Kaupang Vol 2

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Published in the series Norske Oldfunn, Kaupang Excavation Project

Museum of Cultural History, 2 Publication Series, Volume 2
University of Oslo Norske Oldfunn XXIII
means of
means of exchange
This second volume concerning the excavations in the Viking-period town
Kaupang in 1998–2003 examines types of find used in economic transactions:
coins, silver ingots, hacksilver, balances and weights. Changes in the types and
volume of economic transactions at Kaupang and in Scandinavia are discussed,
and the economic thought-world of Viking-age craftsmen and traders explored.
exchange
The study of Viking silver currency has previously been based mainly on
hoards. In this volume, the integrated study of the types of finds noted, in light
of the detailed chronology of settlement finds from sites such as Kaupang, sheds
completely new light upon economy and exchange.
In the early 9th century, long-distance trade goods seem to have come to
Kaupang mainly from the Carolingian world. In the earliest phase, transactions
were made using commodities as payment within a commodity-money system.
From c. 825 silver weighed using locally produced lead weights, and possibly also
Western coins, was used as currency on a limited scale. The old øre weight-unit
was easily convertible into Carolingian measures.
After the mid-9th century, trade with Carolingian regions declined and
Kaupang was more heavily involved in trade with the Baltic. The greater supply
of silver resulting from the importation, via eastern Scandinavia, of Islamic
coins, as well as the introduction in most of Scandinavia of standardized weights
of probably Islamic origin, paved the way for an increasing use of silver in pay-
ment from then on.
These studies demonstrate that urban communities like Kaupang led the
way in the development of means of payment and types of trade in Viking-age
Scandinavia. In earlier times and in rural areas, trade took place within tight
social networks where economic agency was socially sanctioned and prices were
fixed by tradition. Urban long-distance trade was less dependent of such net-
works and therefore provided space for traders and craftsmen openly to display
their economic agency. This development was encouraged by the urban environ-
ment, which housed a non-food-producing population dependent on numerous
daily transactions to survive. By easing the traditional constraints on the econo-
my and so allowing for economic expansion, the Viking towns contributed
significantly to the fundamental transformation of Scandinavian culture and
society around the turn of the millennium.
Edited by dagfinn skre
a Aarhus University Press isbn 978 87 7934 308 5
,!7II7H9-dedaif!
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Means of Exchange
Dealing with Silver in the Viking Age
Means of Exchange
Edited by Dagfinn Skre
Kaupang Excavation Project

Publication Series, Volume 2
Norske Oldfunn XXIII

Means of Exchange
Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, Volume 2
Norske Oldfunn XXIII
© Aarhus University Press

& the Kaupang Excavation Project, University of Oslo 2007
Published as part of the series Norske Oldfunn,
Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
English translation: John Hines
Language revision: Frank Azevedo, John Hines
Technical editing: Dagfinn Skre
Map production: Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Anne Engesveen
Illustration editing: Elise Naumann, Julie K. Øhre Askjem
Cover illustration: Coins, silver and weights found at Kaupang.
Photo, Eirik I. Johnsen, KHM
Graphic design, typesetting and cover: Jørgen Sparre
Type: Minion and Linotype Syntax
Paper: PhoeniXmotion Xantur, 135 g
Printed by Narayana Press, Denmark
Printed in Denmark 2008
ISBN 978-87-7934-308-5
Copyright maps:
Contour distances 1 meter: The Muncipality of Larvik
Contour distances 5 metres: Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Autority
Scandinavia, Europe: ESRI
The University of Oslo wishes to thank the financial contributors to the Kaupang Excavation Project:
Ministry of the Environment The Anders Jahre Humanitarian Foundation
Ministry of Education and Research Vestfold County Council
Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs The Municipality of Larvik
The Research Council of Norway Arts Council Norway

Contents
1 Dagfinn Skre
Introduction 9
1.1 Rethinking the substantivist approach 9
1.2 The present volume 10
1.3 Future volumes 11
2 Lars Pilø, Dagfinn Skre

Introduction to the Site 13
2.1 Exploring Kaupang and Skiringssal 1771–1999 13
2.2.1 The cemeteries 14
2.1.2 The settlement 15
2.2 Fieldwork in the Kaupang settlement 1998-2003 17
2.2.1 Research questions 17
2.2.2 Overview 17
Surveys 17
Excavations 18
Method of excavation 18
2.2.3 Contexts 20
2.3 Investigations in Skiringssal 1999–2001 23
2.3.1 Fieldwork at Huseby 1999–2001 24
2.4 Main results 1998–2003 24
Part I: The Kaupang Finds 27
3 Mark Blackburn
The Coin-finds 29
3.1 The coin-finds: discovery and context 30
3.1.1 The earlier finds, 1950–1974 30
3.1.2 The new finds, 1998–2003 30
3.2 The interpretation of site finds 34
3.2.1 The need to determine typical patterns of loss 35
3.2.2 A sample of single finds from Southern Scandinavia 36
3.2.3 Date of production versus date of loss 38
3.2.4 Changes in the currency in the early 10th century 39
3.2.5 Considering changes in the size of the coin-stock and the wastage rate 41
3.2.6 Are the hoards representative of the local currency? 43
3.2.7 Is the archaeological evidence from Birka inconsistent with the hoard evidence? 45
3.3 The Kaupang finds: their significance for the chronology of the site 47
3.3.1 The Islamic dirhams 47
contents 5
3.3.2 The 9th-century Western coins 56

3.3.3 The Roman, Merovingian and Byzantine coins 58
3.4 The spatial distribution within the site 62
3.5 Fragmentation, graffiti and other secondary treatment of the coins 63
3.5.1 Fragmentation 64
3.5.2 Whole coins and pendants 66
3.5.3 Bending and nicking 66
3.5.4 Graffiti 67
3.6 The coins found at Huseby 68
3.7 Summary and conclusions 69
Appendices: Data on which find histograms are based 72
4 Gert Rispling, Mark Blackburn and Kenneth Jonsson

Catalogue of the Coins 75
5 Birgitta Hårdh
Hacksilver and Ingots 95
5.1 Introduction 95
5.2 The Kaupang silver finds of 1998–2002 96
5.3 Silver finds from Charlotte Blindheim’s excavations 1950–1974 97
5.4 Silver as currency 97
5.5 The hacksilver 99
5.5.1 Analysis of the hacksilver by weight 100
5.6 Ingots 103
5.6.1 The large Kaupang ingot 106
5.6.2 The small Kaupang ingots 107
5.6.3 A local production of ingots? 108
5.7 Spiral-striated rods 108
5.8 Fragmented jewellery 113
5.9 Hacksilver from well-dated contexts 114
5.10 Discussion 115
5.11 Summary 118
6 Unn Pedersen
Weights and Balances 119
6.1 Graves and settlement – two different worlds? 120
6.1.1 Types of weight at Kaupang 121
6.1.2 Types of balance at Kaupang 126
6.1.3 Representativity 127
6.2 A radical change from the 9th to the 10th century? 130
6.2.1 The chronological distribution of weights in the settlement 130
6.2.2 Dating of the weight-types 131
6.2.3 A chronological change? 132
6.2.4 Two different groups of weights? 136
6.3 Weight-standard 138
6.3.1 Accuracy 138
6.3.2 Standards 140
6.3.3 The weight of well-preserved weights from the settlement 144
6.3.4 Punched-dot decoration on the weights from the settlement 148
6.4 The weights – function and meaning 155
6.4.1 The spatial distribution of weights in the settlement 155
6.4.2 Tools of trade 159
6.4.3 Weights and metalcasting 166
6.4.4 Weights and symbolic meaning 168
6.5 Summary 177
Appendices 179
6 means of exchange
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Part II: Silver, Trade and Towns 197
7 Christoph Kilger
Kaupang from Afar: Aspects of the Interpretation of Dirham Finds
in Northern and Eastern Europe between the Late 8th and Early 10th Centuries 199
7.1 Introduction 200
Dirham finds from Kaupang 201
The early Viking-period trading sites as dirham zones 205
The dominant 10th century 207
The questions 208
7.2 Phasing 208
A general summary of the finds 209
Geographical terminology 209
Methodological principles 210
7.3 The Caucasian link (Phase I, t.p.q. 770–790) 211
An inverted view of transit trade 211
Conclusions 214
7.4 The establishment of the dirham network in Eastern Europe (Phase II, t.p.q. 790–825) 214
The North African signature 215
The West Slav and Prussian dirham paradox 218
The early Gotlandic find-group 220
Conclusions 221
7.5 The establishment of the dirham network in the Baltic area (Phase III, t.p.q. 825–860) 221
The reduction of minting in the Caliphate 222
The Khazar imitations 224
Structural changes in the dirham hoards 225
The re-use of dirham silver 226
Conclusions 227
7.6 The Abbasid find-horizon after AD 860 (Phase IVa, t.p.q. 860–890) 228
The concept of a great silver crisis 230
Silver crisis or silver glut? 232
Dirham finds from the North-West of Europe 233
Conclusions 234
7.7 The Samanid find-period after AD 890 (Phase IVb, t.p.q. 890–920) 235
The Samanid transitional phase according to hoard-finds 235
The Samanid find-period in archaeological contexts 238
The dirham network in the Samanid silver period 239
Conclusions 240
7.8 The quantitative jump after c. 860 240
7.9 Final conclusions 242
The dirham finds from Kaupang revisited 243
Kaupang as a site for the handling and melting down of silver 245
7.10 Check list of dirham hoards found in Europe and the Caucasus region (t.p.q. 771–892) 247
8 Christoph Kilger
Wholeness and Holiness: Counting, Weighing and Valuing Silver
in the Early Viking Period 253
8.1 Introduction 254
The northern route, and three different concepts of silver as currency 254
Bridging disciplinary clefts 255
8.2 Exchange, money, and value 256
A singular world of chieftains and gifts 257
Means of exchange in non-monetized contexts 258
The exchange of values 259
Material and non-material aspects of monetary value 261
8.3 Coins and coinage around the North Sea 263
Counting seeds and coins – an Antique and medieval way of reckoning 264
contents 7
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The use of silver coins in the Frankish realm 267

The Frankish commodity-money economy 270
Dorestad – a hub for coin silver in the North Sea region 271
“Give us this day our daily bread…” 272
The snake, the long-haired man, and the monster:
the use of coin outside the Romano-Christian orbit 275
Conclusions 278
8.4 Traces of the eyrir-standard at Kaupang 279
Gold coins and the concept of aurar 280
Reckoning aurar according to the Early Scandinavian law-codes 282
Evidence of weighing practices in the Norwegian Merovingian Period 283
Weights with mounts and armrings with a cross 285
Looking for aurar in ring hoards 286
Dirhams as weights, and grivnas 288
Odin’s inalienable property: the stable and eternal gold ring 292
“Aurar-sites” in Southern Scandinavia 293
Verdaurar and vadmál – Commodity-money in Late Iron-age Scandinavia 296
Conclusions 297
8.5 Ertogs, pveiti and fragments 298
Two models of Early-medieval silver economy 299
Commerce and fragmentation in the Caliphate 301
Reflexes of the Islamic weight-system in Northern Europe 304
Weights with a copper-alloy shell and pseudo-Arabic characters 307
A new time of threat: the fragmentation of silver objects 309
One set and two systems of weights 312
Wholeness, holiness and dissolution 315
The early use of hacksilver around the North Sea and at Kaupang 318
Conclusions 320
8.6 Summary 321
9 Dagfinn Skre
Post-substantivist Towns and Trade AD 600–1000 327
9.1 Substantivist emporia 329
9.2 Substantivist economics – some flaws 330
9.2.1 The economy of Norway c. 1000–1500 330
9.3 Post-substantivist economics 333
9.4 Typologizing sites of trade and craft 335
9.4.1 Hodges’s concept emporium 335
9.4.2 An alternative typology of sites 337
9.5 Kings and trade 338
9.6 The significance of long-distance trade 340
10 Dagfinn Skre
Dealing with Silver:
Economic Agency in South-Western Scandinavia AD 600–1000 343
10.1 Silver and sites AD 600–1000 344
10.1.1 Central-place markets before AD 700 344
10.1.2 Local and nodal markets in the 8th century 346
10.1.3 Towns in the 9th and 10th centuries 347
Western coins c. 800–840 347
Danish coins and fragmented silver c. 825–860 348
Islamic silver c. 860–890 351
Economic agency and commodity-money in towns 352
10.2 Production and long-distance trade AD 700–1000 352
Abbreviations 356
References 357
List of Authors 378
8 means of exchange
Introduction 1
dag f i n n s k re
The first element in the place-name Kaupang is kaup, the Old Norse word for ‘a deal’ or ‘trade’. As
that word is incorporated into the name of the town, it is evident that striking deals and trading were cen-
tral activities there, perhaps the dominant ones. But what sort of trade was it that was so characteristic of
this town? Was it trade in exotic goods over the gunwales of Frisian merchant ships, or maybe in the houses
of permanently settled traders? Was it the sale of foodstuffs, fuel and other necessities to the inhabitants of
the town? Or was it trade in the jewellery, glass beads, weapons or tools which were produced by the various
craftsmen in the town? And what did people pay with in a town which did not mint its own coins? Was
payment made using foreign coin, or fragmented and weighed silver, or did people perhaps make payment
in kind, at rates of exchange determined by tradition, as was common in Norway in the period 1000–1500?
These questions, and others concerning Viking-period trade, are discussed in the present volume.
Archaeology’s ability to identify the places of produc- tant than their production (see Skre 2007b:16–18).
tion and deposition of objects draws attention natu- The approach is rather a reflection of a new tendency
rally to the movement of such objects through space. in archaeological and historical research, namely the
In archaeological research into the Viking Period, dissolution of the dichotomy that has dominated the
when the movement of goods rose to a higher level perception of economy and the exchange of goods
than in any earlier time, the natural consequence is since the 1970s. In the tradition following Polanyi
that trade has been attributed major significance (1944, 1957, 1963, 1968) a choice has had to be made
amongst the explanations of material diffusion. This between a substantivist and a formalist approach to
is thus one of the classic subjects for archaeological the economies of pre-industrial societies. Because of
research of the Viking Period. the massive influence of social-anthropological re-
In this book, however, the starting point for the search of the last 40 years or so, most archaeologists
investigation of the phenomenon of trade is not the preoccupied with economy have opted for the for-
goods that were traded. Studied here are the most mer. The substantivist position has also held a domi-
important items that were used when payments in nant position in research into the inception of urban-
silver were made (Chs. 3–6). In the final chapters in ization in Norway (e.g. Christophersen 1989a, 1991;
the book (Chs. 7–10), this material is discussed in the Saunders 1995).
context of certain general questions and theoretical When Polanyi introduced his substantivist ap-
issues. These are outlined in what follows. proach, it provided two fundamentally new elements
in relation to the dominant economic theory of the
1.1 Rethinking the substantivist approach time. In the first place, Polanyi saw long-distance
By focusing on the items used to make payment, and trade as the root of market trade, in contrast to neo-
by making trade the subject of this book, the editor is classical economists who believed that trade was
not overlooking the significance of other forms of originally local and gradually expanded in scale. In
exchange of goods, such as the payment of tribute, the second place, Polanyi considered that pre-indus-
theft, and gift exchange. Likewise, as subsequent vol- trial societies were not subject to the classic economic
umes in this series will show in full, there is no pre- laws concerning, for instance, the determination of
sumption that the exchange of goods is more impor- prices according to supply and demand because all
1. skre: introduction 9
their economic transactions were fundamentally em- The substantivist mode of thinking does not rec-
bedded in social relations; therefore, production, ex- ognize the economy of prehistoric society as having
change and consumption could never be independ- its own dynamics. Therefore, it locates all the causes
ent of social control. The price of an item was fixed by of economic change outside of economic life itself,
social conventions unaffected by supply and dem- and rather in changes in the social structures and
and. (A summary of the position can be found in relations within which it considers the particular
Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:256–7; see also Skre, this vol. economy to be embedded. This substantivist mode of
Ch. 9:328–33.) thinking has, for example, led scholars to identify
The substantivist perspective has carried the socio-political (critically discussed in Skre, this vol.
understanding of pre-industrial societies a long way Ch. 9), ideological or religious phenomena (critically
forward. Its essential premiss, that the economic discussed in Skre 2007j:446–52) as the sole forces
mechanisms of these societies functioned differently behind the expansion of the Western European econ-
from those in modern society, superseded a rather omy in the period c. 600–1000. With that, they have
simplistic back-projection of contemporary explana- more or less ignored the significance of the dynamic
tory frameworks that characterized much of the power that is inherent in production and consump-
archaeological literature of the 1960s and before tion as well as in trade. As several scholars have point-
(Hodges 1999:227). From the 1970s onwards, it there- ed out in more recent years (e.g. Moreland 2000a,
fore became difficult to write about the exchange of 2000b; Gustin 2004c; Sindbæk 2005), throughout
goods in pre-industrial societies without including this period, and indeed earlier, we have to account
gift exchange amongst the modes of distribution. for the fact that in Western and Northern Europe
Scholars no longer took for granted that autonomous there was production of goods for sale, trade using
merchants were a feature of the Scandinavian Iron silver or gold as forms of currency, the determination
Age. of prices according to demand and supply, together
As the substantivist approach became conven- with other economic phenomena which substan-
tional, it became evident to some scholars that the tivists would characterise as market-economic. Also,
view of prehistory as Other, to use Moreland’s term researchers who have not taken up an explicit posi-
(2000b:2), had become over-dominant in relation to tion in relation to the substantivist–formalist split
the formerly widely held idea of it as Same. Was it have, on empirical grounds, developed comparable
really possible that people in pre-industrial societies approaches to the economies in this period (e.g.
always exchanged goods free of self-interest and Clarke and Ambrosiani 1995; Verhulst 1999; Lebecq
altruistically? One aspect of the substantivist ap- 2000; Näsman 2000; Callmer 2002; Verhulst 2002;
proach, namely its neo-evolutionist mode of think- Ulmschneider and Pestell 2003).
ing, eventually led it up a blind alley. In Polanyi’s
own work the formulation of this model is often 1.2 The present volume
more subtle than one finds is the case in the work of As already noted, two objectives have governed the
some of his disciples (e.g. Service 1971; Sahlins 2004). structure of this book. The first of these is to publish
Due to neo-evolutionist currents in Social Anthrop- empirical analyses of the media of exchange excavat-
ology, Polanyi’s various forms of exchange became ed at Kaupang (Part I: The Kaupang Finds). The items
linked to specific socio-political formations. Gift- that are linked with the making of payment and that
exchange, for instance, was associated with primitive are presented and discussed in Chapters 3–6 are coins,
societies, while market trade was associated with hacksilver, silver ingots of regulated weight, weights and
modern society. balances. Naturally, most emphasis is placed upon
In this way the understanding of prehistoric eco- the finds from Kaupang, but the authors incorporate
nomy became stereotyped and governed by a model comparative material to be better able to identify and
with little space for nuance and variation. Such uni- interpret the patterns and features of the media of
versal, stadial models made it difficult to conceive exchange at Kaupang.
that several forms of exchange could exist side-by- The second objective has been to discuss trade
side in a community; if that could be entertained at and urbanization in the Late Iron Age and Early
all, it was only in the form of marginal phenomena or Viking Period of South-Western Scandinavia from
transitional situations between one period and both a theoretical and an empirical perspective (Part
another. The economic life of the Viking Period, for II: Silver, Trade and Towns). Both an empirical and a
instance, was readily treated as a transitional stage theoretical mode of developing an understanding of
between the gift economy of the Iron Age and the prehistoric economy are explored along the lines
later market economy (e.g. Samson 1991; Carelli outlined above. In this part of the book, attention is
2001). Stadial models of this kind are an obstacle to a moved to a wider perspective than Kaupang alone, to
full grasp of the complexity and dynamism of prehis- encompass a Scandinavian view. In Chapter 7, the
toric economy; moreover, they blur regional and chronology of the importation of dirhams to Scan-
chronological variation. dinavia is discussed, while in Chapter 8 the funda-
10 means of exchange
mental structures of thought that underlay the vari- the contributors harmonize their conclusions but
ous uses of silver as a form of currency from the pre- rather, that they should take account of each others’
Viking centuries down to the end of the 1st millenni- conclusions, let them inspire their own discussions
um are examined. In Chapter 9, an alternative ap- and arguments, and point out disagreements. While
proach, the post-substantivist approach, to prehistoric the editor has taken care that there should not be any
economy is developed, while the various categories of inconsistencies between the chapters in respect of
specialized sites in Scandinavia concerned with craft empirical information about the finds from Kaup-
and trade in the period c. AD 600–1000 are analysed ang, no attempt has been made to harmonize the var-
and typologized. Finally, Chapter 10 contains a dis- ious authors’ methods and views. Thus the reader
cussion of currency and economy agency in connex- will find that Blackburn, for instance (Ch. 3:41), in
ion with the various types of specialized sites for craft assessing the factors which influence the composi-
and trade. tion of the currency, places a confidence in the
This emphasis on both empirical analysis and “wastage model” that Kilger does not share (Ch.
theoretical discussion is based upon a firm convic- 7:210–11). The reader will also find both parallels and
tion that both approaches are of equal value in the some clear disagreements between Kilger’s conclu-
enterprise of understanding the distant past. There is sions in Chapter 8 concerning the development of
a major difference between these two, in that while currencies and Skre’s conclusions presented in
empirical analyses do not need an explicit theoretical Chapter 10. It is hoped that the reader will agree that
basis to produce crucial and valuable contributions, such disagreements add to the interest and stimula-
it is only when theoretical reflections are applied to a tion this book offers.
body of empirical data that such analyses can con-
tribute to a concrete understanding of the past. Con- 1.3 Future volumes
sequently, the value of the post-substantivist ap- Since the publication of Volume 1, the schedule of
proach to the understanding of prehistoric economy publication that was presented in that volume has
developed in Chapter 9 stands or falls by the results been modified (Skre 2007b:16–18). The projected
that are produced through its encounter with the Volume 6 (referred to in Vol. 1 as Skre, in prep.) has
empirical material as attempted in Chapter 10. been removed from the schedule and the material
The work on the various chapters in this volume intended for it has been redistributed to the current
has only partly been undertaken concurrently. As far volume (Skre, this vol. Chs. 9 and 10) and the forth-
as possible, however, the drafts were circulated coming Volume 3.
amongst the authors. It has not been the aim to make
1. skre: introduction 11
Introduction to the Site 2

l a r s p i l ø , dag f i n n s k re
To make full use of this book, it will help the reader to know the most important results of the work
at Kaupang. A comprehensive account of the results of the archaeological excavations and recording
undertaken there from 1998 to 2003 has been published in volume 1 of this series (Skre 2007a). Also found
there are summaries of the previous excavations and research findings, with references to earlier publica-
tions. In that volume, Kaupang is additionally set into its local context of Skiringssal, and its relationship
with south-western Scandinavia more widely is outlined. The main emphasis in what follows falls upon a
description of the archaeological contexts of the artefactual finds from the fieldwork of 1998–2003.
The fieldwork of those years was the first stage of the Kaupang Excavation Project, which has been
directed from the University of Oslo – also with the financial support of those institutions listed on the
colophon page of this volume. In 1998–1999 only surveys and minor trial excavations were carried out. A
major excavation of 1,100 sq m was carried out in the settlement area of Kaupang from 2000–2002, in addi-
tion to several minor excavations. From 1999 to 2001 the project undertook survey work and excavations at
the neighbouring farmstead to Kaupang, Huseby. Finally a small investigation was undertaken of the har-
bour sediments of Kaupang in 2003.
In 2003 the second stage of the project also got underway, with a group consisting of thirty scholars from
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Germany working on Kaupang and Skiringssal.
Besides the publication of the results of the excavations themselves (included in Skre 2007a), the aim of this
phase of the project has been to publish the most significant aspects of the artefactual finds, to pick up
some of the most important questions posed by the finds and the results of the excavations, to construct a
comprehensive picture of Kaupang and Skiringssal, and to place Kaupang in its contexts of Scandinavia
and the North Sea region. A conspectus of the studies that are in preparation can be found in Skre 2007b:18.
The present volume is one outcome of the work of these specialists. It is not the aim of the project how-
ever to publish the artefactual finds in their entirety; the material is available in its entirety to any interested
scholar. An overview of the finds can be found in Pedersen and Pilø 2007:180–4.
2.1 Exploring Kaupang and Skiringssal 1771–1999 been a temple at Skiringssal, and that the Ynglings,
The study of Skiringssal in the 19th century was the legendary royal dynasty of Norway, had had their
shaped by the gradual adoption and examination of royal homestead there. The name Skiringssal was no
new sources (Skre 2007c). The antiquarian and tex- longer extant in the time of Munthe, but in two let-
tual sources were first collected by the cartographer ters from the early 15th century he found it in use. It
and antiquarian Gerhard Munthe in 1838, and the then designated parts of Tjølling parish in the far
location of Skiringssal was established by his work. south-east of Vestfold. Munthe visited the place and
Munthe concluded that the Sciringes heal that is down by the sea he found hundreds of barrows at the
referred to in Ohthere’s travelogue of c. AD 890 was farm of Kaupang. Munthe concluded that both the
the same Skiringssal that was named in sagas of the name of the farm, which means “market place”, and
early 13th century and in Ynglingatal from c. AD 900 the good harbourage at the site, were evidence that
(Skre 2007h). These sources indicated that there had this was where Ohthere’s port, the trading site he had
2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 13

Helgefjell
V í t r i r / Ve t t r i r
Þjóðalyng
Huseby
Kaupang
visited on one of his journeys, had lain. In 1850 the

Figure 2.1 The most important elements in the Skiringssal historian P. A. Munch put Munthe’s results into a
central-place complex as they are identified in Skre 2007a. wider Dano-Norwegian context, and went further in
Kaupang is the urban settlement surrounded by cemeteries. linking the site to the legendary royal dynasty of
The northernmost cemetery, excavated by Nicolaysen in Norway, the Ynglings.
1867, was located by the main road which led to and from
Kaupang. This cemetery was probably where the petty kings 2.2.1 The cemeteries
of Skiringssal and their followers were buried. One kilome- The plea for archaeological work at Skiringssal made
tre along this road from Kaupang, at the farm of Huseby, by Munthe and Munch was taken up by Nicolay
the remains of a Viking-period hall were excavated in Nicolaysen, the first Norwegian field archaeologist.
2000–2001, probably the hall that gave Skiringssal its name. In 1867 he made Skiringssal his first major archaeo-
The road is likely to have continued further north to the logical project. He excavated 79 barrows at Kaupang,
thing site of Qjóealyng. Just north of the assembly site was 71 of them in what appeared to be the main cemetery
the lake Vítrir/Vettrir, whose name indicates that it was called Nordre Kaupang (Fig. 2.2). All graves from this
considered sacred. On the south-eastern shore of the lake lies cemetery are cremations. Nicolaysen employed local
the small but distinct hill called Helgefjell. This name also workmen, and this affected the quality of the excava-
denotes a sacred location. tion. The workers found a large number of small
Settlement area is marked in yellow, cemetries in red, artefacts, such as weights, but we have to assume that
known barrows in black. The level shown for the lake is its some nevertheless went missing, and that the grave
assumed original level. The sea-level shown has been raised assemblies from the excavation of 1867 are probably
3.5 m from today’s level to show its level in the early Viking incomplete.
Age. Illustration, Anne Engesveen. With Charlotte Blindheim’s excavations of buri-
als and settlement remains at Kaupang from 1950 to
1974 there was a new surge in Skiringssal research. It probably indicates that the cemeteries at Kaupang
was Blindheim who revealed the remains of the stopped being used regularly for burials somewhat
urban site at Kaupang and retrieved a significant col- before this time. Thus the apparently equal numbers
lection of archaeological finds which provided a basis of 9th- and 10th-century graves really conceal a much
for dating the site and for assessing the craft, trade higher burial frequency in the later period. The bar-
and connexions evident there. row cemetery at Nordre Kaupang is distinguished by
Blindheim discovered the cemetery of Bikjhol- having a clear majority of graves from the first half of
berget, consisting entirely of flat graves except for the 10th century.
one small mound. The original number of graves To avoid the confusion resulting from the many
there is assumed to have been around 160 (Stylegar different numbering systems that different excava-
2007:77). In the years 1950–7 Blindheim excavated 74 tors have applied to the Kaupang graves, a new series
of these. Forty-eight of these burials were in boats – of numbers, each starting with Ka., has been allocat-
33 boats in all. Thus several boats had more than one ed in the complete catalogue of excavated graves
body in them; in two instances, four. Both the large published by Stylegar (2007:103–28). This catalogue
number of boat-graves and the fact that all of the provides cross-references to all earlier numbering
burials were inhumations makes Bikjholberget dif- systems. In the present publication all references to
ferent from all other cemeteries in the Oslofjord area. graves use Stylegar’s numbering. For reference to a
The graves at Bikjholberget were also more richly specific artefact within a grave a letter is added to the
furnished than those at Nordre Kaupang, and the number, the same letter as in the original catalogue.
amount of imported material was higher. Blindheim
therefore drew the conclusion that Bikjholberget was 2.1.2 The settlement
the merchants’ cemetery; the site where the traders of Prior to 1956 there had been no reported finds from
Kaupang were buried. Her excavation technique was the settlement area. (This section is based on Pilø
more careful than Nicolaysen’s, and her excavation 2007a.) In 1956 Blindheim started excavations in
team better qualified. The ratio of grave goods re- what was later seen to be the northern part of the set-
trieved was presumably greater as a result. However, tlement area, and excavations continued here on
as was normal at that time, the fill was not sieved. almost an annual basis until 1967, leading cumula-
Thus some smaller objects may have been lost. Many tively to the excavation of a site of 1,350 sq m. A few
of the graves were disturbed by later burials, but in minor excavations were conducted in other parts of
some areas the stratigraphical relationships were the settlement area until 1984. The settlement excava-
extremely complicated. In consequence, the associations up to that year were published in full by Roar L.
tion of some objects with specific graves can be un- Tollnes (1998). These excavations documented struc-
certain. tures that at the time were interpreted as the remains
A total number of 204 graves and stray finds that of houses, wells and jetties. In light of the more recent
probably derive from graves are known from the excavations however, those interpretations can now
Kaupang cemeteries. If one includes the empty bar- be questioned (Pilø 2007a). The main change is that
rows and barrows containing nothing but layers or the structures interpreted as houses are now consid-
patches of charcoal, the number of excavated graves ered to represent fences and stone foundations and
is 237. If one includes unexcavated burial mounds, supports at the lower ends of plots. Thousands of
407 graves (i.e. buried individuals) can be document- artefacts were recovered, including large quantities of
ed – assuming that the unexcavated mounds contain imported material from most of northern Europe
one grave each. Based on various types of informa- and from the Middle East.
tion a total of 700 graves can be estimated in all For the times, the excavations of 1956–1984 were
(Stylegar 2007:77). However, there is no doubt that methodologically well conducted. The deposits were
this number is still an underestimate. Many flat removed in spits and squares. An overall system of 2 x
graves are probably still undetected, and a large num- 2 m squares was employed. Spits were 10 cm thick.
ber of graves have been removed over the centuries No, or very little sieving, took place, as was the cus-
without any finds from them being brought to any tom at the time. The cultural deposits were generally
museum. The actual number of graves within the termed “black earth” even though their colour and
Kaupang complex could have been about a thou- composition varied. Little emphasis was placed on
sand, as suggested by Blindheim (et al. 1981:65; 1999: stratigraphy. Since the deposits were removed in
153–4). spits, it is now impossible, except in a few cases, to
Of the 204 known burials from Kaupang, 116 con- relate specific artefacts with certainty to the stratified
tain closely datable artefacts. The first burials seem to layers documented in section drawings or photo-
have taken place around AD 800. Overall, there is a graphs. For a more detailed presentation and evalua-
slight preponderance of burials of the first half of the tion of the evidence from the settlement area prior to
10th century as compared to the 9th. The general lack 1998, see Pilø 2007a.
of burials with artefact-types dated to after c. AD 950

Blindheim excavations
1950-57
1956-67, 1970, 1974
MRE excavations 2000-2002
Non-excavated barrow
Excavated barrow
Cemetery
Settlement area
Area with plot-division
Bjønnes
Nordre
Kaupang
Hagejordet
Bikjholberget
Lamøya
Søndre
Kaupang
Vikingholmen
0 200 m
Figure 2.2 Settlements, cemeteries and single barrows in

the Kaupang area. Map, Anne Engesveen.
2.2 Fieldwork in the Kaupang settlement main project period, which included a series of exca-
1998-2003 vations in addition to continuing surveys. Geo-
In the spring of 1998 the preparations began for the physical mapping was also undertaken.
excavations that would eventually take place from
2000 to 2003. Field surveys were undertaken every Surveys
year from 1998 to 2002. Prior to 1998 excavations had only taken place in the
northern part of the settlement area, and no system-
2.2.1 Research questions atic surveys of the entire settlement area had been
The principal questions behind the fieldwork relate undertaken. Very little was known about other parts
to two key topics (Skre 2007d): the debate over the of the settlement. Thus the surveys were designed to
first urban sites in Scandinavia – of which Kaupang collect archaeological data over large parts of the set-
appears to be an example; and the debate surround- tlement area.
ing the central places of Scandinavia in the first mil- The field surveys have led to the collection of
lennium AD – of which Skiringssal appears to be one 4,336 artefacts from the settlement area: 1,940 from
(see below). fieldwalking and 2,396 by metal detection. The total
The principal objective of the excavations area covered by the field surveys at Kaupang is
planned at Kaupang was to decide whether Kaupang approximately 62,500 sq m, most of which has been
was one of the many seasonal market sites of this time surveyed several times, both through fieldwalking
or one of the very few towns established in the early and metal detecting. The total fieldwalked area is
Viking Period. With reference to the general objec- 60,000 sq m, while the total metal-detected area is
tives, the following five concrete research questions 46,500 sq m.
were defined as those that the fieldwork aimed to The problem of displacement of artefacts due to
investigate: ploughing and erosion in the slopes towards the
Kaupang inlet was obvious even before the surveys
• The character of the settlement – seasonal or started. Thus it is no longer possible to gain informa-
year-round tion on the location of activities based on the arte-
• The layout of the settlement – possible plots, facts recovered from the ploughsoil, apart from on
lanes, grouped buildings, open spaces the central plateau. Even so the artefacts recovered
• Building-types have yielded important new evidence on the dating
• The location and character of various forms of and the extent of the site as well as on the character of
activity – trade, craft production, etc. activities that took place there.
• The dating of the settlement, and possible Only iron objects were not recorded during metal
changes in its activities and character detecting – unless they could be identified by the
archaeologists as dating to the Viking Age. During
2.2.2 Overview fieldwalking all materials were collected except non-
The fieldwork at Kaupang from 1998 to 2003 (de- tool flint, bone and iron (unless artefacts dating to
scribed in Pilø 2007b) fell into two parts, with 1998– the Viking Age could be identified).
1999 as a pilot project period, which included surveys
and limited trial trenching, and 2000–2003 being the

Figure 2.3 Aggregated artefact recovery during field surveys

N 1998–2002. Illustration, Julie K. Øhre Askjem.
Figure 2.4 The main excavations at Kaupang 2000–2003.

