ArticleBody:Neutron imaging has helped reveal historical discrepancies hidden within a collection of illegally trafficked Iron Age swords. But the nine ancient Iranian weapons aren’t wholesale forgeries—according to an October 8 announcement from researchers at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, they were assembled by fusing metal fragments from multiple different artifacts together to form “Frankenstein’s monster” pastiches in order to boost their potential black market value.
The study’s authors note similar amalgamations were discovered at least as far back as the 1970’s—but in those cases, forgers often relied on soldering instead of glue. “Whether this is indeed a chronological shift, or simply an indication of inter-group variation between contemporaneous forgery traditions, remains to be seen,” researchers explained in their paper.