A group of amateur archaeologists hit not one literal jackpot but three of them in the woods near Kalisz, Poland. Over the course of just five weeks, they discovered three ceramic vessels one after the other, each from different periods with different contents. The third one held a single treasure: a bright yellow gold torc weighing an impressive 222 grams that is the first of its kind ever found in Poland.
The Denar Kalisz Group, working with the Voivodeship Office of Environmental Protection in Kalisz, explored the Grodziec Forest District in Zbiersk this summer. At the beginning of June, they discovered a burial ground of the Przeworsk culture from the Roman period that contained a warrior’s grave with a spearhead and shield boss.
A few days later, they found a coin from the 11th century and a small ceramic vessel with striated decoration on the outside. It was plugged with soil so they couldn’t see inside and the team wrapped the delicate pot to protect it for transport and careful excavation at the University of Science in Kalisz, but the loose coin found nearby suggested there might be more of the same inside the pot. It was indeed a harbinger. That one small pot contained 631 coins and fragments.
At the end of June, a second pot emerged from the soil. It too was found to contain coins.
Two weeks later, jackpot number three hit, and this one had the glint of gold. Visible at the neck of the pot in the tightly packed soil was a curved piece of gold. At first the team thought it was a bracelet, but an X-ray revealed it was a complete necklace with a hook and loop closure, bent and folded like a pretzel to fit in the pot. Archaeologists believe it dates to the 5th century and may be linked to the Goths who occupied this area of Poland during the Migration Period. Similar examples have been found in Scandinavia, sometimes engraved with runic inscriptions.
The necklace will be transferred to the Kalisz Regional Museum for eventual display.
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