‘Extremely rare’ 3,000-year-old sword discovered in Germany is so well preserved it SHINES, archaeologists say

Credit: Bronzezeitliches Schwert aus Nördlingen; Archäologie-Büro Dr. Woidich
They managed to find a complete horse harness, the soil had luckily preserved, and a sword dating back to 1,000 to 900 BC.

Additionally, the pals found several other items, including buckles, rings and decorated straps.

He told the BBC: "I will never forget those 22 days spent in the field. Every day there were new objects coming out which changed the context of the find, every day we learned something new.

"I'm so pleased that the earth revealed to me something that was hidden for 3,000 years. I still can't believe it happened."

Shortly after Stepien discovered the items, they were taken to the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh.

Emily Freeman, head of the Treasure Trove Unit, said: "This is a nationally significant find - so few Bronze Age hoards have been excavated in Scotland.

"It was an amazing opportunity for us to not only recover bronze artefacts, but organic material as well.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to assess the artefacts and understand why they were deposited."