Not sure what you’d like? Have a look at these historical typologies and archeological finds.
Antiquity 0 AD - 400 AD
Rome
McCrone, S., Edwards, R., Hamilton, B., & Berdeguer, C. (2014). HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ROMAN GLADIATORIAL ARMS AND ARMORS: 300 B.C. - 450 A.D. https://core.ac.uk/download/212969064.pdf
roman spears http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-spear.html
roman swords http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-Attack.html
Germanic
Northern Sword types of the first millennium https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/illustr/sb_3_1.html
Background to Celtic swords https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/backbone/rb_2_1.html
“El Armamento Iberico” by Fernando Quesada Sanz 1997., Falcata/khopis disscussion http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.2729.html
Thracian Rhomphaia Swords & sica http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.1514.html
Rhomphaia http://www.1066.co.nz/Mosaic%20DVD/whoswho/text/Rhomphaia[1].htm
Roman
Berdeguer, 2014 Gladius blade typology (middle right), Marcin Biborkis & Jørgen Ilkjær, 2006 gladius & spatha hilts (far right), Source needed (Left)
Roman spatha’s where in part a response to the swords of the Germanic tribes, having similar blade types.
source needed, anyone read german?
Drawings from Roman Military Equipment by Bishop & Coulston, Edition 2, 2006 © M.C. Bishop
Roman Pilum http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryEquipment-spear.html
Germanic
Marcin Biborkis and Jørgen Ilkjær., 2006 Germanic sword types (left). Fernando Quesada Sanz., 1997 falcata/khopis types (bottom left). J. M. De Navarro., 1972 la tene sword finds (right).
La Tene sword hilts where mostly wood with metal bolsters, as such most handle reconstructions are speculative
Also seen in greece
Thracian Rhomphia 60-80 cm / 20-30in blades 50 cm / 20 in tangs. circa 50 in total
http://www.1066.co.nz/Mosaic%20DVD/whoswho/text/Rhomphaia[1].htm
Lindholmgård Mose sword archived in Copenhagen, total length 85 Cm / 33 inches http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.31559.html
Sica: short flax / sickle dagger measuring 18 inches http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.1514.html
Migration era 350 AD - 800 AD
Migration Period Swords and Fancy Hilts & Pommels https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/illustr/ib_3_5.html
migration era axes http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.32526.html
Engelhardt, 1865. Nydam mosefund 1859-1863 https://books.google.ca/books?id=r7BBAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Behmer 1939, migration era sword hilt typology (left)
Essentially a continuation or evolution of the spatha into eventually what we would classify as a Viking age sword. The main difference being the laminate hilts comprised of riveted metal and organic materials, typically richly decorated.
Engelhardt., 1865 Nydam Mosefund
https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/illustr/ib_3_5.html
Engelhardt., 1865 Nydam Mosefund
Anatoly Kirpichnikov axe typology Rus/Ukraine (left). Engelhardt, 1866 migration era (tool?) axes (right).
Kirpichnikov type IV lacking drilled hole, http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.32526.html
Viking age 8th - 11th century
The Viking Age Compendium http://www.vikingage.org/wiki/wiki/Main_Page
Petersen Hilt Typology http://www.vikingsword.com/vbook/vtypes.pdf
Petersen, Jan (1919) De Norske Vikingesverd.
Wheeler, R.E.M. (1927) London and the Vikings.
Wheeler, R.E.M. (1935) London and the Saxons.
Geibig 1991. The Development of the Sword in the Middle Ages. http://myarmoury.com/feature_geibig.php
Schmitt 2005. Die Alamannen im Zollernalbkreis. https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/bitstream/20.500.12030/3461/1/907.pdf
Modified wheeler seax typology http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.18459.html
Jan Peterson, 1919 Axe typology 8-12th century.
B. Solberg, 1984 Norwegian Spear-heads from the Merovingian and Viking Periods
B. Solberg, 1984 Spear typology 7th - 11th century (Top left) Jan Petersen, 1919 spear typology (top Right)
Petersen type F
http://secretsoftheice.com/news/2017/11/29/spear/
Jan Petersen, 1919 Hilt typology (left), Wheeler, 1927 hilt typology (right).
Petersen type M,H / Wheeler type I,II hilt. Geibig type 2 blade. http://www.khm.uio.no/english/research/collections/objects/15/sword_lesja.html
Geibig 1991 sword typology
illustration by Kirk Spencer
illustration by Kirk Spencer
Modified Wheeler 1935 Seax typology & Schmitt 2005 Blade typology (left), Archer 2014 vikingage.org (right)
illustration by Gavin Archer 2014. vikingage.org
Middle ages 11th -16th century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakeshott_typology
James Elmslie, Medieval and Renaissance Single-edged Arms (forthcoming)
Ewart Oakeshott Mace typology 1980. European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?p=173805
New York Metropolitan Museum of Art 1917
Brett, Edwin J. (Edwin John), 1828-1895. Pictorial and descriptive record of the origin and development of arms and armor. https://archive.org/details/BrettArmsArmour/page/n527/mode/2up
New York Metropolitan Museum of Art 1917, Polearms over centuries (left) Swords over centuries (right)
Polearms are extremely diverse category of medieval arms making typologies difficult. If you can think of something that looked cool on the end of a stick its probably been done in some capacity.
James Elmslie, 2015 single edged typology
Ewart Oakeshott, 1960 blade, guard and pommel Typology
Illustration (left) by Peter Johnsson
Ewart Oakeshott Mace typology 1980 (left). Brett et al Warhammer typology 1894 (right).
Japanese 10th - 21st century
Due to resource and cultural constraints Japanese steel technology virtually stagnated from the start of their isolationism until westernization of the late 18th century. As such traditional Japanese blacksmithing techniques are a window into the past almost forgotten by the advance of metallurgy spurred by crucible steels.
Japanese Swords https://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/kap_b/backbone/rb_6_1.html
Michihiro Tanobe. 2021, The Beauty of the Japanese Sword, History and Traditional Technology. The Japanese Sword Museum. From the Macao Museum of Art https://www.nihonto.com/tanobe-article/
http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm
Sword preservation has been a bit better in japan due to the nation holding such high regard for swords. meaning we have pretty good examples over the last 10 centuries, problem being the changes are so minor it makes a general typology difficult outside size variation.
Left & right, The Japanese Sword Museum 2021 sword types by period
source needed
Koshi-zori and Naka-zori are the only variations for tachi however katanas also utilize them.
http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba.htm
good example of the various kinds of blade cross sections. This image is certainly from an academic source researching metallurgy of historical swords, unfortunately i’ve failed to track down the source. if you recognize what study this image is from please contact me.
These are nomenclature diagrams for the different variations within the tachi and katana typologies. images like these are a dime a dozen and are not typically associated with archeology academic sources.
