Small 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	12.2 x 2 cm (4 13/16 x 13/16 in.)
Harvard Museum
Department	Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Division	Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact	am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Context

This long thin blade does not have a defined midrib, but it is thicker in the center of the blade than on the edges (1). The blade edges are almost parallel, tapering only slightly to the rounded point. A raised horizontal rib where the tang and blade meet is more prominent on one side than on the other. The tang tapers slightly to a rounded end. There is a circular perforation in 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

Most of the surface is covered with white, chalky accretions. At the edges, where the accretions have chipped off, the patina is a dark brown. Very small areas of green, red, and some bright metal are visible. The rough line of the sharpened edge is the result of losses from corrosion. There is no evidence that the piece has been cleaned.
 
The blade was probably cast and then refined and hardened by hammering. The area surrounding the hole in the tang is concave on one side and slightly convex on the other, which may indicate that it was punched. 
 
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)

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