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A metal detectorist recently spotted a 2,700-year-old bronze sword in an unusual position — standing upright in the ground.
The discovery was announced by the Pomeranian Provincial Heritage Conservator on Facebook earlier in June.
The weapon was found by hobbyist Marcin Wiśniewski in the Gdańsk Forest District in northern Poland, near the Baltic coast. It dates to the Late Bronze Age, between 900 and 700 B.C.
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Pictures released by officials show the remarkably preserved bronze weapon sticking up from sandy soil during the excavation.
Wiśniewski — who previously found a Bronze Age hoard in a forested area outside of Gdańsk — alerted heritage officials to the discovery.
A metal detectorist discovered a remarkably preserved bronze sword estimated to be about 2,700 years old in northern Poland. (WUOZ w Gdańsku; Pomorski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków via Facebook)
“After the discovery was reported, staff from our Department of Archaeological Monuments recovered the artifact using proper archaeological methods, working together with the finder,” the Pomeranian Provincial Heritage Conservator’s translated post added.
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Officials said the latest discovery is not the first Bronze Age sword unearthed in what is now the Gdańsk Forest District.
“In the 1920s, two antenna-hilt bronze swords were discovered in a peat bog at Rynarzewo,” the post said.
“The Provincial Heritage Conservator will decide which museum the sword will be transferred to.”
“Those artifacts were transferred to the Provincial Museum in Gdańsk, but were lost during World War II.”
Officials were immediately informed of the discovery, said Marcin Tymiński, press spokesperson for the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Gdańsk.
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Tymiński told Digital that specialists will be able to provide additional details about the weapon once it is transferred to a museum and studied.
Heritage officials recovered the Bronze Age sword using proper archaeological methods after the hobbyist promptly reported the discovery. (WUOZ w Gdańsku; Pomorski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków via Facebook)
“The Provincial Heritage Conservator will decide which museum the sword will be transferred to,” Tymiński said in an email translated from Polish.
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“That decision has not yet been made.”
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Ancient weapon discoveries in Poland are rare, but not unheard of — and the recent find follows several notable discoveries over the past year.
Authorities said the sword will remain in professional care while experts document and study the rare artifact. (WUOZ w Gdańsku; Pomorski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków via Facebook)
Late last year, archaeologists recovered a cache of early medieval weapons from a lake in west-central Poland — relics believed to be connected to the country’s first rulers.
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Before that, a 700-year-old medieval sword was reeled in by an angler fishing in Poland’s Vistula River.
