Sensational find: a fisherman caught a 700-year-old sword (4 photos)

A Polish man has made the most valuable catch of his life. The man was fishing on the Vistula River when he pulled out a sword that is about 700 years old. The weapon, with its characteristic spherical pommel and cross on the blade, is well preserved.





The fisherman brought the artifact to the capital's Office for the Protection of Monuments, as required by Polish law. The agency reported that the weapon was handed over to a conservation workshop.

The State Archaeological Museum called the sword a "sensational find." It will undergo an “intensive conservation process”: for six weeks it will be “treated” with a special solution that will remove chlorides, after which it will be thoroughly washed to balance the pH level, and mechanically cleaned of sand and soil. The sword will be covered with a protective layer and only then will it be handed over to a team of archaeologists for further study.



“This sword dates back to the 13th or 14th century, that is, the time of the foundation of Warsaw,” said Anna Magdalena Lan, the chief specialist in the protection of monuments.

“A more precise date can be determined by the cross, the personal seal of the blacksmith,” she continued.

The sword is 79 centimeters long from tip to hilt, and is "quite light due to a very high degree of corrosion."

"The weapon was found in a river. This means that it was found without context, without other artifacts that could tell more about it."





In recent months, Poland has delighted archaeologists with new discoveries. On July 8, the skeleton of a medieval knight was found under a former ice cream parlor in Gdansk. The man was 171 cm tall and was about 40 years old at the time of his death. The grave is marked by a limestone tombstone depicting a knight with a shield.