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Neutron imaging study of ‘pattern-welded’ swords from the Viking Age

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Abstract

We present novel imaging results from a non-invasive examination of three ‘pattern-welded’ swords from the Viking Age belonging to the National Museum of Denmark, using white beam and energy resolved tomographies with neutrons. Pattern-welded blades are made by forge welding together thin strips of iron and steel that were twisted and joined in various ways, producing a decorative pattern on the surface. The study shed light on the inner structure of the composite material and manufacturing techniques of these admired examples of past technology, revealing some otherwise invisible details of their assembly methods, phase distribution and extent of the corrosion.

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Notes

  1. N = ρN a /m, where ρ is the density (g cm−3), N a is Avogadro’s number (6.022 × 1023) and m is the atomic mass (g).

  2. Cementite is an iron carbide (Fe3C) that forms in carbon-steels. Cementite is responsible for their hardness.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Bodil Bundgaard Rasmussen from the National Museum of Denmark for supporting the project, and David Edge from the Wallace Collection of London for the useful discussion on metal conservation. This research project has been supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme through the ‘Research Infrastructures’ action of the ‘Capacities’ Programme, NMI3-II Grant number 283883.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanoscience Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anna Fedrigo, Markus Strobl, Kim Lefmann, Poul Erik Lindelof & Anton Kovyakh

  2. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Anna Fedrigo & Francesco Grazzi

  3. European Spallation Source ESS ERIC, Lund, Sweden

    Anna Fedrigo & Markus Strobl

  4. The Wallace Collection, London, UK

    Alan R. Williams

  5. The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Lars Jørgensen & Peter Pentz

  6. FRM-II, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Garching, Germany

    Dominik Bausenwein & Burkard Schillinger

Authors
  1. Anna Fedrigo
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  2. Markus Strobl
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  3. Alan R. Williams
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  4. Kim Lefmann
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  5. Poul Erik Lindelof
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  6. Lars Jørgensen
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  7. Peter Pentz
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  8. Dominik Bausenwein
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  9. Burkard Schillinger
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  10. Anton Kovyakh
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  11. Francesco Grazzi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Fedrigo.

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Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 14
figure 14

Volume rendering of the blade fragment C6871 from WB tomography data, with virtual slices through the volume (122 × 619 × 5185, with ≈73 μm pixel size). Orientation and position of the slices is reported underneath each box. Slices in the yz-plane clearly show the rods creating ‘pattern-welding’ that alternate twisted portions to straight ones. Cross-sectional slices show the penetration of the rust inside the material

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Fig. 15
figure 15

Sword D2335 with selected cross-sectional slices of the tomographic volumes. Bright areas are due to the effect of the high incoherent scattering from hydrogen contained in goethite. In green are marked the welding lines between the edges and the core, in blue the presence of cracks and in orange slag inclusions

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Fig. 16
figure 16

Selected yz-slices of sword D2335. The position of each slice is indicated in the top with respect to the cross-sectional slice i marked with a red line, while the letters on the left refer to the cross sections reported in Fig. 15

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Fedrigo, A., Strobl, M., Williams, A.R. et al. Neutron imaging study of ‘pattern-welded’ swords from the Viking Age. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 1249–1263 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0454-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0454-5

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