Download - Gaspari ARCO Sava

Bronze sword of the Arco type from the Sava River near Gornje Pijavško (Posavje, Slovenia)

1. Discovery The survey of the gravel alluvial deposits of

the Sava near Gornje Pijavško, municipality of Krško, revealed a prehistoric bronze sword in March 2007. The well-preserved weapon from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age was uncov-ered by Marija Boltin, an amateur fossil seeker,

in a secondary position in the top part of the mound of material that had previously been dug from the right bank of the Sava. Considering the time of the find, it is more than probable that the sword originated from the western part of a 400 m long and 50 m wide dune deposited along the sedimentational area of the riverbed at the end of

Andrej Gaspari

Fig. 1. 1. Approximate location of the sword prior to discovery; 2. Višnjevec Cave; 3. traces of an island in the river; 4. traces of the chronologically undefined course of the riverbed (graphic by the Author).

Underwater archaeology.indb 267 23.1.2009 6:21:45

268 Andrej Gaspari

the large bend the Sava makes between Blanca and Gornje Pijavško (Figs 1, 2). Other archaeo-logical finds from the mound, which was checked already in 2005/2006, are not known. The sword was drawn, photographed and sampled for metal-lographic analyses, whereupon it was returned to be kept by the family of the finder1. The record of the find is kept in the Posavje Museum in Brežice.

1.2 SwordDescription: the almost completely preserved

sword (Fig. 3) has a relatively short and massive blade with parallel edges. The blade is widest at

the beginning of the last fifth, just before the tran-sition into a sharp tip, whereby the width increas-es proportionately with the decreasing thickness. The blade’s lower part has a flat lenticular cross-section with thinned edges, while the cross-sec-tion towards the hilt is almost rhomboid. The blade edges are sharp up to the beginning of the blade, which obliquely passes into the bell-shaped shoulders of the tang. The latter is here oval to rhomboid in section with bevelled sides, while it narrows at the beginning of the second third and becomes rectangular in cross-section. The termi-nation of the tang is shaped into an oblong club-shaped pommel of an almost round cross-section.

Fig. 2. The sword was found in the top part of the mound of the alluvial material, which had previously been mechanically excavated from the parallel-lying section of the riverbed (photo by the Author).


269Bronze sword of the Arco type from the Sava River near Gornje Pijavško (Posavje, Slovenia)

The transition from the blade to the shoulders has two round rivet holes.

Size: entire l. 49.6 cm; blade l. 37.3 cm; blade w. 2.7-3.5 cm; blade th. 0.7-0.9 cm; tang l. 12.3 cm; tang w. 0.4 cm; tang th. 0.4 cm; pommel l. 2.8 cm; pommel w. 1.2 cm. Weight before con-servation: 424.6 g.

Preservation: blade and pommel of the hilt are slightly bent along the vertical and horizontal axes, which is most probably the consequence of stress either in river or during digging. The blade edges do not show apparent signs of use and are generally little damaged. Only small indentations on blade edges are visible and parts of the rivet holes’ outer rim are missing. The blade and part of the pommel have a green patina and are par-tially covered with a light grey carbonate concre-tion, which is rather unstable on one side. The shiny dark river patina is only to be found on a part of the hilt.

Alloy: the sword is made of a bronze alloy, where bronze makes up 90.8% and tin 8.46% of the material2. The contents of both metals do not deviate from the average values for contempo-rary swords from the south-eastern Alpine area (Trampuž Orel 1996: 182-188, Fig. 2). Such con-tents apparently represented the most suitable re-lationship between flexibility and hardness for this weapon-intended alloy. Future research will show what can be deduced of the provenance of the copper ore on the basis of the established composition scheme of trace element contents of nickel (Ni: 0.17%), antimony (Sb: 0.14%) and ar-senic (As: 0.11%), which are represented in a rel-atively small total share (Trampuž Orel 1996: 202-209). Fig. 3. Sword from the Sava near Gornje Pijavško.

Bronze. Scale = 1:3 (photo by the Autor; drawing by D. Knific Lunder).


