Carolingian Swords from Croatia – New Thoughts on an Old Topic
Carolingian Swords from Croatia – New Thoughts on an Old Topic

Summary/Abstract: A relatively large number of Carolingian swords have been found in Croatia, most of them during the early archaeological excavations of the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century. These were discussed many times since then, but there is still open space left and opportunity for new insights and conclusions. Some shall be presented in this paper, such as new typological considerations of the swords usually attributed to Petersen's distinctive type 1 and some thoughts on a finely decorated type K sword which belongs to a small but well defined group of similar finds from different parts of Europe. The possible active role of these objects, in the formation of elite identity in the context of the emerging Croatian dukedom, is shortly discussed, after the debate regarding the typological considerations.

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