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The "ceremonial" forms of swords and daggers—that is, bladed weapons decorated with precious metals—occupy a special place in the culture of the early nomads. For the Scythian period, we know at least 76 ceremonial objects from 61 sites, corresponding to 3.5% of the total sample. More than half of the finds come from the northern Black Sea region (mainly Ukraine). Ceremonial forms are represented in all morphological categories (from daggers to extra-long swords), but their distribution is slightly different. Most akinakai belong to the average and long swords. Most Scythian akinakai in Eurasia belong to the dagger and short sword groups. Although most Scythian swords and daggers fall into the Middle Scythian period, most ceremonial forms belong to the last phase of Classical Scythian culture. This period is a veritable "golden autumn" of Scythia with its huge royal burial mounds and abundance of gold, perfectly illustrating our argument that conspicuous consumption coincides with periods of political and social instability. After the peak of the proliferation of ceremonial akinakai in the third quarter of the 4th century BC, we observe a generation later the complete disappearance of Classical Scythian culture, along with its characteristic weapons, horse harnesses, and animal style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “ceremonial” forms of swords and daggers—that is, bladed weapons decorated with precious metals—occupy a special place in the culture of the early nomads. For the Scythian period, we know at least 76 ceremonial objects from 61 sites, corresponding to 3.5% of the total sample. More than half of the finds come from the northern Black Sea region (mainly Ukraine). Ceremonial forms are represented in all morphological categories (from daggers to extra-long swords), but their distribution is slightly different. Most akinakai belong to the average and long swords. Most Scythian akinakai in Eurasia belong to the dagger and short sword groups. Although most Scythian swords and daggers fall into the Middle Scythian period, most ceremonial forms belong to the last phase of Classical Scythian culture. This period is a veritable “golden autumn” of Scythia with its huge royal burial mounds and abundance of gold, perfectly illustrating our argument that conspicuous consumption coincides with periods of political and social instability. After the peak of the proliferation of ceremonial akinakai in the third quarter of the 4th century BC, we observe a generation later the complete disappearance of Classical Scythian culture, along with its characteristic weapons, horse harnesses, and animal style.

Transylvania and Wallachia, like the Caucasus and the Middle Dnieper, can be considered the centers of the genesis of Scythian-bladed weapons, especially in the Early Scythian period. Furthermore, the early Scythian time was the period of the creative reinvention of the Gudermes and Kelermes traditions, which led to the appearance in Transylvania of the Posmuș and Deleni types of akinakai, and in Wallachia – of the Ferigile type of the second half of the 7th – the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. The distribution of the early Scythian swords and daggers allows us to conclude that their penetration into the Carpathian-Danube region took place on two main routes: along the northern border of the forest-steppe to Transylvania at the initial stage, and later – along the southern border between steppe and forest-steppe, through the Bărăgan plain to the South Carpathians. Moreover, one of the earliest finds of an akinakes with an antenna pommel (Frata type of the second half of the 7th century BC) was also found in Transylvania.

Three Sarmatian daggers found during plowing a field at the foot of Toratau Mount in the Southern Urals are published. Their detailed description is given. It is stated that two daggers bear the signs of the early Sarmatian type of bladed weapons. They date back to the 3rd–2nd centuries BC, their discovery confirms the fact of active resettlement by the Sarmatians of the right bank of the Belaya River at this time. The third dagger bears a number of archaic features, has close analogies among random finds in the Prokhorov cemetery and on the left bank of the Belaya River. It dates back to the 4th–3rd centuries BC. It is noted that the left bank of the Belaya River is the main territory of settlement of early nomads in the Southern Urals. The description of the topography of the daggers found in the site is given. It is shown that according to its physical and geographical characteristics, this territory is a closed valley, bounded on all sides by the river, the Turatau and Kushtau Mountains, and gentle ridges running along the Belaya River. It is concluded that in this case, the “valley” version of the settlement of early nomads was implemented, as well as that the settlement of the right bank of the Belaya River occurred, apparently, from its left bank. This territory was a natural periphery of the settlement of nomads in the Southern Urals in the second half-end of the 1st millennium BC.

