March 29, 2005 Eighty-six bronze ribs

Eleven years ago, two men survived as honest finders, discovering 86 bronze ribs while searching for stones. And near Přídolí in the Český Krumlov region. According to experts, the finding was worth about a quarter of a million crowns.

The ribs date from around 1600 BC. They served as semi-finished products from which weapons, jewelry and tools were made. They were also used as currency. This is probably the case with the ribs found in the Český Krumlov region, as most of them were broken.

Two men found the treasure when they were collecting cakes for the construction of a porch near the village of Přídolí. "I turned a nice flat stone and there was a bronze bar under it. We took pictures of them and called them to the South Bohemian Museum, "said one of the finders at the time, carpenter Petr Zronek. He discovered the treasure with his friend Jiří Hálek. Both are from Český Krumlov.

Archaeologists also appreciated the finding. "It is the second largest find of bronze ribs in the Czech Republic," said archaeologist Ondřej Chvojka at the time. The treasure was handed over by the finders to the South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice. They received a reward from the regional office corresponding to ten percent of the estimated quarter of a million million.

"During the collection, they accidentally discovered a so-called stone box that hid bronze ribs. It could have lay among the stones since about 1600 BC, "Chvojka said at the time. The treasure was probably hidden by a merchant or craftsman.

According to Chvojka, 86 bronze ribs were really a huge fortune at the time. But what exactly could be bought for them, it is now difficult to estimate. "In any case, this finding proves that southern Bohemia was at that time an important transit area for trade between the Danube region and Central and Northern Europe. Copper and tin, which make up bronze, were not found as raw materials in southern Bohemia, "said the archaeologist, adding that bronze ribs are another of the revealed secrets of the presence of the first Celts in the vicinity of the South Bohemian mountain Kleť, whose slope falls into the Vltava valley.

Also until then, the largest find of this kind comes from the Český Krumlov region. At the beginning of the twentieth century, several hundred bronze ribs were found near Chvalšiny, 118 of which were preserved.

Sources: Pardubické noviny, MF DNES, https://cesky.radio.cz/, www.pridoli.cz, https://21stoleti.cz/