Sword Sunday #46 "‘What the heck?" Amateur archaeologist finds a sword...and a lot more

While most archaeologists are professionals (or students there too) in their fields, there is also a huge number of  average people who enjoy digging for artifacts in their spare time. Carrie Hadaway, of Plymouth Massachusetts is one such person, and one reporter went so far as to say she is is basically living on top of ancient artifacts.

Included in her finds are stone tools that have been described as not being native to her local area, as arrowheads that reportedly represent several different indigenous tribes known to the area in the pre-colonial period.  

But arguably, one of the more facilitating finds of late was, (no surprise to my regular readers) what looks to be a 150 year old practice sword that was likely made by a local blacksmith. 

“I dug down a couple of feet and there it was,” she told the local paper. “I grabbed it and held it over my head and yelled, ‘Excalibur!’ I have a different vibe than most people. I was running around yelling how I found a sword, and my kids are like, ‘Yeah, Mom. Whatever.’”

Now, while details photos of the sword are not widely available at the moment, what we do see is enough to inform about the weapon. 

The 'blade" is round, indicating a practice weapon, or perhaps a competitive fencing blade for a college student or athlete of the day. The metalwork is not complex, but is also not amateurish either. The corners and joins look to be clean, well joined, and consistent. it is definitively a later period design, clearly mimicking a lightweight style of blade, something we would modernly call a rapier. 

His Lordship Ivo Blackhawk
Kingdom of Ansteorra
"Long Live the King!"