‘Replica’ sword is really 3,000 years old and may have been used in battle

[alex revision]

‘Replica’ sword is really 3,000 years old and may have been used in battle

Jan 24, 2023

A “replica” sword that has been part of the collection at the Field Museum in Chicago for nearly a century is actually a 3,000-year-old artifact from the Bronze Age.

Curators made the shocking discovery while preparing for an upcoming exhibition called “First Kings of Europe.” The 3-foot-long (91 centimeters) bronze sword had been in storage since the museum acquired the weapon in the 1930s after it was pulled from the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, during an excavation, Field Museum representatives said in a statement.

It was a tradition for Bronze Age warriors to toss their swords and armor into a body of water “to commemorate lost loved ones or a battle,” the statement said.

https://www.livescience.com/bronze-a...entic-artifact

[joeylowsac]

It sounds a bit peculiar. Especially this claim, "Hungarian archaeologists working alongside Field Museum scientists asked to see the replica sword that had been retrieved from the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary in the 1930s.", if they knew it was found in the Danube why would they think it was a replica. I've never heard of archaeologists finding replica swords. How many bronze replica swords were there in Budapest in the 1930s, or even all of Hungary? I doubt there are enough there today to expect to find one in a river. This claim also struck me as strange - "Had this sword been known to be authentic earlier in the planning of the exhibition, it would have been included in the Bronze Age era section of the show,..." "Instead, the newly-authenticated sword will be installed in the Field Museum’s main hall as a preview for the new exhibition." So there is no way for them to add one more sword to a show that doesn't even begin for more than two months? They managed to get it on exhibit in the main hall in no time at all. The timing is also remarkably convenient.
Hopefully someone will scrutinise these claims. The sword is 91cm, that's several inches longer than the longest Bronze Age sword I've ever seen.