Early Near Eastern Steel Swords

A Metallurgical Examination of Two Early Iron Swords From Luristan

“…* Their precise dating thus remains a matter of considerable conjecture, although most authors would agree that they are amongst the earliest iron weapons to be produced in quantity in the general context of the Near East. This type of sword has already evoked a considerable number of radiographic and metallographic studies [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Seven t such examinations are known to the authors: it might, in fact, seem that the present study is superfluous.…”

“…The method of construction employed in the making of this type of sword has also given rise to a considerable number of reports [1,3,4,6]. The more common type of weapon, of which our sword no.…”

“…In some instances it is not even possible to ascertain whence the samples for examination were taken. One analyst (Ellis [3]), however, in a sample taken from the cutting edge of the blade, observed that while the core of his sample contained pearlite, the surface was of more or less pure ferrite.…”

“…Thus, five analysts found the weapons they were examining to be of steel, although two circumlocations are worth comment. Naumann [4] uses the phrase 'wrought steel': Sneyers [3] goes even further and speaks of 'heterogeneous carburized iron'. The aim of both writers is, presumably, to ensure that the reader is aware that there is no intention to infer the use in antiquity of the homogeneous type of steel obtained by the indirect process of manufacture in which the metal is obtained by removing some carbon (decarburizing) from cast iron, a process commonly referred to as fining.…”

Puntas de flecha orientalizantes en contextos urbanos del Sureste de la Península Ibérica: Peña Negra, La Fonteta y Meca / Early Iron Age arrowheads in urban contexts from the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula: Peña Negra, La Fonteta and Meca

“…Este tipo de puntas responde a un complejo y sofisticado proceso técnico de fabricación (Maryon, 1961;Elayi y Planas, 1995) mediante moldes de varias piezas y para el que se ha planteado su producción local, evidenciada por la gran dispersión peninsular (Sánchez Meseguer, 1974: 101;Quesada, 1989: 164 y 172;Id., 1997: 446-447;Ferrer, 1994: 38), sobre todo de sus tipos más sencillos como el 11a (Mancebo y Ferrer, 1988-89: 328). Lamentablemente, es poca la información directa que poseemos, pues únicamente hay noticias de un molde conservado en el Museo de Barcelona, que pudiera proceder de Emporion o Ibiza (Sánchez Meseguer, 1974: 101;González Prats, 1982a: 260), al tiempo que faltan productos semielaborados que pudieran aportar información al respecto.…”