Ancient weapons linked to legendary medieval rulers found in lake near royal stronghold

The Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica announced the discovery in a Facebook post on Nov. 12. The underwater excavation took place at Lake Lednica, in west-central Poland, some 150 miles west of Warsaw. 

The lake surrounds Ostrów Lednicki, an island that served as a massive royal stronghold in the late 10th century.

Over the years, excavators have found around 280 artifacts in the lake, including 145 axes, 64 spearheads, eight swords and, most recently, four spears.

The weapons date back to the time of Mieszko I and Bolesław the Brave, two legendary figures in the formation of medieval Poland.

"Decorated socketed spearheads are exceptional examples of early medieval weaponry in Northern and Eastern Europe," he said.

"Three similar examples were found in the 1990s in the waters of Lake Lednica. However, no finds so richly adorned - with a socket made entirely of colored metal alloys - had been discovered until now."

The elaborate decorations on the weapons, as well as the precious metals they were made from, suggest "high-born warrior[s]" could have used them, Kowalczyk said.

The most exciting find, Kowalczyk said, was the "princely spear" that was exceptionally well-preserved.

"The steel blade, or leaf, is set in an intricately ornamented socket, which still contains a fragment of the shaft," he said.

"Specialized studies have shown that much of its surface is covered with gold, silver and bronze, as well as other metal alloys. … There are also interlace designs whose sharp ends resemble claws or beaks, complemented by rows of tiny dots forming the background of the pattern."

As to why the weapons were left in the lake, experts say there are two main hypotheses.

In the first theory, archaeologists think the weapons fell in the lake during battles over the Lednica stronghold, likely during the 1030s, when Czech Duke Bretislaus invaded Poland.

"Such practices are known from earlier periods and many places across Europe," said Kowalczyk. 

"Water was perceived as a gateway to the world of the dead, and throwing valuable objects into it was an act of deep symbolic meaning."

"It should be emphasized that it was on Ostrów Lednicki that the oldest Christian liturgical objects ever found in Poland were discovered - including a staurotheke (a reliquary of the True Cross), a liturgical comb made of ivory, a three-armed iron censer with holes for suspension and bone plaques from a reliquary chest," he said.