CUŢITE DE LUPTĂ DACICE DESCOPERITE ÎN NORD-VESTUL ROMÂNIEI
DACIAN FIGHTING-KNIVES DISCOVERED IN NORTH-WESTERN ROMANIA

Summary/Abstract: Frequently considered as common pieces of inventory, curved knives were marginally treated within the framework of archaeological researches, being rarely discussed in detail. They were very probably used in battles, but also in the warriors’ daily life, whether we are talking about the obtaining and preparing of food, or hunting and other practical activities. In some cases, curved knives seem to replace or to compensate daggers, being present in funeral contexts, either alone or along with spear heads. The association between these knives and graves and funeral inventories, the presence of the blood channel, strengthens the assumption that these knives were more than simple domestic tools, the duality weapon–tool being replaced with the duality weapon–worship instrument. The three pieces from Sălaj County complete the repertory in Dacia before the Roman conquest and, in the same time, contribute to the identification of the role they had in the North Danube area, as elements of the military equipment and also as worship instruments.

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