Hoards from the Late Viking Period

In the archaeological source material from the Nordic countries it can be discerned that towards the end of the Viking Age, a general increase in specialisation within the food and crafts industries occurred. To a certain extent this is connected with the increase in production for trading and with the emergence of towns.

During the course of the Viking Period, a number of trading stations, that had been seasonally in use, gained increasing significance for trading throughout the year. Eminent traders and craftsmen took up residence in the most well-visited trading stations along the important trading routes and became permanent dwellers.

Along the Gotlandic coast there was a significant number of trading harbours during the Viking Age. They were of all sizes from the small fishing stations for individual farms to large ports and trading sites with almost permanent activity, catering for an extensive market area. Excavations of Viking Age harbours like Paviken, Bandlundeviken, Bogeviken and Fröjel on Gotland have yielded foreign silver coins, balance scales and remains of crafts that all suggest that trading and craftwork have been carried out on the sites.

Towards the end of the Viking Period trading was concentrated to a small number of harbours. From what is generally presumed to have been a state of competition, Visby would eventually emerge as the victor.

Silver hoards from the later Viking Age indicate that contacts with the world around had undergone changes. Towards the end of the 10th century the flow of coins from the east dwindled. The Arabic dirhams were replaced by western coins from a large number of areas.

Coins from England and Germany are by far the most common. 63 900 of the total number of 95 100 German coins found in Sweden come from Gotland. Of the total sum of 42 200 Anglo-Saxon coins, 26 300 come from Gotland.

Simultaneously with the increased specialisation within crafts and agriculture, the silver hoards grew in size and were concentrated to the coast. The wealth would seem to have been divided between fewer hands, possibly in connection with an increase in the export of Gotlandic goods.

The quotation is from the Icelandic Ynglinga saga, which was written down in the 13th century. The quotation has sometimes been used as an argument supporting the theory that the Viking Age hoards were buried for religious purposes, and that they were never intended for use in this life.

The mere existence of the Viking Age silver hoards is a mystery to the present day person. In order to answer the question of why the hoards were hidden away and why they remained in the soil, we must first find out the significance of the silver to Viking Age people. Did the silver hoards belong to individuals, men or women, groups of people, or were they considered as real property and belonging to the farm? Were the hoards deposited with the idea that they would one day be recovered or were they to remain hidden for eternity?

Gotland’s Viking Age silver hoards have been interpreted as a manifestation of the island’s supreme wealth in the Baltic Sea Region during the period in question. Basically, silver is thought to have been the means of payment, the silver hoards representing an economic surplus. This wealth was probably created through trade, a trading activity that was to make Visby the leading trading town in the Baltic Sea area during the Early Medieval Period. Excavations of stray find locations have shown that most silver hoards are lying in the immediate vicinity of the Viking Age settlements. The majority actually seem to have been hidden indoors! Hoards from the Early Viking Age would seem today to have been concentrated around the richest agricultural areas, whereas the hoards from the Late Viking Age tend to be concentrated to the coastal areas.

The reasons for depositing the treasures may have differed from one period to another, and may have been varied during the same period. Maybe the silver was stashed away to be brought out again when needed. In this way the Viking Age cache would have had the same function as today’s safe deposit box. If the owner of the hoard kept the location of the deposition a secret, this secret might well have followed him or her to the grave.

If no use was ever found for the silver, which then remained stashed away for a generation or two, time might have obliterated all recollection of its existence. Human forgetfulness should not be underestimated when discussing reasons why the hoards were never recovered. Even today, people tend to stash away money and valuables, then think no more of it, even omitting to disclose the whereabouts to their relatives.

Another suggestion is that the hoards are symptomatic of periods of turmoil and war, with the ensuing threat of pillaging, or that the treasures were stashed away prior to a distant journey undertaken by the owner. That these hoards were later never retrieved could be due to the fact that the owners died in battle, or failed to return from their journeys.

The silver may have represented something other than means of payment in our definition of "money". The fact that the hoards are somehow connected with the Viking Age settlement is a point worth consideration. Maybe the silver was buried in connection with marriage and change of ownership of the farm, to be left as part of the farm’s prosperity.

Farm expansion had already reached a maximum as early as in the Viking Age. There was very little space left for land reclamation. Farms were hereditary, and division between several hands was not deemed desirable. Under these circumstances there would have been a tendency to delay the handing down of the farm to the next generation, and to restrict population growth.

Late marriage would delay this hand-over, as well as providing indirect birth control. Since silver was not all that accessible it might have been used in connection with marriage, as a bride price, morning gift or dowry. The time it would have taken for the man to acquire the necessary amount of silver for a desired marriage might have been sufficient to postpone the change of ownership and delay the handing down of the farm to the next generation.

The symbolic prestige value of the silver would obviously fall if the silver was to become more accessible. It should thus have been desirable to keep the silver within the boundaries of the farm as long as possible. The silver hoards would thus represent wealth of a different kind than the pure market value, having its most significant worth within the community in which the marriage took place.

Once the marriage had taken place, the primary value of the silver might have rested in its function as "fixed investment" and would have been considered as part of the family or farm wealth, not as personal property that could be disposed of. If the silver constituted a bride price, the silver hoard would most probably have been deposited on the bride’s parental farm.

The deposition may have been envelopped in religious conceptions. Belief that the buried treasures and grave goods would be of use to the deceased in the life beyond, as proclaimed in "The Ynglinga Saga", has been used on occasions as an argument supporting the theory that the hoards have remained untouched for centuries. The treasures were simply not intended for mortal use.

Maybe the treasure was considered as a sacrifice to the gods or spirits. That they remain unclaimed would be due to the reason for their deposition – a sacrifice in the hope of protection, happiness and prosperity on the farm. Still today there is a Gotlandic saying that silver in the home will bring good luck!