Contour interval 1 metre. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem.
2000–2003 a number of additional shorter and nar-

rower trenches had to be opened to allow connexions
to be made between modern buildings and the new
sewage system. These trenches had a total length of
650 m and covered an additional 610 sq m, bringing
the total area excavated for CRM purposes at Kaup-
ang in the years 1999–2003 to 3,100 sq m.
Single find Settlement area 0 100 200 m
In effect, these trenches constituted a series of
Non-surveyed areas Edge of field exploratory trenches all the way from the northern
barrow cemetery through the entire settlement area
to the southern barrow cemetery. The CRM excava-
tions allowed new evidence to be gathered from parts
Excavations of the settlement area which had previously seen very
The main research excavation 2000–2002 (MRE) was little or no archaeological activity. However, due to
the key part of the fieldwork campaign at Kaupang. the narrowness of the trenches and extensive distur-
The excavation site was chosen because it was cen- bance in the areas along the modern road, valuable
trally located in the settlement area and distant from information was collected only here and there from
the site of the 1956–1974 excavations. In addition it these excavations.
had relatively well-preserved cultural deposits and a A test excavation was undertaken in the harbour
high density of surface finds. area in 2003, c. 1.5–2.5 m below the Viking-age sea-
The excavation site covered 1,100 sq m, of which level. Deposits which dated to the 9th century and
400 sq m were excavated down to the original beach possibly the early 10th century were found.
deposit. It was situated between 3.5 and 6 m above
present sea-level, and thus included areas suitable for Method of excavation
settlement, as the Viking-age sea-level is estimated to The documentation method employed during the
have lain c. 3.5 m above the present mark. It also MRE was single context recording. Each layer and fea-
included the Viking-age beach in front of the settled ture is recorded as a discrete individual context. The
area. The excavation area of 1956–1974 was situated contexts are excavated in the reverse order to that in
between 1.0 and 4.5 m above present sea-level. which they were deposited. Applying single-context
Several cultural resource management excavations recording at Kaupang was a demanding process. The
(CRM) took place from 2000–2003 too. A large-scale cultural deposits in the settlement area are com-
excavation in areas affected by a new water and pressed and dry, and consist of humus, sand, silt and
sewage system and a footpath was conducted in 2000, clay – except for the waterlogged deposits in some of
in advance of the MRE. This excavation was preceded the pits, which contain a broader selection of organic
by trial trenching in the autumn of 1999, covering 240 material. Many of the deposits were difficult to
sq m within the site. The 2000 CRM excavations con- delimit, as they had been the object of intense biotur-
sisted of a series of trenches with a total length of 800 bation (disturbed by faunal activity, mainly earth-
m. The trenches were normally 2–3 m wide, and the worms) and leaching.
total excavation area covered 2,250 sq m. From Stratified deposits were not expected in the area
La
m
.r.
4
F15
Vik
.r.
Blindheim excavations 0 100 m

Lam.r. Lamøya road 1956-67, 1970, 1974
F154 County road 154 CRM excavations 1999-2003
Vik.r. Road to Vikingholmen Research excavations 2000-2003
investigated for CRM reasons because extensive test- mm. In addition, part of each intact context, never
ing with augers showed only a dark homogeneous less than 20% of the total, was sieved through a 2 mm
deposit below the ploughsoil. However, as excava- mesh. In all, about 120 cu m of cultural deposits were
tion quickly proved, stratified deposits were indeed sieved in connection with the MRE.
present in the area next to where the MRE was to be To enable the sufficiently precise location of arte-
conducted, even though auger testing had failed to facts retrieved from the water sieving of excavated
identify them. In the CRM trench these deposits had deposits, layers greater than 1 sq m were separated
to be excavated to a tight deadline, and full-scale into smaller units during excavation and recording,
stratigraphical excavation was not possible. This was using 1 x 1 m squares, aligned with the national geo-
unfortunate, and has made it difficult to correlate the graphical grid system of Norway.
layers and structures found in this excavation fully Full-scale sieving of the ploughsoil covering the
with those in the subsequent MRE. MRE area was not possible, but measures were taken
All excavated deposits from intact contexts and to recover a proportion of the artefacts during topsoil
from the later medieval plough-layer in the MRE removal. The soil was removed in 2 x 2 m squares – in
were water-sieved. The basic mesh width used was 5 most cases in 10-cm spits to facilitate the use of a

N
Path/road?
Figure 2.5 Plot-divisions in the MRE.
Figure 2.6 A schematic overview in perspective of the Site

4B
3B Periods of the MRE (see Pedersen and Pilø 2007:184–6 for
2B details). The date range of the preserved deposits from Site
1B Period III (fill in pits) is c. AD 840/850–900. Illustration,
4A Lars Pilø.
3A
2A
1A
0
Midden
metal detector. 35% of the ploughsoil – or c. 95 cu m – represented on most of the six excavated plots in the
was sieved. No bone or other material of uncertain or MRE – a development from a seasonal (Site Period
post-medieval date was collected from the plough- [SP] I) to a permanent settlement (SP II and proba-
soil. In spite of this, more than 1,400 unit finds were bly much of SP III), and a later truncation of the
recovered from the ploughsoil covering the MRE stratified deposits by ploughing, resulting in the for-
area, including, for instance, slightly more than 2 kg mation of ploughsoil. Here and there a later medieval
of pottery. plough-layer was preserved beneath the modern
The basic tool for field documentation at Kaup- ploughsoil.
ang was Intrasis (= Intra-site Information System). Six plots were excavated from top to bottom (1A,
Intrasis is an archaeological information system for 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B – only the A-plots were excavated
recording and managing field data. Further informa- in their entirety). In general it can be said that the
tion is available at http://www.intrasis.com deposits were best preserved on Plot 3B and least well
preserved on Plot 1A, i.e. that the deposits were at
2.2.3 Contexts their deepest (up to 25 cm) in the northern part of the
The artefacts from the fieldwork at Kaupang 1998– excavation area and absent or nearly absent in the
2003 derive from both surface surveys in different southern part. This is a direct consequence of a com-
parts of the settlement area and the excavation of spe- bination of ploughing and local topography. The
cific sites within it. In total, more than one tonne of northern part of the excavation area is at the lower
artefact and bone material was collected during all of end of a slope; hence, eroded soil from further up the
the excavations and surveys 1998–2003. The propor- slope washed into this area. This is also where the
tion of broken and fragmented objects is high – as later medieval plough-layer was at its deepest (c. 15
can be expected of settlement material largely con- cm). Modern ploughing has removed the later me-
sisting of discarded objects and waste. With a few dieval plough-layer and most of the stratified
exceptions, the datable artefacts belong to the Viking deposits in the south.
Age – with an emphasis on the 9th century, but con- Most deposits have been intensively bioturbated,
tinuing into the second half of the 10th. which has probably led to a vertical displacement of
Overall site phasing is always a difficult task in some small artefacts (< 5 mm) such as beads and
excavations with complex stratigraphy and even small pieces of bone. Thus single artefacts of small
more so in excavations of sites with plot-divisions. size cannot be used as dating evidence. In addition,
The phasing within the individual plots is facilitated the difficulty of discerning features in the deposits
by the implementation of single-context recording in may have caused some small intrusive pits, post-
the field. However, inter-plot phasing regularly holes or other features to be overlooked during the
proves more difficult as stratification seldom can be excavation process. As a consequence, later material
followed across plot boundaries. This is due to the may have been assigned to an earlier level than it
constant re-digging of ditches, renewal of fences, should have been. Large intrusive features would
trampling, and other activities that took place in the most likely have been visible in the naturally deposit-
divisions between the plots. This was also the case at ed beach sand below the archaeological deposits as
Kaupang, and inter-plot phasing was thus impossi- the intact archaeological strata seldom exceeded
ble. Even so it can be seen that the same sequences are 15–20 cm in depth. Few such undetected intrusive
Modern ploughsoil
Disturbed
settlement
deposits
Later medieval plough-layer
c. AD 960/980
Site Period III

Large,
intrusive
pits
c. AD 840/850
House
3B A301
2B
3A
2A
House
A302
Site Period II
sub-phase 2 sub-phase 2 Permanent
settlement
1A sub-phase 1 sub-phase 1
House
3B
2B A303
House
A406 3A
2A House
House A304
A200
c. AD 805/810
Plot 1B
Plot 2B Plot 3B
Site Period I
Initial
Plot 1A Plot 2A Plot 3A seasonal
settlement
c. AD 800
Hearth Pit Truncated Site Period border
Floor deposit Early plot boundary Intact Site Period border
Deposit in side-aisle Ditch Edge of excavated area
Midden Post-hole
features were recorded, only a few small post-holes. al part of the settlement, appears to have been quite
Thus the problem of undetected intrusive features is short-lived, probably less than 10 years, from around
probably very limited. AD 800 until AD 805/810. It is very likely that the plots
The dating range of the stratified deposits is c. AD were laid out simultaneously, and therefore that the
800–840/850 for SP I–II and 840/850–900 for the start date of this Site Period is the same on each indi-
intrusive pits in SP III. Judging from the artefactual vidual plot. However, the length of this initial Site
evidence retrieved from the ploughsoil, SP III has Period may vary from plot to plot, as some plots may
originally extended up to 960/980. (For a more de- have seen earlier permanent occupation than others.
tailed presentation of site periods and artefact con- The main artefact-carrying deposits from this period
text, see Pedersen and Pilø 2007.) are a number of outdoor occupation deposits. There
Site Period I, which comprises the earliest, season- was no settlement on the beach prior to the establish-

Figure 2.7 The platform after excavation, facing south.

Photo, D. Skre, Kaupang Excavation Project.
ment of the seasonal settlement, and the artefactual few preserved deposits from SP III. The stratified
material should be chronologically “clean”, with the material from this period derives mostly from the
few possible exceptions stated above. secondary fill of pits, which also suggests that at least
Site Period II contains deposits from the earlier some of the material attributed to this period is resid-
part of the permanent settlement. The upper parts of ual. Only a few of the pits can be dated dendro-
the deposits from this period were truncated by chronologically. The latest date is from a loose piece
ploughing. Based on dendrochronological evidence of wood in the backfill of pit A9422 dated to AD 863.
from intrusive pits from SP III, the preserved No artefactual finds contradict that this may be the
deposits should be dated from c. AD 805/810 to c. AD end date of the deposits in these pits, but as the num-
840/850. The deposits from SP II are very varied, and ber of artefact recoveries from the pits is very limited,
include occupation deposits in houses, midden lay- the fills in some of the pits may be later than this date.
ers, levelling layers, hearths, pits and ditches. SP II Based on the lack of 10th-century finds in the pits,
can be divided into sub-phases 1 and 2 (SP II.1 and SP AD 900 is assumed to be the latest date possible for
II.2) on Plots 3A and 3B, as these plots contained evi- the pit fills. Looking at the evidence from the ceme-
dence of consecutive buildings. The same subdivi- teries and the harbour, it seems likely that the perma-
sion has been made on Plot 2A, where a building nent settlement at Kaupang continued into the first
erected in sub-phase 1 was demolished in sub-phase three or four decades of the 10th century. The artefac-
2, when the plot was left open. SP II on Plot 2B could tual evidence from the settlement area, i.e. coins and
also be divided into two sub-phases, but only an ani- glass beads, even indicates some activity at Kaupang
mal shed was found there. There has been too much as late as AD 960/980. However, the character of this
damage by ploughing on Plots 1A and 1B to support final period, whether the activities were permanent
any division into sub-phases there, even though the or only seasonal, remains indeterminate.
presence of intrusive post-holes suggests that consec- The stratified deposits were covered by two
utive buildings were erected there as well. The dig- plough-layers. A later medieval plough-layer covered
ging of large pits began in SP II and it is thus likely part of the excavation area. Associated with this layer
that at least some residual material is present a- was a post-Viking-age road. The later medieval
mongst the artefacts attributed to this period, espe- plough-layer contained artefacts from disturbed Vi-
cially in secondary deposits. king-age deposits and some with a late-medieval
As mentioned above, the deposits from SP II were date. The modern ploughsoil covered all of the excava-
truncated by later ploughing, and therefore the later tion area. The two plough-layers, even though they
settlement activity at Kaupang is assigned as a whole were both disturbed, were separated during phasing.
to Site Period III. Thus the transition from SP II to SP It was assumed that the displacement of artefacts was
III is created by post-depositional processes, not by a less pronounced in the later medieval plough-layer
functional change as was the case in the transition than in the modern ploughsoil, and that the later
from SP I to SP II. The transition from SP II to SP III medieval plough-layer is devoid of modern material.
is not contemporaneous within and between plots, The artefactual material in the later medieval plough-
because of the different degree of plough damage to layer is a mixture of artefacts from different contexts
the deposits on the different plots. Except for intru- – from disturbed deposits from SP I to SP III, and
sive pits and deposits in the harbour, there are very from the later medieval farming activities. The num-
ber of post-Viking-age artefacts is very limited, and archaeologically and through the examination of tex-
most artefacts associated with the later medieval tual and topographical evidence. A study of the topo-
plough-layer (with the exception of iron slag) may be nymical data from the area has made a particularly
said with confidence to belong to the Viking-age important contribution (Brink 2007). The three sites
settlement. are a hall site at Huseby, about 1 km from Kaupang
(Skre 2007e); an assembly place (thing-site) at Qjóea-
2.3 Investigations in Skiringssal 1999–2001 lyng, a good 2 km from Kaupang (Skre 2007g), and a
In the 1st millennium AD a series of sites emerged in cemetery that lies only a couple of hundred metres
southern Scandinavia that are usually referred to as from Kaupang (Skre 2007f) along the track that leads
central places and which were evidently crucial to from the town up to Huseby and Qjóealyng. About
fundamental social organization, particularly juridi- 300 m north of Qjóealyng a lake has been located that
cal and cultic, within territories. In each case there seems to have played a part in certain aspects of the
seems to have been an aristocratic household at the function of the assembly place. This lake was called
heart of the central place. Several such sites also pro- Vítrir/Vettrir (“the lake where supernatural beings
duce evidence of trade and craft. dwell” or “the lake dedicated to gods and super-
Documentary, archaeological and place-name natural beings”), and on its south-eastern shore lay
evidence alike testify that Skiringssal was a central the mountain Helgefjell (“holy mountain”).
place. Three sites in the vicinity of Kaupang could be Since the Kaupang Excavation Project has under-
associated with central-place functions (see Fig. 2.1), taken fieldwork at Huseby, this site alone is described
and these have been studied in greater depth, both in more detail here.

2.3.1 Fieldwork at Huseby 1999–2001 for several decades as a central place within Vestfold
In 1999 the surveyors for the Kaupang Excavation and perhaps even Viken as a whole (Skre 2007i).
Project discovered a building platform at the farm of The town seems definitely to have been founded
Huseby, about 1 km north of the settlement area at in the sense that the whole or most of the urban area
Kaupang. The platform was some 36 m long and 13 m was in one act divided into plots. There are no traces
wide, and its longer sides were bowed. It was situated of activity prior to the division of the site into plots,
on the crest of a rocky hillock, where a building will as one would expect if new areas were divided into
have been widely visible. plots in the course of phases of urban expansion (Pilø
When the platform was constructed, a barrow of 2007d). The founder must have been the Danish king
the 4th or 5th century AD had been laid flat. Between who ruled in Viken in this period. Around the area
200 and 300 cu m of soil and stone had also been with plot-division, which covers c. 20,000 sq m, there
brought up on to the hillock to build the platform. is a zone with finds of a Viking-age date but without
On comparable platforms in the area around the traces of permanent construction. This zone, which
Mälar Lake in Sweden, halls have been found that covers c. 34,000 sq m, is probably where temporary
were built in the 8th century and stood until the end visitors stayed in tents or other temporary shelters.
of the Viking Period. A trial excavation was under- One fundamental reason why the town was
taken in 1999 and most of the surface of the platform established in Skiringssal appears to have been that
was excavated in 2000 and 2001. the combination of the sacral character of the central
Because of the very difficult ground conditions, place and the military power of the local leader guar-
no definite post-holes from the hall-building were anteed secure trading conditions. In this respect,
identified, although there were several likely candi- Kaupang differs from the two other towns of the
dates. It is possible, nevertheless, with particular ref- Danish king’s realm, Ribe and Hedeby, which do not
erence to the foundations of the long walls and two appear to have been connected to central places. The
probable post-holes, to propose what the ground- three towns nevertheless shared one conspicuous
plan of the building was like. Activities in the cen- feature – they were all positioned on the borders of
turies following the Viking Period have disturbed the the king’s territory. It seems likely that the three
soil so that stratified layers from the functioning peri- towns were founded by the Danish king on the model
od of the platform are virtually entirely lost. Artefacts of the Frankish and Anglo-Saxon emporia or wics
from the Viking Period to modern times have been which, inter alia, served to represent a strong royal
found together in the soil covering the platform. presence at the frontier (Skre 2007j).
A range of Viking-period finds from the platform That Kaupang was home to a permanent popula-
can be linked to an aristocratic context. Alongside the tion from c. 805/810 onwards is revealed by the build-
shape of the platform and the building these clearly ing-types, the quantity and the types of finds repre-
point to an aristocratic residence – a hall – having senting household activities, and finds of the bones of
been placed on the spot. The finds show that the birds that were caught and timber that was cut in the
building was raised some time in the second half of winter months. The swift transition from seasonal to
the 8th century. It most probably went out of use at permanent occupation on the plots excavated –
the beginning of the 10th century. probably a process taking less than a decade –indi-
The name Skiringssal occurs in sources written in cates that permanent settlement was intended from
the period c. AD 890–1445. It then appears to denote the inception of the division into plots. More precise
an area, possibly of about the size of the parish of information on the duration of this process is avail-
Tjølling or a little less. But Skiringssal must originally able from only some of the plots in the main research
have been the name of a building, a salr or “hall”. It is excavation area. However the finds from fieldwalking
probably the remains of this hall that have been reveal no clear chronological differences in the com-
revealed by excavation at Huseby. As well as serving mencement of occupation in different sectors of the
as aristocratic residences, such halls were also the settlement area – nor in its end either. Both early and
locations of cult feasts. late finds are ubiquitous. At the same time, there
seem to be no marked distinctions of activity zones in
2.4 Main results 1998–2003 various parts of the settlement.
In the course of the 8th century it appears that the The evidence of six buildings that were excavated
thing site, the hall and the cemetery were established in the MRE area provides us with only limited infor-
as the core elements of the Skiringssal central place mation on their construction technique. However, as
complex. The first two of six generations of Ynglings far as the state of preservation of the evidence permits
in Viken, Halfdan Whiteleg and Eystein Fart, can be any conclusions to the drawn, certain features seem
linked to the establishment and early growth of the to be consistent. The buildings were of a form – a
complex. By around AD 800, when the town of three-aisled ground-plan with a central hearth – that
Kaupang was founded as the final component of the reveals them to have been houses, an inference which
central-place complex, Skiringssal had already served the finds from all the buildings corroborate. All of the
Figure 2.8 Estimate of the Viking- N

age settlement area at Kaupang.
Map, Julie K.Øhre Askjem.
Total settlement area 0 100 m
Area with plot-division
Viking-age sea-level
houses also produced some evidence of craft produc- Ynglings to recover their position in Skiringssal. The
tion, such as beadmaking, metalcasting, amberwork- transition to Christian religious practices in Viken in
ing and textile production, so that the buildings are the middle of the 10th century and the consequent
to be regarded as multi-functional. No dedicated demise of both pagan cult activities and the sacral
dwelling houses or workshops have been found, character of Skiringssal were probably key factors in
although we cannot exclude the possibility of there the abandonment of Kaupang at that time (Skre
having been some (Pilø 2007d). 2007j).
Information on building-types is available only
down to the mid-9th century. However the types and
quantities of finds, sediments in the harbour, and the
persistence of burial, indicate that occupation and
activity actually increased after that phase, and con-
tinued at a high level into the second quarter of the
10th century. But the burials and settlement finds
from that date down to the cessation of activity
around 960–80 are too few to provide a picture of the
extent and character of settlement and business in
this final phase.
Around the date of the establishment of Kaup-
ang, the petty Yngling king seems to have moved to
Borre in northern Vestfold. The authority of the Da-
nish king over Skiringssal and Viken apparently dim-
inished at the end of the 9th century, allowing the

Part I
The Kaupang Finds
The Coin-finds 3
m a r k b l ack bu r n
The rich coin-finds from Kaupang are discussed in this chapter in the context of finds from other
Viking-period sites, looking in particular at their period of use and loss as a means of dating activity on the
site. Their circumstances of discovery, distribution within the site, fragmentation and secondary treatment
are also considered.
A total of 101 single finds, plus a cake of fused coins and hacksilver from the base of a crucible, have been
found in the settlement area during both the earlier and recent campaigns of excavations and surveys.
These are described and illustrated, along with four coins from Huseby, in the Catalogue (this vol. Ch. 4).
The majority of the coins are Islamic silver dirhams struck between AD 698 and 955, but there are also two
Late-Roman and one or two Byzantine bronze coins, one 7th-century Merovingian gold tremissis, and six
Western European silver coins of the 9th century.
This study seeks to apply for the first time to Scandinavian find-material methods of interpretation of
site finds that have been developed for Roman coins and for Early-medieval coins from England and the
Continent. The Scandinavian finds present particular difficulties of interpretation because they consist
mainly of imported coins that could remain in circulation for decades or even centuries after their date of
production. In order to estimate their period of circulation, it is necessary to compare their age-structure
with those of other sites and hoards. Questions of how representative hoards are of local currency, whether
fragmented coins have a similar age-structure to whole coins, and the evidence of stratified finds from three
sites at Birka, are considered.
Apart from a Merovingian gold tremissis of the 7th century, all the coins appear to have been lost during
the 9th and 10th centuries. Although the Islamic dirhams first arrived in Scandinavia c. 800, it is argued that
they were only used in Kaupang, at least in significant numbers, after the mid-9th century. During the first
half of the 9th century the coins used at Kaupang appear to have been mainly Western silver coins – Anglo-
Saxon, Carolingian and Danish. The Islamic coins show a greater dominance of pre-890 issues than any of
the other Scandinavian sites considered or in a sample of isolated finds from Southern Scandinavia. After
their active use during the second half of the 9th century, there was a marked decline in Islamic coins that
occurred sometime between c. 890 and c. 920. Very few dirhams appear to have been lost during the third
quarter of the 10th century, but there was a minor revival in their use c. 960. Coin use appears to have
ceased by c. 980 or earlier.
Only two of the 92 dirhams show signs of having been adapted as jewellery, and the great majority were
merely pieces of coins that had been divided for use in lower value transactions or to make precise weight-
adjustments. This, and the presence of a considerable quantity of hacksilver and weights, testifies to their
economic role at Kaupang. Only three Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon coins came from stratified layers
which dated c. 810–c. 840/50, and the remaining 98 single finds and the fused hoard were all found in the
later medieval or modern ploughsoil. They were distributed over the entire settlement, but with concentra-
tions either side of the central raised plateau. Many had drifted in the ploughsoil below the line of the
Viking-period water front.
3. blackburn: the coin-finds 29

items that may have been silver coins were said to

Excavations have been found in three graves, but these were so
Blindheim Skre Total corroded that they disintegrated before they could be
1956–1974 1998–2003 identified: Ka. 280, Ka.305 and Ka. 308 (Blindheim
and Birgit Heyerdahl-Larsen 1995:33, 36 and 81;
Roman Blindheim et al. 1999:119; Stylegar 2007:Catalogue.
Constantine I (307–337), bronze - 1 1 For grave numbers (Ka.), see Stylegar 2007:128). Still
Valentinian I (364–375), bronze 1 - 1 more doubtful is the identification as a possible coin
based on some fragments of metal associated with a
Byzantine leather purse in a fourth grave: Ka. 262 (Blindheim
Uncertain bronze, 8th–10th century - 2 2 and Birgit Heyerdahl-Larsen 1995:66; Blindheim et
al. 1999:119 and fig. 8; Stylegar 2007:Catalogue). There
Merovingian was also a bronze nummular brooch found in a
Dorestad, gold tremissis, c. 650 - 1 1 female grave probably of the 10th century (Ka. 259;
Blindheim and Birgit Heyerdahl-Larsen 1995:pl. 52;
Carolingian Stylegar 2007:Catalogue). This is a cast copy in
Louis the Pious (814–840) 2 1 3 bronze of a brooch with a central coin or coin-orna-
ment set in a border of five strings of filigree, a form
Anglo-Saxon that is typical of Carolingian or Anglo-Saxon bronze
Coenwulf of Mercia (798–821) 2 - 2 brooches of the ninth and tenth centuries. The
brooch is so corroded that the design on the “coin”
Danish cannot be identified.
Nordic (KG5), c. 825–840 1 - 1 Charlotte Blindheim’s excavations on the settle-
ment site at Kaupang from 1956–1974 yielded 27 coins
Islamic or coin fragments. These excavations were conduct-
Umayyad, 698–750 - 4 4 ed on one area of 1350 sq m in the northern part of the
Abbasid, 750–892 9 56* 65 settlement. The finds built up progressively over sev-
Samanid, 902–955 - 7 7 eral years (1959, 2 coins; 1960, 3; 1962, 1; 1963, 4; 1964,
Volgar Bulgars - 2 2 8; 1965, 2; 1966, 2; 1970, 4; uncertain date, 1). Those
Unidentified 12 2 14 from the first three seasons, which comprised two
Carolingian, one Anglo-Saxon and an early Danish
Total 27 76 103 coin, with three fragments of Islamic dirhams, were
very fully discussed and illustrated by Kolbjørn
* Includes two that are part of a larger group of fused coins and hacksilver (No. 102). Skaare (1960a, 1960b, 1963). Subsequent finds, mainly
of fragmentary dirhams, were briefly reported in the
Table 3.1 Summary of the coin-finds from the Kaupang settlement (coins are silver annual accession reports of the Oslo University Coin
unless indicated). Cabinet in the Nordisk Numismatisk Årsskrift (1963:
202, 1964:137, 1965:147, 1966:153, 1968:160, 1971:202).
By 1969 Blindheim was able to summarise 19 coin-
finds from the site based on Skaare’s identifications,
3.1 The coin-finds: discovery and context which indicated that “they should all be dated to
This chapter discusses the significance of the Viking- within the three last quarters of the ninth century”
period and earlier coin-finds from Kaupang and (Blindheim 1969:16 and 35).
Huseby. The coins themselves, both from the excava- Skaare’s own summary of the finds in 1976 was of
tions of 1956–1974 and from the recent surveys and the 27 coins known today. These were one Roman,
excavations of 1998–2003, are listed and illustrated in two Carolingian, two Anglo-Saxon, one Nordic, 20
the Catalogue (Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4). Entries Islamic and an unclassified coin. Of the 20 Islamic
in the Catalogue are referred to here by their number dirhams he was able to identify only six with any
(1–102 for Kaupang finds, and Hu1–4 for those from degree of precision, these spanning the period 720–
Huseby). Post-medieval coins have been excluded 750 to 844–854, while he classified 18 as unidentified
from the Catalogue and will not be considered here. Abbasid dirhams (750–890) and one as of uncertain
A preliminary report has appeared in Blackburn dynasty (Skaare 1976:139, no. 48). These Islamic coins
2005c. The number of coins by category from the set- were particularly difficult to attribute, and although
tlement area is summarised in Table 3.1. Skaare would not claim to be a specialist in Islamic
coins, Rispling, who has worked primarily with such
3.1.1 The earlier finds, 1950–1974 material for 30 years, was only able to get a little more
During the 1950–1957 excavations of the Bikjholber- out of them in 2002–2003. He changed some specific
get cemetery, to the north-east of the settlement site, attributions, but he left four coins as uncertain
30 means of exchange · part i

3.1.2 The new finds, 1998–2003

Excavations Surveys The new campaign of investigations led by Dagfinn
Skre has added a further 74 separate coins and a small
1999 - 1 fused “clump” from Kaupang, plus four coins from
2000 2 29 the high-status site at Huseby. This quadruples the
2001 15 18 number of coins from the site, and provides us with a
2002 1 8 + group far more representative distribution across the settle-
ment area. Importantly, of the 74 new coins only two
Total 18 56 + group are beyond identification. Only 18 coins came from
excavations, while the remaining 56, plus the fused
Table 3.2 Number of coin-finds discovered in excavations group, were recovered during metal-detector surveys
and surveys, 1998–2003. over the years 1998–2003 (Tab. 3.2).
The location and conduct of these excavations
and surveys has been described by Pilø (2007b). Two
coins were found during the CRM (cultural resource
management) excavations in 2000 in preparation for
a new water/sewerage system and pedestrian path
running 800 m across the site. They came from the
medieval plough-layer. The MRE (main research ex-
Abbasid (833–892) and a further 12 as of uncertain cavation), an area of 1100 sq m to the south of Blind-
dynasty (698–955). For some reason the coins found heim’s excavations, yielded 16 coins in 2001–2002.
in Blindheim’s excavations were generally in a worse Only one of these coins was from an intact stratified
state of preservation than most of the recent finds, context (a Carolingian denier of Louis the Pious, No.
and this is not because they have suffered significant 7) from plot 4A (Site Periods I–II dating to the first
further decay since they were found. The Roman half of the 9th century), and the remainder were from
bronze coin of Valentinian I (364–375) was omitted residual disturbed layers, namely the later medieval
from Blindeim’s report, and Skaare expressed doubt plough-layer and the modern ploughsoil. During its
about whether it was a primary find (Skaare 1976:33 removal the modern ploughsoil was metal-detected
and 139), although it is regarded below as a Viking- and 35% of it was sieved (Pilø 2007b:157; Pilø and
period loss. Skre, this vol. Ch. 2:19–20). The later medieval
In terms of context, virtually all of the finds from plough-layer was all water-sieved. As a result eight
Blindheim’s seasons of work came from the “black coins were recovered from the modern ploughsoil
earth” overlying the various excavation sites. This and seven from the later medieval plough-layer. The
was the medieval plough-layer, and although the deposits excavated from intact contexts were also
excavations were conducted with non-stratigraphical water-sieved after excavation, which is important to
spit-digging that is not significant as the finds must note as the absence of any dirhams in this earlier
all represent coins that had been disturbed from horizon of the site is of significance. The locations of
Viking deposits by later ploughing. Based on Pilø’s the coins found in the main research excavation are
and Skre’s reassessment (this vol. Ch. 2:17) of Blind- discussed and illustrated in plan by Pedersen (this
heim’s excavation, only two coins can be related to a vol. Ch. 6:162–4).
Viking-period context: a Carolingian denier of Louis A metal-detector survey in 1999 produced one
the Pious (No. 8) and an Anglo-Saxon penny of coin, while a further 55, the bulk of the coin-finds
Coenwulf of Mercia (No. 10), which were found from Kaupang, were recovered by the team of metal-
within 20 cm of each other on the same day in 1959, detector enthusiasts who had been brought over in
and while there is no information about whether they 2000–2002 from the Danish island of Bornholm to
are from the same context, the coordinates suggest it conduct a broad survey of the site, not limited to the
is likely that they both derive from an intact deposit excavation areas. This embraced a substantial strip
under the inner stone line of Blindheim’s House 1. either side of virtually the whole length of the Viking-
They may have been deposited as a pair or they may period waterfront, as much as is currently available
have been separate losses sealed by a common fea- on agricultural land, and the finds were recovered
ture. The distribution of the coins over the excava- from the modern ploughsoil. The whole of this area
tion site is discussed and shown in plan by Pedersen was surveyed at least once, but the northern part of
(this vol. Ch. 6:164, Fig. 6.31). the site and a short section in the south were surveyed
Not withstanding the poor condition and resid- twice, and the most central area, either side of the
ual nature of so many of these earlier Kaupang coin- rocky plateau that divides the settlement, was sur-
finds, they were rightly recognised by Skaare as very veyed three times by the detector-users. These areas
remarkable and important evidence for 9th-century are shown on Figure 3.20 below.
Norway. Taking the earlier and more recent finds from

Figure 3.1 The hoard or crucible melt from Kaupang (No.

102), from above (a) and below (b). Photo, Eirik Irgens
Johnsen, KHM.
Kaupang together, only three of the 103 coins came The hacksilver pieces were two sections cut (not bro-
from intact deposits, and these have special eviden- ken) from rectangular and cylindrical rods, and judg-
tial value that will be discussed below. The remaining ing from their dimensions they would have weighed
100 coins were all from disturbed layers within the approximately 1.5 g and 5 g. Although the pieces were
ploughsoil and with regard to context they can be evidently collected to melt down in order to form raw
treated as of comparable status to each other. They material for a metal-working operation, rather than
are cumulatively a very significant body of evidence. to keep as a store of wealth, the use of the term
As Pilø and Skre (this vol. Ch. 2:22–3) point out, the “hoard” is still appropriate, for they are associated
disturbance was extensive, including in some parts of objects deliberately gathered together for a purpose
the site the whole of the Viking-period deposits, thus and lost or hidden on one occasion. Their evidential
the finds should represent a fairly good chronological value is rather different from that of the single finds,
sample of the occupation. In the excavated areas, as discussed in section 3.2 below.
chosen for their superior degree of preservation, the Only two of the 12 coin fragments could be iden-
latest of the intact layers date from the mid-9th cen- tified, one an Abbasid dirham of 782/3 and the other
tury, although in parts of the excavation some earlier one of the period 750–816, giving the “hoard” techni-
layers had also been destroyed by the plough. Within cally a t.p.q. of 782. The group is impossible to date
the ploughsoil some coins will have moved a consid- closely, but the fact that both are early Abbasid coins
erable distance horizontally, and there will have been would make it more likely that this was assembled in
a general drift downhill, so that a close spatial analy- the 9th century, although an early 10th-century date
sis of the finds would not be justified. Nonetheless cannot be ruled out. The presence of relatively small
the distribution of the coins will be investigated pieces of hacksilver is significant. As Hårdh points
below and patterns that emerge will be compared out (this vol. Ch. 5:118, 1996:84–6, 91–130), Scandi-
with the distributions of other artefacts. navian hoards give little indication of the use of
The coin-finds from Huseby were recovered dur- unminted hacksilver before the 10th century. Yet the
ing the excavations of 2001. Although the site was early nature of the single find assemblage of hacksil-
occupied for much longer than the Kaupang settle- ver from Kaupang, including several pieces stratified
ment, both earlier and later, the earliest coins are two in levels dated to the first half of the 9th century
from the 11th century, after which there is a gap until (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114), together with the site
the 15th century. The finds are discussed in section 3.6 finds from Uppåkra and Birka and the exceptionally
below. early hoard from Kettilstorp, Önum, Västergötland
(t.p.q. 850), show that the use of fragmentary silver
The “hoard”,“clump”, or crucible melt objects as a means of exchange started to develop
A fused group of coins and pieces of silver (No. 102) during the 9th century. In England, the hoard from
representing a partially molten cake of silver from the Croydon (deposited c. 871) and finds from Torksey
base of a crucible was found in the modern plough- (probably deposited c. 873) show that the practice
soil in the north of the settlement. It weighed 29.81 g, was also known among Scandinavians in Britain at
equivalent to about 10 whole dirhams, but within the that time (Blackburn 2002). The Kaupang crucible
lump the remains of at least 12 fragmented coins and “hoard”, probably dating from the second half of the
two pieces of hacksilver could be discerned (Fig. 3.1). 9th or beginning of the 10th century, provides further


terms “currency” and “circulation” are used here in

the context of the Western coin economies of Anglo-
Hoards Saxon England and the Frankish Empire as well as
25 the bullion or money-weight economy of Scandi-
navia, although the way in which they operated was
markedly different. “Currency”, in the context of
20
Scandinavia, is a short way of saying the “composi-
tion of the coin element of the bullion stock”, which
15 may have been used in both economic transactions
and social exchanges.
10
Hoards and single site finds are fundamentally
different types of evidence, and they require different
approaches to interpretation (Blackburn 2005b).
5
Hoards are an invaluable source of evidence, for at
their best they provide a detailed snapshot of the cur-
0 rency at a particular place and moment. However,
800 900 they say nothing about the currency 20 years earlier
0 or 20 years later. Each hoard has its own unique his-
tory of assembly, deposition and recovery, which
20 03.02a needs careful consideration. For example, a hoard
may be the fruits of trading during one season, or
40 represent savings assembled over many years, and its
contents may have been artificially selected for
60 hoarding. Individual hoards may, therefore, have
quite anomalous compositions, but where several
80 hoards present a similar pattern, one has more confi-
dence that they are typical of the currency from
100 which they were drawn.
Single finds are in theory a series of separate loss-
120 es, perhaps made over several hundred years. If they
Single-finds can be assumed to be mainly accidental losses, they
140 should be random, and if the sample is large enough
statistically, they may provide information covering
the whole life of the site they were found on. They can
often provide a more representative picture of mone-
support for the view that the plentiful single finds of tary use than hoards. This is neatly demonstrated by
hacksilver at Kaupang were largely contemporary comparing the deposition of hoards and single finds
with the dirham-fragments found on the site. of the late 8th and 9th centuries in England (Fig. 3.2).
Based on the hoards one might reasonably have
3.2 The interpretation of site finds thought that the later 9th century in England was a
The history of the bullion economy of Viking-period period of greater monetisation than the previous
Scandinavia has been written very largely from the hundred years. Yet the single find evidence that has
hundreds of silver hoards that have been discovered emerged in the last two decades shows that the oppo-
over the last three hundred years. Recently a new, site was the case; single finds and, by inference, the
complementary source of evidence has become avail- use of money seem to have declined in a period when
able – that of the single and site finds. Of course, hoards increase, since the campaigns of the Viking
some single finds have been known since at least the army after 865 prompted a large number of hoards to
18th century, and archaeological excavations have in be deposited and not recovered. There are other
the past yielded coins, but for the Viking Period in examples from Early-medieval Europe where in a
Scandinavia it is the quantity and quality of the data particular period or region there was a flourishing
that is now emerging that is superior to anything coinage although represented today by very few coin
available previously. This section will discuss some of hoards. There are many factors affecting the rate of
the theoretical principles of the interpretation of site deposition of hoards and, more significantly, their
finds, before turning to the Kaupang finds them- non-recovery, which makes the number of recorded
selves in the next section. Although coins are only hoards a quite unreliable measure of the amount of
part of the total bullion used in exchanges, this chap- coinage in circulation in a particular region or peri-
ter focuses on that element as the data are more pre- od. By contrast, single finds accidentally lost should
cise and amenable to comparison. The convenient provide a better statistical base, although here too

No. of Coins
Figure 3.2 Histogram comparing hoards and single finds 700
from England, 780–900; dates reflect probable deposit of
Single-finds from
hoards or loss of single finds (Blackburn 2003). 600 Southern England
(3.572 coins)
Figure 3.3 Isolated single finds from England south of the 500
Humber, 600–1180; dates reflect probable loss of finds
(Blackburn 2003).
400
300
200
100
0
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200
there are also factors that will influence the original pared with histograms based on finds from specific
loss, recovery and recording of single finds from a sites, such as the excavations at Hamwic (South-
particular site, giving bias to the data (Blackburn ampton), and metal-detector finds from Tilbury,
1989a). While these will significantly affect the ab- Bawsey and a site near Royston (Fig. 3.4). In prepar-
solute number of finds recovered from the site or ing these histograms the data have been adjusted to
region, usually they should not change the propor- reflect the probable dates of loss of the coins on the
tions in which coins of different periods or origins site, rather than simply their dates of production (see
occur in a sample. It may, then, be valid to compare sect. 3.2.3). For each of these sites the significant fea-
the relative compositions of find assemblages from ture of their coin-finds is not the dramatic rise at the
different sites, but not the number of coins found. beginning of the 8th century or the equally dramatic
Thus chronological fluctuations in monetary use are fall in the middle of that century, for that is common-
more readily determined than variations in the quan- ly seen, but it is the failure of the finds to pick up
tity of coinage available on different sites or in differ- again in the 10th century that is notable and indicates
ent regions. that on all these sites human activity ceased or
changed its character in the late 9th or early 10th cen-
3.2.1 The need to determine typical patterns of loss tury. The single-finds from some sites in the Low
When the site finds are plotted in a histogram chron- Countries yield similar results when analysed in this
ologically they provide a visual impression of any way (Blackburn 1993).
fluctuations in coin-loss over a period. In interpret- In Scandinavia there are now quite a number of
ing such patterns it is important to distinguish be- individual sites that have yielded a significant quanti-
tween factors affecting the rate of loss that are specific ty of Viking-period coins, including Helgö, Birka,
to the site (e.g. the rise and fall of commercial activity Uppåkra, Paviken, Häffinds, Kaupang, Tissø, Vester
on it) and those that are general to the region (e.g. the Egesborg, Gudme and Hedeby, though of these only
availability of coinage in different periods). It is ab- Helgö and Birka have been adequately published
solutely essential to determine the latter (i.e. the typi- (Hoven 1986; Rispling 2004a). Trying to establish the
cal pattern) before attempting to draw conclusions “normal pattern” of coin-loss for Scandinavia is
about activity on a particular site. In England, a large more difficult than for England, since isolated finds
number of isolated finds of the Early Middle Ages from the countryside are scarcer. There is also a con-
have been found spread widely across the country- cern that apparent single finds may be strays from a
side, particularly in the regions to the east and south disturbed hoard, particularly ones found on Gotland,
of the country. These have formed a useful control and grave finds should if possible be excluded from a
sample, plotted as a histogram (Fig. 3.3), to show the statistical sample as they will not have been acciden-
normal pattern of coin-loss in Southern England, tal losses. Even so, in the last 20 years there has been a
and it does not, as one might have expected, reflect a substantial increase in the number of Islamic single
progressive development and expansion of the mon- finds from Denmark due to the use of metal detectors
etary economy through the Anglo-Saxon period, for by amateurs; their use is more restricted in Sweden.
there is a surprising peak in the first half of the 8th Bornholm and Zealand, in particular, have seen a
century and a distinct trough at the end of the 9th substantial rise in the number of finds. New finds
(Blackburn 2003). This standard pattern can be com- from Denmark up to 1989 had been published by

No. of Coins No. of Coins

70 80
Hamwic Tilbury
60 (129 coins) 70 (146 coins)
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10 10
0 0
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200

45 40
Bawsey Near Royston
40 35
(124 coins) (95 coins)
35
30
30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5 5
0 0
600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200
Kromann (1985, 1990), listing 25 Islamic single finds. a histogram. The main reason for the lack of good
Recently, von Heijne (2004) has provided a catalogue attributions is that many of these coins are recent
of all hoards and single finds of the Viking Period finds that have still to be studied by a specialist, for
from Southern Scandinavia, i.e. Denmark and the Islamic coins, as already noted, are difficult to identi-
southern Swedish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and fy especially if merely fragments of a coin as many
Halland, and from this it is possible to establish a single finds are. For some years, since the death of
control sample, albeit one that is much smaller than Anne Kromann in 1996, the National Museum in
that from England. Copenhagen has lacked such a specialist, but work in
now underway by Gert Rispling to catch up with the
3.2.2 A sample of single finds backlog. The Bornholm finds, although the prolific,
from Southern Scandinavia suffer particularly from a lack of attributions, with
If one excludes the 224 dirhams from the prolific site only 14 of the 103 coins closely identified. With fur-
of Uppåkra (Skåne), von Heijne lists some 265 single ther finds being made each year, and with specialist
finds of Islamic coins in her catalogue (von Heijne help, there is every prospect that the quality of the
2004:199–376). However, this rather promising num- available data will improve dramatically. The finds
ber is significantly reduced once one has removed 73 from Skåne, although fewer in number, are the best
coins for which there is no identification beyond recorded since many have been published in CNS 3.1
“Islamic dirham” and a further 90 which are effec- and 3.4 after careful study.
tively attributed only to a dynasty (Umayyad, The finds, many of which have been discovered
Abbasid, Samanid) and not more. This leaves 102 with metal detectors, are categorised by von Heijne as
coins that are closely identified and suitable to plot in isolated finds and series finds, the latter when they

ted as histograms, but that is impractical at present.