Arms produced in Adjara and Guria have long been barely described in Russian studies of Cauсasian historical arms, although there are numerous items of Adjarian and Gurian production in private and museum collections. The region of Adjara and Guria (located in the southwestern part of Georgia on the eastern coast of the Black Sea) included a part of historical territory of Shavsheti Machakheli, Adjara, Lower and Upper Guria, eastern Lazistan (currently part of Georgia) and a part of modern Turkey. There are numerous traces of medieval iron production by smelting local ores in the region. By the second half of the XVIII century, arms production had already been at a sufficiently high level. In the XIX century, there was a dozen arms production centres which were reflected in toponyms and surnames. Produced arms were sold both in local and external markets. Later, arms production was reduced and then completely disappeared due to three reasons: radical reforms in Ottoman Empire; a phenomenon of Muhajirism; increasing import of foreign arms which practically destroyed domestic trade. The author examines the history of arms production in Adjara and Guria, analyses its specific features arising from local political and religious factors and lists production centres.

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8 iron daggers of the advanced stage of the Prokhorov culture (III–II centuries BC), found in different years in the vicinity of the village of Tolbazy located in the forest-steppe of the Southern Urals (Republic of Bashkortostan, Aurgazinsky district) are published. It is shown that according to physical and geographical data, this area (about 15  15 km) is allocated to a single microdistrict located at the crest of the Bielsko-Urshak watershed, which has a width of more than 50 km at this point. The territory of the microdistrict is elevated (100 meters or more from the foot of elevation, 250 meters above sea level on average), it abounds with small lakes and springs on the top, with the sources of small watercourses on the slopes and it is surrounded by rivers on all sides. Most of the findings were made on the plateau or at the sources of small watercourses, some of them - in river valleys. It is concluded that this area can be considered as a separate honey cell, “nomadic parish” or summer dwelling complex, which is typical for the settlement system of early nomads to the north of the hills of Obshchiy Syrt. The nearest known honey cells are located at a distance of 5–12 km from Tolbazinsky district and the number of finds of bladed weapons of the mid-late I Millennium BC varies from 3–4 to 25 pieces. It is also shown that in the III–II centuries BC, the development of bladed weapons (swords and daggers with a straight cross quillion and a crescent-shaped pommel) among the nomads followed the line of standardization of earlier forms of the Southern Urals, the assimilation of individual innovations and imitation of samples with a ring-shaped pommel representing foreign culture for the region.

The archaeological landscape of the Lower Danube was changing with the importance of the Danube itself, which either became, or a cultural water¬shed, or an artery, connecting the ancient communities. In the Early Iron Age, it seems that the Danube did not become an invincible barrier for the spread of offensive weapons of Scythian origin. Moreover, Dobruja itself looks like a ter-ritory mastered by the Scythians, starting from the Archaic period. The Lower Danube group forms a separate “steppe” cultural assemblage together with the Lower Dniester, South Carpathian and South Danube groups, for which the spear became the main type of weapon. However, these preferences were re¬flected in the morphology of the Scythian akinakes. So, for this steppe or Dan-ube enclave, swords are more characteristic than daggers. Daggers are connected mainly with the forest-steppe part of the Carpathian-Dniester region and Transylvania.

This paper is about using ethnographic data and psychological theories to interpret the archeological remains from the 9,000-year-old Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. The main theme is to consider how the representations seen in murals and relief sculptures on the plastered walls of the Neolithic buildings, along with artifacts that include clay anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, might relate to the cultural structuring of personal developmental and emotional needs of the inhabitants. Using especially psychological arguments of fear and anxiety, the paper explores possible ritual practices that gave symbolic meaning to the Çatalhöyük domestic architecture and artifacts.

