In a clay block detached from the cliff on the Baltic coast on Sunday, members of the Association for the Save of Monuments. Saint. Kordula discovered a richly decorated dagger from the Halsztacki period. The unusual monument was handed over to the Museum of the History of the Kamień Land.
– This is my most valuable discovery. Accidental. The cliff was broken, the block had to fall from above. I entered this place with a metal detector, because I started to “call” – said Jacek Ukowski, president of the Exploration Association to save the monuments. Saint. Kordula in Kamień Pomorski.
On Sunday, Ukowski explored the Baltic beach with Katarzyna Herdzik from the association. Together they made an extraordinary discovery. The dagger found in a clay block detached from the cliff to a storm is probably 2800 years old. This is the Halsztacki period, an early iron era. It is very richly decorated, along the entire length of the handle and blade. It measures 24.2 cm.
“I have not encountered such a dagger”
– A real work of art. In terms of performance, it is very high, beautifully ornamented. Each engraved element is different. As for the finds in Poland, I have not encountered such a dagger – emphasized the director of the Kamień Land History Museum Grzegorz Kurka.
Ukkowski immediately after finding a dagger on the beach notified a chanterelle, which secured a valuable artifact. The Provincial Conservator of Monuments in Szczecin will also be notified.
– The conservator will decide which museum will go to this masterpiece. We hope to us. We will want to perform metallurgical tests to determine the composition of the alloy, what is the level of copper, tin. And testing of signs of wear – whether it was an object used in combat or used for iconic and ritual purposes – explained Kurka.
He noted that for now he could not reveal where the icket was found. It is known that in the western part of the Polish coast.
Has crescents and stars
Kurka assured that the monument is preserved in excellent condition. In social media, the Museum of the History of the Kamień Land has already posted photos and a brief description: “The blade is covered with linear crescents and crosses reminiscent of stars. In the middle of the blade, the procedures may be decorated with perhaps symbolizing constellations, and the whole is complemented by oblique lines. The handle is finished with a pointed head and decorated with an alternating ornament going down to the blade.”
Kurka pointed out that surface decorations may indicate connections with solar cult and suggest that the dagger had ritual significance. He could also belong to a rich warrior. In the archaeologist's opinion, the implementation of the dagger indicates a high level of metallurgy. “Perhaps it is import and was cast in one of the workshops in southern Europe,” Kurka suggested. – The discovery of this dagger is also a testimony to the extraordinary history of the region and West Pomerania over thousands of years – summed up Kurka. Jacek Ukowski boasted that this is his next important find, which he transferred to the museum in Kamień Pomorski. Earlier, in the vicinity of Wysoka Kamieńska, at the railway tracks, he came across, among others on the papal bull of Klemens VI. – I already have two medieval bulls. I found things from a few hundred years ago, even 1,400 years, but not three thousand – said Ukowski. He admitted that the winter and spring explorations of the beach are a kind of exercise. – Since there are now all sown fields, we walk on the beach so that the detector does not rust. Permission is not required for such search – he explained.
Source of the main photo: Museum of the History of the Kamień Land