Split-Ear Pommel Swords – Bimetallic Weapons from Northwestern Iran

In consequence of a recent trafficking operation stopped by the Border Force in the UK a large number of artefacts from Iran became available for study, the majority of which can be dated stylistically to Iron Age I and II (ca. 1250-800 BC). Before their repatriation, PhD research is being conducted at Cranfield University, jointly funded by ISIS. It examines the transition from the use of bronze to the use of iron in Iran, focusing on complex metallurgical techniques. It is proposed that a few bimetallic swords, previously imaged on IMAT and analysed on INES be analysed with ENGIN-X to obtain tomography driven data about iron tangs inside bronze hilts by selecting gauge volumes that exclude the highly attenuating bronze and to establish what different thermal and mechanical treatments distinguish the two types of bronze found in the same sword. This analysis will provide understanding of the knowledge and techniques of ancient Iranian smiths in the Iron Age.