FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA, ITALY—A 4,000-year-old copper dagger has been unearthed in northeastern Italy’s Tina Jama Cave, according to a SciNews report. Federico Bernardini of Ca’ Foscari University said that the dagger is similar to copper daggers uncovered in Slovenia. “The findings are essential for understanding the technological, cultural, and social transformations in Europe during that period,” added Elena Leghissa of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences. “The discovery of the copper dagger is an exceptional event that raises questions about the cave’s use,” she added. A structure made of stone slabs and blocks between about 2000 and 1500 B.C. was also excavated near the entrance to the cave. Human skulls were found nearby, indicating that the stone structure may have had a funerary function, or it may have helped to protect the interior of the cave from wind. Flint arrowheads and long blades, polished stone axes, obsidian, stone and ceramic objects, and shell ornaments show that the cave was visited repeatedly over thousands of years, the researchers concluded. To read about an infant buried in a cave in northwest Italy some 10,000 years ago, go to "Update: Mesolithic Baby Carrier."
