A man out for a walk through a forest near Gdansk in Poland did not stumble upon a nearly 2,700-year-old sword out of the ground. But that is exactly what happened.
The hobbyist, who was sweeping the forest floor with a metal detector, got a signal beneath his feet. When he investigated, he found a bronze sword standing upright in the soil, as if someone had planted it there and simply walked away centuries ago.
According to CNN, the blade dates to the late Bronze Age, somewhere between 900 and 700 BC, making it roughly 2,700 years old.
In remarkably good shape
What makes the find particularly striking is the condition of the sword. Despite spending the better part of three millennia underground in a forest, researchers say it is well preserved.
Bronze Age artefacts of this kind are rare enough on their own. Finding one intact, and standing upright no less, is the sort of discovery that does not happen often even to seasoned archaeologists, let alone a weekend hobbyist out with a detector.
What happens next
The man did the right thing. Rather than keep the find or disturb it further, he reported it to heritage officials, who then sent archaeologists to collect it properly.
Authorities, as reported by CNN, said the sword would be studied further before being placed in a museum, where it will eventually go on public display.
The Gdansk Forest District, where the sword was found, is now likely to draw more attention from both researchers and curious metal detector enthusiasts hoping lightning strikes twice.
