Massive Stash of Iron Age Weapons Reveals Victory Rituals

A massive Iron Age weapons armory has been discovered in North Rhine-Westphalia at Wildenberg Castle, Germany, the biggest find of its kind ever. Archaeologists from the reputed Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL) in Lippstadt, who’ve been working on this site for more than 3 years, have dated most of the finds in the Iron Age weapons stash to between 300 BC and the first century BC.

In a translated statement released on March 31^st of this year, Michael Baales, one of the archaeologists on the LWL team and head of the Olpe branch in North-Rhine Westphalia said, “The arsenal is the largest in [the German state of] North Rhine-Westphalia and also links the [state's region of] Sauerland with complex processes in Iron Age Europe.”

Iron Age Weapons Hoard: The Spoils of Victory in War

The stash was stumbled upon by local historian and researcher Matthias Dickhaus, who conducted a metal detectorsurvey of the area for the LWL. According to Dr. Manuel Zeiler, an LWL archaeologist, the artifacts recovered included 150 objects in total: 40 spearheads and lance tips, swords, fragments of shield bosses (the round structure at the center of a shield), tools, belt hooks, horse gear, silver coins, bronze jewelry and a fibula bone.