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A farm in the mountains of Norway stands on the site of what was once a “large and powerful Viking farm” and has yielded a significant Viking treasure.
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Hidden deep under the floorboards of a small house, an excavation team uncovered four silver bracelets dating to the Viking Age, likely from the 9th century AD.
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The silver bracelets were found in what was likely the same place they were originally buried, offering more insight into to the origin story of the treasure.
Silver was the Vikings’ treasure of choice. Their affinity for the metal gives discoveries of silver artifacts significant historical value—much like a treasure recently found in the mountains of Norway, one that had sat undisturbed since the 9th century AD.
Before farmer Tårn Sigve Schmidt was able to carve a new road for his tractor on his mountainous farm near Årdal, northwest of Oslo, he had to call in archaeologists to make sure there were no unique areas he was about to disturb. It’s a good thing he did.
Seven inches beneath the floorboards of what was likely once a house for Viking slaves, a team of archaeologists found four heavy silver bracelets, all with different decorations, likely from over 1,100 years ago.
“At first, I thought it was a question of some twisted copper wires that you can often find in agricultural land,” field archaeologist Ola Tengesdal Lygre said in a translated statement from the University of Stavanger, “but when I saw that there were several next to each other and that they were not copper at all, but silver, I realized that we had found something exciting.”
Further investigation showed that, at one point, a “large and powerful Viking farm” was located on the property, with multiple houses and shelter for animals. The location gave the owners control of the entry into the fjord. The excavation crew also found soapstone pots, rivets, knife blades, and whetstones for sharpening tools.
But nothing is quite as exciting as buried treasure.
“This is definitely the biggest thing I have experienced in my career,” Volker Demuth, project manager at the Archaeological Museum at the University of Stavanger, said in a statement. “This is a unique find, because we very rarely find such objects exactly where they were placed. As a rule, such valuable objects are discovered on fields that have been plowed, where an object has been completely taken out of its original context. Since the silver hoard has not been moved, it can give us completely new insights into life and society in the Viking Age.”
The bracelets were transported within the block of soil they were found to the museum. X-rays were taken, and the team will test soil samples to help give a broader picture of the setting, including if the silver was wrapped in a cloth when it was buried. The bracelets are reminiscent of the necklaces found in Hjelmeland in 1769, and the archaeologists haven’t yet ruled out a connection between the two discoveries.
Experts believe that the farm was the victim of arson at one point, likely coinciding with a period of unrest during the Viking Age in Norway, which stretched from from 800 AD to 1050 AD. The farm and the discovered silver were likely from the 9th century, archaeologists believe.
“If people who lived on this farm had to flee from an attack,” Demuth said, “it would be natural to hide away the valuables you had before escaping to the mountains. And perhaps in a place where you would not have thought that a treasure was hidden.”
The research team hasn’t yet found anything more in the same area but will extend the search thanks to the silver find.
With no silver mines in Norway at the time of the stashing, any silver owned by the Vikings had to come from abroad, either through trade, as a gift, or even as loot from a raid. The Vikings traded in silver more than gold, likely a byproduct of the regions in which they traveled.
“This is an absolutely fantastic find,” said Ole Madsen, the museum’s director, “which gives us completely unique knowledge about one of the most central eras in Norway, namely the Viking Age. We will exhibit this as soon as it is ready to be displayed.”
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