Archaeologists have unearthed an iconic 17th century Japanese sword during ongoing excavations in Berlin's oldest market square, the Berlin State Museum announced on Thursday.

Archaeologists from the Berlin State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Ruins found the rusty sword amongst World War II rubble unearthed in a cellar buried beneath Stralauer Strasse in the Molkenmarkt (“Whey Market”) district. announcement He revealed.

The sword was initially thought to be a World War II marching sabre, but later during restoration work it was discovered to be a fragment of a Japanese short sword called a wakizashi, according to the statement.

The ferrule of the wakizashi is decorated with a motif of Daikoku, one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan. [a] Hammer and [a] “A bag of rice,” the statement clarified.

One of the photos of the sword released in the statement showed that the wakizashi's tsuba (guard) was decorated with motifs of chrysanthemums and water lines.

X-rays of the sword before restoration revealed that the sword did not bear the blacksmith's signature, but that the blade was originally longer and the hilt was added later. The hilt is said to date to Japan's Edo period (17th to 19th centuries), while the blade may date to the 16th century. (RELATED: Archaeologists Uncover 'Very Powerful' Man and His Large Sword in Rare Discovery)

During excavations in a basement in Berlin's Molkenmarkt district that had been damaged in a 20th century war, a 17th century samurai sword, a wakizashi, was discovered. pic.twitter.com/HaDgdwW3bi

— Stone Age Herbalist (@Paracelsus1092) August 23, 2024

“This discovery once again shows what incredible remains are waiting to be discovered on Berlin soil,” Matthias Wehmhof, director of the State Museum of Prehistory and Early History Berlin and a state archaeologist in Berlin, was quoted as saying.

“Who could have imagined that such long-used and richly decorated weapons would end up in Berlin at a time when Japan was closed to the outside world and there were few travellers from Europe?” he added.

The wakizashi likely made its way to Berlin via the Takeuchi Mission, which visited Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany in 1862, or the Iwakura Mission 11 years later. “This is suggested by the spatial proximity of the noble palaces in and around Molkenmarkt to the Berlin Palace,” the statement noted.

Wakizashi means a sword worn in the armpit and is about one to two feet long. According to Ogyu Sorai, a 17th century Japanese Confucian historian and philosopher. The wakizashi was used as a secondary sword by the samurai, but was also used to attack enemies. SeppukuSorai observed that this was Japanese ritual suicide.

Excavations at Molkenmarkt, Berlin's oldest market square, will also uncover Berlin's oldest street, located beneath the current Stralauer Strasse, in January 2022. According to European Heritage Tribune.