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Ancient treasures found in northeastern Poland go on display

08.12.2022 13:00
Late Antiquity-era ornaments and weapons discovered at the site of an ancient lake are being showcased in a new exhibition in the northeastern Polish resort town of Mrągowo. 
Late Antiquity-era ornaments and weapons discovered at the site of an ancient lake are being showcased in a new exhibition in the northeastern Polish resort town of Mrągowo.
Late Antiquity-era ornaments and weapons discovered at the site of an ancient lake are being showcased in a new exhibition in the northeastern Polish resort town of Mrągowo. PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk

The show at the Mrągowo Museum opened on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Documenting the history of the region from the 10th century BC to the present, the display features more than 500 exhibits, including some 230 archaeological artefacts, officials said.  

According to the museum’s director, Dominik Tarnowski, the exhibition’s “biggest treasure” are objects unearthed since 2010 in the local village of Czaszków, at the site of the former Lake Nidajno. 

Treasures from 3rd century

The “Czaszków cache,” as the collection is called, includes rare gold and silver adornments from the 3rd and 4th centuries, the era of pre-modern human migration and late Roman influence, as well as elements of elite warrior weaponry, the PAP news agency reported.

Tarnowski said: “These are really beautiful objects of exceptional value. Without a doubt, they represent one of the most interesting archaeological finds in early 21st century Poland and a rarity on a European scale.”

xA gold-and-silver figurine of a vulture, found at the site of the ancient Lake Nidajno in northeastern Poland. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk

Spearheads, battle knives, spurs

According to archaeologists from the University of Warsaw and the Polish Academy of Sciences, the weapons and ornaments were ritually destroyed and thrown into Lake Nidajno as part of a Germanic custom practiced mainly in southern Scandinavia.   

Among the objects discovered in Czaszków are spearheads, battle knives and spurs; gold and silver-made, richly adorned fragments of belts and horse tacks; and the most extraordinary exhibit of all, a silver-and-gold figurine of a vulture, apparently a symbol of military or religious power, officials said. 

According to researchers, these highly original artefacts, finely crafted from precious metals, may have arrived in Poland’s Mazury lake district as part of war spoils or as a diplomatic gift for a Baltic warlord, the PAP news agency reported.   

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, glosmazur24.pl