Posted on 05/10/2022 7:09:40 AM PDT by Red Badger
The ancient daggers. (Caricola et al., Scientific Reports, 2022)
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Prehistoric daggers long thought to be non-functional ceremonial objects interred in warriors' graves were actually used to slaughter and butcher animals during the early fourth millennium BCE, a new study suggests.
Numerous copper-alloy daggers have been unearthed in Bronze Age warriors' graves across Europe, along with other weapons, and archaeologists previously speculated that the daggers may have served as status symbols.
But scientists used a new analysis method on a set of 10 daggers, found in Pragatto, Italy in 2017, to reveal evidence that the tools had a more practical purpose.
The new analysis "enabled the world's first extraction of organic residues" which revealed "for the first time, how these objects were used, for what tasks, and on what materials," researchers from Newcastle University in the UK said in a statement.
The 10 daggers, along with a map showing the area of their discovery. (Newcastle University)
The new research process uses a type of diagnostic dye called Pico-Sirius Red solution (PSR) to stain any organic residue that remains on the daggers, and scientists then examine this under a variety of different microscopes (including optical, digital and electron) to determine if any remains are still on the blade and if they are likely human or animal.
Through this process, the research team was able to determine that there were traces of type I and type II collagen (a protein found in skin, tissue and bone, according to Healthline), bone, muscle and bundle tendon fibers from numerous animals, the researchers wrote in the study, published April 12 in the journal Scientific Reports.
This suggests that the knives were used multiple times for different purposes, including slaughtering livestock and carving meat from the bone.
The researchers then independently validated their findings with a microwear analysis (a process of recording wear traces on artifacts, according to Texas Beyond History) on butchered animal remains from other Bronze Age sites, as these bones frequently have metal cut marks on them, the team wrote in the paper.
The team also utilized the skills of a bronzesmith and obtained a large number of replicas of different Bronze Age daggers and knives. They then compared the residue on these with that of the original daggers and saw that they matched.
"The research has revealed that it is possible to extract and characterize organic residues from ancient metals," Andrea Dolfini, a senior lecturer in later prehistory at Newcastle University said in the statement.
"The possibilities are endless, and so are the answers that the new method can and will provide in the future."
And lets be real...everyone was a warrior. Why in some graves and not others? You really want to mess up a table setting for 6??
I don’t know if they’ve ever come to a decision as to what these were used for, but they certainly went to great effort to decorate some of them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carved_stone_balls
They noticed the etching on them. Turns out it was just a set of daggers from “Cave Creek & Beyond”.
That is because "Status" is the new "toy".
It is part of the postmodernist line.
It is a bunch of hooey as anyone who has practices primitive craft will tell you. There is so much to do to keep you in just the basics that making useless status symbols would have been way down on the list of things to do.
Put one of those in a sock and it’d make a better weapon than a bicycle lock.
Just don’t tell any left-wing professors about this find.
Exactly, and I'd bet animals weren't the only thing that got slaughtered with those sharp, pointy things either.
The right to keep and bear arms didn't start in 1776.
Making useless status symbols would have been NON-EXISTENT on the list of things to do.........................
How the heck did they keep copper knives sharp enough for such work?
I guess the “alloy” part of copper alloy is important?
Wow. High Art...
I’ll stick with the Neolithic aesthetic.
“You get all this but wait there’s MORE!”
I wqnder what all that bronze age jewelry was for.
[They were clearly used as can openers.]
You are mistaken. The fine knives and daggers used to open cans were found in the Philippines.
I told my (filipina) wife that using my cutlery to open cans was a serious offense. I should have mentioned that chopping ice, bone, and frozen meat was also frowned upon.
Nonsense, these are from warrior cultures. They did all of their shopping at Bloodbath and Beyond.
LOL! Clever.
Give any 10 year old boy a non-functional ceremonial object that looks
even remotely like a sword, knife or dagger, ether now, 100 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, and they’re gonna stick and slash something or someone.
Yup.
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