A metal detectorist in Poland has made a remarkable find – an “extremely rare” copper dagger estimated to be over 4,000 years old.
Piotr Gorlach stumbled upon the discovery during his exploration of the forests near the village of Korzenica, Subcarpathia Province, in the southeastern part of Poland, close to the border with Ukraine. Armed with his trusty metal detector, Gorlach made an exciting find that would soon captivate the attention of many.
“I’ve finished my search for the day and headed back to the car. Out of habit, I accidentally left the detector on. Suddenly, I picked up a signal. Intrigued, I began digging into the forest floor and uncovered a flat metal object covered in green patina. It dawned on me that I had stumbled upon something far older than the military artifacts I had been searching for in this particular area,” Gorlach shared with PAP.
Gorlach later shared his discovery with archaeologists from the Orsetti House Museum in Jarosław, who conducted an initial examination of the artifact.
Archaeologist Marcin Burghardt from the Jarosław museum has determined that the dagger can be traced back to the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C.
According to Elżbieta Sieradzka-Burghardt, an archaeologist from the museum in Jarosław, the artifact is believed to originate from a time when copper objects were exceptionally scarce in this region of Poland. This period predates the introduction of bronze, which is a metal alloy formed by combining copper and tin.
Sieradzka-Burghardt emphasized the significance of the dagger in studying the shift from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age in southeastern Poland.
According to the archaeologist, this artifact is not only the oldest metal dagger ever found in Podkarpackie province, but it is also the only one of its kind discovered in the area so far.
“The discovery of this dagger in Poland is truly astonishing, as there was only one similar dagger found back in the 1960s,” exclaimed Sieradzka-Burghardt.
According to the archaeologist, items made of copper were considered extremely rare during the 3rd millennium B.C. This means that only individuals with the highest social status had the means to afford them.
According to the researcher, the dagger would not have been very effective in combat due to its relatively soft nature. Instead, it is believed that artifacts like this were primarily meant to symbolize and signify high social status.
According to Sieradzka-Burghardt, the dagger discovered does not provide any specific details about its previous owner. However, it is highly probable that the dagger belonged to a warrior who held a position of great importance in society. This information was shared with Newsweek by Sieradzka-Burghardt.
Archaeologists have not been able to link the artifact to a specific archaeological culture due to the absence of any additional finds associated with the dagger.
The features of the dagger can provide valuable insights into its origin. Sieradzka-Burghardt suggests that these features share similarities with artifacts found in two significant cultural complexes: the Bell Beaker culture of western and central Europe, as well as the Catacomb culture that existed in parts of eastern Europe and western Asia.