The authors of this article consider the relationship in European prehistory between the procurement of high-quality stones (for axeheads, daggers, and other tools) on the one hand, and the early mining, crafting, and deposition of copper on the other. The data consist of radiocarbon dates for the exploitation of stone quarries, flint mines, and copper mines, and of information regarding the frequency through time of jade axeheads and copper artefacts. By adopting a broad perspective, spanning much of central-western Europe from 5500 to 2000 bc, they identify a general pattern in which the circulation of the first copper artefacts was associated with a decline in specialized stone quarrying. The latter re-emerged in certain regions when copper use decreased, before declining more permanently in the Bell Beaker phase, once copper became more generally available. Regional variations reflect the degrees of connectivity among overlapping copper exchange networks. The patterns revealed are in keeping with previous understandings, refine them through quantification and demonstrate their cyclical nature, with additional reference to likely local demographic trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of X-ray fluorescence analysis carried out in the last years on silver objects from three different Cretan Early Minoan cemeteries, Hagia Photia Siteias, Kephala Petras, and Livari Skiadi, dated to ca. 3000 to 2800 BC. The classes of objects discussed in this paper comprise mainly daggers and jewelry pieces; other kinds of items, however, can also be included as comparisons. For this project various groups of copper-alloy and silver-alloy artifacts from Hagia Photia, from the Petras rock shelter, and from Livari have been analyzed. The silver-based objects of this period can be distributed into two groups according to their composition: unalloyed silver and alloys of silver and copper or silver and arsenical copper. The analyses of the metal finds, both of silver and of arsenical copper, from the three sites indicate their appurtenance to the same metallurgical tradition, common to the areas around the Black Sea, Anatolia, and the Near East, with similar metallurgical practice, esthetic choices, and styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the process of diffusion of bird-pair antenna-style daggers and swords in southern Manchuria, the Korean peninsula, and northern Kyushu, analyzing the distribution of the daggers and swords, classifying them, and establishing a chronology. The daggers are classified into three types and sub-divided based on blade, handle, and pommel characteristics. Each form was produced and used at different time periods and in different areas, emerging first in the Jilin-Changchun region, then expanding into the Northern Liao region, Pyongyang, and as far as Tsushima and northern Kyushu. The bird-pair antenna-style dagger of Northeast Asia is unlikely to have been a trade item imported from outside of the region. It is more likely a local development as indigenous cultures that manufactured mandolin-shaped or slender bronze daggers were influenced by the bronze cultures of northern Asia and Ordos, the upper part of the Yellow River. This new type of dagger possibly represented a symbolic or prestige good reflecting political or economic alliances within the Puyŏ state of southern Manchuria or the early Wiman Chosŏn state in Pyongyang or among the statelets of Pyŏnhan and Chinhan in the Yŏngnam region. The bird-pair antenna-style daggers eventually flourished in the Yŏngnam region, where a local style developed. These daggers in turn diffused via immigration and trade to Tsushima in the mid-first century B.C.E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Placing two innovative, high-profile stagings of Shakespeare in dialogue, this essay emphasises the power of re-citations, both as aural echoes and as tableaux, across dramatic genres. Building on Martin Luther King's self-quotation within his anti-Vietnam address, it reveals how the Compagnia de' Colombari's site-specific The Merchant of Venice, performed in the originary Jewish Ghetto, and the New York Public Theater's Julius Caesar, which created a national furore, each employed non-traditional casting and Shakespeare's Act 4 emphasis on threatened yet suspended male-on-male violence to create complex political theatre, addressing historical ethnic and racial inequalities within 'the fierce urgency of now'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The present study discusses five Bronze Age sandstone casting moulds from the Hatvan-Strázsa-hegy tell (Hungary, Heves County), which have been acquired by the Ministry of Defence Institute and Museum of Military History in the 1990s. One of the moulds is a semi-finished product, showing a negative of a dagger hilt pommel. The other four moulds were suitable to cast large triangular-shaped dagger blades and they can be arranged into two pairs, based on their dimensions and the outlines of their negatives. According to macroscopic observations, these finds have been used for a period of time, proving that advanced metallurgy was present on the Strázsa-hegy site during the Rei. Br. A. Besides they provide a chance for an evaluation of these significant objects that do not abound in parallels. The main goal of this paper is to discuss and reconstruct the life-cycle of daggers, based on macroscopic data obtained from the moulds and their parallel finds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the archaeological examinations of side guards of falchions or knife-shaped daggers, found in the remains of the extinct Saint George's Church in Gliwice Czechowice, Poland and states that they dated from the 15th century, as of January 2019.

