I am hoping someone may be able to assist with an
attribution of a very crude iron dagger. My
collection focuses on weaponry of Western
Asia, mostly from the Early Iron Age I and II. So, this dagger (see the "Dagger Image" pic), which is presumably
medieval European, is outside of my collecting
area. It was an impulse buy. At a grand total, with shipping, of $17, I couldn’t refuse. It was purchased from a seller who mostly lists antiques rather than
antiquities.
His listing was unhelpful and probably fanciful: “2,000 yr. old ancient
Roman iron spear point”.
The piece measures 10”. As you see, it’s badly rusted and corroded. It has a very slender form. The tang-like grip is long, narrow, and tapered. There is no cross-guard where the blade meets the grip. The shoulders are rounded. The blade has straight edges that taper toward the point. The blade is thin, with no midrib. It is just slightly thicker through the center than at the edges. There is a disk/washer-like pommel, well-formed, of darker metal – perhaps patinated bronze. The grip/tang is embedded in it.
While the pommel might prompt an association with 15th/16th century “rondel” daggers (see additional pic with examples), the lack of a cross-guard and much cruder form of my piece lead me more towards –
perhaps – an earlier seax, maybe Anglo-Saxon(?), 7th – 11th century – or, at least, something of that ilk/period. I provide examples of those here too. I notice that in the detail image of the pommel (at the bottom of the “Seaxes” picture), that the disk – which can be seen with a decorative
cap of some sort – has a coppery color. It would seem that at least some iron seaxes, then, did have copper or AE pommels – which would seem consistent with what I’ve got.
But, really, I don’t know. I am at a loss. For all I know it could be an improvised dagger of sorts, created from an ancient or
medieval spear with a long tang that someone, at some point in its
history, embedded in a disk of bronze.
Opinions most welcome and appreciated.