🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Bronze sword/dagger kicked up onto a beach from a storm.

[Jlefebvre]

Can anyone identify this bronze sword/ dagger that was kicked up on a beach and located while metal detecting on a beach in Pemaquid Maine? It was brought to a local museum who examined it and believed it was really old. There are islands not far from this location that have possible Norse inscriptions on the rocks. A Norse coin was also located north of this location on another beach. Can this be of this era?

 

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[creskol]

Looks like an old "push knife."

 

[villagenut]

I'm liking it a lot whatever it is.....Looks old for sure

 

[Peyton Manning]

You found it?
Anymore to the story?

 

[Jlefebvre]

You found it?
Anymore to the story?

A guy I detect with found it. We had a large storm come in and tear up the beach. The last few days we have been finding lots of old coins there. The sword was found down at the low tide mark in 6 inches of sand. This beach gets heavily detected. It probably should be XRF tested but it appears to be expensive. I’ve reached out to the state archaeologist and waiting back. A short distance from this beach was the site of the Norse coin discovery. ,at or may not be relevant. The sword was taken to a local blacksmith who said it may at one time have been longer and broke.

 

[pepperj]

A guy I detect with found it. We had a large storm come in and tear up the beach. The last few days we have been finding lots of old coins there. The sword was found down at the low tide mark in 6 inches of sand. This beach gets heavily detected. It probably should be XRF tested but it appears to be expensive. I’ve reached out to the state archaeologist and waiting back. A short distance from this beach was the site of the Norse coin discovery. ,at or may not be relevant. The sword was taken to a local blacksmith who said it may at one time have been longer and broke.

XRF testing is really available at any metal brokerage house in your area.
Takes less than 1 minute to have a test.
A brokerage that deals in the red metals will be better that the white metals (Red is copper content) (White is aluminum/stainless/nickel alloys)
If you were close I could direct you to the right tester free.

 

[Jlefebvre]

XRF testing is really available at any metal brokerage house in your area.
Takes less than 1 minute to have a test.
A brokerage that deals in the red metals will be better that the white metals (Red is copper content) (White is aluminum/stainless/nickel alloys)
If you were close I could direct you to the right tester free.

Thanks for the info. I started that search this morning. University of Maine has a testing lab. I will contact them.

 

[pepperj]

Thanks for the info. I started that search this morning. University of Maine has a testing lab. I will contact them.

The testing is non-invasive as a guniis held on the object for a few seconds.
I've had thousands of pieces tested over the years.
This was a new way of testing when I had the metal company.
Now it's a regular tool for most yards to determine what category the scrap will go into.

 

[traveller777]

Did the Norse use bronze for tools and weapons by the time they had sailed as far as Greenland and Vinland? I am no expert but pretty sure by that time they used steel weapons. Maybe they had bronze for ceremony. I am thinking not Norse unless someone can say they used bronze for ceremony. Some really knowledgeable folks on here to help. Nice find no matter what.

 

[bowwinkles]

The tool marks in the corners gives me the thought that it may be more modern than the description. May be a spear point to do with fishing or a knife with a leather wrapped handle also designed to kill fish.

 

[traveller777]

The tool marks in the corners gives me the thought that it may be more modern than the description. May be a spear point to do with fishing or a knife with a leather wrapped handle also designed to kill fish.

Possibly. Makes sense.

 

[Gare]

Can they take it to a metal shop and get it read with a XRF SCANNER (detector) and maybe get more information on it ?

 

[traveller777]

Ok... what you MAY have found is a "whalers spear tip / spike"... or some other fishing implement from years gone.

There were many designs and this one is missing the moving parts.

Makes sense

 

[unclemac]

a couple of things... first, a bronze artifact from the bronze age found in America would be HUGE news ...H-U-G-E. The tiniest broken bronze scrap found in Alaska during a dig was EPIC! next, your knife seems rather crude in form and shape compared with all other examples I found while searching. being found on a beach, such an item always makes me think something nautical....from the 19th century. cool find in any case!

 

[traveller777]

a couple of things... first, a bronze artifact from the bronze age found in America would be HUGE news ...H-U-G-E. The tiniest broken bronze scrap found in Alaska during a dig was EPIC! next, your knife seems rather crude in form and shape compared with all other examples I found while searching. being found on a beach, such an item always makes me think something nautical....from the 19th century. cool find in any case!

Good post. I think Arc is pretty close on it as a harpoon.

And you are 110% correct on bronze artifact. I do believe the late Bronze Age ended around 500 BCE. If a relic from that age found here it is world news.

 

[traveller777]

Good post. I think Arc is pretty close on it as a harpoon.

And you are 110% correct on bronze artifact. I do believe the late Bronze Age ended around 500 BCE. If a relic from that age found here it is world news.

Still a very nice find. Interesting.

 

[ARC]

I revisited this morning to try and dig in on this... and i have to say... i may be way off on my original thought...

You might have something really special here... i did some research and can find nothing similar other than ancient pieces in design and shape.

 

[Jlefebvre]

I revisited this morning to try and dig in on this... and i have to say... i may be way off on my original thought...

You might have something really special here... i did some research and can find nothing similar other than ancient pieces in design and shape.

Thank you and everyone else here who responded. I’ve been researching this crude sword as well and have only found a few the resemble this one a little bit. It’s a mystery to me. It peaked my interest as possibly being Norse as we had a Norse penny discovered here in Maine not very far from this location. I think the next step will be XRF testing.

 

[unclemac]

show us the penny

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

show us the penny

Google "Goddard Coin" - found in Maine in 1957 but the provenance is somewhat uncertain.

As far as a dagger? 2-1/2" isn't much of a griping area.