Just before Christmas last year, Pawel Bednarski made the discovery of his life with a metal detector. After a period of bad weather, it got better, and then he went out with the metal detector to a field by the Kongshaug plateau in Stjørdal. – The first thing I found was a small ring, which at first glance did not look particularly interesting. Then another ring appeared. Next I found a piece of a bangle. That’s what Pawel Bednarski says to the website Gemini. Pawel Bednarski is often out with the metal detector looking for treasure. On 21 December last year, he made the discovery of a lifetime in Stjørdal. Photo: Frid Kvalpskarmo Hansen Lying just under the ground Finally, he had dug up a pile of small silver objects. Where they were only a few centimeters below the ground. – The objects were covered in clay, so it was not so easy to see what they looked like. It was only when I got home, and rinsed one of the bangle pieces in water, that I realized that this was an exciting find. Bednarski delivered the objects to the archaeologists in Trøndelag County Municipality. They confirmed that it was interesting and probably from the Viking Age. – An exceptional find Then archaeologist Birgit Maixner from the NTNU Science Museum contacted him. – The find consists of 46 objects of silver, and is a rather exceptional find. It weighs 42 grams, and it has been a very long time since such a large discovery from the Viking Age has been made in Norway, she says. Maixner says that Arab coins were found, but also various types of jewellery. The silver rings found in Stjørdal. Photo: Birgit Maixner, NTNU Science Museum Only two of the objects are complete. – This was a time when chopped and weighed silver was used as a means of payment, says the archaeologist. – It was a form of economy that was quite new at the time. It came to Scandinavia at the end of the 8th century. Before, you exchanged one item for another item. The Viking Age In the Nordic region, a term for the period approx. 800–1050 (Early Middle Ages). The period has been named after the Viking voyages. The first known Viking attack was made against the monastery of Lindisfarne in northern England in 793. In European history, this period is part of the early Middle Ages, while archaeologists often use the term Late Iron Age. The Viking Age is characterized by population growth, increased trade with Europe, centralization of power and the transition from Norse religion to Christianity. Viking society was previously characterized by researchers as a clan society, but is now more often called a network society. This changed view is partly due to the fact that the kinship system was bilateral, i.e. that the individual counted his relatives on both the mother’s and father’s side. This means that the individual had a relationship with, for example, cousins or uncles on both sides of the family, and the strength of the ties could vary depending on the situation. Due to their raiding and trading expeditions and their colonization efforts, the Vikings came to leave a strong mark on European affairs for more than 200 years. There were several prerequisites that made this possible. One of these was the art of shipbuilding. In the centuries before the Viking Age, ocean-going vessels had been developed. Source: Great Norwegian Encyclopedia The archaeologist states that silver was a flexible means of payment that was easy to handle and transport. – In addition, you could buy the items you wanted. Just when it suited you, she says. Archaeologist Birgit Maixner believes the silver treasure from Stjørdal is very special. It may have been an unlucky Dane who lost his silver sometime in the 9th century. Photo: Frid Kvalpskarmo Hansen Special bracelet The archaeologist does not know whether the valuables were hidden to keep them safe, to be a form of border marking, or whether they were a sacrifice or gift to a god. – We also don’t know if the person who put the objects down was going to pick them up later, or if it was never intended for this to happen, says Maixner and adds: – The silver treasure probably had quite a large value in its time. At least for an individual. This bangle makes the find special for the researchers. Photo: Birgit Maixner, NTNU Science Museum It is an arm ring in particular that attracts attention. – At that time, the ring was most common in Denmark. But what is so special is that we have eight pieces of the same bangle. Usually silver hoards from the Viking Age contain only one piece from each object. She imagines that the person who hid the treasure was perhaps from Denmark and had prepared for trade by cutting the silver into suitable pieces. – But then the deal might never come to fruition. Perhaps he found the trading post unsafe and decided to hide some of his valuables at the entrance before venturing into it. From the 9th century Another unusual feature is the age of the Arab coins that were found. In an average Norwegian treasure find from the Viking Age, approximately three out of four of the Islamic coins are from 890 to 950 AD. But in Stjørdal the coins are dated from the end of the 7th century or early 8th century. – The relatively high age of the Islamic coins, broadband bracelets and the large degree of fragmentation of most of the objects is more typical of treasure finds from Denmark than from Norway. These features also make it likely to assume that the treasure is from the 9th century, says archaeologist Birgit Maixner.
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Found a silver treasure from the Viking Age in Stjørdal – news Trøndelag
