torlok 2 hours ago

Since the press in Poland wrote about this, I'll add a little context. According to the Muzeum Historii Ziemi Kamieńskiej's spokesperson, the knife is actually up to 3-2,8. They used the X-ray fluorescence method to come up with that number. The dating is being disputed, as it was rushed out after the discovery, and it's not like you can use carbon dating on metal. There's still chemical analysis to be done, but that doesn't give accurate results either. Some scientists point to the XVIII-XIX CE. Apparently some experts had a look at it and say it's from the Middle East, and if made of brass it could mean it's from I BCE, and it's been stylized to look ancient.

  • verisimi an hour ago

    > the knife is actually up to 3-2,8

    I'd be surprised if it was 3-2.8 years old.

    > The dagger isn’t Ukowski’s first big discovery. Last year, he found a broken papal bull—a pope’s engraved lead seal—that may have been linked to Clement VI.

    As you also say:

    > it could mean it's from I BCE, and it's been stylized to look ancient.

Zobat 2 hours ago

A while ago there was a necklace discovered in Sweden [1], thought to be about 2000 years old it made international headlines. Then it made headlines again when analysis revealed it was a fake.

Not saying this knife will turn out to be a fake but seeing "Experts will soon conduct a metallurgical analysis" makes me just that little bit hesitant.

1) https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/unikt-jarnaldershalsb...

tommica 4 hours ago

Simply an astonishing looking dagger.

bb88 5 hours ago

Reminds me of "Detectorists."

https://www.amazon.com/Detectorists-BBC-Series/dp/B06XC4TPTN

Here in the US, if you search along the roads, mostly you're just going to find trash.

  • MyOutfitIsVague 5 hours ago

    It's really a beautiful little show. Quaint, funny, and warm-hearted without being cloying or saccharine. Manages some mild drama and even melodrama without feeling forced or annoying.

    I still haven't watched the movie yet.

  • verisimi an hour ago

    > Here in the US, if you search along the roads, mostly you're just going to find trash.

    You too could find something amazing, if you prepare the ground you intend to detect.

thedudeabides5 3 hours ago

what metal is it made of?

  • addaon 3 hours ago

    Bronze.

    Hallstatt was bronze age, and if it was an outlier like meteoric iron (a) it would look like it (corrosion) and (b) it would have been called out.

    • thaumasiotes 2 hours ago

      > Bronze.

      > if it was an outlier like meteoric iron (a) it would look like it (corrosion)

      It is corroded. That's why it's green.

      Which, yes, means it's bronze, but note that it's being described as an "iron age dagger" and they think it was manufactured in southern Europe and traded to the north. Iron wouldn't be surprising.