Ancient but still shiny: 2,300-year-old sword found in China
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}File photo: Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) practice with swords as they take part in a winter training at China's border with Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, February 27, 2015. (REUTERS/Stringer )
A video out of China reveals a double-edge sword being pulled from its scabbard, and at a reported 2,300 years old, it is ancient— but in shiny condition.
First found in a tomb in the city of Xinyang, China, the straight bronze sword (a jian) is believed to be a relic of a time known as the Warring States period, which spanned 475-221 B.C. A state called Qin was triumphant.
The video shows blue-gloved researchers pulling the sword slowly from the scabbard and presenting it for the camera.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The sword is not the only discovery to come out of China recently. In Ganzhou, workers discovered— and nearly destroyed with dynamite— a new species of dinosaur dubbed the “Mud Dragon.” Those fossils make the newly-found sword seem like a find from only yesterday, as they date to about 66–72 million years in the past.