Hoards from the Medieval Period and Later

The deposition of the typical Viking Age hoards on Gotland ceased during the first half of the 12th century. Simultaneously, domestic coinage gathered way, and the building of the numerous Gotlandic Medieval stone churches began.

Silver found new routes and forms of expression. Hoards were still deposited in the Medieval Period, but they are less frequent than during the Viking Age and differ in composition.

Silverhättan, Mannegårde. In the 19th century a hoard comprising about 2 400 coins was uncovered just beside the "Silver Hood Tower" in the botanical gardens. About a hundred of these coins were from Götaland, the rest were Gotlandic. As late as in 1991, a similar hoard was unearthed at Mannegårde in Lye Parish. It consisted of about 2 600 Gotlandic coins. The hoard was deposited in about 1200 A.D.

The Dune hoard is the largest and most opulent medieval hoard ever unearthed in northern Europe. The number of objects is no less than 122, some of which display an exceptionally high quality of craftsmanship.

The hoard contains characteristic objects from more or less every decade from appr. 1100 to 1382. The latter date is marked by a small brooch made out of a coin minted for the Teutonic Order’s Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode, 1351–1382. Otherwise the hoard contains few coins, apart from five pendants of Moorish and Christian gold coins, minted in 12th century Spain.

Some of the objects were furnished with inscriptions that really fire the imagination. One bowl bears the goldsmith’s self-assured signature: "Simon made me", with the addition: "Zalognev had me made at his own expense; may I therefore be possessed by his descendants. Farewell!" The ornamentation on the bowl would suggest that it was probably made in an English smithy. The owner was probably of Russian origin, judging from the name. Maybe he was a merchant, who commissioned Simon to make the bowl while visiting England.

If the incantation-like inscription’s desire to belong to Zalognev’s descendants actually came true, then the family must have become Gotlandic within a short space of time. The bowl bears yet another inscription, but in the Gotlandic language and in runes: "Siali wrote the runes". The hoard actually contains a number of eastern elements, including some pendants of probable Russian origin. The hoard contains seven spoons. The largest and most elaborately ornamented one bears the inscription "Siglaiv made me". And on one of the three gold rings "Botvild from Alskog owns me" can be read. Alskog is 25 km south of Dune.

Inscribed on one of the round 12th century brooches is: "Tjocke, the merchant owns me". On the reverse there is a magic formula incised in runes.   The words can be read in all directions. This is known as a cryptogram containing a hidden meaning, in this case the strongest form of protection for a Christian wishing to protect himself from the powers of darkness. Our Father, the sign of the cross and the sign of eternity A & O, the beginning and the end, all squeezed together in the same formula.

The owner of the Dune hoard had added yet another element, the cryptogram was incised in runes. At that time it was common knowledge that the runes in themselves bore magic qualities. Every rune had a numerical value. By combining these numerical values in an ingenious way, the inscription could be given a special magic effect.

The string of words in the cryptogram dates back to the primitive Christian times. In 1936 it was discovered incised into the walls of houses in two different places in Pompeij. Less than 50 years after the Crucifixion of Christ in Jerusalem, the Lord’s Prayer was not only known in an Italian town, but had even given rise to a magic formula which would live on for over 1 000 years and become widely spread throughout the Christian world.

The inscription must have been incised after the brooch had come into the Dune family’s possession, the same inscription having even been found on a Persian silver cup – in this case the owner, just to be on the safe side, has added yet another magic sign; the pentagram, or "King Salomos’ seal", as it is also called.

There is every reason to suspect that the purpose of all this magic has been to protect the owner or object. The owner of the hoard has quite obviously been well acquainted with the secret wisdom. Even on deposition, this knowledge was put into use. The hoard was discovered surrounded by the remains of its container – a wooden box – above which there lay a broken scythe. Iron was believed to have protective qualities against evil. The concealer of the hoard at Dune might have placed the broken scythe on the lid of the box in order to prevent the powers of darkness from gaining power over the treasure or its owner.

The Dune hoard was left alone for over five hundred years. Whether this was due to the owner’s spells, the whims of Fate or pure coincidence we will probably never know ...

Today, the Dune hoard is on exhibition at the National Museum of Antiquities in Stockholm. It tops the list of those treasures that the county museum wishes to acquire on loan.

During the Medieval Period jewellery began to be mass produced. This led to a marked deterioration in the quality of craftsmanship. Mass produced jewellery could be spread in large batches, and was accessible to the common man. Craft of high quality was reserved for the upper ranks of society.

The Bunge hoard provides an example of mass-produced jewellery from the 14th century, which had been deposited along with a number of Gotlandic, German and Danish coins, as well as some silver spoons in a clay vessel. The most recent coin was struck in 1529.