From the article: "This piece was designed for a ritual purpose, which is why it was found folded. Bending a metal object as a symbolic act of destruction before burial was a common practice in the Bronze Age and later."

I recently saw the "Vikings" Exhibition [1] in Berlin, they had several bladed weapons on Display that were bent like this. I don't remember dirks, but five to ten swords that were bent to really weird shapes and buried with their owners. Was really interesting.

[1] http://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/die-wikinger.htm...

Yep. I read the article too.

I would just like to see other examples, and find out more about the practice. Googling just turns up more references to this particular item.

Google for 'burial weapons bent', turns up pictures from Celtic burials, iron age, and more.

Thanks—looks like this dagger is a particularly well-preserved example.