Four early medieval spears, including one so finely decorated that it could be of princely origin, have been recovered from the bed of Lake Lednica. Dendrological analysis and radiocarbon dating found that the spears date to the second half of the 10th and first half of the 11th century.A Piast dynasty stronghold was located on Ostrw Lednicki, an island on Lake Lednica. More than 280 military artifacts, including 145 axes, 64 spearheads, and 8 swords, from the reigns of Piast dynasty kings Mieszko I (r. ca. 960-992) and Bolesaw the Brave (992-1025) have been recovered from the lake bed, the largest collection of early medieval weaponry ever discovered at a single site.Scientists have two leading theories as to why so many weapons ended up in the lake. They may have fallen into the lake during the battles for the Lednica stronghold, fought on the bridges during the invasion of Poland by the Czech prince Bretislaus in the 1130s. The second hypothesis, a ritual one, posits that the weapons were placed in the water as an offering to deities or spirits.Such practices are known from earlier periods in many places in Europe. Water was perceived as a gateway to the world of the dead, and throwing a valuable object into it was a gesture with profound symbolic meaning. It is possible that the arsenal gathered at the bottom of the lake is an echo of both turbulent historical events and ancient beliefs, the [Museum of the First Piasts in Lednica] said.The four spears discovered this season are very different from each other and have their own unique features. The smallest spearhead is rhomboidal in shape and was found still mounted to its wooden shaft. The shaft is made of ash and survives in several pieces totalling approximately 2.1 meters (611) in length. Only two spears from Lake Lednica have such a well-preserved shaft, and they are longer exceeding three meters in length. The tip has a ring made of antler, a feature never found before in a medieval spear.The second spearhead is longer and slender and is shaped like a willow leaf, a common design in early medieval weaponry. It too has a section of surviving shaft. The spearhead is decorated with a serpentine line of wolf teeth on both sides. Several examples of spearheads of this type have been found in Lake Lednica, indicating they may have been manufactured locally.The third spearhead is the longest of the four and has a triangular profile. It was made using a welded technique that repeatedly forged together soft, low-carbon iron alloys with hard, high-carbon alloys for added strength. This was the apex of combat forging technology in Europe at the time. It too is decorated with the wolf teeth design. Only a few fragments of the wooden shaft have survived.The fourth is the most spectacular of them all. It is decorated along the blade with spiral and triskelion motifs and set in a socket that is decorated with the same motifs. There are wings decorated with braided designs mounted to the socket. The ends are pointed, and may represent stylized claws or beaks. Rows of small dots fill in the space between the woven braid edges. The remnants of bronze plating are still visible, but researchers found traces of no fewer than six metals in the spearhead: silver, gold, copper, tin, zinc, lead and alloys thereof. Three examples of spears with similar ornamentation have been found in the lake, but none of them have this specimens incredible panoply of precious metals. This is so exceptional an object that it may have been the insignia of royalty or nobility rather than a use weapon, or perhaps had a ritual purpose.The discovered artifacts, especially the richly decorated princely spearhead, require further research. This will help determine the production technology. Isotope analyses of selected metals found on the princely spear are also planned to determine their origin, which could help determine the origin of this prestigious item.When conservation is complete, the spearheads will go on display at the Museum of the First Piast Dynasty in Lednica.