Archaeologists uncover lost medieval city that vanished without a trace: True time capsule

Archaeologists have uncovered a lost medieval town nestled in a remote forest — and new evidence is revealing what the city looked like before its sudden decline.Researchers uncovered the remains of Stolzenberg, a medieval town that appears to have collapsed in the 14th or 15th century, in a forest outside the modern-day Polish village of Sławoborze.The city was founded on the border of Pomerania and Neumark, a historically contested border region between Germany and Poland.Guided by historical sources, researchers first searched for Stolzenberg’s remains in present-day Sławoborze — but they found no features confirming the medieval town’s location.In the forest, however, researchers found massive earthen ramparts and an 18-foot-deep moat, said archaeologist Marcin Krzepkowski of the Relicta Foundation.Krzepkowski told Fox News Digital that a recent geophysical survey confirmed the site of the lost city after researchers had already gathered archaeological finds and cartographic data.“The results of these surveys dispelled any remaining doubts,” he said.“In the central part of the area surrounded by the moat, regular magnetic anomalies were revealed, indicating the existence of remains of buildings surrounding the rectangular market square, the city’s central square,” researchers noted.“This layout is typical of medieval towns founded under German law.Traces of buildings can also be seen along the street leading to the expected city gate.”Metal detectorists also unearthed over 400 artifacts, some of them as old as the Bronze Age and a few — including containers filled with meat products and butter — dating as recently as World War II.“The most valuable artifacts for us were medieval, confirming that the site was in use at the time,” Krzepkowski said.“These included silver coins, metal belt elements and coat clasps typical of medieval bourgeois costume.”Archaeologists also found tools like knives and iron padlocks — but...