Figure 3.4 Coin-finds from four English sites; dates reflect However, even with the fairly small numbers cur-
probable loss of finds (Blackburn 2003). rently available one can compare the broad chrono-
logical make-up of the finds regionally contrasting
the pre-890 coins (essentially Umayyad and Abbasid
issues) with the post-890 ones (mainly Samanid and
Volga Bulghar issues). The results (Tab. 3.4) suggest
that overall there are roughly equal numbers of pre-
and post-890 coins in the sample of Southern Scandi-
navian single finds, and when divided regionally that
pattern is broadly maintained, although with a slight-
ly earlier bias in Skåne, Blekinge and Halland that
probably is not statistically significant. Likewise the
earlier bias reflected in the Jutland figures cannot be
given much weight in view of the very small number
of coins from that region. It should be noted that
from Norway there are very few finds of dirhams,
apart from those from Kaupang, that might be
regarded as single finds accidentally lost from circu-
were found in conjunction with other coins of any lation. Skaare records only two from settlement sites
period or archaeological material. In analysing them (Skaare 1976:nos. 84 and 162), and there is a strong
I have found it more useful to group the finds accord- probability that many dirhams that lack information
ing to the number of Islamic coins from the site (Tab. about their find circumstances come in fact from
3.3). Von Heijne does not record more than 20 graves or dispersed hoards. It would not be useful,
Islamic coins from any one site, apart from Uppåkra, therefore, to amalgamate the Norwegian finds with
the largest of her groups being from Gudme (19 the material catalogued by von Heijne.
coins), Vester Egesborg (11), Tissø (10) and Sande-
gård (10). (More coins have since been found on Coins Coins
these sites, but not as yet reported on, e.g. at Tissø pre-890 post-890
there are now more than a hundred dirhams.) Ide-
ally, these site finds should be excluded from our Skåne, Blekinge, Halland 22 (56%) 17 (44%)
control sample, since they have a significant influ- Zealand, Funen, other islands 36 (51%) 35 (49%)
ence on the distribution of closely identified coins. Bornholm 33 (49%) 35 (51%)
Below I have therefore shown histograms with and Jutland 9 (64%) 5 (36%)
without the finds from the 6–20 coin category, al-
though in fact there is quite a close correlation be- Total (all S. Scandinavia) 100 (52%) 92 (48%)
tween the two.
Table 3.4 Comparison of single finds from four regions of
No. of No. of coins Identified Closely Southern Scandinavia.
Islamic coins to dynasty identified
from site If we plot the 66 closely identified coins from sites
that have yielded 1–5 Islamic coins as a histogram
1 coin 106 (40%) 75 (39%) 51 (50%) (Fig. 3.5.a) we have a chronological distribution that
2–5 coins 93 (35%) 62 (33%) 15 (15%) arguably reflects the general trends for coin circula-
6–20 coins 66 (25%) 55 (29%) 36 (35%) tion in Southern Scandinavia. If the coins from the
more prolific sites are added (Fig. 3.5.b), the result is
265 192 102 still rather similar, the only discernable differences
coming in the relative proportions of early Abbasid
Table 3.3 Division of Southern Scandinavian single finds by coins. The general shape of these histograms is one
number from site familiar from other distributions based on site finds
and hoards, with peaks in the decades of the 770s,
800s and 900s, and troughs after c. 820 and c. 870.
Southern Scandinavia is a diverse area, with consid- What this “standard” single find distribution should
erable regional economic differences between, for provide is an objective assessment of the relative
example, the Baltic island of Bornholm, the vibrant abundance of coins across the whole period. Armed
province of Skåne and westward-facing Jutland. with this, later in the chapter we will compare it with
Eventually, with sufficient finds, it would be appro- patterns shown by finds from Kaupang and other
priate to have separate control samples for each plot- major Scandinavian sites.

Per cent.
25 Figure 3.5 Single finds of dirhams from Southern
Scandinavia (per cent): a: sites with 1–5 dirhams;
Southern Scandinavia
(1-5 finds: 66 coins) b: sites with 1–20 dirhams; by date of production.
20
15
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
Per cent.
25 before being officially reminted or driven out of cir-
culation by economic forces, and these periods can
(1-20 finds: 102 coins) be deduced from a study of coin hoards. The date of a
20 coin’s loss is limited by its date of production and the
end of its normal circulation period, which in a regu-
lated coin economy was often quite short – ten or
15 twenty years was not unusual. In the histograms of
English finds illustrated above (Figs. 3.3–3.4) the data
have been adjusted to take account of this and they
10
are intended to represent the probable dates of loss
(Blackburn 1989a:19, 2003:21).
In bullion or money-weight economies, such as
5
that in Scandinavia, estimating a coin’s date of loss is
much more complicated as such economies will usu-
0
ally be based on foreign coinage imported into the
750 800 850 900 950 region and periods of circulation may be long. With
an imported coinage the production date does not
indicate when that coin began circulating in Scandi-
navia, for it may have arrived many decades later in
3.2.3 Date of production versus date of loss mixed consignments of new and old coins. It is the
When charting and interpreting single or site finds it pattern of importation into Scandinavia, and more
is important to be clear what exactly it is one is plot- specifically into the locality, that is significant.
ting – the date of production or the date of loss. What Without local recoinages or changes in weight-stan-
numismatists normally call the “date of a coin” is the dard or fineness to drive the coins out of use, circula-
date it was struck, but what archaeologists or mone- tion periods in bullion economies were often quite
tary historians are usually more interested in is the extended. Changes came about instead as a result of
date on which the coin was lost, for this is when it is continual wastage from the currency – for example,
evidence of circulation. With a hoard there is internal through being melted down to turn the coins into sil-
evidence from its composition – in particular its age- ver ornaments or ingots and through export, hoard-
structure and the date of its latest coin – from which ing and loss. The hoards demonstrate the effects of
to estimate its date of deposition, but single finds these processes in Scandinavia, and the composition
carry no such marker, so other means have to be of the currency changed decade by decade. These
sought. Our approach to this depends on the nature changes will have been strongly influenced by the
of the local economy. wastage rate, but there may have been another factor
In a coin economy, such as that of Carolingian at work, namely variations in the size of the currency.
Francia or Anglo-Saxon England, where the state If, for example, there had been a large influx of newly
produced its own coinage and regulated its use, it is imported coins substantially increasing the volume
relatively straightforward to estimate the likely date of coinage, the composition of the currency would
of loss. Coins often circulated for a limited duration have changed even if there had been no wastage. In

Hoard T.p.q. No. of dirhams Whole coins Pre-895 dirhams

% no. %
Lilla Väller (Lilla Veller), Roma,

Gotland (CNS 1.22.3 (web publication)) 907 55 47% 26 47%
Over Randlev, Jutland (Skovmand 1942:IIA.13) 910 234 (229 classified) ? 109 48%
Bote, Alskog, Gotland (Östergren 1989) 912 99 ? 30? 30%
Neble, Zealand (Kromann 1990:no. 15) 921 23 17% 2 9%
Sigerslevøster, Zealand (von Heijne 2004:no. 4.18) 921 51 78% 13? 25%
Bräke, Brunnby, Skane (CNS 3.1.12) 924 127 (110 classified) 51% 10 9%
Bora, Fårö, Gotland (CNS 1.4.5) 932 99 (94 classified) 51% 0 0%
Båta, Fårö, Gotland (CNS 1.4.4) 940 208 (206 classified) 49% 4 2%
Utoje, Fleringe, Gotland (CNS 1.4.10) 942 465 (432 classified) 77% 25 6%
Tänglings, Etelhem, Gotland (CNS 1.3.37) 945 314 73% 20 6%
Terslev, Zealand (Skovmand 1942:IIA 45) 949 1702 (1202 classified) 25% 147 12%
Gjerrild, Jutland (Kromann 1990:no. 13) 953 75 (67 classified) 3% 3 4%
Erikstorp, Östergötland (CNS 8.1.12) 956 296 (214 classified) 93% 2 1%
Table 3.5 Some 10th-century hoards from Denmark, mainland Sweden and Gotland, showing their pre-895 content.
practice there will have been fluctuations in all three effect along the whole route. At least we can say that
factors – rate of coin import, rate of wastage and size the composition of the currency in Scandinavia had
of the currency – each affecting the composition of changed significantly by the end of the 9th century,
the currency at any particular moment. with the vast majority of coins being more than 30
There are two periods when quite radical changes years old.
in the composition of Scandinavian hoards can be Soon after this a new wave of imported dirhams
seen over the course of a few decades. In both cases began to arrive in Russia and Scandinavia, produced
there appears to have been a reduction in the rate of by the Samanids, an independent dynasty ruling in
importation of new coinage followed by a substantial Central Asia with their capital based at Bukhara
increase conveniently marked by distinctive coin (Uzbekistan). Their first coins in Scandinavia date
types. The first came in the late 9th and early 10th from the mid-890s and probably arrived around 900.
century with the arrival of Samanid dirhams, and the These new coins, mainly Samanid ones and Volga
second was during the last third of the 10th century as Bulghar imitations of them, came to dominate the
Islamic dirhams were replaced by West European Scandinavian hoards and those from the Northern
pennies. Studying these two transitions may provide Lands generally within two or three decades. Table
insights into what was happening in the Scandi- 3.5 shows 13 hoards of the 10th century from Den-
navian economy at other times. The former is direct- mark, mainland Sweden and Gotland that demon-
ly relevant to the interpretation of the Kaupang finds strate this point. (Dirhams could travel quite swiftly
and deserves further exploration here. from the Caliphate, and they can appear in Scan-
dinavian hoards within a few years of their produc-
3.2.4 Changes in the currency tion. In interpreting the Scandinavian hoards I have
in the early 10th century assumed that they were deposited five to ten years
In the first quarter of the 10th century to judge from after the t.p.q. of the latest dirham, which is a con-
the coin hoards there was a radical change in the venient approximation, although for smaller hoards
composition of the currency in Scandinavia general- and periods when new coins were scarce the deposi-
ly. The number of newly minted Abbasid dirhams tion date may have been later.) Thus in the Over
arriving in Russia and the Ukraine, from the central Randlev hoard from Jutland, with a t.p.q. of 910 and
areas of the Caliphate – modern Iraq and Iran – and probably deposited c. 915–920, over half the coins
further east, declined significantly in the 870s, and (52%) were of the new types, while by the later 920s
almost ceased in the 880s. What effect this had on the that proportion had risen to 85% or more. The
rate of flow of dirhams into Scandinavia from the hoards from Gotland tell a similar story.
intermediate regions of Eastern Europe is uncertain – Individual hoards vary in composition because of
there is no obvious way of measuring this – but it the way in which they were assembled, in particular
would seem very likely that a disruption in the supply the extent to which they may have drawn on earlier
of bullion at one end of the chain would have had an stores of wealth or may represent bullion recently

Per cent. Per cent.

35 50
Erisktorp Hoard Grimestad Hoard
30 (tqp 956; 214 coins) (tqp 921; 75 coins)
40
25
30
20
15
20
10
10
5
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
arrived in Scandinavia, rather than gathered locally ed only 10% of the 77 coins in the hoard (Holst 1936;
in transactions. People will also have decided Fig. 3.7). The slightly later finds from Voie and Her-
whether to select whole coins or larger fragments in ten contained no pre-895 dirhams, while the Teisen
preference to smaller pieces in circulation for hoard- hoard, with a revised t.p.q. of 932, had 18 pre-895
ing. Contrast, for example, the two youngest hoards dirhams amounting to 29% of the coins. This looks
in Table 3.5, for whereas the Gjerrild hoard is almost atypically high, and out of character with the other
entirely fragments, the Erikstorp hoard is essentially Norwegian hoards, suggesting that Teisen had a dis-
composed of whole coins. The former looks like a tinctive history behind its formation. After this the
purse of current money while the latter was probably Norwegian hoards contain virtually no pre-Samanid
selected for longer-term storage as it included beads dirhams at all.
and female ornaments, and yet interestingly there is The evidence of these hoards would imply that
no significant difference in their pre-895 composi- the proportion of pre-895 coins in the currency of
tion. By c. 960 it would appear there were very few Norway around 930 was about 10%, which suggests
pre-Samanid coins to be found (Fig. 3.6). that within 30 years 90% of the pre-existing currency
The Norwegian finds of the 10th century exhibit a had been replaced by newly imported coins. But does
similar pattern (Tab. 3.6), though with even fewer this mean that there was a particularly high wastage
Abbasid coins perhaps because the hoards tend to during the first quarter of the 10th century, or was the
have a higher proportion of whole dirhams. In theory new wave of imported mainly Samanid coins on such
such selection might have given preference to newer a vast scale that the earlier issues were simply swamp-
coins that had had less opportunity to be divided in ed? A combination of wastage plus growth is perhaps
transactions, although as we shall see (sec. 3.2.6) it is likely. If only we knew how the volume of coinage in
not evident that older coins were more fragmented. circulation had changed between the 890s and 920s,
In the largest of the Norwegian hoards of the 920s, and in what proportion, we could begin to estimate
that from Grimestad, the pre-895 dirhams constitut- the wastage rate at that period.
Hoard T.p.q. No. of dirhams Whole Pre-895 dirhams

coins % No. %
Grimestad, Vestfold (Skaare 1976:no. 43) 921 77 86% 8 10%

Voie, Aust-Agder (Skaare 1976:no. 62) 926 12–13? (9 classified) 100% 0 0%
Herten, Nordland (Skaare 1976:no. 169) 928 18 78% 0 0%
Teisen, Oslo (Skaare 1976:no. 12; Khazaei 2001:102) 932 63 29% 18 29%
Rönnvik, Nordland (Skaare 1976:no. 171) 949 39 (32 classified) 3% 1 3%
Holtan, Sør- Trøndelag (Skaare 1976:no. 140) 950 65 (64 classified) 95% 0 0%
Tråen, Buskerud (Skaare 1976:no. 36) 991 11 82% 0 0%
Table 3.6 The main Norwegian hoards of Islamic coins and their pre-895 dirhams (after Skaare 1976:tab. 12).

may have continued to circulate. Thus he argues that

Figure 3.6 Composition of the Erikstorp (Östergötland) the Grimestad hoard shows that Samanid dirhams
hoard (per cent). reached the area around Kaupang at the earliest in
the 920s (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:237). Yet, as discussed
Figure 3.7 Composition of the Grimestad (Vestfold) hoard above (3.2), the presence or absence of hoards and
(per cent). their size cannot be taken as an indication of the
amount of coinage available in a locality.
In the absence of local evidence to the contrary
(e.g. hoards with a different age-structure), it is rea-
sonable to assume that the composition of the cur-
rency was similar to that of other regions. Taking a
broad view of the 10th-century hoards, and allowing
5–10 years after the t.p.q. as the date of deposit, one
can arrive at an estimate of the composition of the
currency decade by decade that will be adequate for
the interpretation of the site finds (Tab. 3.7). Since,
with the exception of Uppåkra, the sample of finds
from any of the Scandinavian sites is really quite
small when analysed by decades, some degree of
How rapidly did the change in composition of the regional or chronological fluctuation from this norm
currency spread across Scandinavia during the first is unlikely to change the interpretation of the finds
quarter of the 10th century? Most of the coin hoards significantly.
from this period have been found on Gotland and
they show that Samanid dirhams quite soon came to
form a major component in the currency, represent- Decade Proportion of
ing around 50% in hoards with t.p.q.’s of 906–908, pre-890 dirhams
often rising to 80% or more in hoards with t.p.q.’s
after 915 (Tab. 3.5; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:236 and Tab. 890–900 100%
7.12). From mainland Sweden, Denmark and Norway 900–910 90%
there are far fewer hoards with t.p.q.’s before 920 910–920 50%
(Tab. 3.5–3.6; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:236, Tab. 7.13), 920–930 20%
and then, at most, one per region so that one cannot 930–940 10%
trace independently the development of the currency 940–950 5%
in each area. However, these hoards generally have 950–960 5%
compositions comparable with hoards of similar date 960–970 2%
from Gotland. There are individual exceptions in 970–980 0%
both groups that have anomalously different compo-
sitions, but, as explained above, some hoards with Table 3.7 Typical composition of the coinage circulating in
different histories are to be expected, and it is legiti- Scandinavia as reflected by hoards (approximate percentage
mate to focus on those that show a consistent pat- estimated at the middle of each decade, i.e. in 895, 905 etc.).
tern.
I can find no evidence to indicate that the diffu-
sion of the new Samanid coins did not occur fairly 3.2.5 Considering changes in the size
quickly within Southern Scandinavia, and the fact of the coin-stock and the wastage rate
that there is not a hoard from a particular region in One approach to tracking changes in the volume of
this period does not mean that Samanid coins were the coin-stock could be through the single finds. An
not present there. One is struck, for example, by the increase in the volume of coinage in active use should
speed with which dirhams could move on from lead to a rise in the rate of accidental coin-loss, which
Scandinavia to England and Ireland, and occur in a would be visible in the finds (Blackburn 1989b). For
series of hoards deposited between c. 905 and c. 925 England it has been argued that the pattern shown by
(Blackburn and Pagan 1986:nos. 87–8, 90–5, 97 and the histogram of isolated finds reflects variations in
101; Naismith 2005:tab. 1). Kilger (this vol. Ch. 7:235– the size of the general currency, and the same could
8) takes a different interpretation, and argues that in theory be applied to Scandinavia. Admittedly, the
there was considerable regional variation in the com- sample of finds from Southern Scandinavia is much
position of the currency before the 920s. He appears smaller and less secure than the equivalent from Eng-
to rely on negative evidence, assuming that if no land, but it may be helpful to explore the technique
hoard has been found in a region then newly minted with these data to give us an insight into whether the
dirhams had not reached there, though earlier coins size of the currency in circulation after c. 900 was

No. of Coins a No. of Coins b

5 8
Single-finds Southern Scandinavia Single-finds Southern Scandinavia
by broad Circulation Period 7 by Circulation Period
4 (sites with 1-5 dirhams: 66 coins) with growth and decline
6 (sites with 1-5 dirhams: 66 coins)
5
3
2 3
2
1
1
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
broadly similar in scale or dramatically larger than it that there was some modest growth in the rate of
had been in preceding decades. Any conclusions coin-loss after 900, but not such that might suggest a
reached can only be very tentative, but may serve to two-fold or three-fold increase in the size of the cur-
stimulate debate and further investigation of this rency. As we shall see later in this chapter, the site
question. finds from individual prolific sites vary considerably
The histogram of Southern Scandinavian single in their compositions, but they nonetheless fall into a
finds (Fig. 3.5) plots them according to their date of similar range and support the general conclusions
production, but it is their date of loss that we need to suggested by this sample of Southern Scandinavian
represent in order to relate it to the size of the curren- single finds.
cy. As we know that very few if any dirhams arrived Tentative as these results may be, it is interesting
before 800, the earlier coins in the sample must have to explore their implications for the annual rate of
been lost after that. We have also seen that c. 900 wastage in the early 10th century. If there was no sig-
forms another significant watershed, as the first nificant increase in the volume of coinage in circula-
Samanid dirhams would have appeared in the cur- tion between the 890s and 920s, and by the late 920s
rency and by c. 920 they had probably become the only 10% of the pre-Samanid issues were still current,
largest element. In Figure 3.8.a the finds have been this would imply an astonishingly high wastage rate
grouped into two broad circulation periods – c. 800– of almost 7.5% per annum over 30 years (the com-
900 and c. 900–980 – crudely assuming an equal loss pound rate required to erode the value by 90%).
throughout the period. Thus the 35 coins dated be- Even if the size of the currency had doubled in that
fore 890 are treated as being lost before 900, and the period the wastage rate would still be over 5% per
31 post-890 coins as being lost after 900. This is a annum. Such rates are exceptionally high. If we were
gross over-simplification, but it represents a first step more conservative and said that 20% of pre-Samanid
towards a more refined estimate of a possible pattern dirhams still survived in the late 920s the comparable
of coin-loss in Southern Scandinavia. Figure 3.8.b wastage rates would be 5% and 3%. We should accept
takes the same approach, but allows for some of the the higher rates as more probable, bearing in mind
pre-890 coins to have been lost after 900, and pro- that the coinage being imported into Scandinavia via
vides for a gradual growth in the first half of the 9th Eastern Europe was not purely in new coin but would
century and a decline in the mid-10th. Nine of the 35 have been in a mixture of old and new. Some of this
pre-890 coins are treated as being lost after 900 – loss would have gone into the deposit of hoards, and
reflecting the composition of the currency implied by some into exports, but a large proportion of the older
the 10th-century hoards (Tab. 3.7). This model is very dirhams would probably have been melted down to
much an approximation, for we are guessing the rate make ornaments and ingots. This could explain why
of growth and decline at the start and end of the peri- the silver hoards of the 9th and earlier 10th centuries
od, and do not know whether the coin-stock dipped are replete with Scandinavian silver bullion. If such
at the end of the 9th century with the virtual absence rates of wastage were normal for this period it would
of newly minted coin coming from the Caliphate. imply that a coin would have remained in the general
Whatever further adjustments one might make to the bullion stock, on average, for only about 15 years, and
heights of particular columns before and after the that the entire currency had been effectively renewed
watershed of 900, the final pattern is likely to suggest within 40–50 years.

12th and 13th centuries, 99% of the coins were pen-

Figure 3.8 Single finds of dirhams from Southern Scandi- nies and only 1% were of the two smaller denomina-
navia (66 coins) adjusted to reflect date of loss: a: by broad tions (halfpennies and farthings), whereas among
circulation period; b: by circulation period adjusted to single finds and site finds these are the most common
reflect growth and decline. coins (Allen 2002:26; Allen and Doolan 2002:87–8).
By contrast, single finds may be biased in favour of
smaller coins of lower value, which changed hands
more often and were easier and less painful for their
owners to loose. Hoards and single finds may be
drawn from the same stock of currency, but have dif-
ferent compositions. By anticipating the factors likely
to be involved in any selection or bias, we may under-
stand the relationship of the finds to the currency
originally in circulation.
The hoards deposited in Scandinavia during the
9th and 10th centuries are reasonably consistent. As
we have seen, those deposited in the 920s (i.e. with
t.p.q.’s after c. 915) generally contain at least 80%
Samanid-period coins, increasing to around 95% by
3.2.6 Are the hoards representative the 950s. This degree of consistency in itself suggests
of the local currency? that the hoards reflect local circumstances and that
To what extent can we rely on the hoards as evidence relatively few of them have had their contents distort-
of the composition of the currency in active circula- ed by substantial elements that are either older or
tion, and can we use this as a means of dating the loss drawn from freshly imported coinage with a different
of coins on a particular site? These questions are per- composition. Moreover, the fact that the hoards
tinent in a Scandinavian context because it has been from Denmark and Skåne (Bräke, Terslev and Gjer-
suggested that there is a degree conflict in the evi- rild), in particular, contained substantial quantities
dence presented by the 10th-century dirham hoards of hacksilver, which Hårdh (1996:91) believes was
and by the finds from archaeologically dated contexts locally produced, also suggests that the coinage ele-
at Birka. To resolve this conflict some scholars have ment was drawn essentially from the local mixed bul-
postulated that there were two strata of currency: that lion stock. This point is significant.
in active use in trading settlements such as Birka and Even so, in assembling a hoard it is likely that
that from which hoards were derived (Callmer 1980; many of their Scandinavian owners will to some ex-
Gustin 2004b; see also the discussion by Kilger, this tent have selected particular material for saving.
vol. Ch 7:206). Is this justified? There is no reason to think that they would have
As a general principle, experience from different selected Samanid coins in preference to Abbasid
periods, ancient to modern, and different parts of the ones, even if they were aware of the differences. How-
world shows that most coin hoards were assembled ever, it is reasonable to expect some owners would
from money in local circulation, although a minority have preferred to store whole dirhams or larger frag-
had a more complicated origin, for example, repre- ments in preference to small pieces, and indeed one
senting money brought from elsewhere, or savings sees in Tables 3.5 and 3.6 significant variations in the
that had been built up over a number of years. While percentage of whole coins in the various hoards. We
there are risks involved in relying on individual iso- must be alert to the fact that in some hoards smaller
lated hoards, where there are a number of hoards fragments may have been present but not recovered
with comparable compositions it is reasonable to from the ground, or if they were they may not have
suppose that they were drawn from local circulation. been recorded or preserved. In contrast, site finds are
The hypothesis that in one location or region there usually very finely divided, as at Birka where 70% of
were two separate pools of currency from which the finds from the 1990–1995 excavations were less
hoards and site finds were drawn involves special than a quarter of a coin (Rispling 2004a:35, 43–56), or
pleading and would require strong evidence to sub- at Torksey where 88% of a sample of 68 coins were
stantiate. smaller than a quarter (below sec. 3.5). Some coins
The contents of hoards may, nonetheless, have were imported into Scandinavia in a fragmented
been subject to some selection, typically towards state, but if, as is sometimes argued, further fragmen-
higher value coins more appropriate for hoarding. In tation took place in the course of their use, then it
coin economies it is common for the smallest deno- would follow that older coins ought to be more finely
minations to be excluded from hoards, on the divided. In that case hoards which contain whole
grounds that they are not convenient for long-term coins or large fragments could be expected to have a
savings. Thus among 164 English hoards of the late higher proportion of more recent coins than would

Pre-895 Post-895
Hoard T.p.q. No. of coins No. whole No. of coins No. whole
Grimestad, Norway 921 8 6 (75%) 69 62 (90%)

Bräke, Skane 924 10 4 (40%) 100 50 (50%)
Utoje, Gotland 942 25 21 (84%) 407 306 (75%)
Tänglings, Gotland 945 20 18 (90%) 294 210 (71%)
Table 3.8 A comparison of the percentage of whole coins among pre- and post-895 dirhams in four hoards.
Häffinds, Gotland Gjerrild, Jutland
Coins Whole >¼ <¼ Coins Whole >¼ <¼
Abbasids etc., before 892 23 52% 43% 4% 3 - 33% 67%

Isma’il bin Ahman (892–907) 308 68% 29% 3% - - - -
Ahmad bin Isma’il (907–914) 212 69% 29% 2% 2 - 50% 50%
Nasr bin Ahmad (914–943) 527 51% 41% 7% 10 10% 40% 50%
Nuh bin Nasr (943–954) 106 47% 47% 6% 9 11% 22% 67%
Abd al-Malik bin Nuh (954–961) 8 62% 38% - - - - -
Table 3.9 The degree of fragmentation by ruler in two hoards: Häffinds, Burs, Gotland (t.p.q. 957; CNS 1.4.29); Gjerrild,
Jutland, Denmark (t.p.q. 953; Kromann 1990:no. 13).
be found among the small fragments that were typi- the more recent coins of Nuh and Nasr are more
cally lost on settlement sites. fragmented than those of Ahmad and Isma’il, which
To test this theory one might look at the age- were 40 or 50 years old when the hoard was deposit-
structures of whole coins and fragments in some of ed, and even the much earlier Abbasid issues were no
those hoards in Tables 3.5 and 3.6 for which adequate more fragmented than the recent issues. A very simi-
data are available (Tab. 3.8). In the two earlier hoards, lar result is obtained if one analyses the hoard from
Grimestad and Bräke, the proportion of whole coins Broa, Fårö, Gotland (t.p.q. 932; CNS 1.4.5). This may
is lower among the pre-895 dirhams, although the imply that the dirhams were already partially frag-
number of coins is small and so statistically less reli- mented on arrival in Gotland and suffered little fur-
able. In the two later hoards, however, the propor- ther division on the island. The position could have
tion of whole coins is actually higher among the pre- been different in Southern Scandinavia, if there was a
895 dirhams than among the post-895 ones. One can- local practice of dividing coins. Table 3.9 analyses
not conclude from these figures that the older coins another hoard, that from Gjerrild, Jutland (t.p.q.
in the hoards were consistently more fragmented; 953), which is composed almost entirely of frag-
indeed the two later and larger hoards suggest the ments, including many small ones, and to that extent
opposite. it replicates the site finds. Although the numbers are
With a second group of hoards it is possible to small, they show similar results to the two Gotland
investigate changes in the degree of fragmentation hoards, in that the degree of fragmentation does not
between different 10th-century Samanid rulers. The increase the older the coins are. As more hoards are
1975 Häffinds (Gotland) hoard is an archaeologically recorded and published in detail it should be possible
excavated and well-published hoard of 1,452 dirhams to test these observations further.
(t.p.q. 957; Tab. 3.9). It is evident that while the pro- To summarise, while every hoard has its own his-
portions of whole and fragmented coins in this hoard tory of the way and the purpose for which it was put
varies to some extent from reign to reign, there is not together, perhaps influencing the size of the pieces
a progressive increase in the degree of fragmentation hoarded, there are indications from the broad consis-
with age. Indeed the trend is rather the opposite, for tency of Scandinavian hoards and the inclusion of

local hacksilver that they were mainly assembled

from a common local stock of currency. Although in Layer Archaeological Dirhams (AD dates)
most hoards, as recorded, the proportion of finely dating
fragmented coins is smaller than normally occurs
among single finds, from a very limited survey of a XI c. 850–900 712/13, 772/3, 759/60
few well-published hoards, there is no evidence that X c. 900 740/50, 747/8
older coins in hoards are significantly more frag- VI–IX c. 900–920 712/13, c. 740, 698–750, c. 770–780?,
mented than younger ones. It follows that in circula- c. 800–870
tion the age-structure of whole coins should have I–II Plough 743/4, 874/5, 880/1, 900–920?,
been similar to the age-structure of smaller frag- 914/15, 913–923, 922/3, 946/7
ments, and therefore that the age-structure of hoards
and of single finds lost at the same time and place Table 3.10 Coins from Birka Harbour excavations
ought also to be similar. In principle, then, it would (source: Welin 1973; Kyhlberg 1973a; Björn Ambrosiani pers. comm.).
appear to be reasonable to rely on evidence derived
from hoards as a means of dating the period of loss of
single finds on the productive sites.
3.2.7 Is the archaeological evidence from Birka

inconsistent with the hoard evidence?
It has been suggested that the site finds and the grave dirhams (including five imitations in copper, three
finds from Birka in the 10th century show very differ- silver blanks and three unidentified dirhams), one
ent compositions from those of contemporary gilt-copper imitation of an Islamic gold dinar, one
hoards (Kyhlberg 1973a; Callmer 1980; Gustin Nordic, one Roman, and one (plus four?) Byzantine
2004b). It is argued that they contain a higher pro- coins) and two small hoards containing five and 21
portion of pre-890 coins than is found in the hoards, dirhams (Rispling 2004a; Gustin 2004b). The three
and that the hoards are not representative of the sort Birka sites could hardly be more different one from
of coinage that was in use in the settlement of Birka. another. In each case they include coins from strati-
This section will look in some detail at the finds from fied layers with datings that might appear to question
stratified contexts in Birka’s settlement and harbour the view that pre-890 coins quickly diminished in cir-
sites. It has been beyond the scope of this report to culation in the 10th century, but do they?
investigate the graves further. However, it is worth The 18 coins from Birka Harbour have an extra-
noting that grave finds are rather different from sin- ordinary age-structure with a strong 8th-century ele-
gle finds as they were deliberately selected for inclu- ment (57%), including no less than seven Umayyad
sion in the grave, and the coins had often been con- (i.e. pre-750) and three early Abbasid coins (dated
verted into jewellery, perhaps many years earlier. 750–780), and then a late 9th- and 10th-century ele-
Birka was a trading place and settlement on Lake ment. All but one of the ten 8th-century coins, plus
Mälaren that flourished from the mid-8th century an unidentified Abbasid coin of c. 800–870, come
until c. 970. Over a thousand Viking-period coins from excavation layers VI–XI (Tab. 3.10). By contrast
have been found at Birka, including four hoards con- the finds from the ploughsoil (layers I–II) consist of
taining some 600 coins, more than 230 coins from the five Samanid and two late Abbasid coins of the
graves, and many stray finds (summarised in Wiséhn 870s–880s, plus one Umayyad coin. This coin distri-
1989:nos. 3–35). Three substantial excavation projects bution might suggest an early-9th-century date for
in recent decades have yielded coins which can rea- these stratified layers (VI–XI) and a 10th-century
sonably be treated as single finds, although the possi- date for the disturbed layers (I–II) in the ploughsoil.
bility of their including small dispersed hoards can- However, the excavation results indicate that the
not be ruled out. From excavations around a jetty in Umayyad and early Abbasid coins were deposited
the former harbour in 1970–1971 there were found 18 during the period c. 850–920/30 around a jetty built
dirham-fragments, which were promptly published into the harbour, with four of them associated with
by Welin (1973; Wiséhn 1989:no. 30). Investigations the latter part of that period, c. 900–920/30 (Kyhlberg
in 1988 of a house terrace by the town ramparts pro- 1973a and pers. comm. Björn Ambrosiani). The com-
duced 49 dirhams, of which 29 could be closely dated position of these finds is bizarre by any standards. It
(Holmquist Olausson 1993:112–15, based on attribu- is not the absence of post-890 coins from the c.
tions by Gert Rispling; Wiséhn 1989:no. 29A). Only 900–920 layers that is notable – among five finds one
one coin was whole and the remaining 48 were frag- would only have expected one or at most two pre-890
ments. Still more recently, excavations in the Black coins, even if it were known that their loss was evenly
Earth of one settlement plot and part of an adjoining distributed over the period – but it is the dominance
lane during 1990–1995 produced 76 single finds (68 of 8th-century dirhams in this and the earlier layers

Phase Archaeological No. of Coin dates

Date coins
B2 c. 780–810/20 1 778/9
B4 c. 840–850 2 750–820; 789–809
B6 c. 860/70–890/900 1 770/1
B6–7 c. 860/70–940 1 uncertain
B7 c. 890/900–940 6 698–750; 765–820; 819–892; 835–845; 844–869?; late B7: 938–943?
B7–8 c. 900–950/60 1 900–917
B8 c. 940–950/60 6 (+hoard) 776–782; 807/8; 908–914; 914; 926–932; 952/3;
plus hoard (t.p.q. c. 939) and 2 Byzantine folles
Table 3.11 Stratified coins from the Birka, Black Earth 1990–1995 excavations (source Rispling 2004a; archaeological dates
Björn Ambrosiani pers. comm.).
that is so remarkable. Among a typical group of ten or the ploughsoil. Dirhams were present from Phase
coins deposited in the later 9th or early 10th century, B2 (late 8th/early 9th century) onwards, although in
one could expect there to have been five or six of the very small numbers until the 10th century: 13 or 14 of
9th century rather than the one that was present, and the coins were from the last two phases (B7 and B8)
only one Umayyad rather than six. Their stratigraphy dating from c. 900 to the mid-10th century. The later
and distribution either side of the jetty argues against of these two phases (B8, dated c. 940–950/60) yielded
the ten 8th-century coins being from a disturbed two Abbasid coins among six or seven single finds,
hoard, but unless the archaeological interpretation is which is more than one would expect based on hoard
revised it is difficult to find any other explanation. compositions, but in such a small sample this may
The finds from Birka Harbour are really too anom- not be significant. More to the point, five of the six or
alous for them to be relied upon as evidence for the seven coins from Phase B7 (c. 890/900–940) pre-date
composition of the currency in the later 9th or early 890, although one of these is very uncertain being
10th century. described as a heavily corroded silver blank with no
The finds from the excavations of a building plat- traces of minting, the tentative attribution to
form near the Town Ramparts have a more typical 844–869 being based on its fabric alone (Rispling
distribution comprising one Umayyad, 16 Abbasid 2004a:32 and 55, no. 99).
and 12 Samanid or pseudo-Samanid coins among the These five coins from Phase B7 appear to be the
29 identifiable coins, the latest being one of 934/5. best evidence from Birka for the continued domi-
The building platform shows two phases of occupa- nance of Abbasid coins in the earlier decades of the
tion, with a blank period between them. No coins are 10th century. Yet we need to pause and consider how
associated with the earlier (8th-century) phase. They they are to be interpreted. It would, of course, be too
all belong to the later layers L1 and L2 (Holmquist simplistic to suggest that they indicate the currency at
Olausson 1993:112), but the distribution between Birka comprised three-quarters Abbasid to one-
them is not indicated, and the layers are difficult to quarter Samanid dirhams throughout the period c.
date (Gustin 2004b:100), for although they represent 890/900–940. If, on the other hand, we were to regard
a sunken hut that clearly continued to be used into the six or seven coins of Phase B7 as having been
the mid-10th century, its starting date is not closely lost at equal intervals over the 40 or 50 year period,
defined. Without a more detailed stratigraphy, we compared with the losses one might predict from
cannot tell when particular coins were lost. However, the changing compositions of Scandinavian hoards
a group of this composition would not be inconsis- (Tab. 3.7), one could say that Abbasid coins are over-
tent with a period of activity spanning the end of the represented by one or two: i.e. we might have expect-
9th century and the first half of the 10th. ed three or four rather than five Abbasid coins out of
By contrast, the excavations of the Black Earth in the six or seven. But we do not know that the losses
1990–1995 had an excellent stratigraphic sequence in were evenly spread, and if in fact they were a little
eight phases running from the mid-8th to the mid- more weighted towards the beginning than the end
10th century. In these stratified layers 18 single finds of the period, the composition of the finds from B7
of dirhams and one hoard with 21 coins were found could be in line with predictions based on the hoards.
(Tab. 3.11), while the remaining 50 dirham single In any event, the sample is again too small for such
finds and another hoard came from residual contexts variations to be statistically significant. In the

No. of Coins
20 Figure 3.9 Dirham finds from Kaupang, by date of produc-
tion (all single finds; 76 coins).
Kaupang
(76 coins)
15
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
ploughsoil only seven of the 36 Islamic coins pre-date viding us with a sample of reasonable size. Only 14
890, showing a late bias, and Gustin (2004b:98) ex- fragments remain completely unidentified (plus an
plains that the ploughsoil largely represents layers uncertain number in the hoard). Most of the new
disturbed from the last decades of activity at Birka, finds fall within a similar date range to the Blindheim
i.e. c. 930–970. finds, but significantly a few coins extend the range
In conclusion, the stratigraphic evidence from down to the mid-10th century, corroborating previ-
these three Birka sites is neither precise enough nor ous evidence from graves of activity continuing into
based on a sufficiently large sample for it to show that the 10th century (Blindheim et al. 1999:141 and 187).
the currency circulating in Birka differed in composi- As we have already seen, none of the dirhams was
tion from that inferred from hoards of the period found in an original context, and they can all be
generally. At the Birka Harbour site the proportions treated as coming from the medieval or modern
of pre- and post-890 coins are in line with predic- ploughsoil, albeit from different parts of the settle-
tions, although there is a preponderance of 8th-cen- ment. For most of the discussion of chronology,
tury coins that has not been satisfactorily explained. therefore, it is reasonable to treat them as a body,
From the Town Ramparts building platform and the omitting only the two hoard coins (No. 102) in draw-
Black Earth 1990–1995 site the principal stratigraphic ing up the histogram (Fig. 3.9) which will form the
phase containing dirhams spans some four or five basis for most of the discussion that follows.
decades c. 890/900–c. 940 which saw a radical change Although Rispling’s attributions are detailed and
in the age-structure of the currency, and without authoritative – based on long experience working
closer dating of the coin-losses within it one cannot with dirham finds – because of their fragmentary
tell whether they are consistent with the general nature, many of the coins can only be dated approxi-
hoard evidence or not. They neither prove nor dis- mately, i.e. to within a bracket of several years or few
prove Callmer’s hypothesis that the coinage circulat- decades, rather than to a specific year (for the
ing medium in the market place had a somewhat method, see Rispling 2004a:35–8). In order to give
older profile. weight to all the finds when preparing this and other
histograms, I have allocated a proportion of the find
3.3 The Kaupang finds: their significance to each year of the date bracket to which it is attrib-
for the chronology of the site uted, and then added up these fractions to calculate
Turning now to the finds from the Kaupang settle- the number of finds per decade. Thus for coin No. 17,
ment, the various elements among them – Islamic, dated 750–764, I have given 10/15ths to the 750s and
Western, Roman, Byzantine – require separate treat- 4/15ths to the 760s. This process will have had a
ment. The Islamic coins, although not the earliest, smoothing effect on the peaks and troughs, but it
are the most numerous and important for dating, enables one to use a larger statistical base than would
and they will be discussed first. have been possible if only precisely dated coins had
been included; indeed if one only took account of
3.3.1 The Islamic dirhams coins identified to a specific year none of the Scan-
The nine datable coins from Blindheim’s investiga- dinavian sites would have sufficient data to analyse.
tions at Kaupang were greatly enhanced by a further The same approach was adopted by Ilisch (1990) in
67 among the new finds (plus two in the hoard), pro- analysing fragments in Near Eastern hoards. This his-

Per cent. a Per cent. b

25 25
Kaupang Uppåkra
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
Per cent. c Per cent. d

25 25
— 40%
Paviken Birka: Harbour
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
togram plots the coins by their date of production,

Figure 3.10 Distribution of dirham finds from various sites but it will form the basis for a consideration of their
(per cent), by date of production: a: Kaupang; b: Uppåkra; likely date of loss.
c: Paviken; d: Birka, Harbour; e: Birka, Town Ramparts;
f: Birka Black Earth, 1990–1995; g: Torksey; and for com- Comparing the Kaupang dirhams
parison h: isolated finds from Southern Scandinavia. with those from other Scandinavian sites
Note that the first interval on the charts represents all In considering the composition of the Kaupang dir-
pre-750 coins. ham finds and their implications for the history of
the settlement, we may start by drawing comparisons
with the sample of single finds from Southern Scan-
dinavia, developed above as a control, and with other
prolific Scandinavian sites.
There are three settlements that have yielded sig-
nificant numbers of dirhams as site finds and for
which detailed coin lists have been available. Inter-
estingly, each of these settlements, like Kaupang, had
flourished during the Early Viking Period, but had
gone into terminal decline by the end of the 10th cen-
tury. A fourth site of Scandinavian character is in fact
in the British Isles, at Torksey, Lincolnshire, and its

Per cent. e Per cent. f

25 25
Birka: Town Ramparts Birka: Black Earth 1990-95
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
Per cent. g Per cent. h

25 25
Torksey Southern Scandinavia
(67 coins) (1-5 finds: 66 coins)
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
finds can be closely dated to the 870s. The third settlement used for comparison, Birka,
The most prolific of the sites is Uppåkra, a re- has been discussed above (pp. 45–6). The find assem-
markable Iron-age/Viking-period settlement in Skå- blages from the three modern excavations – Birka
ne, some 5 km south of Lund. Investigations and Harbour, a building platform by the Birka Town
excavations since 1996 have produced rich finds, Ramparts and the 1990–1995 excavations of the Black
including many Viking-period coins that have been Earth – each has a distinctive character, and it would
studied by Kenneth Jonsson and Gert Rispling. They be inappropriate to amalgamate them.
have kindly furnished me with a list of finds from Torksey, a village on the River Trent, 15 km
Stora Uppåkra down to January 2003, which includ- north-west of Lincoln, is recorded in the Anglo-
ed 224 dirhams and a small number of Western coins Saxon Chronicle as being the location of the winter
(seven Carolingian, three 9th-century Nordic, and 12 camp set up by the Scandinavian army in 872/3.
German, English and Danish coins of the later Prolific finds discovered by metal-detector-users on
10th/11th centuries). The data drawn from this list are several adjacent fields – coins, hacksilver and hack-
published here with their permission. gold, weights, and ornamental metalwork – have a
The second site is the small harbour and trading distinctive Scandinavian character and their dating
place at Paviken on the west coast of Gotland, from indicates that they are associated with this Viking
which 108 dirhams were recorded by Ulla Linder camp, although as yet no archaeological investigation
Welin in 1968–1971 (KMK Dnr 5882/68, 3313/69, and has taken place. A preliminary report on the site
1971 additions; I am grateful to Kenneth Jonsson for recorded 50 coins, including 11 dirham-fragments,
providing copies of these unpublished lists). the latest of which was dated 832–844 (Blackburn

2002). Recently, further finds have been reported to

the Portable Antiquities Scheme which bring the Pre-890 Post-890
number of coins to 172, including 68 dirhams, the lat-
est of which is dated 866/7. (I am grateful to Rachael Kaupang 65 (88%) 9 (12%)
Atherton for recording the finds and Gert Rispling Southern Scandinavia 35 (53%) 31 (47%)
for identifying the dirhams.) Uppåkra 171 (76%) 53 (24%)
As one would expect, each of the sites has a dis- Paviken 51 (47%) 58 (53%)
tinctive distribution that reflects its own particular Birka Harbour 13 (72%) 5 (28%)
history, and the chronological differences are Birka Town Ramparts 17 (59%) 12 (41%)
brought out in Table 3.12, which compares the pro- Birka Black Earth 1990–1995 18 (30%) 43 (70%)
portions of pre- and post-890 coins among the finds. Torksey 68 (100%) -
Kaupang is the most extreme or imbalanced of the
Scandinavian sites, with 88% of its coins struck be- Table 3.12 The proportions of pre- and post-890 dirhams at
fore 890 and only 12% after. This compares with selected sites in Scandinavia and the Danelaw.
broadly equal numbers of earlier and later coins in
the sample of Southern Scandinavian single finds
(53% : 47%). Paviken could be said to fall close to this
standard range with 47% : 53%, while Uppåkra has a 7th–8th cent. 9th cent. 10th cent.
distinctly earlier distribution with 76% : 24%, though
not as skewed as Kaupang’s. Kaupang 36% 52% 12%
The three Birka sites have very different distribu- Uppåkra 42% 36% 22%
tions between them, the Harbour and Town Ram-
parts finds having an early bias, and the Black Earth Table 3.13 Kaupang and Uppåkra dirham finds compared
finds a much later one. This demonstrates the danger by century.
of assuming that the finds from one urban excavation
site are representative of the town generally, or of
amalgamating the finds in order to analyse them, as
Gustin (2004b:108–9) does.
Having compared the broad balance of earlier
and later coins, we can now look at the detailed dis- Figure 3.11 Finds from Kaupang and Southern Scandinavia
tributions. Histograms of the finds from each of these compared (per cent), by date of production.
sites, based on the date of production, are shown in
Figure 3.10, from which we can pick out some dis- Figure 3.12 Finds from Kaupang and Uppåkra compared
tinctive characteristics. Compared with the Southern (per cent), by date of production.
Scandinavian finds, Kaupang (Figs. 3.10.a and 3.11) is
clearly very weak in post-890 coins. However, among
the small number of 10th-century coins at Kaupang,
those of the 940s and 950s are disproportionately
over-represented. The four coins of this late period
(Nos. 82–5) are exceptional, but while their arrival in coins in the 9th century, particularly in the second
Kaupang may have been connected, their loss cannot half. This pattern is perhaps more clearly brought out
for they were found spread across all three main areas in the simple percentages shown in Table 3.13.
of the site (Areas 1, 2 and 3). Within its pre-890 ele- Paviken (Fig. 3.10.c), as we have already seen, in
ment the profile of the 8th- and early 9th-century broad numbers has an even balance between pre-
coins looks fairly typical, but there is a comparatively and post-890 coins, but their distribution is not at all
strong representation of coins from the mid-9th cen- similar to that of the Southern Scandinavian sample.
tury (c. 840–880). The 8th-century coins are more weakly represented,
Uppåkra (Fig. 3.10.b) is also weak in post-890 while those of the 9th century are stronger. After 890,
coins compared with the Southern Scandinavian rather than the normal peak in the first decade of the
sample, though not as weak as Kaupang. Its pre-890 10th century followed by a decline in numbers, Pa-
element has a fairly typical profile, but the smoothing viken displays a gradual build up to a peak in the
effect of spreading loosely dated coins over several 930s, with the decline delayed until the 950s and 960s.
decades is evident especially in the 9th century. From this one might surmise that Paviken particular-
Figure 3.12 presents the data from Kaupang and ly flourished during the second half of the 9th centu-
Uppåkra side by side, from which it appears that ry and during the mid-10th century, but one hesitates
Uppåkra has both an earlier and later bias, being to press this conclusion in case the differences
somewhat stronger in the 8th century and in the 10th observed stem more from general changes in the vol-
century, while Kaupang has a higher proportion of ume of currency on Gotland than from the history of

Per cent.
25
Kaupang
South Scandinavia
20
15
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
Per cent.
20
18 Kaupang
Uppåkra
16
14
12
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
activity at Paviken. To determine this we really need a Torksey is included because they had arrived there
control sample based on isolated finds from Gotland via Scandinavia and their loss seems to have been
alone. restricted to the 870s, and possibly just to the year
The stratigraphy of the three Birka sites has been 872/3. The latest coin is dated 866–868 and it is inter-
considered above. The very different age-structures ersting to compare Torksey’s find profile with that of
of their finds is shown graphically in the histograms the Loftahammar, Småland hoard (t.p.q. 865) (Fig.
(Fig. 3.10.d–f). The exceptionally early profile of the 3.13). Torksey appears to have a higher proportion of
finds from Birka Harbour is reflected in none of the Early Abbasid (750–800) coins and an anomalously
other Scandinavian sites shown in Figure 3.10. The low number from the most prolific decade, 800–810.
finds from the building platform by the Town Ram- However, this is probably not a genuine difference,
parts are closer to the Southern Scandinavian sample but results from ten of the Torksey fragments being
than other groups, though with a stronger 9th-centu- attributed only approximately within the period
ry element and what appears to be an abrupt ending 750/767–816, and the smoothing effect will have bol-
in the 930s, but since the sample (28 coins) is relative- stered the later 8th-century columns in the histo-
ly small this may be misleading and not statistically gram. Taking this into account, the profiles of the
significant. The Black Earth 1990–1995 excavation site Torksey finds and Loftahammar hoard are quite sim-
has a predominantly 10th-century distribution, and ilar, showing that in the 870s, at least, site finds and
shows the strongest contrast with Kaupang. hoards had a similar composition.
Finally, the distribution of the dirhams from

Per cent.
25 Figure 3.13 Torksey finds compared with the Loftahammar,
Småland hoard (t.p.q. 865) (per cent), by date of produc-
Torksey
Loftahammar tion.
20
Figure 3.14 Kaupang finds compared with two 9th-century
hoards and single finds from Torksey (per cent): a: pre-865
15 dirhams from Kaupang compared with those from the
Loftahammar, Småland hoard (t.p.q. 865); b: pre-895
dirhams from Kaupang compared with those from Torksey
10 (lost 870s); c: pre-895 dirhams from Kaupang compared
with those from the Roma, Gotland hoard (t.p.q. 895), by
date of production.
5
0
750 800 850
The dirhams at Kaupang in the 9th century that from Loftahammar, Småland (t.p.q. 865; Hovén
The earliest hoards show that Islamic coins had 1982:no. 1), their age-structures are quite similar (Fig.
reached Eastern Scandinavia by the beginning of the 3.14.a), suggesting that the earlier dirhams need not
9th century, albeit in small numbers (Jonsson 1994: have been imported until the middle or third quarter
456–8). This evidence is supported by the presence of of the 9th century. The composition is also similar to
a dirham in the 1990–1995 excavations in Birka’s that of the Torksey finds deposited in the 870s (Fig.
Black Earth in a stratified level dated c. 780–810/20 3.14.b), and the degree of testing with “nicks” is also
(see above, Tab. 3.11). The simultaneous penetration comparable among these two groups (below sect.
of dirhams to parts of South-Western Scandinavia is 3.5). On the other hand it is clear that the main phase
shown by the presence of a small hoard of imitations of importation could not have been much later than
of Umayyad dirhams at Ribe’s Posthus excavation, this, because a comparison of the Roma, Gotland
found in a stratified layer dated c. 780–790 (Feveile hoard (t.p.q. 895; Hoven 1982:no. 6) and the pre-895
and Jensen 2000:13, 24 n.10; Feveile 2006c:159). The coins at Kaupang (Fig. 3.14.c) shows a poor match,
evidence from Russia, and in particular from Staraja with a much stronger bias in the hoard for coins of
Ladoga, is only marginally earlier, with a hoard of the later 9th century. It can be argued, then, that
t.p.q. 786 and half-drachms of Tabaristan in a layer while there is no evidence for an early use of dirhams
dated by dendrochronology to c. 760–770 (Callmer at Kaupang, the third quarter of the 9th century
1990:7; Kirpičnikov 1989). appears to have been a significant time for their
Dendrochronological dates from Kaupang sug- importation at the site, and this may have continued
gest that the settlement there was first established c. strongly into the fourth quarter and the early 10th
800, which broadly coincides with the earliest arrival century.
of dirhams in Scandinavia. Whether they immediate- The proposition that dirhams arrived in Kaupang
ly penetrated as far as Kaupang is clearly an impor- in quantity after the mid-9th century gains some sup-
tant question. Although there are many 8th- and port from the stratigraphic evidence. Unlike Birka, at
early 9th-century coins among the finds, these could Kaupang there are no stratified finds of Islamic coins,
well have arrived somewhat later. The site finds, of but their very absence from the considerable excava-
course, represent an accumulation of individual loss- tions of intact levels in the Skre campaigns is in itself
es spread over a period, so we cannot expect to match significant negative evidence. In these two areas the
their age profile to that of a hoard. However, hoards later Viking-period levels had been completely de-
are useful for showing what composition the curren- stroyed by medieval and modern ploughing, leaving
cy that was imported at a particular time into the only the early Viking-period levels available for exca-
region might have had. From this, one can build up a vation in their original contexts. The latest intact lay-
possible model of importation and loss for the ers on the sites date from 840/850, but in some parts
Kaupang dirhams. We have already seen that coins of of the site these and earlier layers had also been
the mid-9th century are more strongly represented at ploughed out (Pilø 2007b:149; Pedersen and Pilø
Kaupang than in the sample of finds from Southern 2007:186). Significantly, whereas all of the 92 dirhams
Scandinavia or those from Uppåkra (Figs. 3.11 and from the site come from unstratified layers repre-
3.12). If one compares the pre-865 dirhams with those senting the later medieval or modern ploughsoil,
from hoards of around the mid-9th century, such as three of the six Western coins were from early strati-

Per cent. a
25
Kaupang
Loftahammar
20
15
10
0
750 800 850
fied contexts (Nos. 7–8 and 10). These coins, it will be Per cent. b
argued below, would have been imported to Scan- 25
dinavia before 840. This is admittedly a small sample, Kaupang
and we cannot rule out the possibility that there were Torksey
some dirhams in Kaupang during the earlier 9th cen- 20
tury, especially due to the fact that silver is poorly

preserved. But it seems reasonable to suppose that
15
before the mid-9th century such coinage as was pres-
ent in Kaupang consisted mainly (perhaps entirely)
of Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian pen- 10
nies, and that by the third quarter of the 9th century
these had been succeeded by a wave of imported
Islamic dirhams. 5
The 10th-century decline in

monetary activity at Kaupang 0
Turning to the end of the period, it is through the 750 800 850
dirhams that we may chart the decline in monetary
activity on the site. The latest coins are four Samanid
dirhams (Nos. 82–5) dating from c. H 334–343 (AD Per cent. c
25
945–955), the last with a t.p.q. of AD 952. Three earlier
Samanid coins (Nos. 79–81) and one Volga Bulgar Kaupang
Roma
imitation (No. 86) are dated H 290–301 (AD 902– 20
914), but surprisingly there are none from the inter-
vening three decades. One other imitation (No. 87) is
probably from the first half of the 10th century, and 15
so may bridge the gap.
These eight or nine post-890 dirhams represent
11% or 12% of the 76 identified dirhams from the site. 10
This, as we have seen, is the lowest proportion found
in any of the Scandinavian samples considered (Tab.
3.12) and shows that there was a significant fall-off in 5
monetary activity compared with the other sites and
with the control sample of Southern Scandinavian
isolated finds. Yet some of the Umayyad and Abbasid 0
750 800 850
coins could well have remained in circulation after
900 and a few may have arrived in company with
coins of the 10th century. Can we determine when
this decline occurred and how serious it was?

No. of Coins a
Figure 3.15 (a–c) Three alternative models for the rate of 14
loss of dirhams at Kaupang (76 coins). Kaupang
12 (76 coins)
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
We have seen that Kaupang’s find distribution is ed coinage that had travelled to Kaupang more or less
comparatively strong in the third quarter of the 9th intact from the Caliphate, but against this, the coins
century (above, p. 52). Coins of the 860s, 870s and show signs of circulation, being fragmented and one
880s are well represented compared with most other bearing a quite elaborate graffito (No. 85). The alter-
Scandinavian sites surveyed (Figs. 3.10–3.12), but native, and more probable explanation is that the
there are none of the 890s and very few from 900–910 coins arrived in the 950s and 960s in typical mixed
compared with number one would have expected groups or individually by way of local transactions,
had levels of monetary activity followed the norm. accompanied by earlier coins. If so, some or all of the
This suggests that the decline in activity had already other five 10th-century coins found at Kaupang may
begun before these early Samanid coins would other- have arrived there and been lost in this late period.
wise have arrived on the site and made an impression This is significant, for it reduces the number of 10th-
on the find record. The very earliest that the first century coins that might have been lost earlier in the
Samanid issues could have reached Kaupang would century, emphasising the depth of the decline in
be c. 900, but it is not really until c. 920 that their monetary activity in the first half of the 10th century.
numbers would have risen sufficiently and they Lastly, we should consider how long the final
would have been in circulation long enough for them phase of circulation might have lasted, and what sig-
to have contributed significantly to the finds; see the nificance is to be placed on the absence of coins later
next section for justification of this date. Had the than 955. From the end of the phase of dirham im-
decline occurred after c. 920 we would have expected portation coins of the 950s and 960s are very scarce
to see more early Samanid coins in the finds, but it and by 970 they had virtually ceased to arrive. The
could have begun earlier, since based solely on the Western pennies – German and Anglo-Saxon –
evidence of the coin-finds, the decline cannot be which were to replace them in the Scandinavian cur-
dated more closely within the period c. 890–c. 920. rency remained scarce until the 980s. This means
The cluster of four late Samanid coins struck dur- unfortunately that the final decline of activity at
ing 945–955 is quite exceptional, for normally coins of Kaupang falls in a period, c. 960–980, when the im-
the 940s and 950s are scarcer that those of the preced- portation of new coinage was so low that with the
ing decades. They cannot be from a scattered hoard small number of finds from Kaupang one cannot
since they have come from all three of the metal- pinpoint the end of the site more closely. Yet the
detector survey areas (1–3), and one must assume absence of German or Anglo-Saxon coins of the later
that they were individual losses representative of a 10th century does suggest that commercial activity
larger number that had been exchanged on the site, had ceased at Kaupang by c. 980 if not earlier.
so that they would seem to reflect a short period of
resumed activity c. 960. However, even this is not a Estimating dirham losses per decade
sufficient explanation, since coins of the mid-10th Drawing on the foregoing arguments about the rep-
century would not normally occur on their own – in resentativeness of the coin hoards, and observations
typical Scandinavian and Russian hoards they would about the introduction of dirhams at Kaupang, the
be accompanied by earlier Samanid coins and imita- age-structure of the site finds and the decline in coin
tions. One might argue that they are the survivors of use there, we can try to build a model reflecting the
a very exceptional single consignment of newly mint- number of coins lost per decade on the site. Although

No. of Coins b No. of Coins c

14 14
Kaupang Kaupang
12 (76 coins) 12 (76 coins)
10 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
this can only be approximate, it should provide some Any of these three models are plausible based
idea of the relative scale of monetary activity from simply on the coin-finds, but they may accord to dif-
period to period. The model is constructed in the ferent degrees with other aspects of the archaeologi-
same way as that for Southern Scandinavian finds cal evidence. The first avoids dramatic changes in
(sect. 3.2.5, Fig. 3.8.b), i.e. starting with the 10th-cen- activity, and could be seen as better reflecting the dat-
tury and distributing the coins by decade, and carrying of items of ornamental metalwork found on the
ing some over from before 890 where appropriate to site, which are predominantly 9th-century. The sec-
replicate the composition indicated by Table 3.7. As ond, on the other hand, extends full-scale activity on
we have seen, the four latest Samanid coins (Nos. the site into the first two decades of the 10th-century,
82–5) could not have arrived in Scandinavia before which gains some support from the reassessment of
the 950s, and they probably represent losses of the the graves in nearby cemeteries. These are much
late 950s and 960s, perhaps continuing down to the more numerous in the first half of the 10th century
980s. Some of the other four or five 10th-century than in the 9th, and there is a definite continuity in
dirhams are likely to have been lost with them in that the burial customs, which would indicate the pres-
late period, which leaves only two or three 10th-cen- ence of a substantial population in the locality well
tury coins, together with some pre-890 dirhams, to into the 10th century (Stylegar 2007:78–82). How-
represent losses from c. 900–950. ever, all of the models show that the bulk of the coin-
I have argued that the slump in activity could losses fell during the second half of the 9th century,
have occurred at any time in between c. 890 and c. with few if any in the second quarter of the 10th cen-
920, and Figure 3.15 presents three alternative models tury. It is important that each category of evidence
showing the variations that can be achieved from the should be assessed on its own merits.
same numismatic data. The first (Fig. 3.15.a) assumes Applying similar considerations to the finds from
the decline in activity began early but progressed Uppåkra, Paviken and Birka, their likely distribu-
smoothly maintaining some continuity through the tions of dirham loss can be reconstructed (Figs.
second quarter of the 10th century. This model in- 3.16.a–c). From the excavations in Birka’s Black Earth
volves carrying over seven pre-890 dirhams to be lost 1990–1995 (Fig. 3.16.c) there is stratigraphic evidence
after 900. The second (Fig. 3.15.b) leaves the decline for coin-loss as early as the late 8th or early 9th centu-
in activity on the site as late as possible, maintaining a ry, but it remained at a low level until the end of the
high level until 920, but the consequence is that the 9th century. For Uppåkra and Paviken there is no
decline is much sharper, leaving no visible activity stratigraphic evidence, but, as we have seen (above,
during the period 920–950. This model involves car- 3.3.1), a comparison of the age-structures of their 8th-
rying over 14 pre-890 dirhams to be lost after 900. and 9th-century coins suggests that the period of
The third (Fig. 3.15.c) shows how the date of the intensive coin use and loss fell somewhat earlier at
decline has to be brought earlier if one assumes that Uppåkra than at either Paviken or Kaupang. Accord-
all nine 10th-century coins were lost in the period ingly, Figure 3.15.a places greater emphasis on coin-
after 950. Further adjustments could be made to the loss in the middle decades of the 9th century. Al-
profile of the 9th-century losses, giving a more grad- though for Paviken the pre-890 dirhams have a
ual introduction or changing the position and shape rather later profile, it is not clear whether coin use
of the peak. there may have started in the early 9th century and

No. of Coins a
Figure 3.16 Models for the estimated rate of loss of dirhams 25
at other Scandinavian sites: a: Uppåkra; b: Paviken; and
Uppåkra
c: Birka ‘Black Earth’ 1990–1995. (224 coins)
20
15
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
remained at a low level, as at the Birka Black Earth since one was in an original context sealed by Blind-
site, or whether it only began towards the end of the heim’s House 1, while the other was in the ploughsoil.
century. In this respect the histogram in Figure 3.16.b The London (Middle Temple) hoard implies that by
is arbitrary. c. 840 coins of Coenwulf made up only 10% of the
As with the Kaupang distribution models, one currency, and it is likely that these two coins had left
could adjust the shape and position of the 9th-centu- England before then. Indeed, looking at the pattern
ry peaks to some extent, but the profiles of the 10th- of Anglo-Saxon coins found in Norway it would
century losses are more firmly established, being dic- seem that the first quarter of the 9th century was a
tated partly by the coins’ dates of production; they period when links between England and Norway
could only have been lost after they were struck and were particularly strong, for there are two coins from
allowing time for them to travel to Scandinavia. c. 775–800, eight from 800–825, but then none for a
Whereas the 10th-century coins found at Uppåkra further century (Blackburn and Jonsson 1981:149–50;
peak in their production date during the first decade, Skaare 1960a; Screen, in press). English coins of the
then fall off sharply, those from the Paviken and early 9th century do not occur elsewhere in Scandi-
Birka 1990–1995 excavations build up progressively, navia, so it is most likely that these coins came direct
peaking in the second quarter of the century (Fig. to Norway before c. 825, and at least by c. 840. The
3.10). At all three sites there is uncertainty about how likelihood is that they were lost during the first half of
late and how intensively the circulation of dirhams the 9th century.
continued, since the importation of newly minted The three Carolingian coins – two from Blind-
dirhams had declined and virtually ceased by 970. We heim’s excavations (Nos. 6 and 8) and one from
cannot judge whether the use of dirhams on these Skre’s excavations (No. 7) – are all of the same Chri-
sites also declined slowly or came to a more abrupt stiana Religio type of Louis the Pious, struck 822/3–
end. 840 (Fig. 3.17.b). This issue remained in circulation in
The histograms in Figures 3.14 and 3.15 illustrate Francia until 864. However, Metcalf (1996: 423–5) has
fundamental differences in the pattern of coin-loss shown that there is a wider pattern of Carolingian
on these four sites. Differences between Kaupang and finds in Scandinavia in which this issue of Louis the
the Birka Black Earth site are particularly marked. Pious dominates, but the successive types of Lothar
The model for Birka supports the archaeologists’ (840–855) and Charles the Bald (840–879) are virtual-
observation that the majority of the finds at this site ly absent. They appear, then, to represent a wave of
came from the ploughsoil, which represents losses coinage exports from France or the Low Countries
from the last decades of Birka’s activity, c. 930–c. 970. before 840. Moesgaard (2004) has argued that they
By this period Kaupang’s heyday was well and truly may have been brought to Scandinavia through the
past. missions of Bishop Ansgar in the 820s and 830s,
although trade and other contacts seem an equally
3.3.2 The 9th-century Western coins likely means. Their arrival and use in Kaupang may
The two Anglo-Saxon coins, both found in the Blind- well have been broadly contemporary with that of the
heim excavations, were East Anglian issues of Coen- two Anglo-Saxon coins. Indeed, one of the coins
wulf of Mercia (796–821) (Nos. 9–10; Fig. 3.17.a). (No. 8) was found stratified in close proximity to an
They cannot have been lost or deposited together Anglo-Saxon coin (No. 10), while another was the


16 10
Paviken Birka Black Earth 1990-1995
14 (108 coins) (61 coins)
8
12
10
6
4
6
4
2
2
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
only stratified coin from the Skre excavations, con- line of House 1 (Nos. 8 and 10), may have been associ-
firming that they were relatively early losses on the ated losses. Many of the finds from the MRE came
site. from the modern ploughsoil, but Blindheim did not
The only Scandinavian coin (No. 11; Fig. 3.17.c) investigate this, for she had it removed by machine.
belongs to the same period. It is one of the early Her finds may therefore represent to a greater degree
Nordic issues of Malmer’s class KG5, which she dated the earlier cultural layers on her site than the finds
to c. 825 or a little later and attributed to Hedeby from the MRE. Still more surprising is the fact that
(Malmer 1966:195–6, 210–19, 340–1; Malmer 2002b). there were no Western coins at all among the 56 coins
The designs copy the so-called “Wodan/Monster” found in the metal-detector surveys, even though in
sceattas that have now been identified as an 8th-cen- many parts of the site the oldest cultural layers had
tury coinage of Ribe, and Metcalf (1996:416–19) has been disturbed by ploughing (Pilø 2007b:149), Blind-
suggested that Malmer KG5 was also struck there. heim’s finds of five Western coins may, then, reflect a
The attribution is based not just on continuity of genuine difference in the function of her site in the
design, but on the nine finds of 9th-century Scan- first half of the 9th century.
dinavian coins from Ribe itself, which are all certain- We have seen that six Western coins are all likely
ly or probably of this type (Feveile 2006c:157–8). It is to have been brought to Scandinavia before 840, and
appropriate that this rare type should have found its it has also been argued that dirhams need not have
way from Ribe to Kaupang, the neighbouring North arrived at Kaupang until after the mid-9th century.
Sea emporium up the coast to the North. Significantly, whereas all of the 92 dirhams from the
site (including the fused group) come from unstrati-
Why so few West European coins? fied layers representing the medieval or modern
Despite Kaupang’s very westerly location, with obvi- ploughsoil, three of the six Western coins were from
ous routes across the North Sea to England and south early stratified contexts (second quarter of the 9th
to Denmark, Frisia and Francia, it is notable that century) in the Blindheim or Skre excavations. We
there should be only six West European silver coins have already seen that only the earlier contexts at
among the 101 finds. It is also notable that five of the Kaupang survive intact, as the later Viking-period
six came from Blindheim’s excavations, representing layers were disturbed by ploughing. If there are more
19% of her finds, while only one was present among Western coins on other parts of the site, they may still
the 16 recent excavation finds from the MRE (6%). be sealed beneath the ploughsoil. It would seem then
This difference may in part be due to the use of siev- that during the earliest phases the coinage used at
ing and metal detectors in the recent excavations, Kaupang consisted mainly (perhaps entirely) of Ca-
which will have been far more successful in finding rolingian, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian pennies,
small fragments of dirhams than Blindheim’s excava- but these were subsequently swamped by a wave of
tion techniques would have been. Nonetheless, this dirhams and removed from circulation by natural
cannot be the only factor. It is unlikely that Blind- wastage. Thereafter during the second half of the 9th
heim’s five coins were from a dispersed hoard, since century Western coins seem not to have been
they were discovered during four separate seasons of imported in significant numbers, and perhaps, as
excavation between 1959 and 1965. However, two of Coupland (1991, 2007) has argued, they were less
them, found in close proximity under the inner stone acceptable than dirhams in transactions, with the

result that they were not attracted to Scandinavia or

were preferentially melted down when forming in-
gots and jewellery.
In contrast to the dirhams, which are highly frag-
mented, three of the Western coins appear to have
been whole when lost (Nos. 6, 7 and 10), while two
others (Nos. 8–9), although only pieces now, may
have been whole but broken naturally in the ground
owing to their fragility. Only the Scandinavian coin
(No. 11) shows signs of having been mounted as an
ornament, and Skaare thought this had later been cut
up as bullion, in view of its appearance when newly
excavated; subsequent chipping of the edges has
a obscured this however. There are no signs of the five
Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian coins having been
pierced or mounted for use as ornaments, which
might suggest they fulfilled a different role than the
small dirham-fragments. However, a piece of hack-
silver and a broken silver fragment were found in the
same layer as the Carolingian denier (No. 7) on plot
4A of the main research excavation, and in stratified
deposits of similar date (Site Period II) from other
plots there were a further four pieces of hacksilver,
two silver fragments and six lead weights (Pedersen,
this vol. Ch. 6:162). These finds suggest that an econ-
omy based on weighed silver was already emerging in
the second quarter of the 9th century before the
b widespread use of fragmented dirhams, and that the
Western coins may have contributed to this.
The site finds from Uppåkra provide an interest-
ing parallel. As we have seen, the Viking-period finds
have a slightly longer span than at Kaupang, with a
stronger representation of pre-800 issues, suggesting
that the use of dirhams may have begun earlier there,
and a higher proportion of 10th-century Samanid
dirhams and even a few finds of Anglo-Saxon, Ger-
man and Scandinavian pennies of the later 10th and
11th centuries. Yet Viking-period Uppåkra is still pre-
dominantly a 9th-century site. What is interesting,
however, is that the proportion of Western pennies
of the 9th-century (seven Carolingian and three
c Scandinavian) is also small (4%) and they too all
appear to date from before 840. At Birka, where
Carolingian coins are also rare, they have mainly
been found in graves and looped as ornaments, in
which form they survived into the 10th century
Figure 3.17 Western silver coins: a: Anglo-Saxon, (Ambrosiani 2006); and the same is true of the more
Coenwulf of Mercia (No. 10); b: Carolingian, Louis the plentiful 9th-century Scandinavian coins from Birka
Pious (No. 6); and c: Scandinavian, KG5 (No. 11). (Gustin 2004a:14).
Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM.
3.3.3 The Roman, Merovingian and Byzantine coins
Two earlier elements – Roman and Merovingian –
within the coin-finds pose tricky questions of chron-
ology. One bronze coin of Valentinian I (364–375)
(No. 2) found by Blindheim’s team was regarded by
Skaare as likely to be a modern loss (Skaare 1976:33).
He knew of only four other Roman bronze coins
from Norway, which he interpreted in the same way.

The discovery of a second piece – a bronze coin of

Constantine I (307–337) (No. 1; Fig. 3.18.a) – in the
MRE casts fresh light on these finds, and makes it
very probable that the Kaupang coins were old losses.
They are most unlikely to be associated deposits since
they were found 250 metres apart on different sides of
the site’s highest point. Recent unpublished research
by Håkon Ingvaldsen has increased substantially the
number of Roman bronze finds from Norway, and
he too believes that a proportion of them are old loss-
es. But when were the Kaupang coins lost? There is
no archaeological evidence for human activity at the
site before the late Merovingian period or early Vi-
king Period (Pilø 2007c:174–5), and while the beach a
could have been used as a landing point at any time, it
would be an improbable coincidence if in the Iron
Age two Roman bronze coins had been dropped in
different parts of the site later to become the princi-
pal emporium in 9th-century Norway. It is much
more likely that they were lost during that phase of
settlement and commercial exploitation.
A Roman bronze coin of Constantius II (337–361)
found in the ploughsoil at Birka (Rispling 2004a:no.
30; Nilsson 1995) has been interpreted as a Viking-
period loss. At Ribe, three Roman bronze coins of the
2nd–4th centuries were found in 8th-century layers
at the Market Place (Bendixen 1981:97, no. 33; Feveile
2006c:158). From Iceland, there are six Roman b
bronze coins preserved in the National Museum
found in five locations between 1904 and 1993 (Anton
Holt pers. comm.). All are bronzes of the 3rd century,
and they form a plausible group, even if only one of
them was found archaeologically, during the excava- Figure 3.18 Roman and Merovingian coins:
tion of a Viking-period farm at Hvítáholt. Holt is a: Constantine I (No. 1); and b: Dorestad gold tremissis
inclined to see most if not all of these finds as losses (No. 5). Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM.
by early settlers, in which case they can only have
been brought to Iceland after its colonisation in the
later 9th century.
The most glamorous coin-find from Kaupang
must be the Merovingian gold “Dorestad” tremissis
found in 2001 (No. 5; Fig. 3.18.b). The piece, which
dates from the mid-7th century, has the name of
Dorestad and the moneyer Madelinus, but it belongs
to a large group of coins in a somewhat devolved
style, which Pol (1990) thinks may have been pro-
duced elsewhere in Frisia imitating the original Dore-
stad coins of more refined style. The coin shows no
signs of wear or having been mounted as jewellery.
This is the first Merovingian gold tremissis of the
7th century to have been found in Norway, and in-
deed the most northerly find in Europe. Seven other
tremisses of this period have been found in Scan-
dinavia (Fig. 3.19), all from what was once Denmark
(Metcalf 1996:400–1, discussing the first five finds).
Two are from the island of Sylt (Dronrijp type from
an uncertain mint in the Netherlands; and Péri-
gueux, Dordogne, France) and one from nearby Föhr
(Maastricht, Ansoaldus). To the north from Dan-

Figure 3.19 Distribution of 7th-century Merovingian gold

tremisses found in Scandinavia. Map, Elise Naumann.
Kaupang
Figure 3.20 Plan of the Kaupang site showing the locations
of the coin-finds. Map, Elise Naumann.
Gadegård
Jelling
Dankirke early 8th-century losses, I believe that this too is most

Sylt likely to have been lost during that period. If so, it
Führ would pre-date the earliest seasonal settlement at
Füsing
0 100 200 km
Kaupang (c. 800), and even the establishment of the
hall at Huseby in the mid-8th century. Evidence for
use of the harbour and beach for occasional activities
in the century prior to the settlement is slight, but
kirke, near Ribe, there is another Dorestad tremissis, cannot be ruled out (Pilø 2007c:172–5).
as well as two silver deniers of the later 7th century of The third exotic element of the finds is Byzantine
the same Dorestad/Madelinus type, and north again copper coins. One coin can be recognised with some
from Gadegård there is yet another Dorestad tremis- confidence as a Byzantine follis of the 8th or 9th cen-
sis of this type. The sixth is a recent find from Jelling, tury (No. 3), although it has not been possible to
in Eastern Jutland, again of the Dorestad type (Moes- identify the emperor or mint because corrosion of
gaard and Pol 2003), while the seventh is from an the surface has left only the vague image of a facing
archaeological survey in 2005 of a high-status site at bust with hatched tunic and a crown with pendelia,
Füsing, 5km north-east of Hedeby, the coin being a contained within a circular but illegible legend. A
mid-7th-century derivative of a Mainz issue but second piece (No. 4), in an even worse state, is with
struck at some uncertain mint in the Lower Rhine- less certainty a Byzantine coin but, if it is, it would
land or Low Countries (Dobat 2005). The Kaupang have been a slightly later follis from the 9th or 10th
find therefore fits neatly into a pattern of a coastal century, judging from its larger flan size. Both were
distribution up the North Sea littoral, dominated by found in the modern ploughsoil over the main exca-
issues from the Netherlands. vation site. Byzantine silver miliaresia, particularly
The Danish finds are thought to be contemporary ones struck after 945, have long been recognised as a
or near contemporary deposits of the 7th- or early small but significant element of the Scandinavian
8th-century, but what about the Kaupang find? finds. Copper coins are much rarer as finds, and, as
Should it, by analogy with the two Roman finds, be with Roman copper, there has often been some
attributed to the 9th century? Gold was exceptionally uncertainty whether they are old or modern losses. In
rare in the Viking Period, and then the coins most Sweden, a survey of 23 recorded finds, three of which
likely to have been available are either Carolingian were from graves, revealed a distinctive pattern with
solidi of Louis the Pious and their Frisian imitations, the earlier coins (6th–9th centuries) coming from
or Islamic gold dinars, both of which were present in Northern Sweden and Birka and the 10th- and 11th-
the fabulous gold hoard from Hoen, Norway (Skaare century coins from elsewhere in the Mälar region,
1976:134, no. 33; Skaare 2006; Blackburn 2006). Hoen Southern Sweden and Öland (Hammarberg et al.
also included two much older coins, a 4th-century 1989:14). The Birka Black Earth 1990–1995 excava-
Roman solidus and a late 6th-century Merovingian tions yielded one follis of Basil I (867–886), struck at
solidus, but both were very heavily worn and had Constantinople in 868–870, stratified in Phase 8 (c.
been used as jewellery for several centuries. Since the 940–950/60), while four other corroded copper disks
Kaupang tremissis shows no sign of wear or having may possibly be other Byzantine coins (Rispling
been mounted, and fits so well the pattern of 7th/- 2004a:no. 57 [Basil I] and nos. 33, 39, 56 and 96).

