Story By: Angjela Trajkovska, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit: CEN/Ronilacki Klub BUK
This underwater footage shows a sword in a stone that a team of archaeologists have pulled free just like King Arthur.
The sword was found in the River Vrbas in the village of Rekavica in the municipality of Banja Luka in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina at a depth of 11 metres (36 feet).
The sword was found close to the medieval town of Zvecaj which was of great strategic importance in the 15th century and was the residence of Grand Duke of Bosnia Hrvoje Vukcic.
The sword is believed to have been used between the 13th and 15th century and was originally discovered by divers in the summer, but was only recently retrieved from the river.
The weapon is considered a ‘bastard sword’, a term for swords that fall between the longsword and the greatsword in size and is also referred to as a ‘hand-and-a-half sword’.
Ana Curic, underwater archaeologist and biologist at the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of the Republika Srpska, told local media: “The sword itself probably ended up in the river at some point and found itself wedged between two rocks and in this case, with sedimentation and silt, its parts eventually forged in the tufa [a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water].”
The discovery of the medieval weapon is considered to be of great importance because only one other sword has been found in the region in the last 90 years which was said to be very damaged.
A spokesperson for the Museum of the Republika Srpska told local media: “Such swords in the region are extremely rare which is why its discovery and conservation is of high priority for the museum, the city [Banja Luka] and the Republika Srpska [one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina].”
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