Nationally significant Bronze Age treasure recovered from looters

A nationally important Late Bronze Age (c. 950-780/740 BCE) treasure discovered near Gryfino in the West Pomeranian province of Poland has been rescued by authorities after being illegally excavated. Anonymous people sent photos of the objects to each other and then via email to the Szczecin provincial monuments conservator, who then called the police. Police tracked down the person who traded the photos, and while they denied being the looters, they did know the items were hidden near the headquarters of the Grifino Area History Lovers Association. The association later handed over the treasure to the Szczecin Provincial Monuments Protection Office.

The treasure contains over 100 items, 73 of which are very large. These include more than 30 bronze neck rings, weapons, shield bosses, jewelry, falaras (metal disks) from horse harnesses, silver nails, ship handles, sickles and spearheads. Three of the objects are of national importance and are unique in Polish archaeological records: a brooch made of a ring decorated with a dome of sheet metal, a long pin and an axe, these objects are not native Made, it was probably introduced to Grifino from south-central Europe. Alpine region. The ax head socket contains the remains of wood from the ax handle, which will give archaeologists the opportunity to radiocarbon date the ax head and determine what kind of wood it was mounted on.

The finder used a metal detector, but Polish law regulates the use of metal detectors to prevent such pranks, and the robbers apparently did not have the required permission to conduct a metal detector search. This in itself is an indictable offence, but to add insult to injury it is clear from the photos that they destroyed at least one clay vessel containing a treasure buried some 3,000 years ago and treated the archaeological environment roughly , conduct punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Authorities have called on the looters to correct their mistakes and tell archaeologists the exact location of the find so they can investigate. They wondered if there was just one jar that contained the treasure, or if it was an urn and its contents were grave goods. If these items were grave goods, the number would likely have been greater, and there may have been adjacent graves. The background to this discovery must be expertly explored to answer questions about this very important discovery.

The treasure is currently located in the Szczecin National Museum, where it will be further studied and preserved. Once preliminary research is completed, the items will be put on display at the museum.