Viking Knights, Polish Days

The connections between the Polish village of Cieple and Scandinava during the rule of the first Polish kings were emphasized by the astonishing find of the richly adorned graves of four medieval knights nearby, dating to the early 11^th century AD, during the era of Bolesław I the Brave.
The tombs were discovered in the middle of a necropolis housing more than 60 other individuals of both local and Scandinavian ancestry.

Source: Archaeology

A diversity of weapons involving swords, spears, daggers and full sets of equestrian equipment including spurs, stirrups, bits and buckles were found inside the burials.
Meanwhile, the warriors were indicated not to be locals but possibly immigrants from an area around Denmark, according to Isotope and DNA analysis.

Source: Archaeology

They possibly belonged to an elite group of riders reigned part of eastern Pomerania—present-day northern Poland—perhaps on behalf of the Polish kings, according to archaeologist Sławomir Wadyl of the Archaeological Museum in Gdansk.
“Unfortunately, we do not know the story behind these men yet, nor how they came to settle south of the Baltic Sea,” says Wadyl. “We also don’t know exactly how they achieved their success, but we guess it was originally connected to their military service.”