1,000-year-old scabbard fitting found in Poland

A metal detectorist has discovered a rare decorated medieval sword scabbard fitting in the woods near Iława in northern Poland. It is more than a thousand years old and is preserved in its entirety. Archaeologists believe it belonged to a Prussian warrior.

The fitting, known as a “shoe”, was mounted over the pointy end of the scabbard and is shaped like a wider, slightly blunter sword tip. Made of bronze, it reinforced the most vulnerable part of the scabbard where the point of the sword rested. They also conveyed power, wealth and social status, making an already expensive piece of equipment (the sword) more expensive and visually striking even from a distance.

Michał Młotek, officially licensed to scan for artifacts by the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments, found the bronze piece last Sunday. He would like it to be assigned to the Museum in Ostróda which has four early medieval shoes in its collection, appropriate for a museum housed in a Teutonic castle.