Trip to the Swabian Alps = Great Relics!

Me and the guys decided to head east and do some detecting in the Swabian Alps. So many castles and incredible history. Between the 5 of us we found Celtic, Roman, and some Medieval. The interesting thing about this area is the soil is so neutral that iron barely rusts. Our local guide said he thinks it has something to do with the sandstone soil. Anyway, I got 3 good iron artifacts including a Roman folding knife (for shaving). It is the forerunner of modern straight razors. But by far, my favorite relic is the medieval iron buckle. The blacksmith did a great job on it and even carved decorative lines into it. You can't really see it in the pictures but there is still some tinning visible in spots. The sickle blade has a maker's mark of an arrowhead with the letter I (which would have been pronounced as a J). I wonder if the blacksmith was also the armorer. Thanks for looking and happy digging.

p.s. the landscape pic is a stock photo but that is where I was at.