12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

J. F. So in Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier, p. 100, notes that a virtually identical dagger was found in Ji Xian, northern Shaanxi province. See, also, the two related daggers, or short swords, with rattle pommels, illustrated by E. C. Bunker et al., Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York, 1997, pp. 118-19, nos. 3 and 4. Each has similarly cast decoration on the curved hilt and similar plain guard. Although the rattle of no. 3 has only four straps, the bronze has the same smooth, black patina.