270 Andrej Gaspari

Fig. 4. 1 - Le Coudray-Montceaux; 2 - Arco; 3 - Genf; 4 - S. Antonino; 5 - Corbeil. M. = 1:4 (2, 4 Bianco Peroni 1970; 3 Schauer 1971; 1, 5 after Mohen 1977).



2. DeterminationThe sword from the Sava belongs to the group

of tanged swords from the early part of the Late Bronze Age. Their distribution covers primarily the Alpine countries, eastern France and Italy, while in the west they reach to the Channel. In the south-eastern Alpine area they have been record-ed only sporadically and should most probably be interpreted as import (Harding 1995: 18, Pl. 48).

Based on the described formal characteristics, the weapon from the Sava may be classified into the group of swords with a club-shaped pommel (à masette in French) and more precisely ascribed

to the Arco type as defined by V. Bianco Peroni (1970: 32-35, Pl. 10: 68-72; 69).

The Arco swords form a typologically very uniform group. Considering the strong short blade with a pronounced centre of gravity in the lower third, it is undoubtedly a close-combat weapon designed for chopping as well as stab-bing. The shortest and longest among the nine completely preserved examples of these swords measure 42 cm and 59.4 cm, respectively, where-by the hilt is usually around 12 cm long when measured from the rivet holes upwards (Figs 4, 5). The prevailing blade cross-section is rhombic

Fig. 5. Lengths of hilts and blades from complete swords of Arco type (graphic by the Author).

Malcantone (I) Nogara (I) Arco (I) S. Antonino (I) Este (I) Le Coudray-Montceaux (F) Port Guillot (F) Belleville (F)shaft 10,5 11,2 11,2 11,7 11,7 11,8 11,8 11,8blade 36,9 43,5 34,3 30,7 34,3 32,7 37,8 46,7

TOTAL 47,4 54,7 45,5 42,4 46 44,5 49,6 58,5

Genf (CH) Essonne (F) G. Pijavško (SLO)

Verona (I) Corbeil (F) Langres ? (F) S. Antonino (I)

shaft 12,1 12,4 12,4 12,4 12,8 12,8 13,1blade 35 46,6 37,1 35,2 41,8 32,2 39,4

TOTAL 47,1 59 49,5 47,4 54,6 45 52,5


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with thinned edges, which appears in more or less flattened versions, while a lenticular cross-sec-tion is only known in five examples. The tang of most swords terminates in a pommel with octag-onal, rarely hexagonal, and even rarer round cross-section. The preserved holes show that the hollow grip of the hilt was attached in most swords by means of two rivets. The rivet holes on some swords reveal circular indentations, which could indicate an alternative manner of attaching the two-piece grip with a clamp. The club-shaped pommel supposedly protruded from the grip, which was most likely made of wood, bone or antler (cf Cupitò 2000, 109, Fig. 4).

The distribution area of the nineteen positively determined swords of the Arco type spans from the Paris Basin to Srem (Fig. 6; List 1). The great-

est concentration of the finds is between the area north-west of the Alps, where three swords are known from the Seine in the surroundings of Paris, two from the Rhône near Genf and two from the Saône downstream from Chalon; there is yet another example of unknown provenance, which is kept at the museum at Langres. A further seven swords of this type have been found in northern Italy between the Tridentine Alps, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto region, while single swords are known from Carinthia in Austria, Posavje in Slovenia and Srem in Serbia, respec-tively. Twelve examples are well-preserved indi-vidual finds from rivers, five are of unknown or unclear circumstances of discovery, while two examples formed part of a hoard.

Based on the similarities with types Pépinville

Fig. 6. Distribution of Arco type swords. Numbers of sites correspond to List 1

(graphic by the Author).



