Bronze Age sword Bronze Age swords appear from around the 17th century BC , in the Black Sea region and the Aegean , evolving out of the dagger . They are replaced by the Iron Age sword during the early part of the 1st millennium BC . From an early time the swords reach lengths in excess of 100 cm . The technology to produce blades of such lengths appears to have been developed in the Aegean , using alloys of copper and tin or arsenic , around 1700 BC . Typical Bronze Age swords had lengths of roughly between 60 and 80 cm , while weapons significantly shorter than 60 cm also continued to be made , but are variously categorized as " short swords " or as daggers . Before 1400 BC or so , swords remain mostly limited to the Aegean and southeastern Europe , but they become more widespread in the final centuries of the 2nd millennium , to Central Europe and Britain , to the Near East , Central Asia , Northern India and to China . Predecessors . Before bronze , stone ( flint , obsidian f . e . ) was used as the primary material for cutting edged tools and weapons . Stone is however very fragile , and therefore not practical to be used as swords . With the introduction of copper , and eventually bronze , dagger s could be made longer , and evolved into swords . The evolution of the dagger into the sword is thus gradual , and in 2004 the first " swords " have been claimed for the Early Bronze Age ( c . 33rd to 31st centuries ) , based on finds at Arslantepe , weapons of a total length of 45 to 60 cm which could be described as either short swords or long daggers . In any case , the sword remained extremely rare for another millennium , and becomes more widespread only with the closing of the 3rd millennium . The " swords " of this period can still readily be interpreted as daggers , as with the copper specimen from Naxos ( dated roughly 2800 to 2300 BC ) , with a length of just below 36 cm , but individual specimens of the Cycladic " copper swords " of the period around 2300 reach a length up to 60 cm . The first weapons that can be classified as swords without any ambiguity are those found in Minoan Crete , dated to about 1700 BC , which reach lengths of more than 100 cm . These are the " type A " swords of the Aegean Bronze Age . Aegean . The Minoan and Mycenaean ( Middle to Late Aegean Bronze Age ) swords are classified in types labeled A to H following Sandars ( 1961 , 1963 ) , the " Sandars typology " . Types A and B ( " Tab - tang " ) are the earliest from about the 17th to 16th centuries , types C ( " Horned swords " ) and D ( " Cross swords " ) from the 15th century , types E and F ( " T - hilt swords " ) from the 13th and 12th . The 13th to 12th centuries also see a revival of the " Horned " type , classified as types G and H . Type H swords are associated with the Sea Peoples and were found in Anatolia ( Pergamon ) and Greece . Contemporary with types E to H is the so - called Naue II type , imported from south - eastern Europe . Europe . One of the most important , and longest - lasting , types of prehistoric European swords was the Naue II type ( named for Julius Naue who first described them ) , also known as " Griffzungenschwert " or " grip - tongue sword " . It first appears in c . the 13th century BC in Northern Italy ( or a general Urnfield background ) , and survived well into the Iron Age , with a life - span of about seven centuries , until the 6th century BC . During its lifetime , metallurgy changed from bronze to iron , but not its basic design . Naue II swords were exported from Europe to the Aegean , and as far afield as Ugarit , beginning about 1200 BC , i . e . just a few decades before the final collapse of the palace cultures in the Bronze Age collapse . Naue II swords could be as long as 85 cm , but most specimens fall into the 60 to 70 cm range . Swords from the Nordic Bronze Age appear from ca . the 13th century BC , often showing characteristic spiral patterns . The early Nordic swords are also comparatively short , a specimen discovered in 1912 in near Bragby , Uppland , Sweden , dated to about 1800 to 1500 BC , was just over 60 cm long . This sword was , however classified as of the Hajdúsámson - Apa type , and was presumably imported . The Vreta Kloster sword discovered in 1897 ( dated 1600 to 1500 BC ) has a blade length ( the hilt is missing ) of 46 cm . A typical variant for European swords is the leaf shaped blade , which was most common in North - West Europe at the end of the Bronze Age , on the British Isles in particular . The carp ' s tongue sword is a type of bronze sword that was common to Western Europe during ca . the 9th to 8th centuries BC . The blade of the carp ' s tongue sword was wide and parallel for most of its length but the final third narrowed into a thin tip intended for thrusting . The design was probably developed in north western France and combined the broad blade useful for slashing with a thinner , elongated tip suitable for thrusting . Its advantages saw its adoption across Atlantic Europe . In Britain , the metalwork in the south east derived its name from this sword : the Carp ' s Tongue complex . Notable examples of this type were part of the Isleham Hoard . The Bronze Age style sword and construction methods die out at the end of the early Iron Age ( Hallstatt D ) ) , around 600 - 500BC , when swords are replaced by daggers in most of Europe . An exception is the Xiphos from Greece , which continues to evolve for several more centuries . The antenna sword is a type of the Late Bronze Age , continued in early iron swords of the East Hallstatt and Italy region . China . Sword production in China is attested from the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty , from roughly 1200 BC . The technology for bronze swords reached its highpoint during the Warring States period and Qin Dynasty ( 221 BC – 207 BC ) . Amongst the Warring States period swords , some unique technologies were used , such as casting high tin edges over softer , lower tin cores , or the application of diamond shaped patterns on the blade ( see the sword of Gou Jian ) . Also unique for Chinese bronzes is the consistent use of high tin bronze ( 17 - 21 % tin ) which is very hard and breaks if stressed too far , whereas other cultures preferred lower tin bronze ( usually 10 % ) , which bends if stressed too far . Although iron swords were made alongside bronze , it wasn ' t until the early Han Dynasty that iron completely replaced bronze , making China the last place where bronze was used in swords . India . Swords have been recovered in archaeological findings of the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture throughout the Ganges - Yamuna Doab region of India , commonly made of copper , but in some instances made of bronze . Diverse specimens have been discovered in Fatehgarh , where there are several varieties of hilt . These swords have been variously dated to periods between 1700 - 1400 BC , but were probably used more extensively during 1200 - 600 BC ( Painted Grey Ware culture , Iron Age India ) .