Swords and "urbanization"

[Richard Furrer]

Originally Posted by TVV

I think the answer might be somewhere in the middle - perhaps instead of swords, the trade was mainly of ingots. In the European Armoury it was discussed that there is a high probability that some of the Northern European swords may have been forged in Scandinavia with wootz, imported all the way from India. If true, this could potentially explain a lot.
Finally, I do not find it surprising that peoples, who relied on weapons for their survival, had skilled bladesmiths. Apart from horses and bows, what was really more important to Central Asian nomads than their blades?

Hello TVV and all,
I do not know the origins of the curved sword, but as to the above I am only aware of Alan Williams research into Ingelrii blades of crucible steel....do you know of others?

Ric