Bronze Age mini-hoard found in Poland

A small Bronze Age hoard consisting of three objects — two bangles and an axe head — has been discovered in Poland. The find was made last week during a metal detector exploration in the town of Zalewo in northern Poland.

Volunteers with the Suska Land Lovers Society (TMZS) scanned the site where ancient artifacts had been previously discovered and unearthed the axe head and bronze rings believed to have been bangle bracelets or shoulder pieces worn as emblems of military rank.

Professional archaeologists from the Provincial Architectural Protection Office followed up at the find site, but made no additional discoveries. They found no evidence of human remains or of a burial, so these objects were not funerary furnishings. It was a hoard buried under ground, likely as a cache of valuables rather than a votive offering.

The hoard has been given to the Ostródzie Museum which is examining and conserving the objects now. Museum experts have preliminarily dated the objects to the Late Bronze Age, the first half of the first millennium B.C. One of the bangles is broken into three pieces but all parts are present and accounted for. Museum curators hope to be able to piece them back together to put the hoard on display.