35
0 100 200 m
26
69 61
Non-surveyed areas Settlement area
49
Surveyed once Single find

75
24 102
Surveyed twice 31
59
50
Surveyed 3 times 5
79
29
85
80
56 54 52
55
36 28
25
47
57
64 60
42
70 39
73
27
87 32 81
65
38 84 37 71 19 23 68
82
40 13 22
46 17
20
86
44
33
41
43
83
0 50 100 m
Coin Area 1A Silver crucible melt Surveyed cultural-deposit areas
Coin Area 1B Blindheim excavation (27 coins) Non-surveyed cultural-deposit areas
Coin Area 2 MRE excavations 2000-2002 (16 coins)
Coin Area 3 Viking-age sea-level

No. of Coins a
Figure 3.21 Dirham finds from Kaupang excavations com- 15
pared with all finds from the site, by date of production:
Kaupang
a: All dirham finds; b: MRE; c: Blindheim’s excavation. (76 coins)
10
0
750 800 850 900 950
That these Roman and Byzantine bronze coins ered, and four north-east of plot 4B and one above
may well be 9th- or 10th-century losses begs the ques- the adjoining plot 3B (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:162–4,
tion of what function they served at Kaupang. It Fig. 6.29). They were accompanied by a concentra-
unlikely that they had any monetary function. One tion of hacksilver and other fragmentary silver pieces,
possibility is that they served as raw material for together with a few weights. One of the Roman cop-
working in copper alloy, as suggested for the Ribe per-alloy coins (No. 1) came from the later medieval
finds (Feveile 2006c:158), but their inclusion in some plough-layer above plot 2A. The six dirhams from
Swedish graves suggests that they could have had a the modern ploughsoil over the excavation site (Nos.
specific function. Nilsson (1995) has suggested that 16, 21, 30, 45, 58 and 62) and two possible Byzantine
the Roman coin at Birka may have been used as a bronze coins (Nos. 3–4) were more widely dispersed,
weight, for which there are good Anglo-Saxon paral- as were the hacksilver pieces and many weights from
lels (Scull 1986). the modern ploughsoil. These twelve dirhams all date
from before 870 (Fig. 3.21.b), and so too do three
3.4 The spatial distribution within the site coins from the metal-detector survey that were
The location of each coin and artefact recovered in picked up there prior to the excavations (Nos. 27, 38
the 1998–2003 investigations was recorded and plot- and 65). However, the sample is small and the
ted using GIS. However, since the coins were almost absence of later issues may not be significant since,
all found in the disturbed context of the medieval or nearby the metal-detector survey in Area 2 turned up
modern ploughsoil care must be taken in interpret- several 10th-century coins.
ing their spatial distribution on the site. The site In the Blindheim excavations most of the 24
slopes gently down towards the waterfront to the unstratified coins were dispersed in the ploughsoil
south-east, and away from a central rocky plateau over or immediately in front of the plots by the
that would have divided the settlement, just to the waterfront, and were found in company with hacksil-
north of the MRE. That there has been considerable ver and weights, but a further group of coins and sil-
movement of topsoil and of artefacts in it is demon- ver pieces was recovered from what would have been
strated by the number of coins found beyond the part of the harbour area (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:
Viking-period shore line, i.e. in an area which was Fig. 6.30). Only nine of the dirhams can be identified,
then under water (Fig. 3.20). One cannot, therefore, and most of those are dated within quite broad
expect a close relationship between the artefacts ranges which all fall before 892 (Fig. 3.21.c). As with
found in the modern ploughsoil and the original fea- the finds from the main research excavation, the
tures lying immediately beneath them. Those arte- sample is too small for the absence of later coins to be
facts recovered from excavation of the late medieval of significance.
plough-layer seem to have suffered rather less dis- The finds from the general metal-detector survey
placement, as the correlation with stratified features of the settlement site, all coming from the modern
and finds is closer (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:158,164). ploughsoil, cannot be closely analysed because of the
From the MRE area, six dirham-fragments (Nos. considerable displacement many will have suffered.
12, 14, 15, 53, 63 and 98) were found in the later The greatest density of coin-finds comes from the
medieval plough-layer, one over plot 4B, where the central section of the site, either side of the rocky
stratified Carolingian coin (No. 7) was also discov- plateau, which itself is almost devoid of finds. The


4 4
Kaupang MRE Kaupang
(12 coins) Blindheim excavations
(9 coins)
3 2
2 2
1 1
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
higher density appears to be a genuine pattern, al- The age-structures of the finds from Areas 1B, 2
though it will have been exaggerated because the area and 3 are broadly similar (Fig. 3.22.b–d). From each
was surveyed three times by the detector-users, com- there are both 8th-/9th-century and 10th-century
pared with twice on the northern part of the site and finds. The number of coins from Areas 1A and 3 is too
only once for most of the south. A map showing the small to justify close analysis, but the samples from
average number of artefacts per survey confirms that Areas 1B and 2 are of comparable size, and the pro-
there are real concentrations in these areas (Pilø files of their histograms are not significantly different
2007b:148–50, Fig. 7.7). In order to investigate the from one another or from the overall assemblage of
compositions of finds from different parts of the site, the Kaupang dirhams.
it has been divided into three broad areas: Area 1, that An alternative way of considering the distribu-
lying to the north of the rocky plateau; Area 2, a cen- tion of coin-finds over the site has been considered
tral section, between the plateau and the main re- by Pedersen. She has compared the distributions of
search excavation of 2001–2002; and Area 3, the weights, coins and silver in the form of hacksilver and
southern section. Area 1 is subdivided into 1A, the other fragments. Her map of the detector finds (Fig.
northern part of the site around the Blindheim exca- 6.30) shows a broadly similar distribution of all three
vations, and 1B, the section within 100 m of the cen- classes of artefact across the length of the site. Finds
tral plateau. A plan (Fig. 3.20) shows the extent of the are scarce in the northern and southern sections, and
settlement area, marked in red on the inset, and indi- the greatest concentration comes from the centre of
cates that as many detector finds were recovered the settlement – but, as already mentioned, this did
from land now covering the Viking-period harbour, receive more attention from the metal-detecting
as were recovered from the settlement itself, demon- group than any other parts. The section immediately
strating the degree of the soil and artefact displace- to the north of the plateau (Area 1B) has the greatest
ment. concentration of weights and hacksilver, while for
Most of the 10th-century dirhams have been coins there were slightly more finds from the section
found on or beyond the Viking-period waterfront, to the south of this (Area 2). All material had suffered
and with the exception of one coin from the south of a similar dislocation down the slope towards the
the site, they are all concentrated in a 150-m stretch in waterfront.
the centre of the 700-m waterfront (Areas 1B and 2).
The number of 10th-century coin-finds is rather 3.5 Fragmentation, graffiti and other
small and they mainly come from the most prolific secondary treatment of the coins
section of the site, but if their absence from the In the Catalogue (Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4), we
northern part (Area 1A; Fig. 3.22.a), including the have noted the physical properties of the coins: their
Blindheim excavations, is a genuine feature and not state of preservation; whether they are whole or frag-
merely a statistical quirk, it could suggest that there mentary; if fragments whether their edges appear to
had been a physical contraction in the settlement or a have been cut with a sharp chisel or other blade, bro-
change in the distribution of certain activities by the ken deliberately or damaged through corrosion; and
early 10th century. The small number of other 10th- any secondary treatment the coin received in the
century artefacts tend to show a similar concentra- Viking Period, such as piercing, bending, nicks or
tion but allows no firm conclusions to be drawn. graffiti.

No. of Coins a No. of Coins b

4 4
Kaupang Area 1A Kaupang Area 1B
2 3
2 2
1 1
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
No. of Coins c No. of Coins d

8 4
Kaupang Area 2 Kaupang Area 3
6 3
4 2
2 1
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
3.5.1 Fragmentation morski (Truso) in Poland are also described as small

The Islamic coins found at Kaupang range in size fragments (Bogucki, in press).
from whole coins to the tiniest of fragments, but in It is likely that some of the dirhams were already
general they are quite finely divided. The degree of fragmented when originally imported from the
fragmentation of coins in hoards has been seen as a Caliphate, for in Near Eastern hoards after the mid-
reflection of the frequency and nature of the transac- 9th century broken pieces are a common element
tions in which they have been used and it has been (Ilisch 1990). However, further fragmentation proba-
shown to vary both regionally and chronologically bly took place as needed for transactions in Eastern
(Hårdh 1996:86–9; however, see caveats in Metcalf Europe and Scandinavia (Malmer 1985:49–51). Coins
1997:392–7). The Islamic finds from Birka, Paviken that have been cut with a chisel, rather than broken
and Uppåkra are also fragmented to a high degree; by bending, will probably have been divided since
among the 81 single finds from the Birka Black Earth leaving the Islamic lands; both methods are common
1990–1995 excavations 58 (72%) were only a quarter among Scandinavian finds, even on the same frag-
of a dirham or less (Rispling 2004a:35; Tab. 3.4 ad- ment. We have already considered whether in hoards
justed). In a group of 68 well-preserved dirhams re- older coins tend to be more fragmented than younger
corded from the site at Torksey, Lincolnshire, 88% ones, and found that in those hoards examined there
were smaller than a quarter of a dirham, and they had was not a marked difference (sect. 3.2.6). Local prac-
an average weight of 0.46g (Blackburn 2002; supple- tice would probably have dictated the preferred aver-
mented by Portable Antiquities Database on www. age size for transactions and less convenient pieces
finds.org.uk). The c. 400 dirhams found at Janów Po- could have been divided if too large or passed out of

and the weight of surviving specimens; e.g. two of the

Figure 3.22 Dirham finds from the metal-detector survey, whole dirhams that should weigh c. 2.97 g have
by date of production: weights reduced by corrosion to only 1.70 g and 2.17 g
a: Area 1A; b: Area 1B; c: Area 2; and d: Area 3. (Nos. 26 and 37). A higher proportion of coins are
heavily corroded among the finds from Blindheim’s
excavations, hence the average weight of fragments
from those is much lower than fragments from the
recent excavations and metal-detector surveys. The
reason for the difference in preservation is unclear,
although comparing photographs of coins published
in the early 1960s with recent ones it is clear that they
have deteriorated to some extent since being found.
It is, then, with considerable hesitation that the
analysis of the average weights of fragments in Table
3.14 is presented. If the very low weights of the Blind-
heim excavation coins can be attributed to a high
degree of corrosion and modern breaking, the slightly
lower average weights of fragments from the MRE
and CRM excavations could be due to the recovery of
the area or melted down as bullion if too small. The smaller pieces by sieving or the added care with which
average size of fragments in circulation need not have spoil from the excavation was investigated with
depended on the age-structure of the currency. metal-detectors. The only groups that may stand
Hårdh’s suggestion, based on an analysis of 10th- and comparison with each other are the metal-detector
11th-century hoards, that a finer degree of fragmenta- surveys, and here there is a notable difference be-
tion was generally a later phenomenon (Hårdh tween the weights of the fragments from Areas 1B
1996:86–91), was subject to exceptions as the site finds (0.51 g) and Area 2 (0.85 g), both with reasonably large
indicate. The finds, for example, from Truso and statistical samples. Area 2 has also produced more
Torksey demonstrate that finely fragmented dirhams whole coins. No appreciable difference in the age-
were being used around the mid-9th century. structures of the dirhams from these two areas was
It would not be valid to compare the degree of detected (sect. 3.4), and so it is possible that there was
fragmentation of coins from different sites since the a different activity taking place on a part of Area 1B
size of recorded specimens will be influenced very that resulted in more fragmented coins being lost.
much by the methods and skill with which they have The comparison of average weights by period
been recovered from the ground, the nature of the may be more valid, since the coins which are all from
soil influencing the strength of signal given by small the ploughsoil should generally have been subjected
silver pieces and the conditions for preservation of to corrosion and breaking to a similar degree. The
metals. Factors such as the extent to which the spoil pre-833 coins at 0.63 g are slightly lighter than the
was sieved and the sensitivity of metal-detectors, later ones (c. 0.75 g), but considering that by the time
which have improved greatly over the last 15 years, they were lost at Kaupang many would have been
are bound to influence the degree to which very small 70–100 years old, if not more, one might have expect-
fragments can be found. The results will vary from ed them to have become even more fragmented dur-
site to site. Within one site, however, one can coming exchange transactions. However, part of that
pare the degree of fragmentation among coins from time will have been spent circulating in the Cali-
different periods, since the survival and recovery phate, where it seems the practice of dividing coins
rates should have been similar for dirhams of any only began in the mid-9th century when dirhams
period, if the same methods of excavation or survey ceased to be struck to a fixed standard and coins
were applied. started passing by weight not by tale (i.e. counted
Unfortunately, at Kaupang the conditions for the out); thereafter fragments were required to make up
preservation of silver are poor, and many of the coins precise sums of money (Ilisch 1990:122). Hence the
had been affected by corrosion or, having become pre-833 coins may not have circulated in a fragment-
brittle, had been chipped or broken in the ground. Of ed state much longer than those of the two later peri-
the 90 dirhams that were single finds from the site, 30 ods. It is of interest that the average weights of the
(33%) show signs of significant or heavy corrosion, mid- to late 9th-century coins and the 10th-century
and others have suffered to a lesser degree. Some- coins are virtually the same, although admittedly
times the struck surface has been lost or occasionally some of the former may have been lost in the first
it is encrusted with corrosion products, and it is like- decades of the 10th century. It indicates that at
ly that some coins will have disintegrated totally in Kaupang there is no evidence to show that the cur-
the ground. These factors have affected both the size rency was becoming more finely divided over time,

Find Group No. of No. of Average weight

dirhams whole coins of fragments (g)
Blindheim Excavations 1956–1974 21 1 0.38

MRE and CRM Excavations 1998–2003 14 1 0.50
M-d Survey Area 1A 6 1 0.83
M-d Survey Area 1B 16 - 0.51
M-d Survey Area 2 28 5 0.85
M-d Survey Area 3 5 1 0.73
Period No. of No. of Average weight

dirhams whole coins of fragments (g)
Pre-833 51 8 0.63
834–890 16 1 0.74
890–960 9 - 0.76
Unidentified 14 - 0.25
All 90 9 0.60
Table 3.14 Average weights of dirham-fragments and numbers of whole coins at Kaupang, by find-group and by period.
(Note: The dirham standard was 2.97 g, but the weights varied from the mid-9th century.)
which is contrary to the pattern Hårdh has observed for their economic or metallic value, not worn as dec-
in hoards from Southern Scandinavia. oration.
3.5.2 Whole coins and pendants 3.5.3 Bending and nicking

There are seven whole dirhams from Kaupang (Nos. Fifteen coins appear to have been deliberately bent
23, 26, 32, 38–40 and 44), and two more, which al- (Nos. 13, 24–6, 28, 35, 37, 41, 52, 57–8, 71 and 85–7),
though reduced in size may have been whole when probably to test the softness and hence the purity of
lost but have had their edges chipped or broken away the metal (Fig. 3.24). They span all periods.
(Nos. 48 and 63). Eight of these nine belong to the Another form of secondary treatment often ap-
period 776–810, and five of these were found during plied to 8th- and 9th-century Islamic coins found in
the metal-detector survey of Area 2, raising the ques- Russia and Scandinavia is that of nicking (Fig. 3.25),
tion whether they might be from a dispersed
hoard. Three (Nos. 23, 32 and 40) were found within
20 m of each other just below the Viking-period No. of No. of
shoreline, while the two others (Nos. 38–9) were 50 m nicks coins
up the slope above them and 20 m from one another,
leaving a distribution that is inconclusive. Each of the 1 7
other find groups produced no more than one whole 2 5
coin (Tab. 3.14). The latest whole coins are dated 3 1
809/10 and 859/60. 4 2
Only two dirhams from the site show evidence of 5 1
having been pierced to be worn as ornaments; one is 6 0
whole (No. 44; Fig. 3.23) and one may have been 7 0
whole when lost (No. 63). The Danish coin from Ribe 8 1
(No. 11; Fig. 3.17.c), when found in 1960, showed evi- 9 0
dence of formerly having had a soldered loop 10 1
attached to wear as a pendant, but it appears subse-
quently have been cut up for use as bullion in a trans- 18
action. Other fragmentary coins may at some stage
also have become ornaments and similarly reverted Table 3.15 Degree of nicking on Islamic coins from
to a bullion role, but it is clear that the great majority Kaupang
of the coins that were lost at Kaupang had been held

i.e. scratching short straight lines at edges, including

the straight or broken edges of fragments (Welin
1956b:152). It is thought to have been applied in
Russia, before the coins entered the Baltic zone, but
the practice declined after 850, and it is rarely found
on coins dated after 870 (Rispling 2004b:3–4). Nick-
ing has been observed on 18 of the Kaupang coins
(Nos. 12–14, 16, 27, 28, 39, 44–6, 55, 57–8, 61–2, 66, 68?
and 69), although this number will have been de-
pressed to some extent by the poor condition of
many of the coins. The number of nicks per coin
varies between one and ten (Tab. 3.15). The latest
coins with nicks are an Abbasid dirham of 832/3 (No.
62), and three barely struck flans attributed to
844–869 (Nos. 66, 68 and 69). At Torksey, where the
coins were much better preserved and the nicks more
visible, 23 (36%) from a sample of 64 fragments were
nicked. The similarity of these two samples compares
with 18 (28–30%) out of some 60–65 coins from the
same pre-870 period at Kaupang. This serves to
emphasise the importance of the third quarter of the
9th century for the importation to Scandinavia of the
dirhams that were lost at Kaupang.
3.5.4 Graffiti
One of the latest coins from the site, a Samanid
dirham struck 951–955 (No. 85), has been incised with
a design scratched into the surface (Fig. 3.26). Such
pictorial and geometric graffiti are rare, but they do
occur in hoards from Russia and Scandinavia, partic-
ularly of the 10th century (Welin 1956b; Dobrovolskij
et al. 1981; Hammarberg and Rispling 1985). At first
sight the design on No. 85 looks like a simple hollow
T of a type that occurs as a graffito on a number of
Viking-period coins (e.g. Hammarberg and Rispling
1985:nos. 30, 53, 62 and 95). This is generally inter-
preted as representing Thor’s Hammer, an interpre-
tation reinforced by the occurrence of the name rur
in runes as a graffito on one coin (Hammarberg and
Rispling 1985:68, fig. 92). However, on closer inspec-
tion the design has more to it than that. After the
graffito was added, the coin was bent over and bro-
ken to form approximately a quarter of a coin and a
short section of one broken side was folded over
obscuring part of the graffito. The design continues
under the fold and off the broken flan in such a way Figure 3.23 One of two dirhams from the site that had been adapted to be worn as a
that one cannot satisfactorily photograph it. Below pendant, an Abbasid dirham temp. al-Amin (809–813), struck in 809/10 at Balkh in
the hollow T there is a long base line, which is incised Afghanistan (No. 44). The reverse has two nicks at the edge of the coin. Photo, Lill-
in the same manner as the T and appears to be part of Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM.
the design, rather than a score-mark to divide the
coin (which in any event was broken, not cut). Under Figure 3.24 One of several dirhams that had been deliberately bent, possibly to test
and beyond the folded section there are two further the quality of their silver; an Abbasid dirham of Harun al-Rashid (786–809), struck
lines at a right-angle that appear to intercept the base in 795/6 at Bagdad in Iraq (No. 32). Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM.
line at a point off the flan. The design could be com-
posed of two adjoining elements, a Thor’s Hammer Figure 3.25 Three nicks (scratches towards the edge, top left) on an Abbasid dirham
and another uncertain pattern, or they may be part of of the period 844–869 (No. 66). Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM.
a larger geometric design of which the hollow T is just
an element.

Another coin – an Abbasid dirham of the mid- and the use of a smaller corner-timbered building
9th century (No. 67) – is less certainly inscribed with (stofa) of which traces were found (Skre 2007e:243
a graffito. The intersecting lines are rather weak (Fig. and 246).
3.27), but, since the surface of the coin is now quite The English penny of Harthacnut is not an
corroded, they may previously have been a lot unusual find for Norway. In the 1040s the Norwegian
stronger and deeper. The marks do not form any currency was composed of a mixture of mainly
obviously recognisable pattern, and, if they were German and English coins, although its presence on
applied deliberately by man, it is not clear that they an isolated farmsted suggests that this had a special
were intended to have a meaning, rather than being status. Harald Hardråde (1047–1066) introduced the
mere doodles. first substantive national coinage, and initially his
Triquetra pennies were of fine silver, but in due
3.6 The coins found at Huseby course his coinage was severly debased so that by c.
Four Viking-period or later medieval coins were 1060 the coins contained only one-third silver
found during the excavations at Huseby. Like all the (Skaare 1976:79–85, 108). The effect of this was to
datable finds there, they were in disturbed layers over drive the finer foreign coins out of circulation, and
the building platform. Perhaps surprisingly, none of during the last third of the 11th century Olaf the
them belong to the period when the hall is thought to Peaceful (kyrri) (1067–1093) succeeded in establish-
have been in occupation, mid-8th to mid-10th cen- ing a closed monetary system in which Norwegian
turies (Skre 2007e). Two of the coins are from the 11th coins completely dominated the currency (Malmer
century: an Anglo-Saxon penny of Harthacnut (sec- 1961:359–62; Skaare 1976:70–1, 108–13, 1995:45–54;
ond reign, 1040–1042) (Hu1) and a Cologne denier of Gullbekk 2003:34–9, 60). Thus in hoards such as
Archbishop Sigwin (1079–1089) (Hu2). There is then those from Måge (Hordaland) and Gresli (Sør-Trøn-
a four-hundred-year gap before two small coins of delag), deposited in the late 11th century, 96% and
the 15th and 16th centuries: a hvid of Kristian I of 98% respectively of the coins were Norwegian. The
Denmark (1448–1481) (Hu3) and a 1559 Sechsling of Cologne denar of the 1080s from Huseby is therefore
Lübeck (Hu4). These four coins have been associated a very unusual find. Its fine standard of silver would
not with the hall, but with later occupation of the site, make it more valuable than contemporary Nor-

posits, including those of the early Viking Period had

Figure 3.26 Graffito on coin no. 85. been ploughed out, the unstratified finds provide a
Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM. sample from all periods of activity at Kaupang.
The finds were distributed across the entire
Figure 3.27 Graffito on coin no. 67. length of the settlement (Fig. 3.20), but their spatial
Photo, Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, KHM. distribution cannot be closely analysed because there
has been a drift in the ploughsoil eastwards towards
and beyond the Viking-period waterfront and, in the
centre of the site, northwards and southwards away
from the rocky plateau (sect. 3.4). Those coins that
were excavated from the later medieval plough-layer
(the “black earth”) on Blindheim’s site and on the
MRE site suffered less displacement, and show inter-
esting correlations with other finds, notably hacksil-
ver and weights. Among the finds from the metal-
detector surveys of the modern ploughsoil, the coin
distribution is broadly similar to that of other cate-
gories of artefact, in particular the hacksilver, sug-
gesting that they were used for a variety of transac-
wegian coins, but also incompatible with local cur- tions and were not present primarily as raw material
rency, and if received in international trade it ought for silver working, although the crucible cake of part-
to have been taken to a mint for reminting into valid ly molten coins and ornaments (Fig. 3.1) shows that
Norwegian coinage. With the principal mint located they were used for this too. Only three coins show
at Nidaros (Trondheim), with possibly one or two signs of having been converted into jewellery (sect.
others elsewhere – Oslo and Bergen would be candi- 3.5.2), emphasising that the vast majority of the coins
dates – the process of exchanging foreign coin cannot lost on the site had an economic role.
have been easy, and would have involved intermedi- The earliest coins are two Late-Roman bronze
aries. It is likely, then, that the coin of Sigwin was coins of the 4th century, which, with one or possibly
going to be transmitted via a network to a mint, and two bronze Byzantine coins, are a somewhat exotic
Huseby may have had some role in that process. The element probably brought to the site during the
presence of this and the coin of Harthacnut marks Viking Period (sect. 3.3.3). It is likely that they served
the site out as unusual, and supports Skre’s sugges- as weights, or as raw material for metalworking in
tion that the stofa on Husebyhaugen may have been copper alloy, rather than functioning as money. Of
some kind of royal administrative farmstead (Skre course, in a bullion economy commodities other
2007e:246–7). than precious metals could also have been exchanged
in transactions.
3.7 Summary and conclusions The first coin to be lost on the site was probably a
The coins discovered at Kaupang in the excavations mid-7th-century Merovingian gold tremissis of
of 1956–1974 provided sensational evidence for the Dorestad, one of only eight coins of this period
use of coinage within a bullion economy in Norway known from Scandinavia. The others, all from Den-
during the 9th century. Those from the new excava- mark, and mostly from mints in the Netherlands,
tions and surveys in 1998–2003 have greatly increased form a coherent group distributed along or with
the coin-find data in both quantity and quality, and access to the North Sea coastline, to which Kaupang
extended the date of the latest Viking-period coins would form a natural northern projection (Fig. 3.19).
known from the site by some 70 years, to the mid- If lost during the later 7th or first half of the 8th cen-
10th century. As single finds, treated as accidental tury, as seems probable, it would represent the
losses from circulation, these are prime evidence for strongest evidence for some presence or activity on
the scale and use of currency. They form a funda- the site before the Viking Period and just pre-dating
mentally different type of evidence from hoards, the high status site of Huseby.
which are deliberate deposits, affected more by social The six Western silver coins all belong to the peri-
conditions and unexpected mortalities, resulting od c. 810–840 (sect. 3.3.2). Three Carolingian coins
from violence or disease, than by changes in the are deniers of Louis the Pious’s Christiana Religio
economy. type, which is the most plentiful of the Carolingian
The vast majority of the Kaupang finds were issues in Scandinavian finds, and the scarcity of relat-
retrieved from disturbed layers representing the me- ed coins of Louis successors indicates that they
dieval or modern ploughsoil and hence lack any arrived in Scandinavia before Louis’ death in 840.
stratified archaeological context. Nonetheless, be- The two Anglo-Saxon coins, pennies of Coenwulf of
cause on many parts of the site all the cultural de- Mercia (796–821), are marginally earlier and a local

phenomenon. Only in Norway have Anglo-Saxon

coins of the later 8th and early 9th centuries been Figure 3.28a-b Alternative models for the estimated rate of
found, and these are evidence of direct contacts loss of coins at Kaupang, including the Western silver coins,
across the North Sea during this limited period. The based on Fig. 3.15.a and Fig. 3.15.b respectively.
single Scandinavian coin from the site, a Nordic coin
with a Wodan/Monster design and attributed to Ribe
c. 825, again provides evidence of North Sea contacts.
Many of the dirhams found at Kaupang were of
similar or earlier date to these Western coins, but this
does not necessarily reflect their period of arrival.
Although the earliest Islamic dirhams came to
Scandinavia around 800, a comparison of the age-
profile of the Kaupang coins with hoards deposited
during the second half of the 9th century and with
the finds from Torksey lost in the 870s (Fig. 3.14)
indicates that the coins need not have started coming
there before the mid-9th century, and that the third
and fourth quarters were the most significant periods
for their importation (above, 3.3.1). The limited
stratigraphic evidence from the site supports this the Caliphate. Whether this resulted in a contraction
later dating. On the MRE and Blindheim’s excava- in the coin-stock in Scandinavia is uncertain. Kilger
tion site, only the earlier Viking-period layers (Site (this vol. Ch. 7.6) argues that there was no such
Periods I and II dating c. 800–840/50) survived shortage and that this was indeed a period when
intact. The only coins found in stratified contexts coinage and bullion was plentiful, but the evidence is
were three of the Western pennies – two Carolingian not conclusive. From c. 900 newly minted coins from
and one Anglo-Saxon. The case is strengthened by the Samanid dynasty in Central Asia began to arrive
negative evidence from the MRE that despite careful and during the following decades they came to domi-
investigation of the Phase I and II deposits, including nate the currency as reflected in the coin hoards.
sieving of all the spoil, no dirhams were found. It is However, Callmer, Kyhlberg and others have ques-
argued here that there were two distinct phases of tioned whether the hoards are representative of the
monetary circulation: the period c. 820–840/50 when currency circulating in the Scandinavian trading cen-
the very few coins present in Kaupang were mainly tres, arguing that stratified finds from Birka indicate
Western silver ones from Francia, England and that older, pre-Samanid coins remained in circula-
Denmark, and the second after the mid-9th century tion longer than the hoards suggest. A review here
in which silver dirhams dominated the coinage (above, 3.2.7) of the evidence from the three principal
almost entirely. This division was probably more excavation sites in Birka shows that it can be recon-
pronounced in Southern Norway than elsewhere in ciled with the composition of coin hoards. However,
Scandinavia, but there are indications that during the hoards were selective to an extent, and many, as doc-
second quarter of the 9th century Carolingian coins umented, have a much higher proportion of whole
enjoyed a degree of circulation elsewhere in Scandi- coins than is found among site finds, which are dom-
navia, albeit alongside some dirhams. To see these inated by quite small fragments. The question of
principally as amulets brought by missionaries whether old coins were likely to be more fragmented
(Moesgaard 2004) is surely to underestimate their than newer ones, resulting in the hoards having a dif-
economic significance. ferent age profile from the site finds is considered
The 76 Islamic dirhams that can be assigned a (above, 3.2.6). In a sample of 10th-century hoards the
date or date-range have a distinctive chronological degree of fragmentation was not found to be age
pattern (Fig. 3.9), which has been compared with that related, and it is argued that the hoards can reason-
shown by other sites and find groups (Figs. 3.10–12). ably be taken as broadly representative of the coins
One very clear difference is the proportion of 10th- being lost on settlements. The typical composition of
century coins, which is much smaller at Kaupang the currency circulating in Scandinavia reflected by
than among any of the other sites or groups consid- hoards, decade by decade, is shown in Table 3.7, and
ered (Tab. 3.12). Monetary activity had decreased ear- this has been used to estimate the rate of coin-loss on
lier at Kaupang than elsewhere, although it was still sites.
present to some degree until the third quarter of the At Kaupang, coins of the 860s, 870s and 880s are
10th century. well represented compared with other sites surveyed
During the later 9th-century there was a marked (Fig. 3.10), but after that there is a very significant
decline in the volume of newly minted dirhams being reduction in the Kaupang finds with no coins of the
imported into Eastern Europe and Scandinavia from 890s and far fewer of 900–920 than would be expect-


16 16
Western Coins Kaupang model a Western Coins Kaupang model b
14 Dirhams (82 coins) 14 Dirhams (82 coins)
12 12
10 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
0 0
750 800 850 900 950 750 800 850 900 950
ed if the importation of coins had continued at any- For Kaupang alternative models have been devel-
thing like the earlier levels. A dramatic decline in the oped reflecting the possible range of variation in the
use of coinage in the settlement at Kaupang must date and intensity of the decline in monetary activity
have occurred sometime between 890 and 920. It between 890 and 920 (Fig. 3.15.a–c). They starkly
may have been a gradual decline or it may have been demonstrate the difference in the level of monetary
a sharp change as a result of a single event. The num- activity in the second half of the 9th century and early
ber of 10th-century coins is remarkably few, a mere 10th century compared in particular with the second
nine specimens, but they include a remarkable clus- quarter of the 10th century, and this pattern is in
ter of four coins struck between 945 and 955, evident- complete contrast to that of the Paviken and Birka
ly isolated finds from different parts of the site, which Black Earth sites that have their heyday in the mid-
suggests there was an increase in activity in the late 10th century. By adding the Western coins (Fig. 3.28),
950s or 960s. Some of the five other 10th-century we can present a full picture of the use of coinage on
coins were probably lost at this time as well. We can- the settlement at Kaupang, but again showing a range
not tell how long this final phase of monetary activity of interpretations with Figure 3.28.a representing a
lasted, but the absence of German and Anglo-Saxon more prolonged decline, starting in the late 9th cen-
coins which were building up in Scandinavia during tury, and Figure 3.28.b the latest postponement of the
the 970s, 980s and 990s, would suggest that commer- decline that this form of modelling will reasonably
cial activity there had ceased by c. 980 if not earlier. support.
For the first time an attempt has been made to These coins, most of which had been finely divid-
represent estimates of the rate of loss of dirhams per ed into fragments, were used in a mixed bullion econ-
decade over the life of this and other Scandinavian omy, along with other whole and fragmented silver
sites in order to study the changing levels of mone- artefacts. The plentiful finds of hacksilver from the
tary activity (above, pp. 54–6). The estimates, pre- Kaupang site, which are studied by Hårdh (this vol.
sented as histograms, take account of cronological Ch. 5), are more difficult to date than the coins. Some
biases observed in the 8th- and 9th-century dirhams, hacksilver was found in the earlier stratified contexts
and carry over into the 10th century a proportion of in Phase II, indicating that it was already in use before
earlier coins to mirror the composition of the hoards. 840/50, but most of the pieces from the ploughsoil
The process is not exact, and in some parts of the his- were no doubt contemporary with the subsequent
tograms the shape and extent of peaks and troughs dirham-using phase. It has been estimated in this
could to some extent be adjusted, but for each the chapter (sect. 3.2.5) that there was a high rate of
overall form and weighting should be valid. The esti- wastage (5–7.5% p.a.) from the currency in Southern
mates for Uppåkra, Paviken and Birka’s 1990–1995 Scandinavia in the early 10th century, and a signifi-
Black Earth excavations (Fig. 3.16.a–c) each have very cant contributor to this would have been the melting
different profiles, showing that their periods of mon- down of coins to form ingots and ornaments. Similar
etary activity varied considerably. A fourth model, or even higher rates of wastage may well have applied
based on a sample of single finds from Southern in the later 9th century when the non-coin element of
Scandinavia (Fig. 3.8.b), not dominated by any one silver hoards is particularly high.
site, provides a control against which to compare and The finds from Kaupang provide extraordinarily
interpret the site patterns. rich evidence for the use of coins and silver in

exchange transactions in Norway during the 9th cen- Appendices

tury. Although around 11,000 other coins of the Data on which find histograms are based
Viking Period have been found in Norway, less than
one per cent of these were struck during the 8th or These tables present the data on which the discus-
9th centuries, and a significant number of those are sions and various histograms in this chapter are
from graves, have been mounted as ornaments, or based. The first (App. 3.1) shows the number of dir-
are from hoards of the 10th century (Skaare 1976: hams by date of production from each site, group or
47–8). By the time these categories have been dis- hoard divided by decade. Many of the site finds, be-
counted, and also coins with very vague find circum- ing fragments, can only be dated to within a few years
stances, there is very little substantive evidence for or a few decades, but without these the samples
the active use of coins as a medium of exchange in would often be too small for interpretation. These
Norway before 900 (Blackburn 2005a:143–5). The coins have, therefore, been included in the distribu-
only substantial hoard is that from Hoen, consisting tions by assigning an appropriate proportion to each
of a rich collection of gold and gilt ornaments, in- year of the period to which they are attributed (see
cluding 20 coin pendants. By contrast, to find at above, p. 47). This will have had a smoothing effect
Kaupang 101 single finds on one site, mostly lost dur- reducing the peaks and troughs that might otherwise
ing the 9th and early 10th centuries, is evidence of have occurred had each coin been precisely dated.
intense economic activity, and the more so when the The second (App. 3.2) shows number of dirhams
coins and accompanying hacksilver are finely divided lost per decade on various sites, as derived from the
(Hårdh 1996:24–7). Kaupang’s find record is compa- models developed in this chapter (3.3.1, pp. 54–6).
rable in many respects with those of other well-
known sites in Northern and Western Europe.
Although direct quantitative comparisons between
sites cannot be made, because the circumstances for
recovery and recording will have varied so much, it is
reasonable to conclude that exchange activities at
Kaupang were of a similar nature to those at other
9th-century emporia. It remains to be seen whether
this was the only site in Norway where bullion was so
actively handled, and whether it fed into a distribu-
tion network in the hinterland and further afield in
which bullion was also used a means of exchange.

