Large Dagger

1 of 1

Artist
Name	Unknown
Basic Info
Period	Bronze Age, Early
Created in	Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Anatolia
Century	3rd millennium BCE
Culture	Anatolian
Dimensions	17.1 x 2.7 cm (6 3/4 x 1 1/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This flat, triangular blade has a central midrib that is uniform in width from tip to tang (1). The blade has slightly rounded shoulders. The tang is relatively wide with a slight taper and is broken at the end. There is a circular perforation at the center of the tang for securing it to a handle.
 
NOTES:
 
1. Compare M. Comstock and C. C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Greenwich, CT, 1971) 392-93, nos. 539-41; and J. Thimme, ed., Kunst und Kultur Sardiniens vom Neolithikum bis zum Ende der Nuraghenzeit, exh. cat. Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe; Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin (Karlsruhe, 1980) 413-15, nos. 218-25.
 
Lisa M. Anderson

TechnicalDetails

Chemical Composition

Technical Observations

The patina is dark brown with patches of raised green corrosion and spots of underlying red. Large areas of bright metal are visible. The rough line of the sharpened edge is the result of losses due to corrosion. There are also losses to the top end of the tang. Long, crude scratches and chatter marks throughout are the result of mechanical cleaning. 
 
The blade was probably cast and then refined and hardened by hammering. Although the object’s surface was damaged by cleaning, the refined shape indicates the surface was probably finely finished. The hole in the tang is poorly preserved, and it is not clear if it was drilled or punched.
 
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of David Gordon Mitten in memory of W. C. Burriss Young