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Prehistoric golden bowl discovered by Polish-led archeology team

01.10.2021 14:30
A unique golden bowl decorated with a sun motif and dating back some 3,000 years has been discovered by a Polish-led archeology team in the Austrian town of Ebreichsdorf.
The bowl and its fragment with two gold wire bracelets.
The bowl and its fragment with two gold wire bracelets.Photo: PAP/Andreas Rausch

“The numerous and valuable finds in the form of bronze and gold objects are unique in this part of Europe, and so is the fact that the settlement in Ebreichsdorf we discovered was so large,” Michał Sip, a Polish archeologist who leads the team, told Polish state news agency PAP.

Photo: Photo: PAP/Andreas Rausch

In 1300-1000 BC, the settlement, which stretched over around 10 hectares, was inhabited by a community dubbed by archeologists as the urnfield culture. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which were then buried in fields.

The urnfield culture is also known from settlements in what today is Poland, and its specific, local variety is the so-called Lusatian culture. Its representatives built the well-known Bronze Age settlement in Biskupin in north-central Poland.

The golden bowl from Ebreichsdorf will be on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

According to the PAP news agency, the excavations will continue for six more months.

(jh/gs)

Source: PAP