and Terontola, Bianco Peroni dated the Arco type swords, in the first volume of the fourth series of Prähistorische Bronzefunde from 1970, to the Late Bronze Age (Bronzo Recente), whereby she allowed for the possibility that the eponymous grave find from northern Lotharingia belonged to the developed phase of Bd D in terms of Central European chronology (Bianco Peroni 1970: 33, 35)3. S. Foltiny and H. Reim were of the opinion that the blades in the form of willow leaves, which mark most examples of both types, were charac-teristic of the transition between Bd D and Ha A1, while they considered those swords with a pronounced point of gravity in the lower part of the blade as typologically more developed form, of the Ha A1 phase (Foltiny 1964: 44; Reim 1974: 22) (note 4). The correctness of these inferences for the Arco-type swords was confirmed by two examples from the hoard contexts: Nogara-Pila del Brancón in northern Italy, dated to the begin-ning of Bronzo Finale (12th ct. BC) (Salzani 1994, 94) and Noćaj-Salaš in Vojvodina (Popović 1964; Harding 1995: 18, Pl. 3: 16), which ranks among the typical representatives of Horizon II (Ha A1, i.e. 12th ct. BC) according to K. Vinski Gasparini. Still, their occurrence in both hoards which in-clude older material could also speak in favour of 13th century as probable period of the use of Arco type.

Swords with tang hilts were identified, in some publications, as one of the possible proofs for trading and craft contacts of European prehistoric communities with the civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East (Schauer 1971: 13). A relevant fact in this discussion is the ab-sence of direct typological correspondence be-tween the examples with short and wide tangs, which appear in Cyprus towards the end of LH I

(1675/1650-1600/1550 BC) at the latest (Sandars 1961, Pl. 15, 17), and the forms from the area of central Europe and northern Italy that date from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (Müller-Karpe 1962: 262). The two cited analogies for swords with club-shaped pommels from the Near East and Egypt are a Terontola type sword with a cartouche of pharaoh Merenptah (his ten years long reign can be placed with certainty between 1238 and 1204 BC), successor of Ramses II and the sovereign of the 19th Dynasty, found in a Late Bronze Age layer (LH IIIB) of the palace in Ugarit (Ra’s Shamra in Syria; Schaefer 1955), and a 56.4 cm long example of the Pépinville type from the John Evans Collection, which prob-ably does not originate from El Kantara at the Suez Canal, as was first believed, but was as-cribed as ‘Egyptian’ in origin by an antique deal-er at the end of the 19th century (O’Connor 1978).

The swords with club-shaped thickenings and different types of flange-hilted swords (in partic-ular Reutlingen-Cetona and Stätzling-Allerona) from the sites in Aegean, eastern Mediterranean coast and Nile-Delta are interpreted by some scholars as evidence of “western” mercenaries in the service of Egyptian pharaohs, perhaps in rela-tion to the confrontations with “Sea Peoples” (cf Cupitò 2000, 112).

3. CommentaryThe absence of a precise find spot makes it dif-

ficult to infer as to the distance between the spot, where the sword entered the Sava, and the spot where it was dug out. However, considering the state of preservation, this distance could not have been substantial. It is even possible to suppose that the sword lay in an unaltered position for


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most of the time, deep in the gravel alluvium and was thereby less exposed to abrasion or damage through the transport of gravel.

The supposition that the sword was not depos-ited at a more distant place upstream is partially made relative by the changes of the Sava’s course in the area of the bend between the villages of Arto, Blanca and Gornje Pijavško (Fig. 1: 3, 4). The old names of Otok (Island) and Struga (Riverbed) prove, for later periods, the existence of a larger river island with a secondary channel in the area of the present-day plain along the left bank. Furthermore, the plot borders and configu-ration of the terrain along Gradišče and Loka near Arto, as well as on the plain of the Pijavško polje, reveal an old migration of the main course. In the past, which cannot be more precisely determined, the apex of the bend ran nearer to the modern vil-lage of Arto, but it later moved towards the steep slope of the Graščinsko hill (335 m). Due to the dynamic balance between erosion and sedimen-tation, this caused also the end of the bend to move northwards.

In spite of the above-mentioned migrations, there are no real arguments for claiming that the sword was washed off a land context, though this possibility cannot be excluded. Before proceed-ing with a brief consideration of the remaining possible reasons behind the appearance of the sword in the riverbed, I should reveal an interest-ing note connected to the archaeological site in an occasionally water active cave of Višnjevec (Fig. 1: 2). It opens in a steep rock slope just above the road from Sevnica to Krško, hollowed out in layered limestones about 15 m in length. It was the site of excavation in 1938-1940 by Rajko Ložar from the National Museum in Ljubljana and Otto Auman, an antiquarian from Krško

