latter wehen they used by the Romans. I would like to tell, that the form of this blades changed during the time and they are not the same in time ab. 100/90 BC ... to the middle of la Tene D2 (ab 50-40 BC) and at the end of the La Tene III (the end of Lt D2) at the beginning of the early Imperial time. Other words - there are many details on this sword's form, they changed during the 1. cent. BC.
I know, you are member in Kelticos, too.
There are long debates about this swords and blades, too.
Try to find this book:
Gewässerfunde aus Port und Umgebung - Katalog der latène- und römerzeitlischen Funde aus der Zihl" from René Wyss, Toni Rey and Felix Müller
ISBN 3-9522573-2-X
It has a lot of these kind of swords. Photo's and scale drawings and also other stuf like cool spearpoints and and the two (Agen)Port helmets...
If i remember it correctly: I ordered mine from the national museum in Zurich...
Cheers!
Folkert van Wijk
Celtic Auxilia, Legio II Augusta.
With a wide interrest for everything Celtic BC
Hi,
i wrote this text on the 1. of November here - look on the links, on the 2nd link you can order the book, it is the Nr. 4: http://www.bhm.ch/de/informationen/shop/...9b3e83a11d
Zitat of my text:
"Eine neuere und ähnliche Ausgabe:
Gewässerfunde aus Port und Umgebung, Katalog der latène- und römerzeitlichen Funde aus der Zihl by René Wyss, Toni Rey, Felix Müller; Buch da: http://books.google.com/books/about/Gew%...giAAAACAAJ
Edit.: wieder eine Verlinkung auf den TW-center Forum mit einigen Beispielen von den keltischen Schwerten, wo man genau diesen Typus von Port-Nidau findet - aber Vorsicht: diese Nachbildungen sind wieder stark larpisch laut Quellen, die ich selber kenne obwohl man da auch eine Vorlage für einmal da von den Catevels/Teutates gestellte Frage findet, wie schauen die Lt D2 Schwerte aus, die den Angel so wie die römische Spathas haben - in dem Thread über den Schwert Typus Ludwigshafen hat er diese Frage gestellt, nun da ist eine Nachbildung auch von so einem Schwert zu sehen: