Hello Detlef,
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				I agree that the hilt looks like a later replacement and doesn't show the best carving. But the nice silver ferrule seems to be made for this hilt.
			
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 Quite possibly - however, traditional silver/gold smithing survived for much longer time since jewellery enjoyed continued interest within Christianized culture.
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				And then the brittle resin which was removed from Jeff.  
It takes time for the resin or cutler's resin to get brittle.
			
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 The time frame I'm suggesting (around 100 years) should allow for some ageing, especially if starting with a recipe for filling cavities rather than a more elastic mix for setting functional blades.
Keep the resin and have a C14 analysis done, Jeff! 
Regards,
Kai