(Korošec & Uršič 1965: 55; ANSI: 261). Alternating layers of gravel, clay, rock fall and burnt remains were documented in different parts of the cave. They revealed numerous human and animal bones, Eneolithic pottery, two stone axes, flakes, bone tools and an ornamented bronze pin with a preserved head5. Following a visit to the excavations in August 1940, a newspaper article was published, in which the author mentioned an »old sword«, which was »once found in the Sava« and, in his opinion, probably came from this cave (Č. L.: 1940). It is not excluded that the author had in mind the bronze sword from the riverbed of »the Sava near Krško«, which was acquired by the Provincial Museum in Ljubljana in 1904 and which figured in Ložar’s report in 1930 in the journal of Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo (Ložar 1930: 15-17, Fig. 1; Šinkovec 1995: 109, Pl. 31: 215). This sword has rounded shoulders and a widening in the centre of the hilt-plate, determined as type Krško of Bd D/Ha A1 phases (Harding 1995: 53, Pl. 22: 185). It was un-covered stuck with its bent upper half in gravel, while the upper part projected into water. The possibility of this sword actually being found near Pijavško is, of course, only hypothetical, though the arguments against the two swords be-ing originally deposited on land are much sound-er. The first argument is the supposed absence of any contemporary finds6, and the second their rel-atively good state of preservation, since com-pletely preserved Bronze Age weapons are found in settlements, hoards and grave units of the south-eastern Alpine area only exceptionally (Čerče, Turk 1996: 22, 24; Šinkovec 1996). The possibility that the swords were lost during the crossing of the river or in an accident on the river cannot a priori be refuted, though it does seem



that the appearance of this prestige part of arma-ment in the river is more the consequence of in-tent than coincidence (Torbrügge 1970-1971: 66-69). This is indirectly attested to also by an al-most completely preserved bronze rapier (Bd C) from the old riverbed at Drnovo, found in the 1880s (Deschmann 1888: 22; Šinkovec 1995: 104, Pl. 29: 209; Harding 1995: 27, Pl. 6: 34).

To date, the Sava in the wider area of Krško has yielded three finds of swords from the Bronze Age. This confirms the predominant appearance of swords in the water contexts of the south-east-ern Alpine area, which reflects a wider phenome-non of weapons in rivers, lakes and marshes across Europe (Šinkovec 1996; Gleirscher 1996: 438, 439; Gaspari 2004). Each new water find of a sword steadily increases the probability of this being a reflection of a complex value system and religious concepts of the prehistoric communi-ties, to which the high-ranking bearers belonged. Offering objects is most probably connected to water cults as well as divinities of springs, rivers and special places, and these offerings have en-tered ancient epigraphic and literary sources and depictions. Related manifestations of cult beliefs also include individual finds of swords, daggers, axes and spear heads on mountain passes and oth-er topographically significant places in the alpine areas, whereby the choice of location for votive offerings was crucially influenced by its remote-ness and uninhabited character. The high material value of the offerings (based on import, produc-tion difficulty, or special decoration) was matched by their symbolic and status significance, particu-larly in the case of swords. The exclusiveness of the latter piece of weaponry is demonstrated, among other things, by demographic analysis of the cemetery of the Urnfield Culture at Volders

near Innsbruck, which showed that placing swords within graves was limited to one person per generation (Gleirscher 1992: 13).

The fact that the Sava find is, in regional terms, a rare sword type, also corresponds well with the observations that Bronze Age weapons from European rivers often include objects of foreign origin (Hansen 1997: 30). This raises the possi-bility of votive offerings of spoils from military campaigns in distant areas, as supposed by M. Zápotocký for the assemblage of weapons of pre-dominantly Danubian origin, found in the river-bed of the Elbe/Laba in the rocky straits near Velké Žernoseky (so-called Porta bohemica; Zápotocký 1969: 361-364). One of the crucial considerations of votive offerings is the act of re-nunciation, since deposition into a river (or other inaccessible environment) meant that the prestige weapon was irreversibly alienated from this world – analogous to its destruction by fire (Lavrsen 1982: 17, 18). Individual finds of swords from water sites and marshes are usually presumed to represent individual offerings, while larger as-semblages of more or less contemporaneous weapons are supposed to indicate ceremonial group offerings. The highly differentiated rela-tionships between the spiritual expectations of the person making the offering and the quality of the object offered, is attested to by finds of swords made especially for this purpose (and useless in battle because of the unsuitable composition of alloy (Schauer 1996: 389).