Appendix 3.1
Distribution of dirhams from various sites and hoards, by date of production
Loftahammar
S Scandinavia
S Scandinavia
Grimestad
1990–1995
Ramparts
Erikstorp
Kaupang
Harbour
1–5 coins
Uppåkra
Torksey
Paviken
All sites
Bräcke
Hoard
Hoard
Hoard
Hoard
Hoard
Roma
Birka
Birka
Birka
Dates
pre-750 4 (5.3%) 3 3 15 8.5 7 1 1 7.0 70 10 - - 1

750–759 3.1 (4.1%) 1 1 2.7 0.8 1 - 1.1 2.5 11 1 - - -
760–769 2.1 (2.8%) 3 3.1 9.6 1.3 - 0.1 0.2 7.1 19 3 - - -
770–779 7.8 (10.3%) 6 13 25 8.5 1.3 2.2 2.9 7.1 54 9 - - -
780–789 6.4 (8.4%) 3 6.9 18 5.6 0.3 1.7 1.3 7.7 40 4 - - -
790–799 4.1 (5.4%) 4 4 22.6 4.1 0.3 3.2 0.9 6.2 35 5 1 - -
800–809 13.5(17.7%) 8 10 34.4 5.9 0.1 1.1 4.2 9.5 148 21 1 1 -
810–819 6.9 (9.1%) 3 8 15.2 3 0.1 0.3 0.7 6.2 67 8 1 1 -
820–829 1.5 (2%) 1 2 5.5 1.6 0.1 1.6 2.8 1.8 18 3 - - -
830–839 1.9 (2.5%) - - 5.4 2.4 0.1 1.4 0.1 1.8 32 9 - 1 -
840–849 2.8 (3.7%) - - 5 1.6 0.1 1.2 0.6 2.2 32 20 - - -
850–859 4.7 (6.2%) 2 3 4.5 2.8 0.1 1.2 1 3.3 57 27 1 1 -
860–869 4.3 (5.7%) 1 2.2 4.5 2.8 0.1 1.8 1 4.7 40 31 2 2 -
870–879 2 (2.6%) - 0.3 1.6 0.8 1 0.2 0.1 - - 21 2 - -
880–889 1.8 (2.4%) - 0.3 1.6 0.8 1 - 0.1 - - 16 - - 1
890–899 - 4 5.5 2.8 5.2 - 3.2 4.7 - - 1 9 11 11
900–909 3.7 (4.8%) 13.3 18.8 17.5 5.8 0.5 3.5 4.4 - - - 37 20 65
910–919 0.7 (0.9%) 4.7 6.7 7.1 8.8 2.2 1.4 8.1 - - - 18 17 52
920–929 0.2 (0.3%) 3 5 5.4 10.5 1.3 1.5 8.4 - - - 3 3 41
930–939 0.2 (0.3%) 2 3 8.4 11.8 - 2.5 5.2 - - - - 1 28
940–949 2.2 (2.8%) 2 3.8 4.1 10.5 1 - 6.7 - - - - - 10
950–959 2 (2.6%) 1 1.5 6.3 5 - - 3.1 - - - - - 5
960–969 - - - 0.9 0.16 - - 2.6 - - - - - -
post-970 - 1 1 0.5 - - - - - - - - - -
76 66 102 224 108 18 29 61 67 623 185 75 58 214
No i.d. 14 133 163 0 20 7 1 1378 216 2 92
Total 90 199 265 18 49 68 67
T.p.q. c. 865 c. 895 921 933 956

Appendix 3.2
Estimates of coin-loss by decade for dirhams from various Scandinavian sites
Kaupang (model b)
Kaupang (model a)
Kaupang (model c)
sites with 1–5 coins

Scandinavia
Black Earth
1990–1995
Uppåkra
Paviken
Birka
Dates
800–809 - - - 1 2 1 1
810–819 - - - 1 3 - -
820–829 - - - 1 5 1 -
830–839 - - - 1 12 - -
840–849 3 - - 2 20 1 2
850–859 9 6 8 3 22 2 -
860–869 13 11 12 4.25 23 4 1
870–879 14 12 12 4.25 23 6 1
880–889 12 12 12 4.25 20 8 1
890–899 9 11 12 4.25 17 9 2
900–909 5 10 11 5 14 9 3
910–919 2 7 - 6 12 9 6
920–929 1 1 - 6 12 10 7
930–939 1 - - 6 11 12 8
940–949 - - - 6 10 14 9
950–959 1 1 2 5 9 14 10
960–969 4 4 5 4 6 6 7
post-970 2 1 2 2 3 2 3
76 76 76 66 224 108 61

Catalogue of the Coins 4

g e rt r i s p l i n g , m a r k b l ack bu r n
a n d ken n et h j o n s s o n
This catalogue lists 101 single-finds and a molten silver hoard from excavations and surveys on the
settlement site at Kaupang 1959–2002, excluding late medieval and modern coins that have no bearing on
the Viking-age site. It also lists at the end the four coins found in excavations at Huseby during 2000–2001.
The coins were sent to Stockholm in 2002 where they were identified by Gert Rispling (Islamic) and
Kenneth Jonsson (Western). Mark Blackburn subsequently studied them in Oslo, and he has been respon-
sible for the final form of the catalogue, and adding details about their state, secondary treatment and find
circumstances. The task of identifying Islamic coins from fragmentary specimens such as those here is con-
siderable, and Gert Rispling (2004a:31–39) describes some of the problems and techniques he has developed
with many years of experience.
The coins are described as follows: Column 1: catalogue no.; Column 2: probable production date (AD);
Column 3: mint; Column 4: metal and denomination (except Islamic, which are all silver dirhams); type;
mint reading (in square brackets if off the flan or illegible, or in parentheses if not named but implied);
Hijra date inscribed on coin (Islamic only); description; reference (in parentheses); weight; comments on
whether whole or fragmented, physical state and any secondary treatment; any publication of this coin;
Column 5: find circumstances, context and date; find number. The term ‘nick’ is used here to indicate
straight scratches at the edge of the coin, as defined in Welin 1956b:152, and used in the CNS series. Within
each series the coins are listed in chronological order. All the coins are illustrated on pages 88–93.
The coins are all deposited in the Coin Cabinet of the Cultural History Museum (Kulturhistorisk muse-
um) of Oslo University.
4 . r i s p l i n g , b l ac k bu r n , j o n s s o n : c ata l o g u e o f c o i n s 75
4.1 Coin finds from the settlement site
Cat. Production Mint Description Find context and no.

no. date (AD)
ROMAN
Constantine I (307–37)
1 321 Trier Copper-alloy, Æ 3, mint mark //STR (RIC VII, 190.303). 1.27 g, MRE, later medieval plough-
(Germany) whole coin, chipped. See Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.18.a. layer, 2001; C52519/14914
(F1014067).
Valentinian I (364–75)
2 367–75 Arles Copper-alloy, Æ 3, mint mark OF [?]//CON (RIC IX, 66.16, Blindheim excav., medieval
(France) (a).XIII (a–c); LRBC 518). 1.40 g, whole coin, heavily corroded and plough-layer, 1964; fnr 1022a.
chipped.
BYZANTINE?
3 8th/9th Uncertain Copper-alloy, uncertain attribution, probably a follis of the MRE, modern ploughsoil, 2001;
cent.? mint 8th–9th cent. 1.97 g (heavily corroded), c. 20 mm diam. (originally C52519/14011 (F1008918).
c. 24 mm?). This is the core of a copper-alloy coin, the original
struck surface having corroded away. However, some features of
the design are visible, namely a facing bust with a hatched tunic
and wearing a crown with pendelia, surrounded by a circular
inscription now illegible.
4 9th/10th Uncertain Copper-alloy, uncertain attribution, possibly a follis of the 9th or MRE, modern ploughsoil,
cent.? mint 10th cent. 2.53 g (fragment, c. 40% remaining; originally c. 7 g and 2002; C52519/17199 (F1022963).
c. 25–30 mm diameter). The fabric would be consistent with a
Byzantine follis of the 9th or 10th century, but the patterns visible
on it do not allow a convincing attribution to be made; it could be
an object other than a coin.
MEROVINGIAN
5 c. 650 Dorestad Gold tremissis, moneyer Madelinus (Prou 1896:no. 1226). Obv. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Netherlands) ΔORESTAT FIT, bust right; rev. MAΔELINVS M, cross on step. ploughsoil, 2001; C52517/2254
or uncertain 1.25 g; no sign of wear, small crack and edge chip probably caused (F55259).
Frisian mint by fatigue in ground; metallic content not measured, but probably
c. 30–40% gold, c. 60–70% silver. This belongs to a large group of
coins with a very stylised form of design that is derived from the
earlier and finer Dorestad coins of the moneyer Madelinus. Pol (1990)
identifies these as derivatives struck at unknown places in Frisia.
See Blackburn, this vol. Ch.3:Fig. 3.18.b.
CAROLINGIAN
Louis the Pious (814–40)
6 822/3–840 Uncertain Silver denier, Temple type (Morrison and Grunthal 1967:no. 472). Blindheim excav. 1962, fnr 932a.
mint Obv. +HLVDOVVICVS IMP, cross and four pellets, rev.
XPISTIANA RELIGIO, temple. 0.86 g, whole coin, chipped and
corroded. Skaare 1963:151–2, fig. 1; Skaare 1976:pl. IV, 2.
See Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.17.b.


no. date (AD)
7 822/3–840 Uncertain Silver denier, Temple type (Morrison and Grunthal 1967:no. 472). MRE, 2001, from a stratified
mint Obv. [ ]HLV[ ], cross, probably with pellets in angles, rev. context (Site Period II) in an
[ ]RELIGIO, temple. 0.35 g, whole but heavily chipped and occupation deposit immediate-
corroded. ly below the later medieval
plough-layer on plot 4B in the
MRE; C52519/13642 (F1015134).
8 822/3–840 Uncertain Silver denier, Temple type (Morrison and Grunthal 1967:no. 472). Blindheim excav. 1959, found
mint Obv. [ ]HLV[ ], cross, probably with pellets in angles, rev. [ ]TIA[ ], within 20 cm of no. 10, and on
temple. 0.15 g, fragment, corroded. Skaare 1960a:fig. 2. the same day, but while there is
no information about whether
they are from the same context,
the coordinates suggest it is
likely that they both derive
from an intact deposit under
the inner stone line of Blind-
heim’s “house 1”; fnr 677b.
ANGLO-SAXON
Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821)
9 c. 800–15 East Anglia Silver penny, Early Portrait type, moneyer Lul (Blunt et al. 1963: Blindheim excav. 1965; fnr
(England) Cn 97–98). Obv. [ ]F / REX [ ], bust; rev. .+ /.I / [ ] / [ ] / -: , 1031a.
in arms of cross. 0.45 g, fragment, very corroded, surface flaking.
10 c. 810–21 East Anglia Silver penny, Portrait/Annulet Cross type, moneyer Wodel Blindheim excav. 1959, found
(England) (Blunt et al. 1963:Cn 111e). Obv. COENVVLF / R[EX] M, bust right, within 20 cm of no. 8, and on
rev. PO d E L+ (P and L inverted), in angles of annulet cross. 0.54 g, the same day, but while there is
whole coin, corroded and chipped. Skaare 1960a:fig. 1. no information about whether
See Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.17.a. they are from the same context,
the coordinates suggest it is
likely that they both derive
from an intact deposit under
the inner stone line of Blind-
heim’s “house 1”; fnr 677a.
DANISH
11 c. 825–40 Ribe Silver penny, “Wodan/Monster” type (Malmer 1966, KG 5, Hjort Blindheim excav. 1960; fnr 721a.
(Denmark) B1/Strålans A2, pl. 2:9/3:6, as Hedeby; for the attribution to Ribe see
Metcalf 1996: 416–19). 0.45 g, fragment; now broken sides, but see
comment below; formerly mounted as an ornament? Skaare 1960b,
1963:152–3, fig. 2; Malmer 1966:283, no. 115; Skaare 1976:45–46, pl. X, 4.
Skaare (1963:154) comments “there are traces of a lost loop on this
coin, but as it now appears deliberately cut, it seems likely that it
served as payment not as an ornament, when it finally was put away
or dropped into the soil at Kaupang”. The design on both sides has
been damaged at a point (270° on obverse and 360° on reverse, see
Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.17.c.), suggesting an attachment may
have been soldiered to the coin at that point. The edges have been
further chipped to some extent since the coin was found and illu-
strated in Skaare 1963:fig. 2, so that now the coin does not give the
appearance of having been cut.

no. date (AD)
ISLAMIC
(All coins are silver dirhams)
UMAYYAD DYNASTY (H 41–132/AD 661–750)
12 698–718 Uncertain Mint?, [79–99]. Tiny script, early. 0.29 g, fragment; MRE, later medieval plough-
mint one nick by edge. layer, 2001; C52519/15422
(F1012720).
13 733/734 Wasit (Iraq) Wasit, [1]15. 1.07 g, fragment; long side cut, short side broken; M-d survey, area 2, modern
one nick by edge; bent once. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2545
(F55582).
14 698–750 Uncertain Mint?, [79–132], 0.62 g, fragment; corroded, MRE, later medieval plough-
mint one cut and one broken edge, two nicks by edge. layer, 2001; C52519/15138
(F1017504).
15 698–750 Uncertain Mint?, [79–132], 0.24 g, fragment. MRE, later medieval plough-
mint layer, 2001; C52519/14370
(F1013459).
ABBASID DYNASTY (H 132–656/AD 749–1258)

Uncertain caliph (temp. al-Saffah (H 132–6/AD 749–54) or al-Mansur (H 136–58/AD 754–75))
16 752–756 Basra [al-Basra], [c. 135–38]. 0.30 g, fragment; broken sides; one nick MRE, modern plough soil,
(Iraq) by edge. 2001; C52519/14456 (F1011816).
17 750–764 Uncertain Mint?, [132–46]. Rev: Muhammad /rasul /Allah. 0.48 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 2, plough-
mint layer, 2000; C52517/882
(F990866).
18 750–764 Uncertain Mint?, [132–46]. Rev: ring visible. 0.35 g, fragment; broken Blindheim excav. 1960; fnr
mint or chipped edges, corroded. Skaare 1963:153, fig. 5. 721b.
Temp. al-Mansur (H 136–58/AD 754–75)
19 769/770 Baghdad [Madinat al-Salam], [1]52. Rev: M/R/[A]/[bakh]. 1.16 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 2, plough-
(Iraq) layer, 2002; C52517/1874
(F105266).
Temp. al-Mansur with al-Mahdi as heir (H 145–55/AD 769–72, in al-Rayy/al- Muhammadiyya only)
20 769–772 Teheran [al-Muhammadiyya], 1[52–55]. Rev: a dot. 1.30 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 2, plough-
(Iran) bent once. layer, 2001; C52517/2163
(F55161).
Temp. al-Mansur, cont.
21 772–775 Baghdad Madinat al-Salam, [156–58]. Rev: M/R/A/bakh [bakh]. 0.70 g, MRE, modern plough soil,
(Iraq) fragment; long side cut, short side recent break. 2001; C52519/14028 (F1008959).


no. date (AD)
al-Mahdi (H 158–169/AD 775–785)
22 778/779 Uncertain Mint?, [1](6?)2. Rev: corroded and obliterated. 0.54 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 2, modern
mint one side cut, one broken. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2557
(F55594).
23 779/780 Baghdad Madinat al-Salam, 163. Rev: dot//2 dots. 2.33 g, whole. M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iraq) plough soil, 2001; C52517/2155
(F55153).
24 775–782 Baghdad [Madinat al-Salam], 1[59–65]. Rev: [alMahdi]. 0.44 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Iraq) two cut sides, one recent chip; bent once. plough soil, 2000; C52517/165
(F990104).
al-Mahdi with Harun as heir (H 164–9/AD 780–5, in Africa and Anatolia only)
25 784/785 Harunabad, Harunabad, [1](68). Obv: very corroded. Rev: (Arminiya)/ M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Turkey) alKhalifa alMahdi /mimma amara bihi Harun /bin amir plough soil, 2002; C52517/1907
alMu’minin/Hasan. A scarce coin. 0.75 g, fragment; (F105302).
edge folded over double.
Uncertain caliph
26 776–787 Kairouan (al-‘Abbasiyya), (c. 160–70). Rev: bakh/M/R/A/Yazid. 1.70 g, whole, M-d survey, area 1A, modern
(Tunisia) bent into an open curl; corroded. plough soil, 2002; C52517/1731
(F105101).
27 776–787 Kairouan [al-‘Abbasiyya], [c. 160-70]. Rev: o/M/R/A/[Yazid]. 0.72 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 2 (but over
(Tunisia) obv. one nick by edge, one by side, rev. two nicks by side. the MRE site), modern plough
soil, 2000; C52517/732
(F990709).
28 776–787 Kairouan [al-‘Abbasiyya?], [c. 160–70]. Rev: [...]/[Yazid]. 0.56 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Tunisia) two sides cut, one broken; obv. three nicks by cut edges; rev. two plough soil, 2000; C52517/131
nicks by cut edges; bent once. (F990061).
29 776–787 Kairouan [al-‘Abbasiyya], c. 1[60–70]. Rev: o/M/R/A/[Yazid]. 0.43 g, M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Tunisia) fragment. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2303
(F55310).
30 776–790 Teheran (Iran) [al-Muhamma]diyya, [160–73]. Rev: MR /A salla Allah /àlayhi MRE, modern plough soil,
wasallama /alKhalifa alMahdi. 0.41 g fragment. 2001; C52519/14358 (F1013223).
CONTEMPORARIES OF THE IDRISIDS

Khalaf bin al-Muda’ (H 175–6/AD 791–2)
31 792/793 Tudgha [Tudgha], 1[76]. Rev: Khalaf /M/R/A /[Khalaf]. 1.20 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Morocco) long edge cut, short edge broken. plough soil, 2000; C52517/550
(F990507).

no. date (AD)
ABBASID (cont.)
Harun al-Rashid (H 170–193/AD 786–809) with al-Amin as heir (H 175–193/AD 791–809, at several mints)
32 795/796 Baghdad Madinat al-Salam, 179. Rev: MRA /mimma amara bihi alAmir M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iraq) alAmin /Muhammad bin amir alMu’minin /Ja`far. 2.73 g, whole; plough soil, 2001; C52517/2046
bent double, well-preserved inside the fold. See Blackburn, this (F55044).
vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.24.
33 798/799 Balkh [Madinat Balkh], [c.182]. 0.79 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 3, modern
(Afghanistan) plough soil, 2000; C52517/629
(F990594).
Harun al-Rashid, alone (H 170–193/AD 786–809)
34 802/803 Baghdad [Madinat al-Salam] (187). Rev: M/R/A—. 1.50 g, fragment. CRM, later medieval plough-
(Iraq) layer, 2000; C52516/4031
(F1004371).
35 802/803 Baghdad [Madinat al-Salam], 18[7]. Rev: M/R/A/—. 1.17 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 1A, modern
(Iraq) bent once. plough soil, 2000; C52517/351
(F990299).
36 803/804 Baghdad [Madinat al-Sa]lam, 188. Rev: M/R/A/ha’. 0.64 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iraq) corroded, chipped edges, cracked. plough soil, 2000; C52517/946
(F990933).
37 803/804 Teheran (al-Muhammadiyya), 1(88). Rev: M/R/A/ha’. 2.17 g, whole, M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iran) folded in half; well preserved inside, but corroded outside; plough soil, 2000; C52517/851
a narrow slot cut through bent profile. (F990835).
38 804/805 Baghdad Madinat al-Salam, 189. Rev: M/R/A/ha’. 2.30 g, M-d survey, area 2 (but over
(Iran) whole but chipped. the MRE site), modern plough
soil, 2000; C52517/741
(F990719).
39 804/805 Teheran al-Muhammadiyya, written ‘al-Hamdiyya’, 189. Rev: M/R/A/ha’. M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iran) 2.83 g, whole; obv. one nick at edge, rev. one nick at edge. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2062
(F55060).
40 804/805 Teheran (al-Muhammadiyya), (189). Rev: M/R/A/ha’. 2.49 g, whole, M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Iran) corroded. plough soil, 2000; C52517/858
(F990842).
41 805/806 Balkh [Madinat Balkh], [190]. Rev: [MRA] /mimma amara bihi M-d survey, area 3, modern
(Afghanistan) alAmir alMa’mun] /[Àbdallah bin amir alMu’minin wali] plough soil, 2000; C52517/54
/[à]hd [alMuslimin] /àyn (initial). Attribution by Lutz Ilisch, (F28720).
Tübingen. 0.46 g, fragment; bent double at point of triangular
fragment.
42 807/808 al-Rafiqa al-Rafiqa, [19]2. Rev: M/R/A/ra’. A scarce coin. 0.87 g fragment, M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Syria) corroded; broken. plough soil, 2002; C52517/1825
(F105211).


no. date (AD)
43 803–809 Teheran al-Muhammadiyya, [188–93]. Rev: M/R/A/[...]. 0.41 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 3, modern
(Iran) plough soil, 2000; C52517/62
(F28728).
Temp. al-Amin (H 193–8/AD 809–13), in the name of al-Ma’mun
44 809/810 Balkh Madinat Balkh, 194. Rev: MRA /mimma amara bihi alAmir M-d survey, area 3, modern
(Afghanistan) alMa’mun /wali àhd alMuslimin /Àbdallah bin amir alMu’minin. plough soil, 2000; C52517/668
2.69 g, whole, pierced for suspension; on rev. two nicks by edge; (F990639).
buckled but probably not deliberately. See Blackburn, this vol. Ch.
3:Fig. 3.23.
45 811/812 Samarkand [Madinat Sa]marqand, [19]6. Rev: MRA /mimma amara MRE, modern plough soil,
(Uzbekistan) bihi alImam /alMa’mun amir alMu’minin. 0.39 g, fragment; 2001; C52519/14833 (F1009202).
broken sides; one nick by edge.
Uncertain caliph
46 786–815 Uncertain Mint?, 1[70–99]. Rev top: ...âm?. 0.34 g, fragment; two nicks. M-d survey, area 2, modern
mint plough soil, 2000; C52517/795
(F990776).
47 809–815 Samarkand [Madinat Samarqand], 19[4], 19[7] or 19[9]. Rev: lillah /mimma M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Uzbekistan) amara bihi [alAmir/alImam alMa’mun] /.... Struck in the name of plough soil, 2002; C52517/1896
al-Ma’mun as caliph of the East or the whole caliphate. 0.58 g, (F105289).
fragment.
48 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. 1.04 g, large fragment (c. 80% of coin); heavily Blindheim excav. 1964; fnr
mint corroded, perhaps whole when lost, chipped edges. 1022e.
49 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. 0.94 g, fragment; very corroded; one side cut, M-d survey, area 1A, modern
mint one side broken. plough soil, 2000; C52517/341
(F990289).
50 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. 0.47 g, fragment; one nick by side; sides probably M-d survey, area 1A, modern
mint broken. plough soil, 2000; C52517/308
(F990254).
51 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. 0.27 g, fragment; heavily corroded, broken into Blindheim excav. 1964; fnr
mint three pieces. 1022g.
52 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. 0.14 g, fragment; bent once. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
mint plough soil, 2000; C52517236
(F990177).
53 750–816 Uncertain Mint? [132–200]. 0.11 g, fragment. MRE, later medieval plough-
mint layer, 2001; C52519/14341
(F1012859).
54 775–816 Uncertain Mint?, [159–200]. 0.34 g, fragment; very corroded. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(F55461).

no. date (AD)
55 775–816 Uncertain Mint?, [159–200]. 0.26 g, two fragments; four nicks on one side, M-d survey, area 1B, modern
mint none on the other. plough soil, 2000; C52517/124
(F990053).
56 805–816 Uncertain Mint?, [c.190–200]. Rev: [...]/M/R/A/[...]. 0.38 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(F55391).
Temp. al-Ma’mun (H 198–218/AD 813–833)
57 814–816 Samarkand Madinat Samarqand, [199–200]. Rev: L/M/R/A/[Dhu lRiyasa]tayn. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Uzbekistan) 0.75 g, fragment; bent once; obv. five nicks, rev. five nicks. plough soil, 2000; C52517/389
(F990338).
58 815/816 Samarkand [Madinat Samarqand], 200. Rev: [L]/M/R/A/[Dhu l]Riyasatayn. MRE, modern plough soil,
(Uzbekistan) 0.74 g, fragment; about half a coin, bent over double; two nicks. 2001; C52519/15088 (F1009538).
59 811–820 Teheran al-Muhammadiyya, [196–204]. Rev: [Dhu lRiya]satayn. 0.56 g, M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Iran) fragment. plough soil, 2002; C52517/1690
(F105053).
60 815–826 Uncertain Mint?, 2[00–10]. 0.52 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 2, modern
(F55013).
TAHIRID
Talha (H 207–213/AD 822–828), and Caliph al-Ma’mun
61 823–826 Samarkand Samarqand, [208–10]. Rev: [Muhammad rasul] / M-d survey, area 1A, modern
(Uzbekistan) [Allah alMa’mun] /[khalifat Allah] /[Talha]. 1.11 g, fragment; plough soil, 2000; C52517/343
obv. four nicks, rev. four nicks . (F990291).
ABBASID (cont.)
Temp. al-Ma’mun (cont.)
62 832/833 Samarkand Samarqand, [21]7. Rev: L/M/R/A/—-. 0.80 g, fragment; MRE, modern plough soil,
(Uzbekistan) one nick at edge. 2001; C52519/14840 (F1009214).
al-Mutawakkil (H 232–247/AD 847–861) with al-Mu`tazz as heir (H 240–47/AD 854–61)
63 859/860 Merv Marw, 2(4)5. Obv: (alMu`tazz billah). MRE, later medieval plough-
(Turkmenistan) Rev: L/M/R/A/alMutawakkil àla llah. 1.40 g, fragment; perhaps layer G41007/AL37654, 2001;
whole when lost, edge broken or chipped; pierced for suspension. C52519/14202 (F1012988).
64 855–861 Tashkent al-Shash, [241–46]. Obv: alMu`tazz billah. Rev: (alMutawakkil M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Uzbekistan) àla llah). 1.17 g, fragment; two cut sides, a third broken by bending. plough soil, 2000; C52517/1001
(F990995).


no. date (AD)
ALID of Tabaristan, also called ZAYDID

al-Hasan bin Zayd (H 250–70/AD 864–84)
65 867 Amol (Amul), [253]. Obv: alDaì ila lhaqq (he who calls for the truth). M-d survey, area 2 (but over
(N Iran) Outer circular legend Koran 42:23. Rev: L/M/R/A /alHasan the MRE site), modern plough
bin Zayd. Circular legend Koran 22:39. 2.07 g, fragment. soil, 2000; C52517/728
(F990703).
ABBASID (cont.)
Uncertain caliph (nearly blank flans due to worn-out dies, from mints in Uzbekistan and Iran
(Rispling 2004a:34)).
66 844–869 Uzbekistan Mint?, [c. 230–55]. 1.20 g, cut half, three nicks at edge. Blindheim excav. 1960; fnr
or Iran Skaare 1963:152–3, fig. 3. See Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.25. 723a.
67 844–869 Uzbekistan Mint? [c. 230–55]. 1.05 g, fragment; faint scratches perhaps M-d survey, area 2 (but over
or Iran representing a graffito, originally stronger as the surface is the MRE site, not shown on
corroded (see discussion in Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:68 and Fig. 3.20 because exact find
Fig. 3.25). location is uncertain), 2002;
C52517/1637 (F1035632).
68 844–869 Uzbekistan Mint?, [c. 230–55]. 0.70 g, fragment; heavily corroded, one nick?, M-d survey, area 2, modern
or Iran possibly two cut edges originally. plough soil, 2002; C52517/1865
(F105256).
69 844–869 Uzbekistan Mint?, [c. 230–55]. 0.45 g, fragment; broken edges, one nick. M-d survey, area 1A, modern
or Iran plough soil 1999; C52264/126
(F940463).
70 844–869 Uzbekistan Mint?, [c. 230–55]. 0.24 g, fragment; one edge cut. M-d survey, area 2, modern
or Iran plough soil, 2001; C52517/2014
(F55012).
71 844–883 Uzbekistan Mint?, 2[30–69]. Rev: [L]/M/R/A/[....] llah. 1.03 g, fragment; M-d survey, area 2, modern
or Iran bent twice and flattened. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2031
(F55029).
al-Mu`tamid (H 256–79/AD 870–92)
72 873–884 Afghanistan? Mint?, c .2[60–70]. Thick flan, typical of the mints of Andaraba, Blindheim excav. 1963; fnr 963a.
Balkh and Banjhir (Afghanistan). 0.80 g, fragment.
73 873–884 Afghanistan? Mint?, [c. 260–70]. Thick flan, as preceding coin. 0.74 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
plough soil, 2001; C52517/2607
(F55644).
Uncertain caliph? Illegible fragments
74 833–892 Uncertain Mint?, [219–79]. 0.70 g, fragment; heavily corroded, chipped and Blindheim excav. 1964; fnr
mint corroded edges. 1022c.

no. date (AD)
75 833–892 Uncertain Mint?, [219–79]. Rev: ring 2. 0.32 g, fragment. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(F990004).
76 833–892 Uncertain Mint?, [219–79]. 0.28 g, fragment; corroded, broken edges. Blindheim excav. 1964;
mint fnr 1022d.
77 833–892 Uncertain Mint?, [219–79]. 0.26 g, fragment; heavily corroded, Blindheim excav. 1964;
mint with two small pieces detached, chipped edges. fnr 1022b.
78 833–892 Uncertain Mint?, [219–79]. 0.11 g, small fragment; broken edges. Blindheim excav. 1963;
mint fnr 963b.
SAMANID
Ismaìl bin Ahmad (H 279–95/AD 892–907) and Caliph al-Muktafi (H 289–95/AD 902–8)
79 902–907 Balkh? [Balkh?], [290–95?]. Rev: floral ha’ of “Muhammad”. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Afghanistan) [Ismaìl b Ahmad?]. 0.25 g, fragment. plough soil, 2002; C52517/1963
(F105364).
80 906/907 Andaraba [Andaraba or Balkh], [29]4. Obv below: [...]. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
or Balkh Rev: [Ismaìl b Ahmad]. 0.32 g, fragment. plough soil, 2000; C52517/121
(Afghanistan) (F990049).
Ahmad bin Ismaìl (H 295–301/AD 907–14) and Caliph al-Muqtadir (H 295–320/AD 908–32)
81 907–914 Samarkand? (Samarqand?), [295–301]. Rev: (alMuqtadir billah) / M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Uzbekistan) Ahm(ad bin Ismaìl). 1.26 g, fragment. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2135
(F55133).
Nuh bin Nasr (H 331–43/AD 943–54)

and Caliph al-Mustakfi (H 333–34/AD 944–46, died 338, posthumously until H 346/AD 957)
82 945/946 Tashkent al-Shash, [334]. Rev: alMustakfi billah /Nuh bin Nasr. 0.80 g, M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Uzbekistan) fragment; broken edges. plough soil, 2001; C52517/2148
(F55146).
83 945–951 Samarkand [Samarqand], 33[4], 33[7] or 33[9]. M-d survey, area 3, modern
(Uzbekistan) Rev: alMustakfi billah /Nuh bin Nasr. 1.26 g, fragment. plough soil, 2000; C52517/69
(F28735).
84 952–954 Tashkent [al-Shash], [c. 341–42]. Rev: [alMustakfi billah] / M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Uzbekistan) [Nuh bin Na]sr. 0.46 g, fragment. plough soil, 2000; C52517/899
(F990884).
85 951–955 Andaraba [Andaraba], 34[0–3]. Rev: [alMustakfi billah] / Nuh [bin Nasr]. M-d survey, area 1B, modern
(Afghanistan) Date possibly ‘300’, decade and unit being omitted due to lack of plough soil, 2000; C52517/369
space. 0.58 g, fragment; both sides broken, part of one side folded (F990317).
back; graffito continuing under fold and off the broken edge
See Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:67 and Fig. 3.24.


no. date (AD)
IMITATIONS
Volga Bulgars
86 901/902 Volga Bulgaria Mint?, date? Obv: retrograde legends. Rev: alMu`tadid billah M-d survey, area 2, modern
(Russia) /Ismaìl b Ahmad. Dateable to 289 (t.p.q. of the Klukowicz hoard, plough soil, 2001; C52517/2539
Poland). Rispling Chain 65, 23/R4 (new obv. die). 0.63 g, fragment; (F55576).
two scratches by cut edge, probably accidental; bent once.
Unknown origin (not Volga Bulgars)
87 900–950? Uncertain Mint?, date? Obscure legends. Abbasid prototype from 9th century, M-d survey, area 2, modern
mint but possibly struck later. Rispling: — (new dies). 1.24 g, fragment; plough soil, 2000; C52517/842
bent twice and broken along one bend (part of breaking process?); (F990825).
one scratch at edge on each side, probably accidental.
UNIDENTIFIED ISLAMIC DIRHAMS, UNCERTAIN DYNASTY
88 698–955 Uncertain Mint? date? (79–343). 0.97 g, large fragment; heavily corroded, Blindheim excav. 1964;
mint chipped edges. fnr 1022f.
89 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.47 g, fragment; corroded, in three pieces. Blindheim excav. 1964;
mint fnr 1022h.
90 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.41 g, fragment; corroded, broken edges. Blindheim excav. 1966;
mint fnr 1052a.
91 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.29 g, fragment; folded over, CRM, later medieval plough-
mint heavily corroded and chipped. layer, 2000; C52516/4030
(F1004370).
92 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.24 g, fragment; corroded, Blindheim excav. 1966;
mint broken edges. fnr 1052b.
93 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.21 g, fragment; heavily corroded, Blindheim excav. 1965;
mint chipped edges. fnr 1031b.
mint chipped edges. fnr 1115b.
mint chipped edges. fnr 1115a.
mint chipped edges. fnr 963c.
mint with two small pieces detached. fnr 1115c.
98 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.09 g, four tiny fragments; MRE, later medieval plough-
mint heavily corroded. layer, 2001; C52519/14348
(F1013225).

no. date (AD)
99 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.08 g, tiny fragment; corroded chip from Blindheim excav. 1960s;
mint a coin. without no. (b).
100 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.07 g, tiny fragment; corroded and broken Blindheim excav. 1960;
mint into four pieces. Skaare 1963:152–3, fig. 4. without no. (a).
101 698–955 Uncertain Mint?, date? (79–343). 0.03 g, tiny fragment; heavily corroded, Blindheim excav. 1970;
mint in four pieces. fnr 1115d.
HOARD/CRUCIBLE MELT
102 A partially molten cake of silver from a crucible formed from at M-d survey, area 1B, modern
least 12 Islamic coins and at least two pieces of hack-silver. 29.81 g; plough soil, 2002; C52517/1737
max dimensions: width 28 mm, length 31 mm, height 15 mm. (F105110). See Blackburn, this
In areas that had been in contact with the curved surface of the vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.1.
crucible the silver has been thoroughly molten, leaving bubbles and
blowholes. At the top and centre of the lump less fusion has occurred
and elements of the original objects can be seen. The hack-silver
includes a plain cylindrical rod 3.4 mm in diam. and 14.7 mm long
(wt. c. 1.5 g), and a piece of rod of rectangular section 6.7 x 5.0 mm
and 14.1 mm long (wt. c. 5 g). Both of these have an end that was
clearly cut rather than broken. The remains of some 12 coin frag-
ments are visible, but only two of these are identifiable, as follows:
Abbasid, al-Mahdi (H 158–169/AD 775–785)
A 782/783 Kairouan (al-Àbbasiyya), (c. 166). Only rev. visible.

(Tunisia) Rev: bakh/M/R/A/(Yazid).
Abbasid, Uncertain caliph
B 750–816 Uncertain Mint?, [132–200]. Only obv. visible.

mint
C-L At least ten further coin fragments, unidentified.
This lump should be treated as a hoard, rather than single-finds,

as the items were gathered together on one occasion, albeit probably
for silver working or casting into an ingot, rather than as a deposit
intended to be preserved intact. The terminus post quem of the two
identifiable coins is 782, but in the context of the Kaupang site the
group is likely to be from the second half of the 9th or early 10th
century. See discussion in Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:32–4.

