The appearance date of the earliest sabers is vague and so far not finally fixed. It was common to think that the first sabers appeared on the 11 or 12 C. With time, more discoveries moves this date backward and today it is dated to the 9 or 10th C. and may be even earlier.
The saber shown below was excavated in Central Asia, together with a group of several others. As it was not a formal archeological excavation (very unfortunately) any dating or provenance is very speculative, but several experts that examined this blade tends to think it is 9th C. :
Blade length 42 inches, slightly curved, quite heavy and thick, about 10 mm at its base. The tip is double edged for 11 inches with a diamond cross section.
At the base of the blade there is a steel collar used to hold the blade well in the scabbard. The tang has three holes for the grip rivets.
I was lucky to acquire several blades of this lot, and I am glad to share this one with you.