Guy finds 3,000-year-old Bronze Age sword while hunting for mushrooms

Imagine if you were just strolling around looking at flowers or hunting for mushrooms and you came on a 3,000-year-old archeological miracle.

If there was one practice I could bring back from the past, it would definitely be sword fighting. Sword fights are always awesome in movies, and old swords are often the most interesting exhibit at any museum I go to. If you love history, swords, and ancient artifacts, then you’ll be interested to hear about a recent discovery made by a mushroom hunter in the Czech Republic.

As reported by SyFy Wire, a man named Roman Novák was searching for mushrooms — a fun pastime popular in rural parts of the Czech Republic — in the woods near his home in the eastern Jesenicko region of the country when he found something extraordinary. Novák uncovered an ancient sword and bronze axe, both of which have been tested and date back to the Bronze Age 3,300 years ago!

Here is what Novák told Radio Prague International about his discovery:

"I saw a piece of metal sticking out of some stones. I kicked it and found that it was a blade, part of a sword. I then dug some more to find a bronze axe."

After realizing that he may have uncovered a rare treasure, Novák got into contact with the Silesian Museum in nearby Opava. Archaeologists are now excavating the area where he found the objects, which have undergone various analyses and tests to determine their age and origin.

According to Dr. Jiří Juchelka, who heads the archaeology team at the Silesian Museum, the sword and the axe date back to about 1,300 BC. The weapons look similar to ones used in what is presently known as Northern Germany. “At the moment, we are thoroughly traversing the site and looking for other possible finds,” Dr. Juckelka told Live Science. “The site was well away from contemporary towns and known prehistoric settlements in an archaeologically marginal area where no other finds had been reported.”

Image: © Silesian Museum, Czech Republic

I think we can all agree that the sword is seriously beautiful. The hilt is intricately decorated, and although the blade of the sword was found broken, the rest of the object seems well-preserved. Apparently, the sword would have been an expensive weapon to own at the time.

“They were obviously trying their best, but the quality of the casting was actually pretty low,” Dr. Juchelka continued. “X-ray tests show that there are many small bubbles inside the weapon. This suggests that the sword was not used in combat, but was instead of symbolic value. The finds may be related to a religious theme, or they may be part of a bronze treasure. It is not easy to say, based on what we know.”

This is such a cool story and I hope they find more artifacts! Roman Novák is one lucky guy. I wish that I found awesome historical artifacts just going about my day.

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