Bronze Age metalworkers from what’s now Italy must have been really good at their craft. Either that, or nature decided to spare their work from the wear and tear of time—as demonstrated by a rare underwater discovery of a still-sharp sword.

In a recent announcement, Italy’s Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria shared details from its latest archaeological campaigns at Lake Mezzano, a volcanic crater lake in central Italy. The team, led by the organization’s Underwater Archaeology Service in partnership with the Carabinieri Underwater Unit of Rome, recovered a variety of artifacts from the bottom of the lake, such as axes, arrowheads, daggers, spearheads, pins, and a razor. But the most notable find was a honed blade dating back to the 13th century BCE.

“The new discovery further confirms the exceptional scientific significance of Lake Mezzano and the importance of this site for the study of the protohistory of central Italy,” the superintendency commented in the statement (translated via Google).

The latest find is the third sword discovered at the site since the 1970s, according to the statement. Given the sheer age of the site, archaeologists have limited knowledge of the exact circumstances under which the artifacts ended up at the bottom of the lake. However, the sword’s design and apparent age fit “perfectly within the framework of central Italian weaponry production in the Late Bronze Age,” the superintendency explained.

Taken together with the other submerged artifacts as well as other related research projects, the superintendency said it’s very likely that a pile-dwelling settlement occupied the area during the Bronze Age.

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