A sword with bar for handle

The sword is preserved in perfect condition. Small losses - cracks are visible only spot on the blade edges. The surface is covered with a green, the so-called noble, protective patina. It is a double-edged weapon with a slender blade and an interestingly shaped staff, on which the handle, probably made of bronze, was initially placed. Along with two other swords, the artefact was found by accident in 2012 by a forester from Dobrzany. According to the finder's account, they were lying close to each other. In the same year, archaeologists researched the site and, using metal detectors, discovered several small objects (three long and three short rivets and a fragment of a narrow hilt). Importantly, no traces of burial were observed, so the find was considered a hoard. The deposit found in Kozy, consisting of two swords with a staff and one with a spike for a hilt, is dated to the Late Bronze Age (ca. 900-750 BC), the period of the most numerous occurrences of bronze swords. The territorial range of specimens with a barb to the hilt in Poland is limited to Western and Central Pomerania. Eight swords of this type are known from there, which developed from older forms under the influence of cultural impulses coming from the north-western part of Europe.

Dorota Kozłowska