3rd-2nd century BC. A single-edged machaira sword of falcata typology, the hilt formed as a gracefully curving horse's head and neck, the blade with deep grooves. See Quesada Sanz, F., El armamento Ibérico, Madrid, 1991; Quesada Sanz, F., Arma y símbolo: la falcata Ibérica, Alicante, 1992; Quesada Sanz, F., Patterns of interaction, Celtic and Iberian weapons in Iron Age Spain, in Celtic connections, volume 2, papers from the Tenth International Congress of Celtic Studies, Edinburgh, 1995, Edinburg, 2005. 527 grams, 54cm (21 1/4"). The property of a private family; previously acquired from a collection formed before 1990; thence by descent; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato. Since the 5th-4th century BC, the Iberian warriors armed themselves with round shields and single edged swords (falcatas), gradually adopting the appearance of hoplite armies and the Etruscan version of the machaira. The latter type of sword was duly transformed into a completely new type, with a different size, shape and function, the falcata, which was already in use in the Iberian area by c. 490 BC. This falcata, a type of curved, one-edged sword of supposedly Greek origin, is generally accepted by the scholars as the 'national' weapon of the Iberians, usually suspended on the left side of the warrior, inside a sheath to which sometimes was attached a short knife. It was a terrible cut-and-thrust sword, with an average blade length of 45 cm. Fine condition.