‘Real Excalibur’ pulled from rock at bottom of lake – and no one knows how 700-year-old weapon got there
A MEDIEVAL sword found embedded in a rock at the bottom of a Bosnian river is being hailed as 'Excalibur'.
The 700-year-old weapon is being compared to King Arthur's legendary magical sword because of similarities in how it was discovered.
According to ancient legend, King Arthur was the only person able to pull a sword called Excalibur from a stone, making him the rightful heir to Britain in the 5th and early 6th century.
The archaeologists who recently pulled the 14th century sword from the Vrbas River will not be getting a royal status but their find is being called archaeologically significant.
The sword was uncovered from the river during an excavation near the ruins of medieval castle in the city of Zvecaj.
It was found 36 feet underwater embedded in solid rock.
Only one other sword like this is thought to have been found in the Balkans in the past 90 years.
Ivana Pandzic, archaeologist and curator at the Museum of the Republika Srpska said: "The sword was stuck in a solid rock, so special care was needed when pulling it out.
The blade has been dated back to around the 14 century and is the first sword to be found near the medieval city of Zveča.
The medieval castle nearby was destroyed in 1777 but had likely been home to medieval nobility who ruled over the local village of Zvecaj.
Experts are now trying to work out how the weapon came to be embedded in the rock and why.
UK mysteries 'solved' by archaeology
Here are some of the most exciting discoveries that have happened in Britain...
- Richard III final resting place: The skeleton of King Richard III was discovered by archaeologists in a supermarket carpark in Leicester in 2013
- How Stonehenge was built: The huge monoliths that make up Stonehenge may have been dragged there using greasy sledges lubricated with pig fat, according to new research from Newcastle University
- Why there were 39 decapited skulls at the London Wall: Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London back in 1988 are now believed to have belonged to gladiators who were beheaded for amusement purposes thanks to a recent reassessment of the remains
- Queen Emma's remains: The lost bones belonging to an 11th-century English queen called Queen Emma are believed to have been found in a chest in Winchester Cathedral
In other archaeology news, complete skeletons of mother and child have been found under the floor at the Tower of London.
A hoard of treasure unearthed at an ancient Trojan city in Greece has been revealed by archaeologists.
And, a flooded ancient Egyptian tomb stunned archaeologists after they drained it and discovered huge intact artefacts covered in thick mud.
What do you make of this ancient sword? Let us know in the comments...
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