FINE LARGE ROMAN BELT KNIFE 2nd-3rd CENTURY AD

10 1/2” length with 6 7/8 thick wedge section blade with a downturned point. The root (base) flared to mount to a cast, probably figural hilt. The precursor to the scramseax (scramasax) which evolved in the Migration Period following the fall of the Roman Empire, in Viking and Frankish forms. This example is distinguished by the spread base as well as the typology of the blade form. Later forms were made with a whittle tang seated directly into a bone or other material grip, without a base expansion or guard and generally, with the blade base angled for purchase in the grip. Very rare and fine large example in exceptional preservation. With Plexiglas display stand.