A knife with a sleeve handle

This impressive-length knife with a slim blade and a socket-shaped handle was cast in bronze. It is one of only two specimens of this type known from the territory of Poland, the other being from Kościernica Sławieńska in Pomerania. The specimen from Witkowo is typical for the alpine zone of pile dwellings, inhabited by communities representing southwestern groups of the ash-field culture. Such knives were widespread between the Rhine and Elbe rivers and in south-eastern France and Switzerland (Alpine zone). The presented artefact is part of a hoard of bronze objects dating to the 5th Bronze Age (c. 900-750 BC). It was discovered at the end of the 19th century together with axes, weapons, body and costume ornaments, elements of horse harness, and objects connected with metallurgy and foundry. The deposit was located in a substantial earthenware vessel next to a large stone, at a depth of only 15 cm below the surface of a flooded meadow belonging to August Schiewer.

Dorota Kozłowska