A hatchet with raised edges, Wałowice type

The axe was part of a grave from the 2nd half of the 2nd Bronze Age (c. 1500-1300 BC), which also contained a decorated javelin spearhead and an ornamental shield pendant with a spike. The burial was discovered in his field by Laak, a farmer, on 10 March 1937, probably during ploughing. In the sand, at a depth of about 50 cm from the surface, he found poorly preserved, unburnt human bones and bronze objects placed next to them. All these objects were brought by the teacher Hüpfel from the village of Laski to the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Stettin (Polish: Pomorskie Muzeum Krajowe w Szczecinie; English: Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin). They stayed there under the Museum director Otto Kunkel’s order because of the Allied air raids on the city until they were evacuated in 1944. Together with other valuable exhibits, they were transported deep into Germany. They returned to Szczecin in 2009 due to the Polish-German exchange of old archaeological artefacts. Bronze objects from Kukułowo were exhibited at an occasional exhibition organised at that time. The assemblage containing the hatchet is one of the most valuable archaeological objects in the resources of the National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe) in Szczecin, both because of its exhibition value and scientific significance. This discovery is among the unique grave finds in Pomerania related to the settlement of the circle of grave cultures.

Dorota Kozłowska