In 2011, a barrow (no. 7) was excavated near the village of Purcari (Ștefan Vodă district, Republic of Moldova). The main Scythian burial contained the skeleton of a male, 30-35 years old, extended on the back, with the head to the W. In the SW part of the burial chamber, a Heraclea-type amphora, two iron spearheads and two javelins were placed. The amphora bears a stamp with the inscription “Eurydamos”, thus ascribing it to the so-called early manufacturing group (5th - late 4th century B.C.). An Attic black-glazed saltcellar with concave walls was located near the right shoulder. A pair of anatomically-shaped bronze greaves (cnemides) was found on the legs. On the chest of the deceased several fragments of iron plates were identified, which could have been the remains of a flat body armor made of leather, covered with iron plates. The burial also contained approx. 110 bronze arrowheads concentrated in different locations. The preliminary chronological analysis of the grave inventory shows that the most convenient chronological framework for this grave is the late 5th c. B.C. An akinakes-type iron sword decorated in zoomorphic style was placed across the hips, with the hilt in the left hand. The pommel extends on each side into two semi-abstract bird heads. Akinakes analogies are spread over a vast territory from the lower Danube to Southern Ural in 450-350 B.C. Ornithomorphic motifs in the design of Scythian akinakes appear in the early 6th c. BC. The specific shape of the pommel ornate with stylized bird heads (or claws of a bird of prey) and an eye at the bottom is the stylistic development of earlier pommel types decorated in a more realistic manner. This article sets out to gather swords and daggers with such stylistic traits in a separate type called Solokha type (after the famous Royal barrow with an akinakes of this type). In this paper we discuss the chronology of complexes with Solokha type akinakes and establish the main chronological limits for their wide distribution between 410—370 BC. Special attention is drawn to the stray finds of such swords and daggers, which spread from Bulgaria in the West to Tyumen in the East.

Dispatching rules can be automatically generated from scheduling data. This paper will demonstrate that the key to learning an effective dispatching rule is through the careful construction of the training data, {xi(k),yi(k)}k=1K∈D, where (i) features of partially constructed schedules xi should necessarily reflect the induced data distribution D for when the rule is applied. This is achieved by updating the learned model in an active imitation learning fashion; (ii) yi is labelled optimally using a MIP solver; and (iii) data need to be balanced, as the set is unbalanced with respect to the dispatching step k. Using the guidelines set by our framework the design of custom dispatching rules, for a particular scheduling application, will become more effective. In the study presented three different distributions of the job-shop will be considered. The machine learning approach considered is based on preference learning, i.e. which dispatch (post-decision state) is preferable to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Bronze Age II is a period during which there exists a contemporaneous usage of arsenic copper and tin bronze for metal weaponry production. In order to learn more about the alloys used in this period, the blades and rivets from 65 daggers of two significantly different types, which were discovered at the Rishon LeZion (RL) cemetery, Israel, were tested by the non‐destructive method of X‐ray fluorescence (XRF). The results reveal new knowledge of the alloys selected for dagger and rivet production, both of which represent fine examples of the Middle Bronze Age II Southern Levant in metal industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin-bronze makes its appearance in Southern Levant during the Early Bronze IV, the post-urban phase of the last centuries of the 3rd millennium BC, when arsenical copper was still the most widespread copper alloy. Only from the following Middle Bronze Age tin-bronze will be the utmost spread alloy. The adoption of tin as alloying metal purports new technological skills, and a changed trade supply system, through new routes, thanks to itinerant coppersmiths. The examination of dagger TS.14.143 found in an EB IV (2300-2000 BC) tomb at Jericho by mean of trace elements and Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction analyses, provided info about its metal composition and technology. The detection of tin, testified only by a few specimens at the site so far, allows some reflections about the beginning of diffusion tin-bronze, and the presence of a small-scale melting activity in the post-urban phase in the key-site of Jericho. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We show that the physical principle, 'the adjoint associates to each state a 'test' for that state', fully characterises the Hermitian adjoint for pure quantum theory, therefore providing the adjoint with operational meaning beyond its standard mathematical definition. Moreover, we demonstrate that for general process theories, which all admit a diagrammatic representation, this physical principle induces a diagrammatic reflection operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the history of Vekerzug Culture and new findings of the Scythian akinakai in Moravia, Czech Republic. It discusses on the discovery of bladed weapons, dagger, swords and various other archaeological innovations of the Scythian culture. It reports on the founded daggers from the period of Iron age and Scythian, and Lusatian culture, offering information on the various designs of daggers and weapons.

