A Forheim-type blade

This undecorated, well-preserved javelin or spearhead is characterised by a striking broadblade and a relatively short socket with two rivet holes to attach it to the shaft. The relic was part of a bronze hoard consisting of a decorative belt/tape, three spiral armlets and two spearheads. These items were found in 1875 in the church cemetery in Bonin during the digging of a grave. Schmidt, a local pastor, donated them to the collection of the Society of History and Antiquities of Pomerania (Towarzystwo Historii i Starożytności Pomorza) in Szczecin. In the 1920s, they were taken over by the newly established Pommersches Landesmuseum in Stettin (Polish: Pomorskie Muzeum Krajowe w Szczecinie; English: Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin). The hoard remained there until 1944 when it was transported with other valuable relics deep into Germany to protect it from destruction and looting during the war. It was considered lost for a long time. It returned to Szczecin in 2009 due to the Polish-German exchange of old archaeological collections. The Bonin deposit is an important archaeological find. It comes from the period when the Unetice culture began to disappear in large areas of Central Europe. It was replaced by the so-called grave cultures, strongly influencing the areas within reach of the Nordic circle in metallurgy. It was the time (the end of the 1st to the middle of the 2nd Bronze Age, i.e., approx. 1700-1500 BC) when local bronzing began to develop in Pomerania under the influence of both these groups. The spearhead from Bonin, probably made in one of the local workshops, represents specimens originating from the Carpathian Basin. Such spearheads were mainly marked in the southern part of Central Europe, from Switzerland to Transylvania. In Poland, only three hoards are known.

Dorota Kozłowska