Pictures: Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure

Who Was the Young Warrior? Photograph courtesy S. Gronek Sword at his side, the so-called Young Warrior (left) is among the thousand-year-old discoveries in a newfound cemetery in Poland, a new study says. The burial ground holds not only a hoard of precious objects but also hints of human sacrifice—and several dozen graves of a mysterious people with links to both the Vikings and the rulers of the founding states of eastern Europe. (Related: "'Thor's Hammer' Found in Viking Grave.") Researchers are especially intrigued by the Young Warrior, who died a violent death in his 20s. The man's jaw is fractured, his skull laced with cut marks. The sword provides further evidence of a martial life. Objects in the warrior's grave suggest he had ties to one of the region's earliest Slavic monarchs, said the project leader Andrzej Buko, head of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. But the north-south orientation of the man's body is a Scandinavian custom. Slavic graves were oriented east-west, Buko says. Buried just below the Young Warrior—probably at the same time, Buko said—is a woman in her early 20s who may have met a similarly violent end. Though evidence is scanty, Buko guesses she was killed to be buried with the man, "because it's very hard to suppose she died at the same moment as the warrior." Alongside the warrior is a second woman (right), also in her early 20s. The timing of her death is unclear. Archaeologists stumbled upon the cemetery, which dates to the late 10th and early 11th centuries, after surveying a highway-construction site near the village of Bodzia, roughly 90 miles (150 kilometers) northwest of Warsaw. The find is reported in this month's issue of the journal Antiquity. "The best discoveries are not planned, and so it was in this case," Buko said. "Among many other things, we discovered this marvelous cemetery." LINK —Traci Watson

Polish Train

You've seen them before, those videos where a whole lot of people are stuffed inside a small car or telephone booth etc. in order to break some world record. This video from the train station at Brzeg Dolny in Poland reminded me of that. LINK: The Presurfer

Fallen Art

Dir: Tomek Baginski / Poland / 2005

In an old forgotten military base far from civilization, a group of deranged military officers nurture their insanity. LINK: Youtube

Watch This Autonomous Mecha Fish Navigate a Kiddie Pool

As you'll see at about 50 seconds in, Mecha Fish hates human hands. When some poor fool sticks his hand in the pool, the fish reacts suddenly, changing direction to avoid (eating) it.

The fish was just one of several exhibits on display in Warsaw this past Friday at an event hosted by the Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements called "Night of the Robots." [Gizmodo Poland]. LINK, Via: Youtube

The Astounding Subterranean Salt Cathedral

Deep underground in Poland lies something remarkable but little known outside Eastern Europe. For centuries, miners have extracted salt there, but left behind things quite startling and unique. Take a look at the most unusual salt mine in the world. LINK


Image Credit Gypso_banana_prune under CC

From the outside, Wieliczka Salt Mine doesn’t look extraordinary. It looks extremely well kept for a place that hasn’t minded any salt for over ten years but apart from that it looks ordinary. However, over two hundred meters below ground it holds an astonishing secret. This is the salt mine that became an art gallery, cathedral and underground lake.


Image Credit Il Conte Di Luna under CC

Gigantic Polish Binary Clock

Like a giant Tokyo Flash watch, this binary clock installation at the Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland, was erected by students hoping to promote the technical nature of their university. How noble.

The Big Binary Clock project displays the time using 18 round windows, with the green LEDs representing the hours, the blue representing the minutes, and the red the seconds. The time can be set remotely via Bluetooth, and an NXP ARM7 processor keeps it ticking over nicely. Certainly beats the usual "projects" students "erect" in US colleges. [Big Binary Clock, Via: Hacked Gadgets, Via: Gizmodo]

Beautiful Nature Photography by Buszujacy-w-zbozu

Fantastic nature landscapes by Buszujacy-w-zbozu, professional nature photographer, based and work in Poland. Amazing gallery, photos really show the true beauty of Poland... LINK

Urban Street Art: Giant Building Mural: Poland

According to Swiatecki, a Polish painter, graphic designer and urban activist, this giant building mural took 9 people, 350 cans of 80 liter acrylic paint, and 3 months and 7 days to complete. Very impressive! LINK