tour 2 of 6
War and art in Iron Age Britain
Kirkburn Sword
This sword is both an incredibly complicated
weapon and a fine work of art. The handle is unusually elaborate.
It is made of thirty-seven pieces of iron, bronze and horn, and is
decorated with red glass. The sword was carried in a scabbard made
from iron and bronze. The polished bronze front plate was decorated
with a La Tène style scroll pattern, and with red glass studs and
insets.
The sword was
clearly a valued object. The scabbard had been damaged and was
repaired some time after it had originally been made, which might
have been many years before it was placed in the grave with its
final
owner.
Other
views: The warrior's grave with
the sword by the side of the skeleton (bottom
centre)