Sword

During the research of a cemetery from the younger pre-Roman period (2nd century BC – 3rd century AD) in Masów, the Rycki poviat, the Lublin Voivodeship, carried out in 1953 by Jan Gurba from the Department of Archaeology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, in a mortuary grave number 75 elements of a warrior's armament were discovered, including a one-edged sword, ritually bent and broken into three parts.

This sword is distinguished by an interesting ornamentation in the upper part of the blade, in the form of punches arranged in geometrical patterns of triangles and rectangles.

In the grave of the warrior, apart from the sword, an earthen ashtray, fragments of several other hand-made vessels, a bronze imacz (shield handle), two knives, two spearheads and bronze fittings for the sword hilt were found.

The way of decorating the sword and the specific form of the imacz show that this weapon was brought to the area of the Przeworsk culture settlement in the Lublin region from Scandinavia. Finds of weapons of Scandinavian origin in Central Europe are quite rare. They testify to the penetration of northern patterns into the military equipment of the representatives of the Przeworsk culture. The distribution of weapons from Scandinavia was probably carried out through Gothic tribes.