Cetona-type Sword

This bronze sword belongs to the Cetona type and can be dated to between the 13th and 12th centuries BCE, during the Late Bronze Age. It comes from the territory of Cervarese Santa Croce and was discovered in July 1971 along the course of the Bacchiglione River, in the stretch between Cervarese and Padua. It is now preserved at the Museo del fiume Bacchiglione, in the Castello di San Martino della Vaneza.

The weapon is distinguished by the presence of the so-called grip tongue (lingua da presa), an integrated metal element that formed the core of the hilt. A series of holes is visible on this tongue, as well as on the shoulders of the blade; these were intended to secure the grip plates, made of perishable material, probably wood or bone. The edges of the grip tongue are raised and follow a sinuous profile, while the terminal ends flare outward; four aligned holes are present along the tongue.

The grip tongue connects directly to the shoulders of the blade, without the constriction typical of other sword types. The shoulders slope gently, with a slightly curved profile, and display two holes on each side. At the base of the blade there is an ogival-shaped thickening, while the blade itself has parallel edges and is characterized by two steps, one on each side, which delimit the central ridge with a lenticular cross-section. This configuration ensured a good balance between strength and handling, making the weapon effective both for thrusting and cutting.

The Cetona type is very similar to other typologies widespread in central and northern Italy, such as Montegiorgio- and Treviso-type swords. The name derives from the place of the first discovery, the Antro della Noce at Cetona, a cave where the first three examples were found in 1930. Comparisons with swords from the Aegean area and from Central and Eastern Europe indicate a very wide geographical distribution.

This evidence once again confirms the intense mobility of people, objects, and ideas that characterized the Bronze Age. The Cetona-type sword is not only a weapon, but also a concrete testimony to the networks of contact and exchange that connected even very distant communities, and to the central role played by waterways, such as the Bacchiglione, in these dynamics.

Bianchin Citton, E.; Malnati, L. 2001, Protostoric Bronze Finds from the Rivers of the Veneto, in G. Cresci Marrone and M. Tirelli (eds.), Horizons of the Sacred: Cults and Ancient Sanctuaries in Altinum and Eastern Veneto, Proceedings of the Conference (Venice 1999), Rome, pp. 201–202.

Zampieri, G. 1994, Il Museo Archeologico di Padova, Milan, fig. 41a, p. 28.

Padova Preromana 1976, Exhibition Catalogue, Padua, pl. 27, no. 123.

This type, closely related to the Montegiorgio and Treviso sword types, takes its name from the cave known as the Antro della Noce at Cetona, where the first three examples were discovered in 1930. Its parallels with Aegean and central- and eastern-European types confirm a very wide geographical distribution, once again reflecting the extensive and complex mobility of people during the Bronze Age.