For seven years, dozens of detectorists and history lovers from all over Europe have been coming to the battle site under the supervision of archaeologists to comb through the fields. Seventy metal detectorists took part in the search, which ended on Saturday. The axes were found by Aleksander Miedwiedew, a member of the search team who stumbled upon them with his metal detector in a marshy area a few metres away from each other. Like crossing a bridge between people from 1410 and us.”
BATTLE AXE TYPES PLUS
The axes have been preserved in such a good condition that they even have the rivets by which they were attached to their wooden handles.ĭescribing how he felt when he found the axes, he said “It was a huge shot of endorphins, adrenaline plus a hundred. He said: “After removing these axes, we rinsed them under running water and they look like new.” The mystery still waiting to be discovered is the location of the mass grave of knights who died in one of the greatest battles of medieval Europe.
According to Miedwiedew, this is because they ended up in swampy ground, which as a wet environment protected the axes off from air and corrosion. One has a longer closed shaft for the handle and the other has a shorter open shaft.Īlthough they have been in the ground for over six centuries, the axes are in almost perfect condition. The battle axes were found by Aleksander Miedwiedew, a member of the search team who stumbled upon them with his metal detector in a marshy area, at a depth of about 80 centimetres, a few metres away from each other. The battle marked the end of the order’s expansion along the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and the beginning of the decline of its power. It also marked the emergence of Poland-Lithuania as one of Europe’s most powerful states.ĭuring this year's search of the battlefield, detectorists also found a handle fragment of a medieval short sword as well as dozens of other objects, mainly spear heads. Over 50,000 knights, gunners and infantry clashed on the fields near the village of Grunwald in what was possibly the biggest battle of medieval Europe. The Battle of Grunwald was fought in 1410 and saw the joint forces of Poland and Lithuania defeat the Knights of the Teutonic Order. “The context of these finds, the preliminary dating to the fifteenth century and the type of axes clearly indicate that they are directly related to the Battle of Grunwald of July 15, 1410,” he said.Īlthough they have been in the ground for over six centuries, the axes are in almost perfect condition. “In seven years of our archaeological research we have never had such an exciting, important and well-preserved find,” he stressed.Īccording to the director, there is little doubt that the axes come from what many historians say was the largest battle of the middle ages in Europe. Szymon Dreja, director of the Museum of the Battle of Grunwald, the discovery of the battle axes are an archaeological sensation. One has a longer closed shaft for the handle and the other has a shorter open shaft. The find, which has astonished archaeologists, is all the more important as the melee weapons are in remarkably good condition. Two battle axes used in hand-to-hand fighting at the Battle of Grunwald over 600 years ago have been found by detectorists during a sweep of the famous battle site in northern Poland. The discovery of the battle axes has been called an archaeological sensation.
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