GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the Cotswold District Council, two Roman cavalry swords, fittings, fragments of their wooden scabbards, and pieces of a copper alloy bowl were discovered during a metal detectorist rally in southwestern England. Simon James of Leicester University said that the swords, known as spatha, were in use from the mid-second century into the third century A.D. The length of the swords suggests that they were used on horseback. The site where the weapons were discovered will be investigated by archaeologists, who hope to learn more about why the swords were buried. The artifacts are currently housed at the Corinium Museum, and will be X-rayed and analyzed. To read about a bronze sword recently unearthed in Germany, go to “A Sword for the Ages.”

Source: archaeology.org