Extremely rare Roman dagger

A rare Roman dagger was discovered by a young amateur archaeologist in Switzerland. Specifically, at the site of what was once a battlefield. Future dentist Lucas Schmid found a weapon called a pugio. It's a dagger that Roman soldiers carried in their kit.

Schmid found the extremely rare weapon back in 2019. He informed archaeologists who went to the site. They carried out extensive research that led to the discovery of several other artifacts. They're just now reporting on it.

The artifacts were located at the site where Roman soldiers clashed with a group of ancient Alpine tribes. The Romans called them by one word, the Rhaetians. These tribes inhabited the area of what is now Switzerland and the Alpine part of today's Switzerland, Tyrol and north-eastern Italy as early as around 500 BC at the latest. In 15 BC they were conquered by the Romans. The then emperor Augustus ordered the suppression of the Alpine tribes.

The battlefield is located near the Crap Ses gorge and the mountain village of Tiefencastel in the canton of Graubünden. The site was first identified in 2003 when the first military artefacts were uncovered. Further discoveries were made in 2014.

But Schmid was convinced that there were definitely still some rare artefacts to be found at the site. He was eager to uncover some more hidden secrets of the former battlefield. "We suspected that the site had not yet been thoroughly searched. It was clear to me that if I searched carefully, I could expect to find many more artifacts," Schmid told the online magazine Live Science.

His hunch was right. He discovered the dagger, which is Latin for pugio. It is extremely rare, as there are only four such pieces found. Schmid discovered the dagger about 30 feet underground. It was made of silver and brass. It was probably buried there by a legionary after the battle as an offering to the gods.

Archaeologists then went to the site and discovered several other artifacts. Specifically, spearheads, shield fragments, horseshoe nails, slingshots and coins. "The search is not over. Fieldwork will continue this year. We expect to discover additional coins or artifacts that will allow us to date the finds more precisely," said archaeologist Thomas Reitmaier.

Schmid, on the other hand, intends to devote himself fully to the study of dentistry. He is not going on a major search expedition at the moment...

Sources: https://the-past.com/