How did an amateur archaeologist find a 3,000-year-old Scottish sword?

Scotland occupying the northern part of the islandGreat Britain has a rich history of over 10,000 years. It is believed that the first people in this area appeared about 8 thousand years ago. Over time, cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and so on began to appear there. Of course, once upon a time stern warriors lived there, who fought with enemies on horseback. The remains of their swords and other personal belongings are still stored somewhere under the Scottish lands and from time to time people manage to unearth them. Often they are not discovered by archaeologists, but by treasure hunters. Yes, there are a lot of people with such an unusual hobby on our planet, and one of them was lucky enough to find a real treasure more than 3,000 years old a couple of months ago. The things found clearly belonged to a warrior who rode across the expanses of Scotland on a strong horse.

Amateur archaeologist Mariusz Stepien at the excavation site

Scotland history

About the sudden find of an amateur archaeologist namedMariusz Stepien told The Guardian. According to Mariusz, on June 21, 2020, he and his comrades, for the sake of interest, scanned the vicinity of Scotland with a metal detector. Suddenly, the device squeaked so loudly that it became clear to them that there was definitely something underground. The men turned out to be smart and did not start excavating on their own, because they could accidentally damage the ancient artifacts. Instead, they immediately reported the situation to the Treasure Trove, which was created by the National Museum of Scotland.

The find was made near the Scottish town of Peebles

Archaeologists arrived at the site and made sure thatthe men managed to find something truly interesting. The excavations were carried out for 3-4 weeks together with Mariusz Stepien and his friends. The man explained that they did not leave for their homes because they wanted to participate in the excavation until the very end. Every day the researchers managed to find more and more objects, most of which were at a depth of 1.5 meters. The most interesting objects that were kept underground were a sword in a scabbard decorated with belts and buckles, caps from the wheels of horse carts and an ornament that was attached to horse equipment.

Horse-drawn carriage wheel caps

How exactly the sword and the rest of the things Scottishwarriors were on the ground, scientists still do not know. No human remains or horse bones were found near the weapon. Perhaps they are buried somewhere nearby. Or it may be that the ancient warrior dropped his things and died in a completely different place. There are a lot of options and, apparently, we will never know the truth. What is important now is that things over 3,000 years old have been perfectly preserved. They are already considered objects of national importance because there are very few Bronze Age exhibits in Scotland's museums.

A 3D model of the site of the discovery of the sword can be viewed on Twitter

See also: What interesting things can you find in the repositories of museums?

Other archaeological finds

BBC News reports that in the first half2020, many ancient artifacts were found in Scotland. For example, schoolboy Fionntan Hughes was able to locate a 300-year-old sword near his home. The boy made the discovery on the same day when he was presented with a metal detector for his 10th birthday. Yeah, the guy is definitely lucky!

The same sword discovered by a 10-year-old boy

But last year I talked about morea major find of archaeologists - they managed to find several artificial islands. The researchers guessed about their existence already in 2012, because not far from the small Scottish archipelago, ceramic pots were found. Their presence meant that once upon a time people could inhabit this place. Subsequently, it turned out that people really lived in these territories, inside dwellings built on artificial islands. You could get into them only through stone or wooden bridges. Living in such houses, the ancient Scots fled from robbers.

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On the topic of museum exhibits, I also recommendread an article about the most mysterious things that have ever been found by archaeologists. In this article, I talked about ten things, among which there is a portrait of a mustachioed and extremely mysterious man, a mechanical device with an unknown function, and a jar with skin fragments and a photograph of a child. Creepy and interesting? Then enjoy your reading!