Die Schwerter in Südskandinavien und Norddeutschland wurden bisher zumeist aus einem typologischen Blickwinkel betrachtet. Deshalb werden im vorliegenden Artikel die Vollgriffschwerter der älteren nordischen Bronzezeit in Dänemark und Schleswig-Holstein aus einer herstellungstechnischen Perspektive unter Anwendung von makro- und mikroskopischer Autopsie, Röntgenuntersuchungen, Spurenelement- und Bleiisotopenanalysen untersucht. In Periode I kam das Schwert als Innovation über Importe von Schwertern der Gruppe Hajdúsámson-Apa nach Südskandinavien. Am Anfang imitierten nordische Handwerker diese Importe, wobei sie eine traditionelle massive Gusstechnik verwendeten. Erst im Laufe der späten Periode I wurden verschiedene Gusstechniken aus dem südlichen Mitteleuropa adaptiert und genutzt, um Stücke in Tradition der Hajdúsámson-Apa- and Valsømagle-Schwerter herzustellen. In Periode II entstanden die charakteristischen nordischen Vollgriffschwerter, die in Form, Verzierung und Technik jeweils sehr individuell ausfallen. Höchstwahrscheinlich wurden sie in einer größeren Anzahl von Werkstätten produziert; in manchen Fällen ist es sogar möglich, mehrere Schwerter einem Werkstattkreis, einer Werkstatt oder gar einem Handwerker zuzuordnen. In Periode III waren die nordischen Vollgriffschwerter dann sehr viel standardisierter, wurden aber dennoch wohl nicht in einer Werkstatt hergestellt. Die Entwicklung der Schwerter zeigt insgesamt eine Tendenz von einer großen Vielfalt bei Formen, Verzierungen und Techniken hin zu stärker gleichförmigen Objekten, die auch an anderen Fundgruppen zu beobachten ist. In jedem Fall demonstriert der nordische Kreis seit der späten Periode I und frühen Periode II eine eigene Identität, Metallverarbeitungs- und Schwertherstellungstradition. Sowohl die Vielfalt in Periode II als auch die Uniformität in Periode III deuten auf intensive Kommunikation und Mobilität von Handwerkern und Schwertträgern hin. Dabei wird der Einfluss von Abstammungsgruppen und Verwandtschaft hinsichtlich der Organisation des sicherlich institutionalisierten Metallhandwerks betont, während die angenommene enge Kontrolle der Produktion durch eine Elite angezweifelt wird. Ungeachtet unterschiedlicher Fähigkeiten und Kompetenzen existieren keine Hinweise auf eine bedeutsame persönliche Identität als Metallhandwerker in der Gesellschaft der älteren nordischen Bronzezeit. The swords of southern Scandinavia and northern Germany have so far been studied mainly from a typological perspective. Therefore, the Early Bronze Age full-hilted swords in Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein are examined in this article from a technical perspective combining macro- and microscopic examination, X-ray and trace element analyses as well as lead isotope analyses of the metal. In period I swords came as an innovation to southern Scandinavia through imports of swords of the Hajdúsámson-Apa group. Initially the Nordic craftsmen imitated these imports by using their traditional solid casting technique. Only late in period I did they adopt different casting techniques of Central European origin and use them to produce swords in the Hajdúsámson-Apa and Valsømagle traditions. By period II the characteristic Nordic full-hilted swords had emerged, which are highly individual in form, ornamentation and technique. They were most probably produced by many different workshops; in some cases it is even possible to attribute several swords to a common workshop tradition, individual workshop or even craftsman. In period III the Nordic full-hilted swords became much more standardised but were still unlikely to have been produced in a single workshop. The development of swords shows a tendency away from highly diverse forms, ornaments and techniques towards more standardised objects; this pattern is also visible among other finds. Altogether, the Nordic cultural area has a highly distinctive identity, with its own metalworking and sword producing tradition since the late period I and early period II. The diversity of period II and the uniformity of period III suggest that the communication and mobility of the craftsmen and sword-bearers was intensive. The importance of lineage and kinship for the organisation of the undoubtedly institutionalised metal craft is stressed, while the frequently assumed tight control over production by an elite is called into question. Despite different