Ritual offerings of metal weapons are treated by some researchers in the context of demograph-ic increase and social change during the Middle Bronze Age/beginning of the Late Bronze Age, which were brought about by the systematized exploitation of economic sources. Offerings to


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‘divinities’ or to the sacred were supposed to en-able elites to control internal frictions stemming from the accumulation of goods and power in the hands of a minority, while at the same time they were used to consolidate their authority, power and prestige with acts performed seemingly to the benefit of the entire community (Dal Ri & Tecchiati 2002: 478-480).

The above-mentioned mutual exclusion of grave and water finds of weapons could signify that the sword was cast into water as a provision for the netherworld, either on the part of the own-er himself or posthumously (Torbrügge 1970-1971: 121; Bradley 1990: 99-107). Having said that, we should not neglect the powerful symbol-ic meaning of water, which may at least in part be connected to the concept of transition in burial rituals. One of the probable burials into running water, which usually leave no incontestable trac-es in the archaeological record, is represented by a group find of two spearheads and a sword from the Late Atlantic Bronze Age in the riverbed of the Sil near San Esteban in Galicia, the composi-tion of which corresponds to the full set of arms of Late Celto-Iberian warriors (Almagro-Gorbea 1996: 45, Fig. 2). The possibility of the swords having being deposited into the riverbed within a burial ritual is indicated also by their special treat-ment in certain burials on land, where the arms were either hung or set apart from other grave goods. W. Torbrügge states, as one of such exam-ples, the grave from the later period of the Urnfield Culture in the cemetery at Singen am Hohentwiel in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, where the sword was put on the wooden lid of a grave pit containing an urn and numerous ceram-ic vessels (Torbrügge 1996: 575).

The presence of the sword from the vicinity of

Gornje Pijavško in the shallow water area at the end of the bend could also indicate a ritual act ad-vantageous for river crossings, as it seems likely for an important part of individual finds7 and larg-er complexes of Bronze Age weapons from fords or other characteristic water-crossing spots8. This phenomenon was connected by some researchers with ritual duels known from the legends of the Celts from the modern British Isles (Louis 1954). The Ulster Cycle, a collection of Old and Middle Irish tales, mentions a hero by the name of Cú Chulainn, who used a gaé bolg, a spear-like weapon, in two such duels. The spear, received by the hero from the hands of the water spirit, had magical powers only while in water. The weapon once lost in battle was not permitted to be re-trieved, since it was consecrated to the spirit who offered him the weapon in the first place (Wehrberger & Wieland 1999: 241). Parallels to the Celtic duels in fords can be found in the cus-tom of seeking justice (Holmgang) in the Nordic sagas and legal codices. In its original sense, the expression refers to a duel on an island or a reef, from where only one of the participants, accord-ing to the saga of Egill Skallagrimsson, a Viking skald from the 10th century, could return alive (Torbrügge 1996: 578, 579). With the Germanic peoples, such encounters usually took place at full moon, often on a river island (Holm). Although attractive, interpretations of this sort concerning water finds of swords from the Bronze and Late Iron Ages remain without firm archaeo-logical proof, since they are negated by the scar-city of documented traces of blows on the blades, as well as a high percentage of swords in their scabbards, which does not correspond with either an offensive or defensive stance (Dumont 2002: 161, 162). Possible exceptions are the (Late?) La



Tène rapiers with bulbous pommels (Knollenknaufschwert), known almost exclusive-ly from riverbeds in eastern France and southern Germany, some of which show damage that was doubtlessly inflicted in battle (Wehrberger & Wieland 1999: 237-241, Fig. 2). One of the rare individually found bronze swords from the south-eastern Alpine area with documented intentional damage is a solid-hilted sword of the Schwaig type from Tultschnig (Čanjče) near Klagenfurt (Celovec) in Carinthia. The tip of this sword bent and broke off due to high stress, probably caused by pressure against stone (Gleirscher 1992: 9, Figs 1,2).

