A Unique Case of 'Counting Marks' Revealed by Tomography on a Middle Bronze Age Sword from Champagneux (France, Savoie)

In the 1960s, a solid-hilted sword dating to the second half of the Middle Bronze Age (1450-1300 BC) was dredged up in a gravel quarry in the Rhone river at the village of Champagneux (Savoie, France). The sword belongs to the octagonal-hilted swords (German: Achtkantschwerter). This type, mainly found in the northern Alpine region and southern Scandinavia, was until then unknown in France. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses and high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (mu CT) of the hilt were carried out to understand how the hilt was cast and fixed to the blade. Thanks to the opportunities offered by these techniques, we were able to reconstruct the chaine operatoire of this sword with a close inspection of the internal structure of the hilt. Furthermore, we visualised the surface of the sword's tang located inside the hilt, which shows a series of five vertically arranged marks. Until now, similar symbols were only known on Late Bronze Age bracelets and tools, predominantly in the eastern part of the Alpine region. Although their exact function remains enigmatic, these marks are believed to be markers left by craftsmen on the object during their manufacture. On the solid-hilted sword from Champagneux, these marks could be linked to a way for the craftsman to remember which blade and hilt were supposed to be joined together, shedding light on the organisation of the production process behind this kind of weapon.