La Tène III Cut and Thrust

This is another style that comes to us from the Port find.  The shorter blade may be a slightly earlier example than the longer one.  It still shows a somewhat abrupt taper in the last third of the blade that was common in the last part of the La Tène II period, but become longer like many of the blades we see in the La Tène III.  The other example is not only longer yet, but features a much more continuous profile taper.  Another new feature we have with these blade is a straight guard plate, and one example (not from Port) that has a simple crown type of guard.  While the blades have grown with this style, the tangs are shorter than we normally see.  These are creating an interesting challenge in designing hilts for these blades.