The Bavarian state office for the preservation of historical monuments says the sword, which is believed to date from the late 14th century BC. C. (mid-Bronze Age), was found during excavations last week in Noerdlingen, between Nuremberg and Stuttgart, in the south. Germany.

It has an octagonal bronze handle and comes from a grave in which three people (a man, a woman and a child) were buried in quick succession with bronze objects, the Bavarian office said in a statement this week.

It is still unclear whether the three people were related to each other and, if so, how.

German officials say the 3,000-year-old sword is a “very rare” discovery. (Supplied: Bavarian State Monument Preservation Office)

“It is still necessary to examine the sword and the burial so that our archaeologists can classify this find more accurately,” said the head of the office, Mathias Pfeil.

“But we can already say that the state of conservation is extraordinary. A find like this is very rare.”

It is unusual to find swords from the period, but they emerged from burial mounds opened in the 19th century or as individual finds, the office said.

The sword was found among bones in a grave in Germany. (Supplied: Bavarian State Monument Preservation Office)