They were looking for traces of World War II, found a sword from the beginning of our era

Rafał Proszowski and Mariusz Lamp from the Silesian Inventum Association studied the northern jury in January. They hoped to find traces of the Polish army from the beginning of World War II with the help of detectors.

– The search was carried out using metal detectors. One of his colleagues heard a specific signal and decided to check what was hidden in the ground (…). After unveiling the whole, it turned out that two pieces of broken sword are visible – said the representative of the Inventum Association Mariusz Włudarz.

Then further actions were interrupted, because if the discovered object may be an archaeological monument, the right to take it on your own. The find was secured, and the place of its discovery was marked in the field and thoroughly located with the help of GPS coordinates.

After the findings were taken by archaeologists and preliminary research, it turned out that the blade was a Roman SPATHA, which is a long sword used by horse riding. The explorers found him in three fragments, which, according to representatives of the association, may indicate his ritual fracture during the funeral ceremony.

– Dating at this stage is not yet entirely possible, but presumably it is the period between the first and 3rd age of our era. The sword could be used by the warriors of the Vandals tribe – explained the Włudarz.

At the sword itself, no other items were found, but during further searches, at a distance from the find, detectors still came across a medieval ax and spurs, which dates back to the modern era.

Currently, artifacts are in the Archeology Department of the Częstochowa Museum, where detailed analyzes are conducted to confirm the hypotheses of archaeologists regarding the funeral ritual and the origin of the sword.

– This is the first documented and reported find. In the jury, various monuments have already been found proving people in this area over the neolithic era, Bronze or Iron Age, but this type of sword is the only one we know about – explained the representative of the association.

The Inventum Association, gathering amateur seekers, declared his willingness to support further volunteering research.

– Earth in not only the jury, but also all of Poland still has many secrets, and their discovery depends on many factors. One of them is knowledge, but here it was a happy luck, because we did not expect such a finale – noted Włudar.

Detectors are a large community of enthusiasts of searching and discovering history. It is estimated that there are between 200 and 300,000 in Poland. Many of them operate as part of organizations, such as the Inventum Association, where various initiatives are planned jointly – from searching for monuments and contemporary subjects, to educational activities, including the organization of thematic exhibitions, cultural events and historical staging.