4.2 Coin finds from the Huseby site

no. date (AD)
VIKING-AGE
Anglo-Saxon
Harthacnut (2nd reign, 1040–42)
Hu1 1040–42 Oxford? Silver penny, Arm-and-Sceptre type. Uncertain mint (Oxford?), Excavations at Huseby,
(England) moneyer Ælwig (Æthelwig). Obv. +H[ARDA]CNVT RE, bust left unstratified over building plat-
with sceptre; rev. +ÆLPIG ON [ ]:, voided cross with central form, 2001; C52518/920.
lozenge, within inner circle (Hildebrand 1881:type B); a moneyer
Æthelwig is recorded from coins of this type at Oxford, Wallingford
and Winchester, and this specimen is possibly from the same rev.
die as SCBI 40, 1695 (Oxford). 0.47 g, fragment; about half a coin,
broken edge, corroded and further broken in two pieces.
German
Lower Lotharingia: Archbishops of Cologne
Archbishop Sigwin (1079–89)
Hu2 1079–89 Cologne/Köln Silver denar (Hävernick 1935:no. 392). Obv. [+SIGV]VIN Excavations at Huseby,
(Germany) [ARCHEPIS], profile bust left with three large crosses on mantle, unstratified over building plat-
holding crosier; rev. +AIN[CTA COLONAIS], walled building form, 2001; C52518/258.
with three towers. 0.52 g, fragment of cut halfpenny; long side cut,
short side broken.
LATER MEDIEVAL
Danish
Kristian I (1448–81)
Hu3 1448–81 Malmö Base silver hvid (Galster 1972:no. 23c). 0.39 g, whole coin. Excavations at Huseby,
(Sweden) unstratified over building
platform, 2001; C52518/390.
German
Lübeck City
Hu4 1559 Lübeck Base silver Sechsling, 1559 (Schulten 1974:no. 1842). 0.37 g, Excavations at Huseby,
(Germany) fragment; whole, but broken into three pieces. unstratified over building
platform, 2001; C52518/2.
Cat. no. 01 Cat. no. 02 Cat. no. 03



Cat. no. Hu1 Cat. no. Hu2 Cat. no. Hu3
Cat. no. Hu4
Hacksilver and Ingots 5

b i rg i t ta h å rd h
The use of silver as a means of payment in the early Viking Age is discussed here with particular refer-
ence to the newly retrieved material from Kaupang. 115 pieces of hacksilver are examined statistically accord-
ing to weight, and the results are discussed in connection with Viking-age silver hoards from Norway,
Southern Scandinavia and North-Western Europe. The evidence is also compared with that from the central
place at Uppåkra in Skåne.
The degree of fragmentation is very high, the majority of the fragments weighing between one and two
grammes at most. In this respect the hacksilver from Kaupang matches the typical hacksilver hoards of
Scandinavia and the Baltic region. This probably indicates that silver was used intensely as a means of payment
or currency, and that even commodities of everyday character could be paid for with silver.
Special attention is paid to cast ingots and fragments of rings. One ingot with a weight of 48.3 g is of special
interest as it belongs to a group of early Viking-age weight-adjusted ingots that are concentrated in South-
Western Scandinavia, Schleswig-Holstein, The Netherlands and Gotland. It is clear that these ingots were cast
to correspond to a fixed unit of value. It is possible to connect them with the Scandinavian “mark”, of which a
weight-unit around 50 g is a fraction. However, it is also possible that weight-units from Russia, possibly the
Perm region, could have been the basis.
Amongst the pieces of hacksilver there are several fragments of spiral-striated and stamped rings of a type
common in what is now Denmark. These rings are weight-adjusted in the same way as the ingots, belong to
the earliest part of the Viking Age, and are also to be regarded as some kind of money in large units. Some
fragments of ribbon-shaped armrings, often stamped, show a connection with Denmark, Western Europe,
Britain and Ireland.
Of particular importance is the early date of the Kaupang fragments: several of them belong to the 9th cen-
tury. The evidence of the coins corroborates the picture presented by the non-minted silver. A few pieces of
hacksilver from dated contexts reinforce the evidence for the use of silver as a means of payment from the
mid-9th century at the latest. The new evidence from Kaupang, together with that from Birka and Uppåkra, is
extremely important in supplementing the situation suggested by the silver hoards.
5.1 Introduction payment. A leading concern of this study is to discuss

I shall present the non-minted hacksilver from Kaup- how the fragmentation may be understood. The
ang principally with the aim of discussing its possible character of the material will be described, and as far
significance in the economy of the town. The materi- as possible I shall try to see whether the fragments
al consists of pieces of silver retrieved from the settle- derive from objects that can be identified or if they
ment site at Kaupang. In several cases it can be shown are pieces of non-specific sheet metal, rods etc. An
that silver objects have been deliberately cut, proba- important question will be whether it is possible to
bly to be used as currency in a weight-based system. determine the origin of some pieces. Also important
There is further a group of fragments without clear for this study is the condition of the fragments: is it
cut marks. These are more difficult to assess and may possible not only to ascertain if they were cut or bro-
derive from objects that were accidentally broken, ken, but also if there are pecks, graffiti, and the like?
although they may, of course, still have been used for Several of the fragments derive from ingots. The
5. hårdh: hacksilver and ingots 95

silver from the settlement site of Kaupang included

five complete ingots. These will also be considered Hacksilver/currency 87
here, as ingots are frequently a feature of silver hoards Ingots 5
of the Viking Age and were sometimes produced Fragments 43
according to a fixed weight-system. They could thus Other 6
likewise have served as a means of payment. Mounts, Continental origin 1
Silver of the same character as that from Kaupang Coins 70
has been retrieved from a number of settlement sites Production waste 26
in South-Western Scandinavia, including Tissø and
Strøby on Sjælland and Uppåkra in Skåne. Uppåkra Total 238
is the largest rural Iron-age settlement in Southern
Scandinavia, and seems to have functioned as a cen- Table 5.1 Silver objects from the excavations of 1998–2002.
tral place throughout the first millennium AD. The Not included are a few objects with silver mounted on cop-
Viking-age record from Uppåkra is substantial, per or iron or objects with a high copper content.
showing that the place then was a multifunctional
site with craft, trade, external contacts and elements
of aristocratic character. Not least, the silver finds are In a coming volume in this series the mounts of Con-
abundant (Larsson and Hårdh 1998; Hårdh 2000; tinental origin will, together with other Continental
Larsson 2002). I shall compare the hacksilver from items, be discussed by Egon Wamers (in prep.).
Kaupang with the material from Uppåkra as there is a Complete pieces of jewellery of Scandinavian origin
clear correspondence between them. I have also will be discussed by Hårdh, together with other Scan-
analysed both groups myself. Other settlement finds, dinavian pieces of jewellery of copper alloy (Hårdh,
mainly from Southern Scandinavia, will be consid- in prep.b). The coins, 70 finds, will be discussed sepa-
ered as far as is practical. I shall also make compar- rately by Mark Blackburn and by Christoph Kilger in
isons with hacksilver from silver hoards in Southern this volume (Chs. 3 and 7) but the results of their
Norway and other areas. These comparisons should studies are considered here together with the non-
contribute to a better understanding of the silver minted silver. Silver objects, melts and lumps, that
finds from the Kaupang settlement site. clearly derive from the production process, 26 pieces,
A fundamental evaluation of the evidence is will not be considered here as they will be treated by
appropriate here. The silver objects from Kaupang Unn Pedersen (in prep.). That leaves a total of 135
have been retrieved mainly through metal detecting. objects to be considered here (Tab. 5.1).
The Uppåkra material has been found using the same Of the pieces labelled as hacksilver or currency,
methods and by the same detector specialists. In this three are known from Cultural Resource Manage-
respect the two collections are comparable. However, ment (CRM) excavations, 55 derive from metal
the soil conditions differ between the two sites. Metal detector surveys of the plough-soil and 29 from the
objects are generally better preserved at Uppåkra main research excavation 2000–2002. (For an over-
than at Kaupang. This can of course bias weight view of the various excavations, see Pilø and Skre,
analysis, especially as the fragments are usually very this vol. Ch. 2:Fig. 2.4.)
small. As for comparisons with fragments from silver The important question is of course how the sil-
hoards, a serious problem is whether the hoard has ver fragments at Kaupang and other Viking-age sites
been recovered in its entirety. The reason for present- should be understood. The similarity to the objects in
ing the range of weights amongst the fragments here the silver hoards, as well as the abundant occurrence
is to give a general picture of the degree of fragmenta- of coins from the same sites, might indicate that the
tion as a point of departure for discussing the use of silver was used to a large extent as currency. Weights
the silver. and fragments of balances are also numerous in sea-
sonal market places and urban sites of the Viking Age
5.2 The Kaupang silver finds of 1998–2002 and have been associated with hacksilver. The silver
From the new work at Kaupang 238 silver objects fragments might of course also be remnants from
have been recorded. Amongst these a number of cat- handicraft in precious metals.
egories have been identified (Tab. 5.1). The largest The waste products, mentioned above, are an
group, 87 pieces, consists of cut pieces of wire, sheet indication that silver was worked at the site. Drops of
metal and ingots. It is frequently also possible to gold show that gold was also worked here. Other tra-
identify fragmented pieces of jewellery amongst ces of metal handicraft in Kaupang include the
these, mainly armrings. This group is here referred to unique collection of lead models, which will be dis-
as hacksilver/currency or “betalingssølv”. Another cussed by Unn Pedersen. The distribution of the
group consists of fragments, indeterminable objects, hacksilver at the site corresponds closely with the dis-
some of them utterly corroded. These two categories tribution of waste from the production process,
will be treated in this article together with the ingots. which is a problem for the interpretation of cut pieces

and fragments, as these may equally well derive from 5.4 Silver as currency
metalworking. (On the distribution of silver and re- The economy of the Viking Age in Northern Europe
lated items: Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:Fig. 6.30.) can be divided into two major blocs where the means
of payment were based respectively on coins and on
5.3 Silver finds from Charlotte Blindheim’s weights of precious metal, i.e. silver. On the Con-
excavations 1950–1974 tinent, the borderline between the two systems ran
The silver finds from the earlier excavations at the along the eastern border of the Carolingian-Ottonian
settlement site under Charlotte Blindheim total 60 realm at the Elbe. West of this border the economy of
pieces with a total weight of 115 g (Tab. 5.2). They are the 8th–10th century was mainly monetized, whereas
fragments, in several cases intentionally cut, and melt east of it we find the typical hacksilver hoards with a
lumps (unpub. reps., KHM). Amongst the cut frag- mixture of coins of varied origin together with pieces
ments there are pieces of stamp-decorated armrings, of jewellery, ingots, rods etc., all cut into small frag-
pins or fragments of pins which could have belonged ments, indicating that the silver was valued according
to ring-pins, and a couple of spiral-striated rods, to weight. It is also worth noticing that the distribu-
probably from rings of the so-called Permian type or tion of Islamic coins in Northern Europe corre-
something closely related (further, below). 29 coins sponds sharply with this economic division. Very few
are reported to have been found (Skaare 1976; dirhams have been found west of the border (Steuer
Blindheim et al. 1999:119). An ingot mentioned by et al. 2002:135 with refs.). In 9th-century Scandinavia
Blindheim (1969:20) is not included in the docu- coins seem to have been struck only in the far south-
mented material and is probably lost. In types of west, the Jutish peninsula with the centres of Hedeby
objects and the way they have been treated while in and Ribe.
use, the silver finds from this settlement excavation The use of silver as currency in Viking-age Scan-
correspond closely with the material retrieved during dinavia is of course connected to the massive inflow
the field surveys and excavations of 1998–2002. of silver and also to the contacts with developed, mo-
netized economies in east and west. The abundance
of silver, usually as collections of hoarded hacksilver,
Fragments of stamp-decorated armrings 3 is a strong indication that parts of the North Euro-
Pin/pin-fragments 5 pean Viking-age economy used currency in the form
Piece of hacksilver of fragmented silver.
(included two spiral-striated rods) 22 We must assume that knowledge of coins and
Melts and lumps 9 their use were well established amongst those Scan-
Missing 6 dinavians who travelled and traded. However, Scan-
Unidentifiable 15 dinavian Viking-age society was not at a sufficient
level of organization for a monetized system to func-
Total 60 tion. Balances and weights are occasionally known in
Scandinavia from as early as the Roman and Migra-
Table 5.2 Material from the Blindheim settlement excavation Periods. From the Early Viking Age there is
tion, compiled by Heyerdahl-Larsen. Unpublished reports much evidence of standardized weights and balances
in KHM. so that, together with the inflow of Islamic silver at
the same time, the prerequisites for a weight-based
economy were in place. According to Steuer the “Ge-
The methods of investigation in the two campaigns wichtsgeldwirtschaft”, based on Islamic influences,
were different, however. The majority of the silver spread almost instantaneously from the interior of
from 1998–2002 was found using metal detectors. Russia to the Jutlandic peninsula at the end of the 9th
Besides, all intact deposits and a high proportion of century (Steuer et al. 2002:137 with refs.).
the disturbed deposits were water sieved and it is There are several indications that other com-
obvious that the pieces retrieved in these ways are modities or raw materials were also used as currency,
smaller on average than those from the earlier inves- such as iron bars, textiles or furs (Herrmann 1982:
tigations. This is the reason why the silver from the 105). Silver, however, had many advantages. It could
old excavations has not been included in the tables only be obtained with certain efforts and is almost
and diagrams in this article. indestructible, and so can be hoarded in the ground.
Some coins and hacksilver have been retrieved Most importantly, it could of course be cut into
from the graves at Bikjholberget. Three graves con- smaller units, while fragments could also be melted
tained coins and another two graves had traces of and combined into bigger units.
metal that might be remnants of coins. Interestingly, The result of such handling of the silver is, in my
a richly equipped male grave from the 9th century view, the phenomenon called hacksilver. By this term
contained some hacksilver (Blindheim et al. 1999: is meant silver objects, coins, pieces of jewellery,
119). ingots etc. that have deliberately been cut into pieces.

Typical of hacksilver hoards is that any single object, Some early dirham hoards contain coin frag-
ornament or coin is represented by only a single fragments, occasionally in great quantity, that could be
ment, from which it can be inferred that the rest of an indication of silver having been weighed and frag-
the object has been dispersed. This is the main reason mented in the course of transactions. Thus the two
for regarding the hacksilver hoards as currency recently found Gotlandic hoards from Spillings,
hoards. Othem, with t.p.q.’s of 867 and 871 respectively, con-
The hacksilver hoards are, as noted, composed of tained 5,100 and 9,200 coins that are fragmented to a
coins of varying origins and other objects such as jew- degree of about 90% (Rispling 2004c; Welin 1938:
ellery, rods and ingots. Where it can be determined, 124). Typical of these hoards is that they consist of
the non-minted objects in the silver hoards prove to highly fragmented coins together with complete
be mainly of local origin. This is good evidence that heavy items of jewellery, often weighing c. 50–200 g,
Viking-age silver hoards were normally collected and large fragments of rings, rods etc., usually weigh-
within the regions in which they are found. This is ing tens of grammes.
also why the non-minted material is better than the Two important silver hoards have recently been
coins as a point of departure for a regional analysis of found at Westerklief, Wieringen, in Frisia. The first
how silver was treated, fragmented, pecked etc., and hoard found, Westerklief I, contained a mixture of
for showing how it was used. Coins had often trav- Islamic and Carolingian coins together with ingots
elled long distances and we can seldom determine and jewellery, complete and fragmented, of Scandi-
where they were fragmented or otherwise trans- navian types. This hoard was probably buried around
formed. Thus, for example, Brather (1997:83 with 850. The second hoard, Westerklief II, had a different
refs.) points out that after c. 830 silver coins could be character, as the presence of hacksilver was much
cut up even in the Islamic world, so that they could more pronounced. Out of 95 Islamic coins 53 had
have arrived in Northern Europe already fragmented. deliberately been fragmented. This hoard had a t.p.q.
The silver hoards of Northern Europe are not a of 877. The mixture of Islamic and Carolingian coins
homogeneous group in any way. They vary regionally of almost the same date shows, according to Beste-
and chronologically according to frequency, compo- man, that Islamic coins were circulating in Scandi-
sition, weight, and degree of fragmentation. Some navia in the 870s. Besteman maintains that the differ-
hoards are dominated by complete items of jewellery. ence between the two hoards shows how during the
They can therefore not be collections of currency but short chronological interval between them silver had
must be regarded as caches of treasures, family for- moved from a primarily social to a more pronounced
tunes, gifts used in social strategies, or offerings. The economic role. He regards the two finds as Scandi-
appearance of the hoards indicates that silver, and navian, implying that this change in attitude towards
gold too, served a multiplicity of purposes which also silver was developing during the third quarter of the
varied regionally (Hårdh 1996). 9th century in Scandinavia (Besteman 2002:448–50).
Silver was abundant in Scandinavia from as early That hacksilver was a well-known phenomenon
as the 9th century. Brather records a number of silver in England and Ireland in the 9th and early 10th cen-
hoards containing Islamic dirhams with a t.p.q. turies is confirmed by a number of hoards that have
before 900. These hoards are predominantly found much in common with contemporary Scandinavian
in eastern mainland Sweden and on the Baltic hoards both in composition and in content. The
islands. It is also in these regions that the largest large Cuerdale hoard from Lancashire comprises
dirham hoards have been found. Only in these parts about 7,000 coins of Anglo-Saxon, Continental and
of Scandinavia and the Baltic region are hoards with Islamic issue. The non-minted objects are ingots and
more than a thousand coins known. The islands of jewellery, complete and cut. The pieces of jewellery
Åland and Rügen also have a large share of early also show a mixed origin, Anglo-Saxon, Scandi-
dirhams. However, a number of early dirham hoards navian, Pictish, Carolingian and Hiberno-Norse
are known from the Southern Baltic coastal regions, (Graham Campbell 1992a:10–11). The Cuerdale hoard
between the Odra estuary and Southern Denmark. was deposited early in the 10th century, c. 905. The
These hoards contain fewer coins but there is also an hoard from Croydon, Surrey, with coins of mixed
element of jewellery in them. In South-Western origin, amongst them three Islamic ones, together
Scandinavia there are three hoards which are impor- with hacksilver, is of even earlier date, c. 872 (Brooks
tant to consider together with the Kaupang evidence and Graham-Campbell 2000:69–70). This hoard too
because all three belong to the 9th century and con- has hacksilver with parallels in Scandinavian contexts
tain early Islamic coins. These are the Southern (further below). A number of Irish hoards deposited
Norwegian hoards from Hoen, Buskerud, and Os in during the first decades of the 10th century show the
Halden, together with that from Önum, Kettilstorp, same mixture of coins with ingots, pieces of jewellery
Västergötland (Brather 1997:abb. 4 and 6; Fuglsang and hacksilver (Sheehan 1998:169).
and Wilson 2006; for further discussion of 9th centu- In Scandinavia, first and foremost in its southern
ry hoards see Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:214–35). and western areas, 9th-century finds of precious met-

als often show a close connection to Continental was a need for small units of silver, and hacksilver is
Europe, mainly with the Carolingian realm. The thus thought to be a stage anticipating the introduc-
magnificent gold hoard from Hoen mentioned above tion of a monetized economy. The intense economic
contains pieces of jewellery of varied origin, includ- development of this period, starting in the southern
ing several Carolingian items. The hoard from Hel- part of the Jutlandic peninsula, was stimulated by the
jarp, Tofta in Skåne and the recently discovered advanced economy of the Carolingian Empire
Duesminde II hoard from Lolland, Denmark, consist (Hårdh 1996:168; for a different view see Kilger, this
of objects from Carolingian workshops (Hårdh vol. Ch. 7:211–14). Hacksilver is especially abundant
1976:70; Schilling 2003; Schilling and Wamers 2005). in Skåne and in the West Slavic regions. The frag-
The Heljarp and Duesminde II hoards were probably mentation of silver seems to reach a peak here in the
collected in Western Europe and brought to late 10th century and around the year 1000.
Scandinavia as collections of valuables, either plun- Interestingly, hacksilver hoards seem to decrease in
dered or as exquisite gifts. This type of hoard cannot Jutland in the later part of the 10th century, just when
be used as evidence of the use of gold or silver as cur- the phenomenon was at its height further east. This
rency in 9th-century Scandinavia. may be because Hedeby and adjacent regions had
According to my definition, a typical hacksilver already adopted a monetary economy in the 10th
hoard consists of coins, coin-fragments and non- century, with hacksilver going out of use. This coin-
minted objects. Of the latter at least 50% should be cides with the most intense period of production of
fragmented and at least 50% should weigh less than 5 the so-called Hedeby bracteates around 975/980
g (Hårdh 1996:93). This type of hoard is best ex- (Malmer 1966:247, 1990:160; Hårdh 1996:128–9;
plained as a collection of currency. The extremely Wiechmann 1996:191).
small fragments are evidence that silver was used The recent excavations at Birka, Uppåkra and
intensely and even on an everyday level to pay for Kaupang have revealed a new aspect of the use of sil-
inexpensive items (Hårdh 1996:84 with refs.). These ver as currency in the Viking Age. At all three places
hoards generally consist only of silver objects, while fragments of silver coins and other objects have been
gold, copper-alloy jewellery, and beads of glass, cor- found in the stratified deposits or in the plough-
nelian etc., which are typical of other types of hoard, layer. What is important is that coins and coin-frag-
do not occur. Also typical is that more than one fragments occur together with substantial quantities of
ment of any single artefact is rarely found. The mix- small pieces of non-minted silver of the same charac-
ture, seen above all in the diverse origins of the coins, ter as those from the typical hacksilver hoards. The
together with the degree of fragmentation, shows scattered distribution at all the three sites means that
that the silver has circulated and changed hands sev- it is probable that the silver was lost bit by bit, just as
eral times. The hacksilver itself changes in a regular we might imagine of currency handled during trade.
way both chronologically and geographically, first All three sites are similar in respect of the chronology
and foremost in the degree of fragmentation. For and provenance of coins (Blackburn, this vol. Ch.
instance the hacksilver hoards as defined above 3:48–51) and the types of non-minted objects. It is of
appear earliest in present-day Denmark. The phe- great importance that the hacksilver from the three
nomenon of hacksilver, then, gradually spread to the sites, according to the dating of the coins, indicates
north and east, so that hacksilver hoards as a phe- an earlier use of silver as currency than the evidence
nomenon appear later in the rest of Scandinavia. In of the silver hoards does. Thus the silver from the
some regions, such as Western Norway, there are Kaupang excavations, together with the finds from
hardly any hacksilver hoards at all. The chronological Birka and Uppåkra, gives us a new and important
and regional variation indicates that the hoards insight into economic practices in the earliest part of
reflect the composition of currency in different parts the Viking Age (for Birka see Gustin 1998, 2004a;
of Scandinavia and the Baltic region, and also that Rispling 2004a; see also Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8 and
they may show how the development of means of Skre, this vol. Ch. 10).
payment proceeded in different regions (Hårdh 1976,
1996). 5.5 The hacksilver
In Scandinavia, hacksilver hoards are primarily a This analysis concerns 115 pieces of silver. There is a
phenomenon of the 10th century and the first distinction between hacksilver/currency and frag-
decades of the 11th. The earliest hacksilver hoards in ments. The first group consists of pieces that have
Scandinavia, dated to the beginning of the 10th cen- definitely been cut. The fragments, on the other
tury, are concentrated in South-Western and West- hand, are small pieces, often extensively corroded,
ern Jutland, South-Western and Western Sweden, and simply difficult to determine in this respect.
and in the Oslofjord region. This was probably the 87 silver objects have, as mentioned above, been
earliest area in Scandinavia to develop the regular use labelled as hacksilver or currency. Of the 43 silver
of silver as a means of payment. The highly fragment- objects from the investigations of 1998–2002 that are
ed silver in the hacksilver hoards indicates that there classified as “fragments”, many are very small and

heavily corroded. Several of them were discarded often refer to “Gresham’s Law”, which is, if someone
after x-radiography as the silver was totally dissolved. possesses two coins, one with a high standard of fine-
The remaining fragments, 28 pieces, should possibly ness and the other with a lower one, the high-quality
also be considered with the hacksilver group. How- coin will be hoarded while the lower one will be used
ever, this group of fragments is of course even more for payment (Herschend 1989). In the same way it is
difficult to assess than the group which has been possible that more varied and perhaps older frag-
labelled hacksilver. I shall therefore give both tables ments were used in everyday exchange in preference
and diagrams that include the “fragment” group, and to cutting up more complete coins, which should
tables and diagrams without it. preferably be kept for the future and hoarded. This
Special attention will be paid to the five complete means that the silver hoards might after all consist of
ingots and the ten spiral-striated rods, which proba- a particular selection of exchangeable valuables.
bly derive from weight-adjusted rings, and are thus Coins from settlements, which are regarded as lost,
some kind of value unit. These objects will be consid- would consequently give a more realistic picture of
ered separately, with a special discussion of weights. the circulating coin stock. This might also hold true
for non-minted silver to a certain extent, especially
5.5.1 Analysis of the hacksilver by weight for the small fragments which could easily be lost.
If a high proportion of the hacksilver from the Kaup- Larger pieces of silver, complete rings and the like,
ang settlement is to be understood as lost currency were certainly not lost, and would not in any case
we could expect a certain correspondence in weights have been left lying on the ground (e.g. Christopher-
with geographically and chronologically related sil- sen 1989b:3; Carelli 2001:191–4). These sorts of com-
ver hoards. Naturally there are several potential parison between silver collected from various urban
sources of error in such an analysis. The hoards are and rural settlements and silver from silver hoards
closed finds, concealed at a specific moment, but may thus cannot be used to prove anything, but rather
also be an accumulated collection to which the owner provide a point of departure for discussing the func-
has successively added more silver. tion of the silver.
The silver deriving from settlement deposits may The silver hoards are principally to be regarded as
be objects successively lost by many owners over a collections of currency whereas the silver from the
period of time. In this respect it is comparable with plough-layers and stratified deposits at Kaupang and
coins found on such sites. The silver in the hacksilver Uppåkra probably derives from multiple activities.
hoards shows such regularity in chronological and The record from Uppåkra is even harder to interpret
geographical variation that the only reasonable than that from Kaupang. The main reason for this is
explanation can be that these hoards give a fairly rep- that the central place of Uppåkra was in continuous
resentative image of the system of payment at these use for an extremely long time, with central-place
periods in these areas (Hårdh 1996). Numismatists functions for about a thousand years. Some of the sil-

Kaupang Uppåkra
grammes % Number grammes % Number
0–0.9 25.3 22 –0.9 28.4 38

1.0–1.9 27.6 24 1.0–1.9 24.6 33
2–2.9 6.9 6 2–2.9 18.7 25
3–3.9 11.5 10 3–3.9 9.7 13
4–4.9 10.4 9 4–4.9 9 12
5–5.9 1.1 1 5–5.9 2.2 3
6–6.9 3.5 3 6–6.9 1.5 2
7–7.9 3.5 3 7–7.9 3 4
8–8.9 2.3 2 8–8.9
9–9.9 3.5 3 9–9.9 0.7 1
10–10.9 1.1 1 10–10.9
11–11.9 1.1 1 11–11.9
12–12.9 12–12.9 0.7 1
13–13.9 13–13.9
14–14.9 1.1 1 14–14.9
15–15.9 1.1 1 15–15.9
16–16.9
Total 100 87 17–17.9
18–18.9 0.7 1
Table 5.3 Weight-distribution of the hacksilver from 19–19.9 0.7 1
Kaupang. Numbers and percentages.
Total 100 134
Figure 5.1 A selection of hacksilver from Kaupang. Table 5.4 Weight-distribution of the hacksilver from
Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM. Uppåkra. Percentages.
ver will not necessarily be of the Viking Age. The from the first half or middle of the 10th century, show
results of the weight analysis must therefore be treat- a distribution of weights which corresponds well
ed with caution but may, however, be useful for dis- with hoards from present day Denmark of the same
cussing the use of silver at Kaupang. period, and with the weight-distribution of the hack-
Tables 5.3–4 and diagrams Figures 5.2–3 from the silver from the plough-layers at Uppåkra. Other
two sites show a clear predominance of light pieces of finds, such as Grimestad, Stokke, Vestfold (t.p.q. 921,
hacksilver. At Uppåkra pieces with weights below C26387), show a quite different distribution of
one gramme are predominant and pieces weighing weights with a predominance of larger, heavier frag-
between one and two grammes are the next largest ments of 20–40 g. The Grimestad hoard matches
group. This is closely in accordance with the distribu- some Western Swedish hoards from the first half and
tion of weights of non-minted hacksilver in hoards the middle of the 10th century, where heavier frag-
from the Skåne/Bornholm region dated to the 10th or ments are also predominant (Hårdh 1996:diagrams
early 11th centuries (Hårdh 1996:diagrams 19–21, tabs. 10–11, tabs. 22–3). These hoards may show a stage at
30–1). which silver was used as a currency, albeit not yet as
The hacksilver from Kaupang is also dominated intensely as in Denmark at that time. Hoards like
by small and light pieces of hacksilver. In this case, Teisen and Kleva may, however, indicate that their
however, pieces between one and two grammes form owners were in close contact with Denmark or took
the largest group, followed by pieces with weights part in transactions typical of that region.
below one gramme as the next largest group. The dif- The weight-difference between Kaupang and
ference between the groups is small, however. Uppåkra may have several explanations. The chrono-
It could be expected that the hacksilver from logical concentration may be different, as Uppåkra
Kaupang should follow the pattern of early hacksilver also has several coins from the second half of the 10th
hoards from Western Sweden and the Oslofjord area. century and beginning of the 11th, a group which is
A couple of caches of coins and hacksilver, at Teisen, missing in Kaupang. The decades around the year
Ø. Aker, Akershus (t.p.q. 932, C1137–43) and Kinne, 1000 are the period when fragmentation was at its
Kleva, Västergötland (t.p.q. 954, SHM 4232), both most intense in Southern Scandinavia and in the

102
Uppåkra.
Kaupang.
63076_kaupang_bd2.qxd
Figure 5.3 Diagram showing the

Figure 5.2 Diagram showing the
Based on Hårdh 1996:diagram 11.

Figure 5.4 Diagrams showing the
29/07/08
distribution of weights in percentages

from two early Viking-age hoards from
distribution of weights by percentage at
distribution of weights by percentage at
Western Sweden and the Oslofjord area.

9:58
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Side 102
-0.9 -0.9 -0.9
1.0-1.9 1.0-1.9 1.0-1.9
2.0-2.9 2.0-2.9 2.0-2.9
means of exchange · part i

3.0-3.9 3.0-3.9 3.0-3.9
4.0-4.9 4.0-4.9 4.0-4.9
5.0-5.9 5.0-5.9 5.0-5.9
6.0-6.9 6.0-6.9 6.0-6.9
7.0-7.9 7.0-7.9 7.0-7.9
8.0-8.9 8.0-8.9 8.0-8.9
9.0-9.9 9.0-9.9 9.0-9.9
10.0-10.9 10.0-10.9 10.0-10.9
20.0-29.9 11.0-11.9 11.0-11.9
30.0-39.9 12.0-12.9 12.0-12.9
40.0-49.9 13.0-13.9 13.0-13.9
50.0-59.9 14.0-14.9 14.0-14.9
60.0-69.9 15.0-15.9 15.0-15.9
70.0-79.9 16.0-16.9 16.0-16.9
80.0-89.9 17.0-17.9 17.0-17.9
90.0-99.9 18.0-18.9 18.0-18.9

Uppåkra
Kaupang
100 < 19.0-19.9 19.0-19.9
Kleva 954
Ø. Aker 923
20.0-20.9 20.0-20.9
45 Figure 5.5 Diagram showing the distri-

bution of weights in percentages of hack-
40 Kaupang
silver including the “fragments” from
35 Kaupang.
30
25
20
15
10
0
1.0-1.9
11.0-11.9
12.0-12.9
13.0-13.9
14.0-14.9
-0.9
10.0-10.9
15.0-15.9
16.0-16.9
17.0-17.9
18.0-18.9
19.0-19.9
2.0-2.9
3.0-3.9
4.0-4.9
5.0-5.9
20.0-20.9
6.0-6.9
7.0-7.9
8.0-8.9
9.0-9.9
West Slavic area, including Skåne (Hårdh 1996:125). In this regard, the large amount of usually cut Islamic
From the Kaupang excavations of 1998–2002 there coins with a strikingly early dating is of the greatest
are, as mentioned, a number of objects classified as interest. In the case of the coins, too, there is a clear
“fragments”, 28 of which might be regarded as hack- correspondence between Kaupang and Uppåkra,
silver. These are very light in weight, mainly under first and foremost in the strong presence of Abbasid
one gramme. If these are included in diagrams and dirhams but also in the pronounced fragmentation
tables the distribution of weight-groups from Kaup- of the coins at both sites (see further, Blackburn this
ang has a predominance in the lightest group (Tab. vol. Ch. 3:48–51).
5.5, Fig. 5.5). Islamic coins from Kaupang are usually highly
fragmented with an absolute predominance of frag-
ments below one gramme. If the coins from both
sites constituted currency in a weight economy, and
were used during the 9th century, it is reasonable to
Kaupang hacksilver + fragments consider the non-minted fragments alongside the
coins and to regard them, too, as currency. It has
Grammes % Number been emphasized that the hacksilver material from
both Kaupang and Uppåkra contains several poten-
–0.9 39.1 45 tially misleading factors. What can be stated, howev-
1.0–1.9 25.2 29 er, is that the degree of fragmentation is closely con-
2–2.9 5.2 6 gruent at both places, as with the evidence from
3–3.9 8.7 10 hacksilver hoards, while it also shows similarities
4–4.9 7.8 9 with coins found at both places. Even if it cannot be
5–5.9 0.9 1 proven that all the small fragments are equivalent to
6–6.9 2.6 3 the hacksilver from hacksilver hoards, I think it is
7–7.9 2.6 3 reasonable to suggest that this was basically the case.
8–8.9 1.7 2 If the small fragments served a weight-based econo-
9–9.9 2.6 3 my, this also implies that weighed silver was used in
10–10.9 0.9 1 exchange for commodities of an everyday character.
11–11.9 0.9 1
12–12.9 5.6 Ingots
13–13.9 The Kaupang silver includes five complete ingots,
14–14.9 0.9 1 C52517/579, C52517/584, C52517/2043, C52519/10375
15–15.9 0.9 1 and C52517/334. They are all oblong with rounded
ends and almost rectangular in cross-section. They
Total 100 115 vary considerably in size and weight, from 1.50 to
48.28 g. One of the smaller ingots has some traces of
Table 5.5 Weight-distribution of hacksilver from Kaupang hammering but the rest are unworked. Beside the
including the 28 “fragments”. Percentages. complete ingots there are also twelve ingot-fragments
which have been cut at one or both ends. They show

Figure 5.6 Ingot C52517/579, weight 48.277 g.

Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
Figure 5.7 The hoard from Grimestad, Vestfold.

Photo, KHM.
great variation in cross-section. Circular, oval, trape- The weights of ingots have often been noticed, as
zoidal, 4-sided and 6-sided cross-sections have been they seem to belong to more or less definite weight-
noted, although a rectangular shape is predominant. groups. The most evident weight-groups concentrate
A high proportion of the silver hoards from Scan- around 25, 50 and 100 g. Amongst the Southern Nor-
dinavia and the Baltic region contain ingots of silver. wegian hoards the one from Grimestad, Stokke,
These are oblong pieces with rounded ends, usually Vestfold (C26387) is especially interesting in this re-
unworked after casting and often of D-shaped cross- spect. This hoard contained 77 Islamic coins with a
section. They have been cast in open moulds, often of t.p.q. of 921 (Skaare 1976:138). The unminted silver
soapstone. More than 200 soapstone moulds for such consisted of a collection of armrings, some large and
ingots are known from Hedeby. Most of the moulds simple arm hoops made of heavy ingots, fragments of
were for ingots of the D-shaped cross-section; fewer one or more neckrings, rods, six ingots of D-shaped
of them for ingots of triangular or square cross-sec- cross-section and one complete ingot with traces of
tion. Resi has compared the moulds with the shape of hammering at both sides.
known bronze and silver ingots from Hedeby and The hoard also contained some silver fragments
notes that the bronze ingots are usually longer and but too few for the hoard to be referred to as a hack-
broader than the cavity in the moulds. These corre- silver hoard. Three of the ingots relate to a weight
spond more closely to ingots of lead or silver. Resi around 50 g and one weighs 92.8 g. Several of the
(1979:58–64) also refers to Norwegian finds which armrings are large and heavy and many are so simply
indicate that silver ingots were usually cast in soap- made that it is difficult to decide whether to classify
stone moulds. Moulds of this type are known from them as pieces of jewellery or ingots. These rings are
various Viking-age contexts. From the Kaupang ex- most apt for comparison with the so-called “ring-
cavations we have moulds of soapstone and clay. At money” that is a well-known phenomenon in the
least some of the soapstone moulds were intended for British Isles, mainly from Scottish finds (Graham-
casting ingots, mostly of a D-shaped cross-section Campbell 1995:57). A hoard from the Tønsberg area
(information kindly supplied by Unn Pedersen, who in Vestfold (C10527–31) has many similarities to the
will publish this material). Grimestad hoard. It consists of three heavy armrings
Wiechmann has classified cast, unworked ingots of the same type as in Grimestad, together with two
as Type 1. These are of D-shaped, triangular, trape- cast ingots, both of them cut at one end, weighing
zoid or rectangular cross-section. The Kaupang in- 95.2 and 96.6 g respectively.
gots fit well into Wiechmann’s Type 1. Wiechmann Both the Grimestad and the Tønsberg hoards
demonstrates that this type of ingot belongs mainly thus contain ingots, some of which seem to have been
to the historically Danish territories but is also plenti- cast according to fixed weight-units, together with
ful on Gotland. They are almost totally absent from some rings that may be referred to as ring-money. It
the Swedish mainland north of Skåne, however, but is therefore possible to regard them as collections of
do also occur in the West Slavic region and in Latvia. large units of currency (Hårdh 1996:144–5). Ingots of
Wiechmann’s map also shows a striking concentra- the same type, complete and/or in fragments also
tion in the south-east of Ireland. In Norway they are come from the hoards from Lahell, Lier, Buskerud
concentrated in silver hoards in the Oslofjord area (C6262–64, C9262–83 and C9855–58) and Vela, Sand,
(Wiechmann 1996:65–7 and karte 76). Rogaland (B4318).


Skaare has shown that three out of five complete

ingots from four Norwegian hoards weigh between Schleswig-Holstein
44.8 and 49.0 g. One ingot in the group weighs 92.8 g
and thus about double that of the previous group. Oldenburg II 109
According to Skaare the rings seem to be weight- Giekau 18.22, 24.99, 78.98
adjusted too, although the picture in this respect is Rantrum I 28.88, 34.2, 48.7, 48.96, 49.01, 49.91,
less clear (Skaare 1976:50 and tab. 13; Hårdh 1996:58– 50.77, 51.01, 51.76, 66.43, 78.73, 98.32,
65 and 145). 98.74, 99.74, 100.78, 101.20, 102.12
Wizwort 49.44, 49.90, 51.01, 51.35, 51.35, 57.78,
5.6.1 The large Kaupang ingot 76.51, 99.99, 102.03
The largest ingot, C52517/579, with an almost rectan-
gular cross-section, rounded corners and rounded Gotland
ends, weighs 48.277 g. This weight can be compared
directly with silver ingots and a group of silver ring Asarve 50.27, 53.2, 56.67, 59.36, 100.9, 101.10,
jewellery that were apparently manufactured in 101.23, 102.1, 105.9, 106, 107.2, 146.62,
accordance with fixed weight-standards (Hårdh 203.17
1996:137–46).
Ingots from two hoards from Schleswig-Holstein, The Netherlands
at Rantrum and Witzworth, are often the subject of
attention in the discussion of weight-units in the Westerklief 21.3, 25.8, 30.4, 37.2, 48.4, 48.6, 48.6,
Viking Age. The ingots from these two hoards are 48.6, 50.0, 50.2, 51.6, 52.2, 52.8, 53.9,
convincingly grouped around 50 and 100 g (Kruse 54.2, 55.5
1988:28; Wiechmann 1996:424 and 528). The dating of
the hoards is unlikely to be later than around 900 or England
the first half of the 10th century. The Rantrum hoard
contains thirteen coins with a t.p.q. of 873, and Croydon, Surrey 16.60, 22.39, 23.74
Witzworth, with a similar assemblage of objects but
no coins, must be contemporary (Wiechmann 1996: Table 5.6 Weight ranges in grammes of complete ingots in
423 and 527). There are two more hoards from selected early Viking-age hoards (Hårdh 1996; Wiechmann
Schleswig-Holstein, at Giekau and Oldenburg II, 1996; Besteman 1997, 1999; Brooks and Graham-Campbell
which are of interest in this respect. They contain in- 2000).
gots, the weights of some being around 100 g, double
that of the Kaupang ingot, and others around 25 g, Figure 5.8 Diagram of weight ranges in grammes of the
half of the Kaupang ingot. The majority, however, ingots in Table 5.6.
weigh around 50 g (Wiechmann 1996:239 and 396).
Ingots from a hoard at Asarve, Gotland (SHM 11930),
also correspond to this pattern with a striking pre-
dominance of weights around 50, 100 and 200 g. these do not show any distinct groupings according
The Giekau hoard contained 401 coins with a to weight, although there is a clustering in the zone
t.p.q. of 921/922. The Oldenburg II hoard is reported around 25 g. Particularly significant is the absence of
to have contained 5,500 coins of which only two are peaks around 50 or 100 g (Kruse 1988:293, 1995:193).
preserved, the latest of them a German coin dated Two of the three complete ingots from the 9th-cen-
1038–1045. In the Asarve hoard there were two Abba- tury hoard from Croydon, Surrey, have weights of
sid dirhams, AD 777/8–787/8 and AD 875/6? (dated by 22.39 and 23.74 g (Brooks and Graham-Campbell
G. Rispling). 2000:92). This is slightly less than half the average
The Westerklief I hoard has several similarities weight of the majority of the ingots from Schleswig-
with the hoards from Schleswig-Holstein and Got- Holstein. The hoard Dysart 4, from Co. Westmeath,
land. It consisted of silver jewellery, ingots and coins, Ireland, deposited early in the 10th century, contains
and was deposited in a ceramic pot of the Badorf five complete ingots, two of which are reported to
ware. The coins, 78 Carolingian denarii, date the correspond to an “øre” unit of 24–6 g. A third ingot
hoard to c. AD 850 (Besteman 1997, 1999). The has, interestingly enough, a small silver blob added to
Westerklief hoard contains sixteen complete ingots, it to produce a total weight of 51.1 g (Ryan et al.
which also fit well into the pattern described above 1984:339). Thus there may be a connection between
(Besteman 1997:209, diagram 1 and 2, 1999:257, fig. 17 the weights of ingots from Continental 9th-century
and tab. 4). hoards and contemporary ingots in Britain and
Kruse has analysed the weights of ingots from Ireland. As Kruse points out, the concern to manu-
English and Welsh hoards from the late 9th and early facture objects within precise weight-limits was
10th centuries. In contrast to the Continental ingots much more common in the East and in the Arab

8
Netherlands
7
Schleswig-Holstein
6
Gotland
England
5
0
0-10
10.1-20
20.1-30
30.1-40
40.1-50
50.1-60
60.1-70
70.1-80
80.1-90
90.1-100
100.1-110
110.1-120
120.1-139
130.1-140
140.1-150
150.1-160
160.1-170
170.1-180
180.1-190
190.1-200
200.1-210
Weight
Empire than in Viking-age Scandinavia. The English around 3 grammes. The third and fourth ingots,
and Welsh ingots which Kruse has analysed clearly C52517/584 and C52519/10375, weigh 3.77 g and 1.81 g
show that accuracy of weight was of lesser impor- respectively. Whether these two were adjusted to a
tance (Kruse 1988:296–7). certain weight-unit or not is hard to decide.
Table 5.6 gives an overview of the range of Skaare has collected the weights of the unminted
weights of complete ingots from a number of hoards. silver from four Norwegian silver hoards with exclu-
Besteman, in his discussion of weight relations sively Islamic coins: Grimmen, Teisen, Voie and
amongst cast silver ingots, emphasizes the pattern Vela. He surveyed the weights from cut silver pieces
already pointed out by Kruse and others. Ingots in and also the bronze and lead weights (Skaare
Danish and Norwegian hoards seem to concentrate 1976:50). These figures reveal groupings which could
around 50 g, while ingots in British hoards of Scan- show that the hacksilver was fragmented according
dinavian character generally appear to weigh c. 25 g. to standardized weights. However, the tolerance
(Besteman 1999:257 with refs.). The Kaupang ingot within Skaare’s weight-groups is large, and with the
thus corresponds with the majority of the Westerklief very small intervals used it is easy to create groups
ingots and a considerable number of those from which may not be genuine or significant. None of
Rantrum and Witzwort (Wiechmann 1996:424, tab. these hoards, moreover, fulfil the strict criteria that I
45, 528, tab. 59; Besteman 1997, 1999), as well as with used for my investigation of fragmentation of the
the Gotland specimens. hacksilver hoards in 1996 (Hårdh 1996:93). There is
According to the dating of the hoards, non-frag- some correspondence between the weights given by
mented, weight-adjusted ingots of this type seem to Skaare and the Kaupang ingots but not enough to be
belong mainly to the 9th century. As the unit of 50 g is convincing.
not at all pronounced amongst ingots from Britain Kyhlberg has analysed cubo-octahedral weights
there is no immediate reason to think that the Kaup- under 4.9 g from Birka. They seem to cluster around
ang ingot originated there. Ingots of this weight- 2.5, 2.8, 3.7, 4.3 and 4.6 g (Kyhlberg 1980b:261). In her
group concentrate rather in South-Western Scandi- survey of postulated weight-units in the Viking Age,
navia and the north-western parts of the Continent. Kruse indicates that units of 4.0, 4.25 and 4.26 g might
This would appear to be the context to which the be of interest (Kruse 1988:296 and tab. 2). On the basis
Kaupang ingot, as well as some of the ingots from of Swedish finds of weights, Sperber (1996: 110–11)
Norwegian hoards such as that at Grimestad, belong. concluded that the Swedish/Islamic system which
was functioning at the end of the 9th and the begin-
5.6.2 The small Kaupang ingots ning of the 10th century used a unit of 12.7 g with frac-
The other four complete ingots from Kaupang are tions of 6.35, 3.17, 1.59 and 0.8 g. Steuer (1997: 283–5),
considerably smaller (Fig. 5.9). C52517/2043, which also basing himself upon an analysis of cubo-octahe-
has some traces of hammering and rounded ends, dral weights, perceived a unit of 4.25 g, but the basic
weighs 2.98 g. This is an interesting weight. Brøgger unit in the Viking Age might, in his view, have been
(1921:23 and 25) claimed to have identified a weight- 0.35 or 0.71 g. With the uncertainty that is typical of
unit lying between 2.7 and 3.1 g, corresponding to Viking-age weight-systems I find it impossible to
three Roman scrupula. One ingot, C52517/334, weighs determine whether the small Kaupang ingots were
1.50 g. This could of course be a fraction of a weight made in accordance with specific weight-units or not.

