Grzegorz Kurka, director of the Museum of the History of the Kamień Land, stated: "A true work of art! In terms of execution, it is of very high class, beautifully ornamented. Each carved element is different. As for finds in the areas of Poland, I have not encountered such a dagger."
Members of the Association for the Exploration and Rescue of Monuments named after St. Cordula discovered a richly decorated dagger from the Hallstatt period in a clay mass detached from a cliff on the Baltic Sea coast, in Poland. The dagger, dating back to the early Iron Age, is believed to be around 2,800 years old.
The find was made by the association's president, Jacek Ukowski, who was exploring the Baltic beach with fellow member Katarzyna Herdzik. "It's the most valuable of my discoveries. Accidental. The cliff was torn away, the mass must have fallen from above. I entered that place with a metal detector because it started 'ringing' to me," Ukowski told the Polish Press Agency, according to TVN24.
After uncovering the dagger on the beach, Ukowski immediately notified Grzegorz Kurka, the director of the Museum of the History of the Kamień Land, who secured the artifact. The dagger has since been transferred to the museum. "A true work of art! In terms of execution, it is of very high class, beautifully ornamented. Each carved element is different. As for finds in the areas of Poland, I have not encountered such a dagger," Kurka said, according to RMF24.
The dagger measures 24.2 cm and is well preserved. It is richly decorated along the entire length of the hilt and blade. The Museum of the History of the Kamień Land posted photos and a description of the dagger on social media: "The blade is covered with linear crescents and crosses resembling stars. In the middle of the blade runs an ornament perhaps symbolizing constellations, and the whole is complemented by diagonal lines. The hilt is finished with a pointed head and decorated with alternating ornament descending to the blade."
Kurka pointed out that the decorations on the surface may indicate connections with a solar cult and suggest that the dagger had ritual importance. "We will want to conduct metallurgical studies to determine the composition of the alloy, what is the level of copper, tin. And studies of traces of wear—whether it was an item used in combat or used for cult, ritual purposes," he explained, according to RMF24. He suggested, "Perhaps it is an import and was cast in one of the workshops in southern Europe."
The Provincial Conservator of Monuments in Szczecin will also be notified about the discovery. Kurka emphasized that, for now, he cannot reveal where the dagger was found, but it is known to be in the western part of the Polish coast. "The conservator will decide to which museum this masterpiece will go. We hope it will be to us," he said.
Ukowski admitted that winter and spring explorations of the beach are a kind of exercise. "Since now all the fields are sown, we walk on the beach so that the detector doesn't rust. No permits are required for such searches," he explained. He told PAP that this is another find he has handed over to the Museum in Kamień Pomorski. "I already have two medieval bulls to my credit. I have found things from hundreds of years ago, even 1,400 years, but not 3,000," he stated. Previously, near Wysoka Kamieńska, by the railway tracks, Ukowski came across a papal bull of Clement VI.
In the opinion of the archaeologist, the execution of the dagger indicates a high level of metallurgy. The dagger may have belonged to a wealthy warrior.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.