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Viking Silver Hoards

Type Object Region Northern Europe Time c. 800–900

Silver hoards of the Viking Age (c. 8th–10th centuries) found across Northern Europe and the British Isles, often containing Arab coins, Byzantine si…

Timeline

  1. c. 800–850Caspian–Volga trade routes · Volga River basinFrom the late 8th to mid-9th century, Abbasid dirhams spread north via routes such as those through Volga Bulgaria; Viking merchants simultaneously obtained silverware and tribute from Frankish and Anglo-Saxon regions. Silver became the core medium for measuring wealth and making payments in Scandinavia.
  2. c. 850–900British Isles · British IslesIn the 9th century Vikings buried large numbers of silver hoards in England, Scotland, Ireland, and their Nordic homeland. Typical assemblages contain Islamic dirhams, fragments of Byzantine silverware, Norse arm rings, and hacksilver, reflecting an economy priced by weight. Burials may relate to political turmoil, the sealing of inheritances, and votive offerings.
  3. 870–900Ribble Valley, Lancashire · LancashireLarge hoards such as Cuerdale contain over seven thousand Islamic coins, Norse jewelry, and Frankish silverware, showing the scale of Viking silver accumulation in Britain in the late 9th century. Mixing currencies and ritual objects of multiple lands, such hoards are the most direct material testimony to North Atlantic trade and plunder economies in the 9th century.

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