Losing something for even a moment can be frustrating, scrambling around the house as you look for your glasses, only to realize they've been on your head this entire time. Still, imagine misplacing something even more valuable for a mere 600 years. Archeologists have been left stunned by the wild discovery of a nearly perfectly preserved sword that's been MIA for six centuries.
Unearthed from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Kent, England, the Guardian says the rare find has a silver-and-gilt hilt and is inscribed with runic script on its blade. Amazingly, elements of the sword's leather-and-wood scabbard have survived alongside evidence of a beaver fur lining.
The discoveries don't end there, as attached to the pommel is a ring that's thought to symbolize an oath to a high-status person or even a king.
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Elsewhere, the grave is said to have contained a gold pendant inscribed with a serpent or dragon. As high-status women typically owned these, it's through this man was buried with the treasured item as a memory of a female relative or ancestor.
This sword isn't the only glimpse into the past that's been found at the unnamed site, with the early medieval cemetery boasting twelve burials that have already been excavated and plans for another 200 more that will take years to properly look into.
Duncan Sayer, the lead archeologist and professor of archeology at the University of Central Lancashire, explained why this find is so important: "We’re keeping the name of the site under wraps.
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“It’s a very rich cemetery. It would be a real tragedy if it became well known before we’ve excavated it."
"It’s really incredible, in the top echelons of swords, an elite object in every way, which is wonderful. It rivals the swords from Dover and from Sutton Hoo."
The site will be featured in the BBC's upcoming Digging for Britain documentary. Despite being in its 12th series, the Anglo-Saxon sword is said to be one of the most 'remarkable' finds the team has ever discovered.
Professor Alice Roberts is an academic who presents Digging for Britain and told the Guardian: "I’ve never seen one that’s so beautifully preserved."
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"It’s an extraordinary Anglo-Saxon cemetery, with really beautifully furnished graves, a lot of weapon burials where you find things like iron spear-points and seaxes, which are Anglo-Saxon knives – and then there’s this astonishing sword."
Saying that this period of history is still pretty undocumented, Roberts continued: "We have fairly sparse historical sources when it comes to this period, which used to be called the dark ages. We don’t have much in the way of contemporary writing."
This is part of a bigger project looking into 300 Anglo-Saxons from the east coast of Britain. As 75% of the DNA suggests these people came from continental northern Europe, it's thought to have to do with a mass migration after the Romans stopped in Britain: “Before we published those results, there was still quite a lot of conversation about whether there really was a significant migration.
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"Now it’s absolutely definite that there has to have been a very significant influx, especially in the east coast taking place over generations. They’re not coming from one place, but multiple places. This cemetery is right at the cutting-edge of that work.”
Importantly, it's thought that magnifying elements on the sword could even give us a better insight into the burial practices of the Anglo-Saxons during this period of history.