An interesting thesis on weapons from river-beds was proposed by P. Lebel in the 1950s. Based on numerous spearheads and other weap-ons from the area of the paved passage across the Marne at Brasles (dép. Aisne), he inferred duels on rivers that formed natural barriers between the areas of different communities (Lebel 1953). J. Lavrsen also tied her study on water finds of pre-historic metal weapons from the rivers of north-ern Italy in 1982 to the concept of a border river. She proposed that Bronze Age swords usually ap-pear on the edges of main settlement areas, while concentrations of swords in the River Sile led her to ask herself whether it perhaps represented a border river (Lavrsen 1982: 20).

The relatively fragmentary state of knowledge on the spatial and chronological structure of the settlement in the wider surroundings of Krško prevents us from forming better founded infer-ences in connection with the possible reasons be-hind the deposition of swords as mentioned above, although their concentration in a topo-graphically prominent passage from the narrow valley of the Sava into the open flat area of the

Krško polje is not surprising. The importance of this passage for communication is further under-lined by an, as yet, unlocalized settlement, which was accompanied by the Bronze Age cemetery at Žadovinek (Lazar 1992), as well as by the re-mains of an early settlement at Dunaj near Mladevine (ANSl: 260), opposite of the hill topped by Castle Brestanica, and Stari grad near Krško, from where the most direct control over the entry into the Sava gorge was possible.

List 11. Arco, Prov. Trento, Alto Adige. From the riverbed of the

Sarca. L. 45.5 cm; hilt l. 11.2 cm (Bianco Peroni 1970: 34, Pl. 10: 68). Fig. 4: 2.

2. Verona, Borgo S. Pancrazio, Prov. Verona, Veneto. From the riverbed of the Adige. L. 47.6 cm; hilt l. 12.4 cm (Marinis 1984: 46,47, Fig. 45: c).

3. Nogara, Pila del Brancón. Prov. Verona, Veneto. Hoard. L. 54.7 cm; hilt l. 11.2 cm (Salzani 1994: 83, Fig. 1: 3).

4. S. Antonino, Ricchetti sandpit, Prov. Treviso, Veneto. From the riverbed of the Sile. L. 42.0 cm; hilt l. 11.7 cm (Bianco Peroni 1970: 34, Pl. 10: 70).

5. S. Antonino, Nardellotto sandpit, Prov. Treviso, Veneto. From the riverbed of the Sile. L. 52.5 cm; hilt l. 13.05 cm (Bianco Peroni 1970: 34, Pl. 10: 71). Fig. 4: 4.

6. Este, Canevedo, Prov. Padova, Veneto. Circumstance of discovery unknown. L. 46.0 cm; hilt l. 11.7 cm (Bianco Peroni 1970: 34, Pl. 10: 69).

7. Malcantone. Prov. Piacenza. Emilia-Romagna. From the riverbed of the Po. L. 47.4 cm; hilt l. 10.5 cm (Marini Calvani 1997: 726, Fig. 429: 1).

8. Genf. From the bed of the left branch of the Rhône. L. 47.1 cm; hilt l. 12.1 cm (Schauer 1970: 87, Pl. 43: 292). Fig. 4: 3.

9. Genf. From the riverbed of the Rhône. Pres. l. 35.1 cm (Schauer 1970: 87, Pl. 43: 293).

10. Le Coudray-Montceaux, dép. Essone. From the river-bed of the Seine. Pres. l. 44.5 cm; hilt l. 11.8 cm (Mohen 1977: 93, No. 233). Fig. 4: 1.

11. Corbeil, dép. Essone. From the riverbed of the Seine. L. 54.6 cm; hilt l. 12.8 cm (Mohen 1977: 93, No. 234). Fig. 4: 5.


278 Andrej Gaspari

12. Unknown site, dép. Essone. L. 59.0 cm; hilt l. 124 cm (Mohen 1977: 93, No. 235).

13. Belleville, dép. Rhône. From the riverbed of the Saône. L. 58.5 cm; hilt l. 11.8 cm (Bonnamour 1990: 33, Fig. 19: 23).

