Scramasaxe

Both a weapon and a tool

Pamong the offensive weapons used for military purposes during the High Middle Ages (between the fifth and tenth centuries) was the scramasax, which reached its peak in the Merovingian period. Made of iron alloy and silver, this small scramasaxe is a large knife with a triangular blade, sharp on one side only, set in an exceptionally well-preserved wooden sheath. This versatile tool could have had several functions, and could have been used as a machete for example. The excavation revealed that this was an exceptional funerary complex because of its richness in furnishings and the particular layout of the male tombs, leaning against a horse grave. In addition, the surrounding soil, a moist clayey silt, allowed for the good preservation of organic remains (wood, leather, fur, cloth) that were in contact with the metal objects.