As i see it written out there, the falcata Iberica may not go without its counterpart, the La Tene type sword, an inheritance of the Halstadt period, with its 'antena' grip evolution. It appears that either style found its location in different parts of the Peninsula, apparently due to their distinct migration directions.
When discussing which of these two types was used by the famous Viriato, a Lusitanian tribal warrior that dared to confrontate and managed to significantly delay the Roman invasion, conclusion would be that he used mainly the La Tene (a model with a straight blade in opposition to sickle shaped falcata), a style that pleased the Romans, to the extent that they adopted it for his weaponry equipment, calling it Gladius Hispaniensis (they called Hispania to the whole Peninsula).
We know that all this is of common knowledge, even boring for a connoisseur like Gonzalo; however my reach atempt is another, one that goes beyond common sense, that still i dare put things in a different angle; not academic or scholar, only empirical, certainly closer to insanity. When i collected coins i acquired a couple ancient Indian coins, dating back to many centuries before Christ. This took me to browse on the origin of money currency; well i found two locations running in the same championship, the author saying that maybe one didn't copy or picked the idea from the other. They happened to simultaneousy felt such necessity, and so they went ahead minting coins, one not knowing about the other. I don't recall the exact details, but the moral of the story is what matters here. Sword guards, quillons, curved quillons, extremely curved quillons; what precisely were they for ... blade catchers, finger defences, adornments, religious symbols, scabbard adjustment implements ? And why have they been necessarily copied from the neighborhood or remote domains ? I know this is a subject that gives reason of existance to scholars, but for those who fancy simpler explanations, perspectives arise that switch another kind of complicometer, that of an ignarus. Look at these Iberian antena swords from the Hallstatl period, VI to V century BC. Aren't those quillons on their guards ... even down turned, although of reduced dimensions ? And, for a couple seconds, compare them with those of the Omani Kattara. I know i must be out of my mind, but ... how in hell those Iberians (whoever) cared to apply such things in their sword guards ?
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