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A Roman sword dating back nearly 2,000 years has been unearthed in southern Poland by a pair of history enthusiasts. The weapon, almost one metre long and likely a double-edged spatha used by Roman cavalry, will go on display in the city of Częstochowa after undergoing conservation work.
The discovery was made in an area called the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, though the exact location has not been given in order to prevent unauthorised excavations.
“No one can quite say how or why this sword ended up there; only research on it will perhaps yield some detailed knowledge,” Rafał Proszowski from the Inventum Association, a historical society, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily. He and a colleague, Mariusz Lampa, made the find.
Their organisation normally searches for relics left over from the Second World War, using metal detectors. “We’d never found anything like this before,” says Proszowski. He and Lampa immediately handed over the item to the municipal museum in Częstochowa.
The Inventum Association thinks that the sword may provide further evidence of the presence in this area of the so-called Przeworsk culture, a group associated with the Vandals that lived in Central Europe during the Roman period. The weapon was broken in two places, which could be linked to an ancient burial rite.
Archaeologist Magdalena Wieczorek-Szmal from the Częstochowa Museum told Gazeta Wyborcza that the sword is a rare and valuable find. She confirmed that it dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD and is likely associated with the Przeworsk culture.
Experts at the museum note that traces on the blade indicate that it could have been exposed to fire, perhaps as part of a funeral pyre, but further tests are required to confirm this. The sword will undergo conservation work before being put on display at the recently modernised exhibition on Częstochowa’s history in the town hall.
A sword believed to be over 1,000 years old has been found during dredging work on a river in Poland.
The find has sparked speculation that the item belonged to a Viking, but one expert has expressed scepticism about that idea https://t.co/7NorHjZJgq
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 16, 2024
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Stowarzyszenie Inventum / Facebook
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
