What looked like a scrap of driftwood on the bank of the Vistula River turned out to be something far older.
A local resident found a rare Stone Age axe made from deer antler near Warsaw, according to Heritage Daily. Warsaw conservation authorities later posted about the discovery online, saying the object could easily have gone unnoticed.
Michał Krasucki, Warsaw Monument Conservator, said the find was one of the most unusual items recovered from Poland’s largest river in recent years. Because it was made from deer antler, the tool resembled a worn piece of wood rather than an archaeological artifact and could have disappeared into debris along the riverbank.
“The Vistula never ceases to surprise,” Krasucki wrote on social media. “This time it has given back a monument dating to the Stone Age.”
Officials say the artifact probably dates back several thousand years.
Objects made from antler and wood usually do not survive as long as ceramics and stone, but the Vistula’s wet, low-oxygen conditions appear to have preserved the axe well enough for it to be recovered.
The river has yielded other finds during recent periods of low water, including remains linked to a royal residence and evidence connected to the Swedish Deluge.
Read more from The Cool Down.
