Rare Bronze Age dagger found in forest near Krasnystaw in southeastern Poland. It is in good condition with no signs of wear on the edges. It was cast in the form of a lens with a rib in the center. The semicircular base has three rivets on each side to which the handle is attached. The handle, probably wooden, is now lost.
The dagger is believed to date from around 1500 BC and is the first of its kind found in the area. In fact, it is one of about a dozen found in all of Poland. It was not locally produced, but arrived in the region along with people who inhabited the Danube region in what is now Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia.
It was found by a metal detector working with the historical association Wolica under the auspices of the Lubelskie Provincial Monument Conservator. They were looking for items from the World Wars when they came across a dagger in shallow water just a few inches from the surface. They took pictures and recorded the exact location to report the find, but found no other archaeological material at the site.
A similar riveted dagger was discovered near Olsztyn in northern Poland in 2014. It was found in a grave just below the arable surface, which, although damaged, contained other valuable items including a gold hair ornament, bronze wire beads, and glass beads. Gold and glass were expensive imported items, and weapons indicate that this was the burial of a high-ranking man.
The grave was assigned to the Smoshevsky type, a cemetery characterized by burial mounds of the Kurgan culture of the Bronze Age, ca. 1600-1300 BC. Unfortunately, the newly discovered dagger was not found in its original form, so we do not know if it was part of the grave’s inventory.
Currently, the dagger is being analyzed and studied by the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments. Archaeologists are investigating the find site to get more information about the item, its age, and how it got there.
