The bronze sword on the bed of Lake Mezzano before recovery.
Image credit: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la provincia di Viterbo e per l'Etruria Meridionale
Archaeologists have pulled another bronze sword from Lake Mezzano, a small lake in the crater of an ancient volcano in central Italy, and they still can't say why weapons keep ending up there. The newest one has a sharp cutting edge that survived more than 3,200 years underwater; Italy's archaeological superintendency for the region dates it to the 13th century B.C.
Archaeologists working with divers from Italy's Carabinieri police found the sword on September 28 along the lake's southern shore. It is the third sword recovered there since researchers began exploring the lake in the 1970s.
The sword after it was brought out of Lake Mezzano.
Image credit: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la provincia di Viterbo e per l'Etruria Meridionale
The lake bed also holds the remains of a village built on wooden posts, occupied from about 1700 to 1150 B.C. Surveys in 2025 mapped more than 600 of those posts, covering only about a third of the known settlement, and recovered more than 25 bronze objects.
Two explanations are on the table for how the weapons ended up in the water. Some of the bronzes show burn marks, so they may have fallen in when a fire destroyed wooden buildings in the village. Bronze Age Europeans also left weapons in lakes and rivers, which archaeologists sometimes interpret as offerings to the water. Researchers have not concluded whether this new sword was placed there on purpose.
The sword lay near a bronze razor, a pairing found at other Bronze Age sites and possibly linked to high-status people, perhaps warriors. This year's dives also brought up intact pottery vessels, axes, arrowheads, spearheads, daggers, and pins.
The sword laid out with a vessel and other bronzes recovered at Lake Mezzano.
Image credit: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la provincia di Viterbo e per l'Etruria Meridionale
Work at the lake will continue over the coming years with the nearby town of Valentano. The recovered bronzes are slated for an exhibition, though no date has been announced.