levels of skill and competence, there are no indications that the metalworkers had a significant identity as craftsmen in Early Nordic Bronze Age society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article handicraft have been learnt in the Nakhchivan late bronze-early iron age. It was defined that pottery wasone of the ancient craftsmanship areas in Nakhichivan. At that time Nakhichivan, as well as the other regions of Azerbaijan, was an important centre of craftsmanship. The pottery products differed from one another in their size, shape, ornaments on them, the material the were made of and the technology. The pottery products made by Nakhichivan potters were divided into two groups-welfare and kitchen ceramics. Their similar monuments in the South Caucasus and the Middle East in the same period, the archaeological materials found in the Urmia basin and Eastern Anatolia. As a result of comparative investigation it is defined that oldest labour tools producted from bone and stone in Nakchivan. New type of labour tools are producted connecting to treatmen of metal in following period. Stone and bone tools are used little in iron and bronz period. It is defined that daggers, arrow and spear heads, jewelry founded in archaeological monument belong to epoch late bronze-early iron age in the Nakhchivan have got peculiarity of culture of Khojalı-Gadabay in Azerbaijan. Some of daggers belong to culture Near East.

Scholars have long discussed the introduction and spread of iron metallurgy in different civilizations. The sporadic use of iron has been reported in the Eastern Mediterranean area from the late Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Despite the rare existence of smelted iron, it is generally assumed that early iron objects were produced from meteoritic iron. Nevertheless, the methods of working the metal, its use, and diffusion are contentious issues compromised by lack of detailed analysis. Since its discovery in 1925, the meteoritic origin of the iron dagger blade from the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun (14th C. BCE) has been the subject of debate and previous analyses yielded controversial results. We show that the composition of the blade (Fe plus 10.8 wt% Ni and 0.58 wt% Co), accurately determined through portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, strongly supports its meteoritic origin. In agreement with recent results of metallographic analysis of ancient iron artifacts from Gerzeh, our study confirms that ancient Egyptians attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of precious objects. Moreover, the high manufacturing quality of Tutankhamun's dagger blade, in comparison with other simple-shaped meteoritic iron artifacts, suggests a significant mastery of ironworking in Tutankhamun's time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beginning of the Early Bronze Age brought significant changes in the Carpathian-Danube Area, including new burial customs, a different economy and innovative technologies, most of them with eastern steppe origins. Thus, burial barrows appeared in the landscape raised over rectangular grave-pits, sometimes with wood or stone structures containing individuals lying in contracted or supine position with flexed legs, stained with ochre, rarely accompanied by grave-goods like wares, ornaments or weapons made of stone, bone and precious metals. Among the metallurgical innovations, items such as silver hair rings, copper shaft-hole axes and tanged daggers are considered specific to the new era. However, a careful approach of the deposition contexts of these artifacts, as compared with the eastern space, indicates that in some cases the objects were not just adopted, but reinterpreted and involved in different social practices. This paper aims to analyze the manner in which metal pieces were disposed of and to identify the rules governing this behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the main concerns for archaeo-metallurgists and archaeologists is to determine to what extent ancient craftsmen understood the effect of metal alloy composition and were able to control it in order to produce objects with the most suitable features. This problem can be investigated by combining compositional analyses of a high number of ancient artefacts with correlation analyses of the objects' age, production site, destination of usage etc. - and