Iberian falcata
Falcata ibérica
- Date
- c. century V a.C. · confidence medium
- Place
- Upper Guadalquivir and south-east Iberia, Andalusia, Spain
- Credited to
- Iberian peoples
- Field
- Conflict
What it is
A single-edged sword with a curved blade widening towards the tip and a hilt shaped like a horse's or bird's head, forged from quality steel. It combined axe-like cuts with thrusts and was prized by the Romans.
Its relationship with the Greek machaira and kopis is debated; it appears mainly in south-eastern necropoleis (Almedinilla, Cabecico del Tesoro).
What it led to
- armament of Iberian mercenaries in Carthaginian armies
- influence on the Roman gladius hispaniensis
- steel metallurgy in the Peninsula