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."
My knife comes out of my pocket 10-12 times a day for a variety of things...upto and including picking my teeth.
She’s pretty, for a cave girl.
Is that Bertha, Betty, Bella or Bathsheba?
They were included for free in your NRA membership renewal.
Just another one of the famous Butt Sisters..................
I would suggest the daggers are actually spear points.
Some most likely are, some are swords and some are daggers...........
CEREMONIAL
is that another word for we do not know what it was used for???
That another word for “we do not know our ass from a hole in the ground.”................
There can be speculation but the relative same sizes and similarity to flint and even clovis points tends toward spear points.
A razor sharp flint flake is superior to any thing made of copper for cutting
Daggers are used for dagging. Everybody knows that.
They may have been dual purpose tools.
Like a Swiss Army knife...................
They were used to turn cave dudes into cave chicks
But it was an "after everything else is done".
Dye, beads, jewelry, carvings of various things like bone, wood or stone. They did do things like that.
But a bronze dagger would have required probably a month of work to make and it would not have been something you could pick up and put down. It would have required taking at least two or more men off vital duties to make.
So something like that would have been for use.
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