Chalcolithic Copper Arrow head - 20 mm (No reserve price)

Silver pendant with an arrowhead from the 22nd to the 9th centuries BC, Palmela type, symbol of riches and military dominance.

You’ll see, and that is known because archaeologists found several coated with gold sheets and in the funerary equipment of a warrior along with other weapons made from the same copper with natural arsenic that gave it extra hardness: the 4–22 g ones pierced a sheep with its wool at 41 m/s, and the 40 g ones, in bows of 15.8 kg. They hunted and trained with success even the most inexperienced member of the tribe.

There was no excuse.

In other words, a treasure to take to the afterlife that indicated a high status, as well as power and skill. A special copper from the mines of the southern Iberian Peninsula, where in Palmela, 42 km from Lisbon (Portugal), archaeologists discovered the first ones, a area that became one of the most important metallurgical hubs in Western Europe.

Its secret?

It was easy to laminate and hardened faster during hammering to give it shape or reduce its thickness. The thing is that the arrow of this pendant was carved for spears and javelins, since, as you can see, it has a long tang to tie with rope to a wooden staff and, because of its technical prowess at the end of the Bronze Age (1000 BC), it spread quickly across Europe.

Now, when you're asked: And that pendant you’re wearing, what is it?

For example, you can say that it’s a silver pendant with an arrow of more than 3,000 years (from the late Bronze Age) made with arsenic-containing copper and that it was a social prestige tool for wealthy and militarily powerful people.

And, of course, it’s an arrow that makes you part of that period of history and naturally attracts valuable people to your side and starts a conversation with you that would be unlikely with modern jewelry.

Disclaimer: I’m sending you this item from Spain by certified mail with a tracking number. If you receive it in an area with a special tax regime, your local customs could hold it for you to pay any duties, and this, as the seller, is beyond my control.