A team of archaeologists has found a Bronze Age sword, assessed to be over 3,000 years old, in Lake Bled, one of Slovenia's premiere resorts. The completely preserved sword was discovered earlier this week and dates back to 13th or 12th century BC.
According to Milan Sagadin of the Kranj office of the national Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the team expected to find something since a similar sword was found in the same area in 1979.
However, the archaeologists, who discovered the object with a metal detector, were not expecting to discover such a valuable find, Sagadin told the press on Friday at the discovery site in northern Slovenia.
He added that the inspection of the site was initiated to prevent a possible destruction of archaeological finds due to the planned construction of a sewage system on the lake's bottom.
The half-metre double-edged sword of the Riegsee group was used in the transition between the middle and late Bronze Ages in the area between Transilvania, SW Germany, the Alps and the north of the Czech Republic.
The two finds and the lack of any ceramic containers or skeletal remains have led the archaeologists to believe that the site was used in rituals during which warriors threw objects in the water.
Archaeologists are set to continue scouring the area until the middle of next week.
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