We have seen in an earlier chapter that the people of the Mediterranean had developed a type of dagger of a somewhat triangular form, made first of all of copper and subsequently of bronze. This dagger, as we have seen, frequently had concave sides, perhaps at first as the result of constant grinding, and thus attained an ogival form. We have noted also that the breadth of the butt diminished as the length of the blade increased. Sometimes, especially in North Italy, the sides remained straight, and grooves were cut in the blade parallel to the sides. The object of these grooves, which were three, five or even more in number, was not in the first instance a question of ornament, though in time it became the _motif_ of an elaborate decoration. In the first instance it had a severely practical value, for a dagger so grooved, thrust into the body of an enemy, could be more readily extracted than one of which the whole surface was smooth. This grooving began with the straight-sided daggers, but was afterwards applied to those of ogival form. [Illustration: FIG. 9.--RIVETED DAGGER-HILT FROM FOSSOMBRONE.] The people of the Mediterranean race were, as we have seen, rather short and of slight build, and their daggers were relatively small. They were not used very frequently, we may imagine, in open warfare, but were more usually employed to stab an enemy in the back, a custom not yet obsolete in some Mediterranean lands. The handle was of bronze, often handsomely chased, and sometimes decorated with thin plates of gold. Such handles were riveted on to the blades, and so long as the butt of the latter was wide and the blade not too long, this method of attachment proved satisfactory. But, as we have seen, the tendency was for the butt to diminish in breadth and the blade to increase in length, which suggests that open combat was becoming more fashionable or more necessary, and that a greater reach was needed. The narrowing of the area of attachment, and the lengthening of the blade, threw an ever increasing strain on the riveted joint, which must have become more and more ineffective. Still, the Mediterranean peoples up to the last, except in the Ægean area, continued to use this long dirk, or rapier, with riveted handle. [Illustration: FIG. 10. LEAF-SHAPED SWORD.]