Chinese archaeologists unearthed a 2,500-year-old bronze sword in 1965 that was completely free of rust and still sharp enough to draw blood.

A closer look

Chinese archaeologists unearthed a 2,500-year-old bronze sword in 1965 that was completely free of rust and still sharp enough to draw blood. The Sword of Goujian was found in a damp, flooded tomb in Hubei province, resting in a black wooden scabbard next to a skeleton. Thanks to a sophisticated chemical composition featuring high amounts of copper and a sulfur-treated edge, the weapon survived millennia of moisture without degrading. When an archaeologist tested the blade, it effortlessly sliced through a stack of twenty pieces of paper. Modern manufacturers build expensive electronics that permanently shatter if you drop them on a carpet, yet ancient metallurgists forged murder weapons that can literally outlast human civilization!