Actors Took a Treasure-Hunting Crash-Course for a Movie. Then They Found the Real Thing in the Mud.

3 min readHere’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:A history explorers’ association training actors for a film role uncovered what is likely a 19th-century cuirass, or armored breastplate.The team waded through waist-deep mud in the moat of Poland’s Pielaszkowice Palace, parts of which date to the 14th century.Curators believe the moat still holds artifacts from the palace’s long history, including items looters dumped there during World War II.Actors taking a treasure-hunting crash course while preparing to film a movie ended up making a very real discovery. During the exercise in Poland, a team from the DRACO Żmigród History Explorers Association waded with a group of actors through waist-deep mud in the Pielaszkowice Palace’s moat. They uncovered a 19th-century breastplate the explorers initially linked to Napoleon’s army and later to the Prussian Guard.The Silesian House Museum in Poland calls it an “extraordinary discovery” that hints there may be other historical relics lurking in the muddy moat of the Polish palace. “This find is a remarkable testament to the history of Lower Silesia,” according to a translated statement from the museum, “and the real highlight is that, following conservation, the cuirass will be housed in our museum.”A cuirass is a piece of armor protecting the torso. Originally crafted from leather fastened to the body with straps and buckles, cuirasses were later fashioned from bronze, iron, or steel to make them more robust. As one component of a cuirassier’s armor, the cuirass served to protect against saber slashes and lance thrusts.Popular Polish history writer, journalist, and YouTuber Joanna Lamparska organized the search, bringing along actors for a new film adaptation of the 1937 Polish young adult book Satan from the Seventh Grade, written by Kornel Makuszynski. The story concerns a treasure hidden by a soldier from Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeated army.The training exercise, staged before filming began rather than as part of it, unfolded at a site with its own Napoleonic history. In 1813, Pielaszkowice Palace hosted a nine-week armistice between Napoleon’s army and the Russian-Prussian alliance. The palace’s history dates back to the 14th century, when it was a manor house that served as a seat of knights. It was destroyed in 1428 during the Hussite invasion but rebuilt and then remodeled as a Baroque palace in the early 18th century with elements of Austro-Czech residential architecture. After World War II, the palace was nationalized and eventually became a state farm that housed workers in the damaged buildings until the 1960s, after which it was abandoned.“We trained the actors and introduced them to the secrets of the explorer’s craft so they could authentically portray treasure hunters,” the DRACO association wrote in a translated Facebook post. The group first believed the armor find came from the French army and later decided it was from the Prussian Guard, but the museum has said exact dating is pending conservation.Along with the breastplate, the team also uncovered pieces of sculptures and metal fittings, including door locks, according to Heritage Daily.During World War II, intruders looted the palace and tossed items into the moat. Locals tried to recover what they could, but the mud trapped an untold number of pieces. “It’s an incredible find that miraculously survived to this day,” Lamparska said.The museum hasn’t yet released details on the metal or design of the cuirass that better date it or tell its story, but they expect to find out more about the armor. “Sometimes a true treasure awaits where we least expect it,” the museum wrote, “even when wading waist-deep in mud.”Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.