Alan,

  Well, I didn't mean to claim anything, but I just found it funny
that a vague "samurai swords" thing is used as a (an arbitrary)
reference point in the sword history...

-- Yoshiki

At Mon, 25 Aug 2003 10:45:51 -0800,
Alan Kay wrote:
> 
> Yes, my recollection is that the idea of laminating steel in many 
> layers to make resiliant swords quite antedates Europe, and was first 
> developed in Asia and in the Middle East. Just as the recurve bow 
> already existed in China during Roman times (IIRC) and this 
> technology was used by the Scythians to decisively defeat the Romans 
> several times and effectively discourage them from occupying their 
> territory.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alan
> 
> ------
> 
> At 10:36 AM -0700 8/25/03, Yoshiki Ohshima wrote:
> >   Piers,
> >
> >   Now, it is really off-topic...
> >
> >>  Not that the Dark Ages were actually backwards, just that stuff
> >>  didn't tend to get written down. Take a look at the technology
> >>  involved in making, say, a Saxon sword (which used essentially the
> >>  same techniques as were developed centuries later in Japan to make
> >>  Samurai swords) or the quality of work in things like the Ardagh
> >>  Chalice.
> >
> >   What century you are talking about?  (And what is
> >"Samurai swords", I should ask.)
> >
> >-- Yoshiki
> 
> 
> --