The Municipal Museum in Celakovice got a really special Christmas present in Dec 2016:  an iron sword discovered at ground works nearby has been brought and handed over to our museum. After the sword´s first examination with my colleagues, we have initiated all the necessary steps for the exceptional finding´s rescue. Objects made of iron succumb to destruction very fast if not handled and conserved properly. Besides, the artefact has been in a very good condition. To ensure an immediate special care, the sword was transported to the labs of the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague the very next day. A team of experts and colleagues who are concerned with swords of the Middle Ages has been addressed. Both Dr. Hošek from the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague and Mgr. Košta from the National Museum in Prague confirmed our assumption: we have got a unique weapon from the Early Middle Ages. Furthermore, to increase the significance of the finding, this sword wasn´t made in Bohemia.

We will keep you updated with the conservation steps, publishing of our work in scientific papers and arrangements for exhibiting this unique artefact in the Municipal Museum in Celakovice via these web sites. Let this be the first part of just today stared series called „The Story of the Sword“.

Our aim is to unveil all the secrets hidden behind this unique finding via all the available scientific methods.

Mgr. Pavel Snítilý, archaeologist of the Municipal Museum in Celakovice.

On the behalf of the Municipal Museum, I hereby give thanks to our colleagues from the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague and from the National Museum in Prague for an expeditious ensuring of an immediate conservation of the found artefact and for accepting the offer of cooperation regarding publishing of this extraordinary finding.

Used sources:

Photo No. 1 – Photo archive of the Municipal Museum in Celakovice

Photo No. 2 - Laboratory of Restoration-Conservation, The Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague

Photo No. 3 - Petersen, J.: De norske vikingesverd. En typologisk-kronologisk studie over vikingetidens vaaben. Kristiania 1919, fig. 114