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Girl, 8, finds 1,500-year-old sword in Swedish lake

An 8-year-old girl thought she found "some kind of stick" when she was skipping rocks at a lake this summer in Sweden. Instead, she found a sword from the pre-Viking era that could be more than 1,500 years old, the BBC reported.

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While wading in Vidöstern lake in Tånnö, Småland, Saga Vanecek found the relic, which was originally thought to be 1,000 years old, the Daily Mail reported. Experts are now trying to preserve the relic and plan to put in on display at the Jönköpings Läns Museum, the newspaper reported.

"It's not every day that you step on a sword in the lake," museum spokesman Mikael Nordström told the BBC.

The water level in the lake was low because of a drought, enabling Saga to find the sword.

"I felt something in the water and lifted it up. Then there was a handle and I went to tell my dad that it looked like a sword," Saga told Sveriges Radio.

Although Saga found the sword several months ago, the news was kept secret until this week, according to The Local.