Presentation: Roman or Renaissance? A metallurgical investigation of a folding knife with a puzzling iconography

Beskrivelse

The popularity of metal detectors in Denmark results in new types of find on a regular basis. One such find was a complete example of a folding knife. The knife consists of to copper-alloy side plates riveted together around a rusty iron blade. The figural handle had an enigmatic standing figure, that no one could identify.
The opinions were split: Renaissance or Roman? The knife type seemed Roman, but despite a thorough search in articles, exhibitions, collection catalogues and numerous e-mail requests around all of Europe, not a single parallel to this motive had been found in a Roman context.
Suddenly a new fragment of a similar knife was found by a Danish metal detectorist, and as this one actually looked almost recent, it felt safe to expose it to metallurgical investigations. Multiple chemical as well as lead-isotope analysis were performed on the fragmented side plate and on an in-situ rivet to clarify it’s composition and possible provenance. The analysis confirmed it to be a high zinc brass that is highly comparable and consistent with published chemical and isotopic data from Roman brasses, especially Early Roman brass analyses. But does this make it bullet proof Roman?

Periode	31 aug. 2024
Begivenhedstitel	EAA 2024 Rome: Annual Meeting, European Association of Archaeologists
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Placering	Rom, ItalienVis på kort
Grad af anerkendelse	International