📜 Sources and References Policy

Source hierarchy

1. Primary sources: surviving objects in museum collections, historical treatises and documents.
2. Peer-reviewed scholarship and academic books (e.g. archaeometallurgy studies).
3. Established reference works such as Encyclopaedia Britannica.
4. Recognised specialist literature by respected authors in the field.

Forums, social media and retailer copy are not used as evidence for factual claims.

How we cite

Numbered citations appear next to the claims they support and link to a full source list at the end of each article. Online sources link directly; print books are listed with author, title, publisher and year.

Legal topics

Where an article touches on owning, carrying or importing blades, we name the jurisdiction and link to official government sources. We do not provide legal advice.

Images

Images on SwordPath are illustrative and are not photographs of specific historical artefacts unless a caption says so.