Firefighter wins archaeology trip — and helps makes surprise ancient discovery. See it
.png "A collection of 1,800-year-old artifacts was unearthed in Poland by a team of local archaeology enthusiasts accompanied by a firefighter.")
When firefighter Piotr Wójcik and a group of local archaeology enthusiasts set out for a day of metal detector exploring in Poland, they were expecting to possibly come across a few World War II relics.
But what started as a prize won by Wójcik turned into something much more significant as the group members made their way through the wooded area with their metal detectors — and began unearthing some surprises.
Hidden in the ground was a trove of unusual and much older artifacts, according to a March 5 blog post from the Historical and Exploration Association of the Węgorzewo Land.
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The metal detectorists discovered four brooches, some buckles, a tubular pendant, a bronze bead, a ring and fragments of more broaches, the association said.
Photos show the collection of ancient finds.
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Once the team realized what it had discovered, it stopped searching in the area to ensure the artifacts would remain in their places.
The items were photographed and their GPS coordinates were recorded so further archaeological research can occur in the area, according to the association. The discovery was reported to the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Olsztyn and to the state forest.
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Officials helped the local enthusiasts identify their finds as comb brooches typically associated with the Balts — a group of people that lived on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea beginning in the third millennium B.C.
The artifacts are at least 1,800 years old, dating to between the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century. Experts said the finds could be indicative of an ancient cemetery or settlement that was once in the area.
Węgorzewo is in northern Poland, about 180 miles north of Warsaw.
Google Translate was used to translate a blog post from the Historical and Exploration Association of the Węgorzewo Land.
This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Firefighter wins archaeology trip — and helps makes surprise ancient discovery. See it."
