The bronze age and the Celtic world - Universal History Library

84
THE BRONZE AGE AND THE CELTIC WORLD
ogival form. We have noted also that the breadth of the butt diminished as
the length of the blade increased. Sometimes, especially in North Italy, the sides
remained straight, and grooves were cut in the blade parallel to the sides. The
FIG. 9.—RIVETED DAGGER-HILT
FROM FOSSOMBRONE.
object of these grooves, which were three, five or even
more in number, was not in the first instance a question
of ornament, though in time it became the motif of an
elaborate decoration. In the first instance it had a
severely practical value, for a dagger so grooved, thrust
into the body of an enemy, could be more readily
extracted than one of which the whole surface was smooth.
This grooving began with the straight-sided
daggers, but was afterwards applied to those of
ogival form.
The people of the Mediterranean race were,
as we have seen, rather short and of slight build,
and their daggers were relatively small. They
were not used very frequently, we may imagine,
in open warfare, but were more usually employed
to stab an enemy in the back, a custom not yet
obsolete in some Mediterranean lands. The
handle was of bronze, often handsomely chased, and sometimes decorated
with thin plates of gold. Such handles were riveted on to the blades, and
so long as the butt of the latter was wide and the blade not too long, this
method of attachment proved satisfactory. But, as we have seen, the tendency
was for the butt to diminish in breadth and the blade to increase in length,
which suggests that open combat was becoming more fashionable or more
necessary, and that a greater reach was needed. The narrowing of the area fig. io.
LEAFof
attachment, and the lengthening of the blade, threw an ever increasing shaped
strain on the riveted joint, which must have become more and more
ineffective. Still, the Mediterranean peoples up to the last, except in the ^Egean area,
continued to use this long dirk, or rapier, with riveted handle.
But the trade with Hungary carried these daggers from Italy into Central Europe,