thus chemometric data treatment is carried out. In this study, multivariate analyses were performed on a matrix composed of elemental compositional data from 134 archaeological bronze objects, obtained by XRF analyses. Analysed objects have been dated back from the Eneolithic Period to the end of the Bronze Age including the early Iron Age and were excavated in Central Italy (mainly Abruzzo Region). Results: Chemometric analysis was performed attempting to visualise clouds of objects through PCA. In parallel and independently, object grouping was attempted using several different approaches, based on object characteristics (e.g. shape, weight, type of use - cutting or hitting and age) following indications given by archaeologists (or derived from the archaeological context). Furthermore, case-tailored data pretreatment (logratio-centred scaling) was used, but no homogeneous groups could be identified. Conclusions: By using chemometric data analysis, homogeneous groups of objects could not be detected, meaning that compositional data of alloys is not correlated with the considered objects' characteristics. This favours the conclusion that - without discussing the ascertained ability of ancient foundry-men - they had also already discovered the convenience of recycling broken objects thus producing a more or less similar bronze alloy each time, depending on materials' availability; necessary mechanical characteristics could then be obtained by post processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knife-daggers are one of the most unusual and narrowly specialized forms of Great Migration era weaponry of the peoples in the southeastern Baltic Sea basin on the territory of western Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad oblast (the Sambian-Natangian culture area). Research indicates the need to radically reconsider hypotheses that have gained currency in the literature of recent years in relation to knife-daggers and shoulder belts[baldrics,baltei Vidgiriaitype], their owners, and their relevant culture area. While these presumably formed a functional complex in antiquity, it is possible to distinguish several main types of knife-daggers and their variants. The project reveals that shoulder belts were already used at the end of the Roman Influence era, in its late phase and therefore earlier than the appearance of “classic” knife-daggers. Relevant archeological materials do not confirm concepts that knife-daggers by definition had to be part of the wealthy burials of professional warriors of non-local [allochthonous] ethnocultural origin with a high social status. Knife-daggers were a widespread weapon among free members of Sambian-Natangian cultural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors analyze a curved dagger, sica type, found near Piatra Craivii Dacian fortress, recovered from a treasure hunter. Following its analysis, it was found that it comes from a cremation grave dating from Dacian period. One can find analogies of the dagger both in the so-called cultural horizon "Padea-Panagjurski Kolonii" from south of the Carpathians and also in the Getic and Dacian sites from Transylvania, Transcarpathian Ukraine, Wallachia and Moldavia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The IMOCA 60 Class has a complicated set of appendages: with canted and tilted keels, cambered dagger-boards that can be designed to be fitted to the hull in different orientations along with toed-in and twin rudders that can also be configured in different orientations. Curved dagger-boards and straight boards with positive lift inducing dihedral angles have been used in a number of recent IMOCA 60 designs and in other classes, principally multi-hulls. These were considered an option by the client for their new Open 60 design and so a research and development programme was instigated by Owen Clarke Design to compare new curved designs with conventional straight dagger-boards optimised for upwind conditions. It was felt that the modelling of the trim of the yacht was very important to the calculation and sharing of loads between all of the appendages, and so our group chose to use a combination of one third scale high speed towing tanks tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), rather than CFD alone to investigate the relative performance between these dagger-board types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]