Compositional analyses of a Reutlingen Bronze Age sword discovered at Giurgiu, Romania

Abstract

The compositional scheme of a Bronze Age sword, found near the town of Giurgiu in Romania has been determined by the method of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), at the tandem accelerator of the National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering from Bucharest, Magurele, Romania. The results of the analyses and the comparison with the composition of other swords from the same geographic area, the Danubian plane from Bulgaria and Transylvania regions, show that the sword from Giurgiu could be relatively associated with the swords from Bulgaria, having also the same stylistic, temporal and geographical similitude.