14. Port Gulliot, dép. Rhône. From the riverbed of the Saône. L. ca 49.6 cm; hilt l. 11.8 cm (Bonnamour 1969: 21, 22, Pl. 25: 38).

15. Unknown site. Kept at the Museé de Langres, dép. Haute-Marne. L. 45.0 cm; hilt l. 12.8 cm (Mouton 1954: 48, Pl. 5: 30).

16. Unknown site in France. Blackmore Collection in Salisbury. L. ca 42.5 cm (Oakeshott 1960: 27, Fig. 4).

17. Ardetschitza-graben bei Rosenbach, Gde. St. Jakob im Rosenthal. Circumstances of discovery unknown (ra-vine of the stream Weißenbach/Bela or unknown hoard from Carinthia). Pres. l. 22 cm; hilt l. 11.7 cm (Foltiny 1964: 42, Fig. 1: 3; Schauer 1970: 87, Pl. 43: 291).

18. Gornje Pijavško, obč. Krško. From the riverbed of the Sava. L. 49.6 cm; hilt l. 12.4 cm.

19. Salaš Noćajski, obč. Sremska Mitrovica. Hoard. Three fragments of a sword. Pres. l. ca. 19.3 + 18.7 cm; hilt l. 13.5 cm (Harding 1995: 18, Pl. 3: 16).

Notes:1 I would sincerely like to thank Marija and Tomaž Boltin

for allowing me to publish the sword. I also thank Matic Brenk for providing information on the find.

2 Rafko Urankar took two samples, 1mm in diameter, from the bell-shaped widening of the hilt. The metallographic analysis in the ICP-AES technique was conducted by Dr. Alenka Kocijan from the Institute of Metals and Technology (IMT) within the research programme P6-0283 of the National Museum of Slovenia, entitled Movable Archaeological Heritage: Archaeological and Archaeometric Research, led by Dr. Neva Trampuž Orel. I would like to thank all, especiallly Dr. Trampuž Orel, for allowing me to publish the results of the analysis.

3 Bianco Peroni 1970: 33, 35. The date of the Terontola type is provided by swords from a Bd D grave unit from Baierdorf in Lower Austria (Schauer 1971: Pl. 44: 299). This approximate determination is supported by a less well preserved example conditionally ascribed to the type, from the Canegrate cemetery in Lombardy, where burial took place, according to Bianco Peroni, exclu-

sively in the bronzo recente phase (Bianco Peroni 1970: 35, Pl. 11: 79).

4 This characteristic is visible also with some swords of the Biandronno type, which are distinguished from the ex-amples treated here only by a thickening on the hilt tang and the absence of rivet holes. It is also revealing that the areas of distribution of the Arco and Biandronno sword types do not overlap, but are adjacent (Bianco Peroni 1970: 36-39, Pl. 12: 83-86; cf Cupitò 2000: 112, Fig. 5).

5 Today the cave appears completely uninhabitable. According to the explanation by Dr. F. Leben, water gushed into the cave some time after the excavation, which almost completely washed away the layers with archaeological content. For this information I would kindly like to thank Mag. Draško Josipovič.

6 The fact that practically no non-metal finds are known from the Sava from the archaeological periods probably does not signify their absence, but rather attests to the poorer conditions for their preservation.

7 One of the clearest examples from the surrounding area is a sword with a hilt plate uncovered still in its scabbard in the riverbed of the Dalmatian Cetina, in the area of the Mali Drinić ford near Trilj (Milošević 1999: Fig. 2; Harding 1995: 58, Pl. 24: 195).

8 Such a background for the present-day territory of Slovenia is particularly likely for the site in the riverbed of the Sava near Medvode (cf Šinkovec 1996: 156-162, Figs 16,17; Gaspari 2007: 241).

Bibliography:Almagro-Gorbea, M., 1996, Sacred Places and Cults of

Late Bronze Age Tradition in Celtic Hispania. In P. Schauer (ed.), Archäologische Forschungen zum Kultgeschehen in der jüngeren Bronzezeit und frühen Eisenzeit Alteuropas. Ergebnise eines Kolloquiums in Regensburg 4.-7. Oktober 1993. Regensburger Beiträge zur prähistorischen Archäologie 2, 43-79, Regensburg-Bonn.

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