Archaeologists say the finds could provide important new evidence for the presence of Scythians in the region between the eighth and fifth centuries BC.
The artefacts were discovered around Wierzbica, in the Lubycza Królewska municipality of Tomaszów County, close to Poland’s modern border with Ukraine.
The discovery was made unexpectedly by members of the Association for the Remembrance of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Border Protection Corps, who had received official permission to search for objects connected with the regiment’s fighting during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Instead, their searches revealed objects dating back more than 2,500 years.
Crucially, the finds were made outside any previously registered archaeological site.
Heritage officials now believe the discoveries represent a new and potentially important archaeological location containing an unusually large concentration of bronze and copper artefacts from the Late Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age.
The objects have been preliminarily linked with the Scythians — the famous nomadic horse-riding peoples who dominated large areas of the Eurasian steppe during the first millennium BC.
Scythian bronze arrowheads discovered
Among the most significant discoveries are four characteristic three-edged bronze arrowheads found at Wierzbica.
The largest measures approximately four centimetres long and 1.4 centimetres wide. It appears not to have been completely finished, with traces of casting seams still visible along its edges.
Two smaller examples measure around 2.5 centimetres long and 0.9 centimetres wide and lack sockets.
A fourth three-edged arrowhead has a socket and measures approximately 3.3 centimetres long and 0.8 centimetres wide.
Three-edged bronze arrowheads are strongly associated with Scythian archery and are among the characteristic artefacts connected with their presence and military activity across Eastern and Central Europe.
The Scythians were renowned mounted warriors who made extensive use of powerful composite bows.
Their appearance in what is now Poland is generally connected with contacts and incursions into territories inhabited by communities of the Lusatian culture during the Early Iron Age.
Evidence associated with Scythian activity has been found as far west as Lower Silesia.
Bronze jewellery found at the site
The Wierzbica discoveries include much more than weapons.
One particularly striking object is a bracelet manufactured from a thin sheet of bronze measuring approximately one centimetre wide and no more than half a millimetre thick.
Its outer surface is decorated with small punched depressions arranged into equilateral triangles. The triangles alternate in direction, with their points facing first upwards and then downwards.
The bracelet survives in a semicircular form with a radius of around 10 centimetres. Its arms gradually narrow towards the ends, which have been turned outwards into hook-like terminals.
Several other personal ornaments were also recovered.
These include a fragment of a twisted bronze-wire bracelet and part of another bracelet made from thicker twisted bronze wire.
Searchers also discovered several distinctive nail-shaped temple ornaments.
One survives almost completely, with a convex head measuring 1.6 centimetres across and a pin approximately six centimetres long.
Fragments of five additional examples were found concentrated together. Their surviving heads measure between approximately 1.2 and two centimetres in diameter.
Two further nail-shaped ornaments were discovered elsewhere among the assemblage.
Image Credit : Lubelski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków
Possible fibula pin and bronze ring
Other objects could provide further evidence about clothing and personal adornment.
A cast bronze ring measuring 3.4 centimetres in diameter may have been sewn onto clothing as an ornament. Researchers have also suggested it could potentially have served as a form of commodity money or exchange object.
Another discovery consists of a bent piece of bronze wire approximately three millimetres thick.
The object has a pointed lower end and a flattened upper section and has been tentatively identified as either the pin from a fibula — an ancient brooch used to fasten clothing — or another type of dress pin.
All of the metal discoveries were recorded with GPS coordinates.
This could prove particularly important if archaeologists conduct formal excavations, as the precise distribution of individual objects may help identify concentrations of activity and establish the character and boundaries of the newly recognised site.
Bronze dagger found nearby
A further discovery from the surrounding region may belong to approximately the same period.
A bronze dagger was found on land belonging to the village of Kornie, also within the Lubycza Królewska municipality.
The weapon measures approximately 15 centimetres long and 2.4 centimetres wide at the base of its tang.
Its blade narrows towards a triangular point and is around two millimetres thick. A slight raised area can be seen running across parts of its upper and lower surfaces.
Unfortunately, the dagger has suffered extensive damage.
Its edges are heavily chipped and broken around both the blade and tang, while numerous scratches and areas of damage have affected the bronze patina.
Despite its condition, archaeologists believe its chronology is similar to that of the objects discovered at Wierzbica.
The dagger has provisionally been dated to the Late Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age and has also been associated with evidence for Scythian activity in the region.
Evidence of Scythians in eastern Poland
The Scythians were nomadic peoples of Iranian origin who became one of the dominant forces of the Eurasian steppe during the first millennium BC.
Between roughly 900 and 400 BC, Scythian and related groups occupied or influenced an enormous territory stretching across the Pontic-Caspian steppe and into Central Asia.
They became renowned for their horsemanship, mounted warfare and archery, as well as highly developed metalworking and distinctive animal-style art.
Elite members of Scythian society were sometimes buried beneath monumental earth mounds known as kurgans, accompanied by weapons, horses and spectacular objects made from precious metals.
Archaeological evidence shows that Scythian influence also reached the territories of modern Poland.
One of the most important discoveries in recent years has been made at Chotyniec in south-eastern Poland, where archaeologists investigated a fortified settlement associated with the Scythian cultural world.
The site has transformed understanding of how far Scythian communities and cultural influences extended into Central Europe.
The discoveries at Wierzbica could now add another location to this increasingly complex archaeological picture.
Accidental discovery reveals new archaeological site
The circumstances of the discovery are particularly notable.
Members of the Lubycza Królewska historical association — Jacek Kozak, Magdalena Leszczyńska, Paweł Szymański, Krzysztof Chmielewski and Jan Chmielewski — were not searching for prehistoric objects.
Their original aim was to recover material associated with the combat route of the 1st Infantry Regiment of Poland’s Border Protection Corps during September 1939.
The searches were conducted under a permit issued by the Lublin Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments.
When prehistoric artefacts began appearing outside the boundaries of any known archaeological site, the finds were documented and subsequently handed over to heritage authorities.
Preliminary examination has been carried out by Dr Józef Niedźwiedź and Wiesław Koman, together with Professor Elżbieta Kłosińska and Halina Taras of the Institute of Archaeology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.
The artefacts are expected to be transferred to the museum in Tomaszów Lubelski.
Further archaeological investigation could now establish what happened at Wierzbica more than two and a half millennia ago — and whether the concentration of bronze weapons and ornaments represents direct Scythian activity, interaction with local communities, or another episode in the complex relationship between the nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and the inhabitants of prehistoric Poland.
Sources : Lubelski Wojewódzki Konserwator Zabytków