This sword was found in a grave on the outskirts of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. It was made when Cyprus' rich deposits of copper were first being seriously exploited. Copper is quite a soft metal. Bronze is harder and makes better tools and weapons. Most bronze is made by adding a little bit of tin to the copper, but this sword contains a mixture of 96% copper and 4% arsenic. Although arsenic hardens copper just as well as tin, it gives off poisonous vapours when it is smelted, so ancient smiths soon stopped using it.