SALO, FINLAND—YLE reports that construction work to install geothermal pipes in western Finland’s Salonjoki River Valley turned up an iron sword dated to between A.D. 1050 and 1150. The sword has a straight cross guard and a three-sided pommel. Juha Ruohonen of the University of Turku determined that the weapon belonged to a burial in what could be a cemetery containing 200 Christian burials situated near a church. It had been previously thought that a church had not been constructed in the area until the fifteenth century. Additional exploration of the site uncovered parts of another sword, traces of wooden coffins, human bones, and a partially preserved leather belt with 30 square bronze ornaments bearing rosette patterns. “The whole belt also included a buckle, several end tips, animal-head decorations, and strap dividers,” Ruohonen said. Bits of fabric were also preserved on the bronze ornaments, he added. To read about swords recovered from a burial dating to the Northern Crusades in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, go to "World Roundup: Finland."