(source: KPÚ Trnava)
Hubina, a village near Piešťany, holds some new findings in the midst of a forest. A mushroom picker discovered two copper objects with a smooth shiny surface, made of red gold and carved with details. The man who discovered the objects gifted them to a monuments board. The board made the effort to look for more objects with a metal detector but did not manage to find anything.
"The bigger object represents a chalice decorated with a plant ornament of five flowers and five leaves," said archaeologist Peter Grznár, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The smaller object is broken into two parts, which together form a goblet with a stand.
It is decorated with almond-shaped aureola ornaments. The objects were most likely used in Christian liturgy as a chalice and ciborium for the blood and body of Christ, according to TASR.
The objects carry some mystery due to the ornamentation. It is unusual to discover such objects in central Europe. The material as well is unusual - copper sheet metal. Liturgical objects in central Europe were most commonly made of gilded silver.
The question of origin has been discovered due to the writing on the inside of the chalice. The writing mentions Albania together with some numbers and initials. The numbers most likely represent the mark for the property of the church.
A Balkan origin seems likely due to the decorative detail, which resembles eastern, Muslim culture. However, it still does not explain how the objects ended up all the way in the forest above Hubina. There are some theories, including the objects getting into the hands of thieves or military units. They could have lost the objects in the forest or simply forgotten about them.
