Here’s what you’ll learn as you read this story:
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A farm in the mountains of Norway stands on what was once a “great and mighty Viking farm” and has produced significant Viking treasures.
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Hidden deep under the floorboards of a small house, an excavation team found four silver bracelets, possibly from the Viking Age, from 9th century AD.
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The silver bracelets were likely found in the same spot where they were originally buried, providing further insight into the treasure’s origin story.
Silver was the Vikings’ treasure of choice. Their affinity for the metal gives significant historical value to the discovery of silver artefacts – much like the hoard recently found in the mountains of Norway, which had remained undisturbed since 9th century AD.
Before farmer Tarn Sigve Schmidt was able to build a new road for his tractor on his mountain farm near Ardal, northwest of Oslo, he had to call in archaeologists to make sure there were no strange areas. It’s a good thing he did.
Seven inches below the floorboards of what was probably a home for Viking slaves, a team of archaeologists found four heavy silver bracelets, all of different decorations, possibly dating back 1,100 years.
“At first, I thought it was a question of some copper wires that you can often find in agricultural land,” said field archaeologist Ola Tengesdal Ligre in a statement translated from the University of Stavanger, “but when I saw that there were many next to each other and that they were not copper, but silver, I realized that we had found something.”
Further research has shown that, at one point, a “large and powerful Viking farm” was located on the property, with several houses and shelters for animals. The location gave the owners control of access to the fjord. The excavation team also found soapstone vessels, rivets, knife blades and sharpening tools.
But nothing is as exciting as buried treasure.
“This is definitely the biggest thing I’ve experienced in my career,” Volker Demuth, project manager at the University of Stavanger’s Archaeological Museum, said in a statement. “This is a unique find, as we rarely find such objects where they were placed. As a rule, such valuable objects are discovered in plowed fields, where an object has been completely removed from its original context. Since the silver stone was not moved, it can give us a completely new insight into life and society in the Viking Age.”
The bracelets were transported inside the clay blocks they were found in the museum. X-rays were taken, and the team will examine soil samples to help give a broader picture of the setting, including whether or not the silver was wrapped in cloth when buried. The bracelets are reminiscent of necklaces found in Hjelmeland in 1769, and archaeologists have not yet ruled out a connection between the two finds.
Experts believe the farm was a victim of arson at one point, possibly coinciding with a period of unrest in Norway during the Viking Age, which spanned from 800 AD to 1050 AD. The farm and the silver found may date from 9th centuries, archaeologists believe.
“If the people living on this farm were to flee an attack,” said Demuth, “it would be natural to hide whatever valuables you had before fleeing into the mountains. And perhaps in a place where you wouldn’t have thought the treasure was hidden.”
The research team has yet to find anything more in the same area but thanks to the discovery of silver.
Since there were no silver mines in Norway, the silver the Vikings possessed had to come from abroad, either as trade, gifts, or as loot from raids. The Vikings traded in silver rather than gold, possibly a by-product of the regions they traveled.
“This is a fantastic find,” said museum director Ole Madsen, “which gives us a completely unique insight into Norway’s most central era, the Viking Age. We will display it as soon as we are ready to display it.”
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