An ancient metal blade from more than 3,000 years ago has been discovered in Germany.
The bronze sword with an octagonal hilt is so well-preserved it “almost still shines” according to archeologists.
The sword, which is thought to date to the end of the 14th century B.C., or the middle of the Bronze Age, was discovered during digs in Noerdlingen, between Nuremberg and Stuttgart in southern Germany, according to Bavaria’s State Office for the Preservation of Monuments.
Inside the burial site were three people—a man, a woman, and a boy. It is thought they were interred quickly after each other with the bronze artifacts.
Whether the three were related to one another is as yet unknown.
Mathias Pfeil, office head, explained that “the sword and the burial still need to be examined so that our archeologists can categorize this find more precisely.”
“But we can already say that the state of preservation is extraordinary. A find like this is very rare,” he continued.
Although it is uncommon, swords from the time have been discovered in isolated finds or in burial mounds that were excavated in the 19th century, according to the agency.
