A late Bronze Age (ca. 950–780/740 B.C.) hoard of national importance found near Gryfino in Poland’s West Pomeranian Voivodeship has been rescued by authorities after it was illegally excavated. Anonymous individuals sent pictures of the objects to each other before they were emailed to the Provincial Conservator of Monuments in Szczecin who then called the police. The police tracked down the people trading the pictures and while they denied being the looters, they did know that the objects had been hidden near the headquarters of the Gryfino Region History Enthusiasts Society. The association then handed over the treasure to the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Szczecin. The hoard contains more than 100 objects, 73 of them remarkably large. It includes more than 30 bronze neck rings, weapons, shield bosses, jewelry, phalerae (metal discs) from horse harnesses, silver spikes, the handle of a vessel, sickles and spearheads. Three of the objects are of national importance, unique on the archaeological record of Poland: a brooch made of circular hoops with decorated sheet-metal domes, a long pin and the axe which were not locally made and came to Gryfino from southcentral Europe, probably the Alpine region. The axe socket contains remnants of wood from the haft, which will give archaeologists the opportunity to radiocarbon date the axe head and determine what kind of wood it was mounted to. The finder or finders used a metal detector but Polish law regulates their use to prevent exactly this kind of shenanigan, and the looters obviously did not have the necessary permits to conduct a metal detector search. That in itself is an indictable offense, but to add insult to injury, it’s clear from the photographs that they destroyed at least one clay container in which the treasure had been buried 3,000 or so years ago and ran roughshod over the archaeological context, acts punishably by a term of up to eight years in prison. Authorities have appealed to the looter/s to right the wrong they’ve done by telling archaeologists the precise location of the find so they can investigate it. They want to know if there was just one pot containing the hoard, of it was a cinerary urn with the objects as grave goods. If the objects were funerary furnishings, there could be more of them, and there could be neighboring graves. It’s essential that the context of the find be professionally explored to answer questions about this highly significant find. The hoard is currently at the National Museum in Szczecin where it will be studied further and conserved. After initial research is completed, the objects will be exhibited at the museum.

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