Figure 5.9 Small ingots, C52517/584, C52517/2043 and

C52517/334. Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
Figure 5.10 Spiral-striated rods, C52517/408, C52517/469,

C52517/1088, C52519/14893 and C52519/17264. Photo, Eirik
Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
5.6.3 A local production of ingots? often more than one, suited to the casting of ingots. It
The ingots from Kaupang belong, as noted, to is clear that the majority of these would produce in-
Wiechmann’s Type 1: cast, unworked ingots with gots of D-shaped, triangular or trapezoid cross-sec-
cross-sections of various shapes. One of them, how- tion. A few moulds have grooves with almost straight
ever, shows, as mentioned above, a couple of traces of sides and one is clearly rectangular (Pedersen, in
hammering. All of the complete and most of the frag- prep.). This could mean that the ingots found at
ments of the ingots from Kaupang are of rectangular Kaupang were locally produced, probably at the site.
cross-section, while a couple of fragments have It is striking that the majority of ingots from silver
trapezoid or oval cross-sections. In the material from hoards in Southern Norway are of D-shaped cross-
Schleswig-Holstein that Wiechmann presents ingots section and thus related rather to those from Schles-
of D-shaped cross-section are predominant, com- wig-Holstein. The large Kaupang ingot, if produced
prising 60% of the collected material. Many of the in Kaupang, also testifies to a connection with
ingots from Schleswig-Holstein also have either a tri- weight-units current in Denmark and Schleswig-
angular or a trapezoid cross-section, while ingots of Holstein amongst other areas.
square cross-section make up only 4% (Wiechmann
1996:66). 5.7 Spiral-striated rods
The ingots from Kaupang thus manifestly differ Amongst the finds from the new work at Kaupang
from those from North-Western Germany. It is also there are ten silver rods decorated with striation spi-
interesting to see that all but one of the ingots from ralling around the rod. The rods are round in cross-
the Grimestad hoard are of D-shaped cross-section. section and 4.2–4.5 mm thick (C52517/408, C52517/
The exception had been hammered to a rectangular 466, C52517/469, C52517/998, C52517/1088, C52517/
cross-section. Likewise the two ingots in a hoard 2442, C52519/14893, C52519/14913, C52519/15819 and
from the Tønsberg area are of D-shaped cross-sec- C52519/17264). To these, two examples from the
tion. The hoard from Lahell, Lier, Buskerud, con- Blindheim excavation can be added. One of these is
tained a mixture of ingots of D-shaped and rectangu- reported to be 4 mm thick and the other is slightly
lar cross-section, while that from Nordrum, Vestfold thicker, at 5 mm (inf. in KHM).
(t.p.q. 1065, C17646) contained a fragment of an ingot Spiral-striated silver rods occur occasionally in
similar to those from Kaupang. Scandinavian silver hoards and may derive from
Ingots of D-shaped cross-section are well known rings of what is known as the Permian type: neck-
in Ireland and the British Isles too (Wiechmann rings with a catch formed by of a polyhedric knob
1996:karte 76; Brooks and Graham-Campbell 2000: and a loop. In Scandinavian finds these are usually,
73). In Britain ingots of triangular or squared trian- when complete, wound into spirals suitable for arm-
gular cross-section are also commonly found (Black- rings. In a complete state this type of ring occurs only
burn and Rogerson 1993:223). The almost total pre- on Gotland and Öland besides four specimens in the
ponderance of ingots of square cross-section at find from Erridsø in South Jutland. Of the rings from
Kaupang thus contrasts with ingots from other areas. Gotland, a considerable number belong to the above-
About 25 soapstone moulds have been found in mentioned hoard from Asarve, Hemse, and from the
the Kaupang settlement during both Blindheim’s and very large hoards from Spillings, Othem. An almost
Skre’s excavations. Several of these have grooves, complete ring of the same type is also known from

the island of Sylt (Wiechmann 1996:cat. no. 41 A). weight-groupings and are obviously to be regarded as
Two large fragments have been found in Norway, at a form of currency in large units of around 400, 300,
Torrvik, Volda, Møre og Romsdal (B7799). Outside 200 or 100 g. The heaviest rings are to be found in
of Scandinavia, rings of this type show a marked con- Russia while the rings found in Scandinavia mostly
centration in Russia, west of the Ural mountains in weigh around 200 or 100 g (Hårdh 1996:137–40 with
the administrative districts of Perm and Vijatka, refs., 2007).
from where at least a hundred complete and many A related type of spiral-striated ring, smaller and
fragments of such silver rings are known (the State with thinner rods, usually has both ends bent to form
Historical Museums in Moscow and St Petersburg). hooks, often of swan-neck shape. Rings of this type
The rings were made to accord with standardized occur in the hoard from Duesminde I, Lolland


Figure 5.11 Rings from the hoard from Duesminde I,

Lolland. Photo, National Museum of Denmark.
(Munksgaard 1963, 1965, 1980. NB: this is not the same hoards spiral-striated rods are quite common (see,
hoard as the Duesminde II hoard with Carolingian e.g., Hårdh 1976).
items already mentioned). These smaller spiral-stri- The close relationship between ingots and spiral-
ated rings are also weight-adjusted and, moreover, striated rings is obvious from their distribution con-
correspond to the ingots mentioned above with centrated in South-Western Scandinavia and Got-
weights around 100 or 50 g (Hårdh 1996:139 with land. They also occur often in the same hoards, as in
refs.). The thickness of the Kaupang rods indicates those from Gotland mentioned above, such as
that they derive from this smaller Duesminde I type of Asarve, Hemse (Stenberger 1947:119–21 and abb. 1–7),
ring. Interestingly enough the slightly thicker rod Spillings, Othem, and from Schleswig-Holstein, i.e.
from the Blindheim excavations might be a fragment Rantrum I and Witzworth (Wiechmann 1996:cat no.
from the thicker, typical Permian type of ring, which 33 A, 48 A).
is otherwise known in Norway only in the Torrvik Spiral-striated rods of the same type as those
hoard. from Kaupang, rather thin rods around 4 mm in
The spiral-striated rings belong to the early Vi- diameter, are known from several settlement sites in
king Age. The Permian type has been found on Got- South-Western Scandinavia, including Uppåkra and
land together with Abbasid dirhams in hoards from Jyllinge, Kirke Hyllinge and Strøby on Zealand,
the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th (Norr- where they occur with, inter alia, fragmented Islamic
gårda, Björke, SHM 12328, t.p.q. 833/834: Brather coins (Ulriksen 1998:fig. 90; Tornbjerg 1998:fig. 2;
1997:128; Spillings, Othem t.p.q. 870/871: Rispling Hårdh in prep.a).
2004c; Hellvi, SHM 1124, t.p.q. 921: Stenberger 1947: The spiral-striated rings constitute an interesting
111–2). The Duesminde I hoard, together with some and challenging body of material. The bigger type,
related hoards from Denmark (including Viby, c. 10 the so-called Permian rings, are clearly concentrated
km south of Roskilde, with two straightened rings in Russia, spilling over into the Baltic region, espe-
found together around 1850. NM 11332), has been cially the islands of Öland and Gotland. They are, as
ascribed to what is regarded as the earliest group of mentioned, weight-adjusted and are certainly to be
Danish silver hoards, dated mainly to the 9th century regarded as a means of payment in large units. Their
(Skovmand 1942:28–43; Holm Sørensen 1989). A weight has been connected to fractions of the Russian
fragment of a ring of the same type was included in a pound of c. 408 g (Lundström 1973:76; Schrötter 1930:
hoard from Sønder Kirkeby, Falster, t.p.q. 846 (NM 237–8; Bauer 1931:99). The smaller type, from which
8433: Skovmand 1942:35; Munksgaard 1963:98). Rings the Kaupang fragments probably derive, conversely
of the Duesminde I type have been found in Got- has its main distribution on Gotland and in Den-
landic hoards of the 9th century (Rune, Sanda, SHM mark. The weight of these rings usually lies around 50
12622, t.p.q. 861: Stenberger 1947:182–3; Spillings, g, occasionally around 100 g, and corresponds, as
Othem, t.p.q. 870/871: Rispling 2004c). Spiral-striat- noted, to the weight-adjusted ingots that have a clear
ed fragments are also known from the British hoards focus in Schleswig-Holstein, a concentration further
of Cuerdale, Croydon and Storr Rock, and from the strengthened by the recent Frisian find at Wester-
Irish hoard of Co. Dublin, all dated between 872 and klief. Conversely, I have not been able to identify a
935 (Sheehan 1998:185; Brooks and Graham-Camp- single example of this type from the area of Russia,
bell 2000:75). In Scandinavian 10th-century silver either in the collections of the State Museums in


Figure 5.12 Stamp-decorated rods C52519/14955,

C52519/15036 and C52519/15562.
Figure 5.13 Two of the four fragments of grooved armrings,

C52517/194 and C52519/14058.
Figure 5.14 Fragments of arm- or neckrings, C52517/2054,

C52517/1954 and C25217/2151.
Moscow and St Petersburg or in any publication. 5.8 Fragmented jewellery

The weight-analysis shows that the weights of the Some hacksilver pieces derive from fragmented silver
smaller ring-type could well be fractions of the jewellery, the original type of which can be identified
weight-groupings of the bigger rings, so that the two with greater or lesser confidence. Several fragments
types of rings could pertain to a single weight-system. are obviously, and others probably, from armrings.
If, however, the small rings are of South-Western Four fragments are parts of armrings decorated
Scandinavian manufacture, the Scandinavian “mark” with rows of transverse stamped grooves: C52517/194,
weight should be considered too. The Scandinavian C52517/207, C52517/792 and C52519/14058 (Fig. 5.13).
“mark” has been estimated at around 200 g, which The fragments C52517/194 and C52519/14058 are 4.2
makes it difficult to decide which weight-system is in cm and 2.8 cm long respectively, and both are cut at
question. In his analysis of the rings from the gold both ends. Transverse stamped armrings are a well-
hoard from Hoen, Buskerud, Graham-Campbell es- known feature of Viking-age silver hoards. Nor-
tablished a weight-unit of c. 100 g for the rings. He wegian hoards include Vela, Sand, Rogaland; Slem-
thinks that the Hoen rings were made in South-West- medal, Aust-Agder (C36000); the hoard from the
ern Scandinavia and that their weights correspond Tønsberg region; Grimestad, Stokke, Vestfold
well with those of gold rings from the Vester Vedsted (C26387); Os Churchyard, Østfold (C2409); and the
hoard, Jutland (NM 18272–84, 18374–8, 18571–3, hoard from Torrvik, Møre og Romsdal, the last of
12/33). This may show that a weight-unit from present which also contains the two large fragments of Per-
day Russia, possibly the Perm region, as expressed in mian rings mentioned above. All of these hoards are
the Permian rings, had been adopted by Scandinavian either dated by coins to the first half of the 10th cen-
goldsmiths (Graham-Campbell 1999: 63–4). tury or have a generally early character. The hoard
The rings of the Duesminde I type, as presented from Os contains two Islamic coins from the 8th and
by Munksgaard (1963, 1965, 1970), are decorated in early 9th centuries (Skaare 1976:128). A number of
turn with spiral-striated and stamp-decorated sec- Danish hoards also contain rings of this type:
tions. Amongst the hacksilver pieces from Kaupang Hørdum, Hassing, Ty; Illebølle, Lindelse, Langeland;
there are three rods, round in cross-section and with Tostrup, Keldby, Møn (Skovmand 1942:28–37); Du-
stamped decoration: C52519/14955, C52519/15036 and esminde I, Lolland; and Keldbyholm, Odense amt
C52519/15562 (Fig. 5.12). The thickness of these rods, (Munksgaard 1970). Such rings are all in hoards
their decoration, and the general character of the which both Skovmand and Munksgaard classified as
pieces, render it probable that they should be associ- hoards of the earliest phase of the Viking Age, the 9th
ated with the spiral-striated rods also belonging to century. They are also known from Scottish and Irish
rings of the Duesminde I type, and thus reinforcing hoards. The variant of these rings found in the British
the presence of this group. It may also be noted that Isles and Ireland is usually referred to as the Hiberno-
the rods in the above-mentioned hoard from Croy- Norse broad-band type (Sheehan 1998:194–5). In
don, Surrey, in addition to striation have stamped both Scotland and Ireland they belong to the period
decoration similar to that on rings of the Duesminde AD 850–950 (Sheehan 1990:fig. 1, 1992:42 and tab. 2,
I type and thus further to these rods from Kaupang 2001:52 and figs. 1–2; Graham-Campbell 1995:58 and
(Brooks and Graham-Campbell 2000:fig 16). pl. 6–7). Broad-band armrings are, however, also
known from 9th-century contexts in the Baltic re-

gion: for example from the Gotlandic hoards from hoards dated up to the 11th or even the early 12th cen-
Spillings. Referring to the early appearance of these turies (Hårdh 1976). These too were in all probability
rings in some Danish hoards, Brooks and Graham- made in various parts of Scandinavia and the Baltic
Campbell suggest that the origin of the type should region.
be sought in Denmark (Sheehan 1998:195; Brooks and
Graham-Campbell 2000:76). 5.9 Hacksilver from well-dated contexts
Sheehan points out that a certain type of stamp, a The fragmented coins from Kaupang are mostly very
bar punch with serrated edges, occurs in Ireland as early in date, largely from the 8th and 9th centuries.
well as in Denmark. As an example he refers to the This also corresponds well with the record from
hoard from Keldbyholm (Sheehan 1998:195, 2001:58). Uppåkra, where a high proportion of Abbasid dir-
This type of stamp also occurs on fragment C52519/ hams were found together with Carolingian coins.
14058. Sheehan sees correspondences in stamp-types This does not, however, tell us when the coins were
as evidence of close contacts in silver craft between either brought to the find places or when they were
Denmark and Ireland. It is of interest to note that cut up, used or lost. For the question of the use of sil-
these rings, with their clear concentration in Den- ver as a means of payment, hacksilver or fragmented
mark and the Hiberno-Norse region, are also so coins from well-dated contexts are of crucial impor-
strongly represented in the southern parts of Nor- tance. At Kaupang 32 pieces of non-minted silver
way. This clearly shows the flow of objects, ideas have been found in undisturbed contexts and 13 of
and manufacturing traditions that was transmitted these have been related to a Site Period (SP). A cor-
around South-Western Scandinavia, Southern Nor- roded fragment which cannot be classified more pre-
way and Ireland in the 9th century (Sheehan 1998: cisely was found in a layer belonging to SP I in plot
177–8). 2A. From plot 1B, SP II sub-phase 1 there is a small,
The Kaupang silver also includes several smooth, ball-shaped fragment of 1.05 g. The majority of pieces
ribbon-shaped fragments. In several cases it is obvi- in dated contexts belong to SP II sub-phase 2, which
ous or at least probable that these derive from arm- is dated to around 850 or perhaps one or two decades
rings, tapering at one end, for example C52517/498, earlier. A rod, round in cross-section and cut at both
C52517/764, C42517/2130, C52519/15558 and C52519/ ends, with a weight of 4.55 g, may derive from a neck-
38340. Such simple, undecorated armrings, which or armring. Another piece is a flat rod, probably cut
sometimes resemble hammered ingots rather than at one end, weighing 0.44 g. Of greatest importance is
jewellery, occur in silver hoards from the early Viking the fact that one of the above-mentioned spiral-stri-
Age such as the Western Scanian hoard at Heljarp ated rods, C52519/17264, weighing 1.3 g, can also be
with Carolingian mounts and coins of the 9th centu- assigned to SP II sub-phase 2. A fourth piece of rod
ry (LUHM 15035–41: Hårdh 1976:cat. no. 130). weighs 1.7 g. These four pieces were all found in plot
There are some ribbon-shaped and stamp- 3B. One piece of rod, weighing 0.71 g, came from plot
decorated rods which also derive, with more or less 2B, SP II, sub-phase 2. Fragments of silver from SP II
certainty, from armrings: C52517/622, C52517/880, sub-phase 2 have also been found in plots 2A, 2B and
C52517/2120, C52617/2191 and C52517/2739. 3B.
C52517/2054 consists of two fragments of rods, With this extremely small collection of material it
with a round cross-section, twisted around each is, of course, impossible to identify the original use of
other in a knot (Fig. 5.14). The knot is of a type that is the small silver pieces. There are indications of metal
the most common type of lock on armrings of the handicraft in connection with one of the pieces, and
Scandinavian type. The hoard from Haug, Eiker, it is not impossible that the pieces represent work-
Buskerud, mentioned above, contained a fragment shop residue. However, the pieces of cut rod corre-
similar to the Kaupang piece. To the same group of spond closely with the hacksilver pieces in hoards,
jewellery belong some rods with a round or slightly and the striated rod is certainly from a ring of the
faceted cross-section that are twisted like a screw. Duesminde I type. Some of these rings have, as noted,
These derive from arm- or neckrings made of two or been found in hoards dated by coins to the 9th centu-
more twisted rods. C25217/2151 consists of two rods of ry. The Kaupang fragment, dated by stratigraphy,
round cross-section twisted around one another thus corresponds well with the coin-dated rings of
(Fig. 5.14). This is also, in all probability, a fragment the same type. Another rod of the same striated type,
of a neck- or armring. C52517/1954 is a rod of faceted C52516/3272, was also found in an undisturbed con-
cross-section, twisted and bent (Fig. 5.14). It too is text, although not within an identifiable phase. It is
obviously part of a twisted arm- or neckring. These also worthy of notice that a rod of square cross-sec-
arm- and neckrings are abundant, complete or in tion was found in the same layer as a coin of Louis the
fragments, in the silver hoards. Coin-dated hoards, Pious. The silver from dated contexts will be dis-
such as that from Westerklief, indicate that they were cussed further below, together with the evidence of
manufactured before the mid-9th century (Graham- the coins.
Campbell 1999:60–1). In Scandinavia they occur in

5.10 Discussion gether with ingots, are a distinct element in hoards

The majority of the hacksilver from Kaupang con- from the 9th century found in Denmark, Schleswig-
sists of fragments of rods or sheet metal. The frag- Holstein and occasionally in Britain and Ireland.
mentation is pronounced, and most of the pieces They thus provide a clear picture of the high level of
weigh no more than one or two grammes. Important mobility of silver in the Viking Age, besides linking
to a discussion about the use of the hacksilver is up this vast region ( Sheehan 1998:184).
whether or not it has been pecked to test the quality Other pieces of hacksilver from Kaupang are
of the silver. This is often the case with silver objects fragments that derive from common Scandinavian
and coins from hoards. The hacksilver from Kaupang types of jewellery, arm- or neckrings, which were
has been scrutinized in order to identify such pecks produced in various parts of Scandinavia over a long
but no certain marks of the sort have been found. period of time. They are a significant feature of hack-
This could possibly be a chronological characteristic. silver hoards, principally in the 9th and 10th cen-
Pecking is apparently common on European and turies.
Islamic coins in mixed hoards, and thus is a phenom- It is certainly difficult to state with confidence
enon to be associated with the later 10th century what the function of the hacksilver from Kaupang
(Malmer CNS:vol.3:XVIII). was. There are, however, good reasons to argue that
The pieces of hacksilver from Kaupang are gener- at least a considerable part of it was used as currency.
ally difficult if not impossible to date, and their origin Kaupang is a site characterized by international con-
is equally obscure. Those fragments which belong to tacts and conspicuous handicraft, and it is therefore
types that can be identified have parallels in silver reasonable to suppose that currency in the form of
hoards dated mainly to the 9th or the first half of the weighed silver was used there. The majority of the
10th centuries. Amongst the early objects are the thin, coins and the coin fragments are certainly to be inter-
spiral-striated rods, which derive from a smaller and preted this way, and the same holds for a large part of
simpler variant of the rings usually known as “Per- the non-minted fragments. Comparisons with the
mian”. This type of ring is referred to here as the silver hoards from the Oslofjord area are revealing in
“Duesminde” type. Such rings are known from this regard. The hoard from Teisen, Ø. Aker, Oslo,
Denmark and Gotland and fragments of the same with a t.p.q. of 932, is quite an early hacksilver hoard,
type as found at Kaupang also occur at other settle- containing seven armrings together with hacksilver,
ments in South-Western Scandinavia. It may also be 36% of the fragments of which weigh less than 1 g and
fragments of this type of ring that occur in the 60% less than 2 g (the date of the hoard is according
Croydon hoard in England. The “Duesminde” type to new analysis, see Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:201). This
of ring is related to the “Permian” rings both typo- corresponds closely to the weights of the hacksilver
logically and chronologically. But even if there were fragments at Kaupang. This hoard belongs to a group
an Eastern connection for them, the majority of com- of early hacksilver hoards from Western Sweden and
plete rings and fragments is clearly concentrated in Denmark that are evidence of the use of silver as a
South-Western Scandinavian. It is thus highly proba- currency in the early 10th century in South-Western
ble that the Kaupang rods demonstrate contacts with Scandinavia and in South Jutland in particular
South-Western Scandinavia, which means, first and (Hårdh 1996:213 and tab. 23). Of course the silver
foremost, Denmark. The same holds true in part for from trading places, representing a wide variety of
the ingots. Irrespective of whether or not they were situations in which such small valuable objects could
locally produced, the one large ingot at least reveals, be lost, can only be compared with a deposited hoard
through its weight, a connection with weight-adjust- with specific reservations. There is nonetheless a high
ed ingots of South-Western Scandinavia and the degree of similarity in appearance, which implies a
north-western part of the Continent. similarity of function.
The ribbon-shaped fragments with transverse The occurrence, at Kaupang, of ingots and ingot-
stamped patterns represent a type of armring that is fragments, as well as fragments of striated and stamp-
well known in Danish hoards from the early Viking decorated rods from weight-adjusted rings, speaks
Age, and in Ireland, England and Scotland. The pro- for the silver being valued according to weight. Thus
totype of the Hiberno-Norse broad-band armrings coins, ingots and hacksilver are to be interpreted in
found in Ireland and Britain is to be found in Den- the same way. It is most probable that there was a
mark. The rings reveal close contact in silverworking well-developed consciousness that these represented
between the Hiberno-Norse area and Denmark in certain units of value that could be utilized in trans-
the early Viking Age. Contacts between the Baltic actions.
region and Ireland and Britain, manifested in, for A most important question for understanding
instance, Islamic coins and Permian type rings, went the nature of Kaupang as a phenomenon is that of
via Denmark (Sheehan 1998:187–8, 2001:58–9). when silver started to be used as currency. Do the
The striated rods and the fragments of ribbon- hacksilver hoards in the region also date the hacksil-
shaped, usually transversely grooved armrings, to- ver from the Kaupang settlement site? How should

we understand the relationship between the silver in us to reconsider the development of the silver econo-
the hoards and the silver from the town? The range of my, taking the urban sites into special consideration.
coins in the Kaupang settlement, which is immedi- In this respect, it is of the utmost importance that
ately very similar to that at Uppåkra and Birka, has a at Kaupang, as at Birka, it is possible to connect both
considerably earlier profile than in the hoards. hacksilver and coins with datable contexts. Un-
Typical of all three of these sites is a predominance of fortunately, there are very few pieces of hacksilver
Abbasids struck before 890, and the even earlier which can be closely dated (Gustin 1998). However,
group of Ummayads (see further Blackburn, this vol. in Kaupang a number of pieces that could have been
Ch. 3:45–51, Appendix 3.2; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:201– used as currency come from contexts dated to the
5). This differs strikingly from the average pattern of middle of the 9th century. With a couple of excep-
the hoards, where c. 75% of the Islamic coins found tions, these pieces cannot be derived from identified
in Norway were struck between 890 and 950. In the types of object, but one fragment of a spiral-striated
hoard from Grimestad, t.p.q. 921, dirhams struck ring is an important piece of evidence. The rest of the
before 890 constitute only 9% of the coins (Skaare silver comes from the medieval or the modern
1976:48–9 and tab. 12). Skaare has demonstrated that plough soil. The 92 dirhams from Kaupang were also
when Islamic coins were imported to Norway, espe- found in unstratified contexts. But, importantly,
cially between 890 and 950, they were distributed to there are three 9th-century Western coins from early,
all parts of the country. From this period onwards stratified contexts, retrieved in both Blindheim’s and
coins appear regularly in the silver hoards. Skaare Skre’s excavations (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:31–2;
maintains that from this date, coined silver came to Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 6–11).
be appreciated as a convenient means of payment in a In 1996 I made a regional division of Scandinavia
weight economy (Skaare 1976:53. For a different view, and the Baltic area on the basis of the Viking-age sil-
see Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:242). This scenario is, how- ver hoards. In this, Kaupang belongs to Region 2,
ever, based on the evidence of the silver hoards. The which includes Western Sweden (Halland, Bohuslän
coins retrieved from the Kaupang settlement require and Västergötland), together with South-Eastern

Figure 5.15 The hoard from Önum, Västergötland. Photo,

Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm.
Norway, especially the Oslofjord area. Within this from Kettilstorp, Önum, Västergötland (Fig. 5.15),
region there are several highly fragmented silver with its t.p.q. of 850 (SHM 4915: Hårdh 1996:134 and
hoards of early date such as Stavsinge in Halland, 161).
t.p.q. 916 (SHM 614), Sandvikstorp, Harestad, Bo- The Önum hoard is interesting in this regard.
huslän, t.p.q. 916 (SHM 3091), and Teisen, Ø. Aker, Beside a few pieces of hacksilver, it contained Islamic
t.p.q. 932 (Hårdh 1996:98–9). All these hoards con- and Carolingian coins plus some cornelian and rock-
tain intensely fragmented silver, with more than 20% crystal beads (Hårdh 1996:134). The new material
of the fragments weighing less than a gramme. As from Kaupang also sheds new light on the hoard
noted, this type of hoard is probably a collection of from Önum. With its t.p.q. in the middle of the 9th
currency. Moreover, the extremely small fragments century and the mixture of Carolingian and Islamic
indicate a well-established economy in which silver coins, 10 coins and some fragments, the latter corre-
was regularly used as currency even in minor transac- sponds closely to the silver found at Kaupang. Im-
tions of everyday character (Hårdh 1996:84–6, 123). portant in this case is the fact that the hoard also con-
The regions with hoards showing the most pro- tains some pieces of hacksilver, including a spiral-
nounced fragmentation are Denmark with Skåne, striated rod and a piece of a ribbon-shaped armring.
Western Sweden, and the West Slavic region, i.e. Thus the hacksilver in the hoard likewise corre-
what is now North-Western Poland and North-East- sponds to what has been found at Kaupang, and the
ern Germany. Hacksilver hoards from this region pieces mentioned are of the same early Viking-age
dated to the last decades of the 10th century and the types. The Önum hoard thus gives us an indication of
early 11th regularly contain small fragments of West the use of hacksilver in the 9th century in South-
Slavic jewellery. These are quite distinctive so that Western Scandinavia and rounds out the Kaupang
even the smallest fragments are easily identified. evidence. Worth noticing, however, is that the early
These characteristics are totally absent from Kaup- hoards of Vester Vedsted and Önum are not pure sil-
ang, which agrees well with the fact that 10th- and ver hoards as the later hacksilver hoards are. Both
early 11th-century German and English pennies, typi- hoards contained hacksilver and coins but there was
cal of late Viking-age hoards in Scandinavia, are also also a quantity of gold jewellery in the Vester Vedsted
missing here (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:30). hoard, while the Önum hoard contained beads of
The very early hacksilver hoards from Western various materials. This may indicate a partially am-
Sweden and South-Eastern Norway must be consid- biguous attitude towards silver as currency in this
ered in connection with what developed in South- early phase. The hoards show that currency was
Western Scandinavia, principally in Jutland and hoarded together with other types of valuables, or
Schleswig-Holstein. The 9th-century hoards there even that other valuables, such as beads, could have
are characterized by weight-adjusted rings and to been used as currency (Callmer 1977).
some extent by weight-adjusted ingots. Single finds Together with some other hoards from neigh-
of coins struck in the 9th century involve Islamic and bouring regions, amongst them the hoard from
Carolingian issues. Indications of a local weight- Färgelanda, Dalsland, the Önum hoard contained
based economy are seen in early hacksilver hoards objects which reveal a connection with Western Con-
from, for example, Vester Vedsted, West Jutland, tinental Europe, i.e. the Carolingian Realm, in the
t.p.q. 913, and the extremely early hacksilver hoard early Viking Age (Hårdh 1996:134–5; also Arbman

1937b). The composition of coins in both the Önum which is now emerging from central places and trad-
hoard and Westerklief I also shows that Islamic and ing places of the Viking Age. The diagram of the
Carolingian coins circulated together in the mid-9th chronological distribution of the coins from the
century in South-Western Scandinavia and Scandi- Grimestad and other early hoards compared with the
navian-influenced parts of the Continent. coins from Kaupang and Uppåkra is illustrative of
The Islamic coins from Kaupang, as well as from this (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Figs.3.6, 3.7, 3.10).
some other settlement sites such as Uppåkra, have an The evidence of the coins agrees very nicely with
early profile compared with coins from hoards. At the results from the study of the hacksilver. The
Kaupang, however, as well as at other settlement sites pieces can be dated only within broad limits but the
in South-Western Scandinavia, the coins derive overall impression is firmly that they belong to the
mainly from unstratified contexts and it is conse- earliest part of the Viking Age, first and foremost the
quently impossible to determine when they arrived. 9th century and perhaps the beginning of the 10th.
This notwithstanding, the coins from Kaupang con- Important in this regard are also the small pieces of
tribute in an important way to the understanding of hacksilver found in a 9th-century grave at Bikjhol-
silver importation in the Early Viking Age. Blackburn berget which could have been used in trading trans-
(this vol. Ch. 3:3.15.a-c) has demonstrated, through actions (Blindheim et al. 1999:119).
comparative analysis, that the majority of the Kaup- On the periphery of the Carolingian realm and
ang dirhams must have been lost before 900 (for a the thriving North Sea trade, Southern Jutland, with
somewhat different view, see Kilger, this vol. Ch. Ribe and later Hedeby, emerged as an economic focal
7:239–40). Comparisons with the hoard from Loft- zone by the start of the Viking Age (Graham-Camp-
hammar, Sweden, t.p.q. 865, and the records from bell 1999). The collected evidence from the early
Uppåkra, hint that the use of dirhams in the first half hacksilver hoards indicates that Western Sweden and
of the 9th century at Kaupang was not strong. If this the Oslofjord area were involved in the advanced
had been the case one should expect a greater prepon- economic activities that took place in this region,
derance of earlier issues, as is the case at Uppåkra. where contacts and impulses from east, west and
In contrast with the Islamic coins, Western Euro- north met, at least from the beginning of the 10th
pean coins seem to have been present in the first half century. The new evidence from Kaupang shows that
of the 9th century at Kaupang. The six Western Euro- we can trace this economic integration back to the
pean 9th-century coins all come from early stratified middle of the 9th century, and perhaps even earlier.
contexts and Blackburn concludes that they probably
arrived in Scandinavia before 840. During the earliest 5.11 Summary
phases, the coinage in Kaupang apparently consisted The conspicuous finds of hacksilver in plough-soil
mainly of Western coins (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. and stratified deposits at Kaupang are important for
3:53; Skre, this vol. Ch. 10:347). Brather shows in his understanding the use of silver as a method of pay-
overview that coin hoards are relatively few in ment in the early Viking Age. The find-contexts indi-
Northern Europe and East Central Europe in the 9th cate the circulation of hacksilver in the 9th century.
century (Brather 1997:98). These hoards are, as al- Dated objects amongst the hacksilver also point to a
ready noted, concentrated in present-day Sweden dating in this earliest phase of the Viking Age and the
and further to the east. assembled coins give the same early impression.
As long ago as 1980, Callmer demonstrated, Silver hoards, however, provide little evidence of the
through an analysis of burial material from Birka, use of hacksilver earlier than the first part of the 10th
that for a considerable period of time there existed a century. With the new, reasonably well-dated eviden-
coin stock, probably dominated by Oriental coins, ce from Kaupang, it will now be possible to interpret
which had little if any contact with the coin stock early occurrences of hacksilver in hoards, while hack-
known from the hoards. Coins from this coin stock silver in the plough-soil at Uppåkra and other settle-
did end up in the graves. Callmer thinks that this coin ments can also be discussed in a more systematic way.
stock was built up from c. 825 to the middle of the 9th The types of objects from which the hacksilver is deri-
century, and circulated at that time, being well suited ved link 9th-century Kaupang with a wider Southern
for complicated transactions within a developed Scandinavian and Western European context.
trading system. He maintains that this functionally
motivated coin stock served a well-balanced system Acknowledgements
of exchange and was probably adopted at the majori- I wish to express my sincere thanks to Mark Black-
ty of the leading trading centres in the early Viking burn, Christoph Kilger, Unn Pedersen and Dagfinn
Age. The period when this system functioned opti- Skre who all read a preliminary draft of the chapter.
mally was probably from the middle of the 9th centu- Their comments contributed in many respects to the
ry to the second third of the 10th century (Callmer improvement of my text. Special thanks to my two
1980; Gustin 2004b:100; Kilger, this vol. Chs. 7:202). unknown referees for all their valuable remarks.
It is highly probable that it is precisely this coin stock

Weights and balances 6

unn pe dersen
The weights found at Kaupang 1998–2003 are presented here along with other weights and balances
from the site, including cemetery finds. The overview includes descriptions of appliqués, identifications of
types, and discussion of their chronological and spatial distribution. The material is compared with similar
finds from Norway and other urban sites, particularly Birka and Ribe.
Noting its heterogeneous character, the material is related to the ongoing debate around Viking-period
weights and balances. It is shown that lead weights first appear at Kaupang in the second quarter of the 9th
century, which is thus parallel with the first appearance of hacksilver as currency in local trade. It is argued
that the weighing equipment was probably used in several different forms of exchange. The considerable
quantity of lead weights at the site also reflects their production here, and weights and balances very proba-
bly also functioned as equipment for metalcasting.
A change from the dominance of lead weights in the 9th century to that of specific types of copper-alloy
or copper-alloy/iron weights in the 10th is suggested, but a reduction in the use of lead weights cannot be
established beyond doubt. It is nevertheless argued that weights of both materials served functionally in a
wide range of activities and had several layers of meaning attached to them. With an emphasis on the con-
text of the Scandinavian Iron Age, the lead weights from Kaupang are seen as representatives of a (lead)
weight-tradition deriving from the early Iron Age and continuing into the post-Viking Period. The shapes
of new weight-types of other materials introduced in the second half of the 9th century were assimilated to
this tradition.
A wide range of lead weights but only a few copper-alloy weights are sufficiently well preserved for their
original weights to be used in a discussion of weight-standards. A considerable number of the lead weights
are adjusted to c. 24, 12 or 8 g and thus correspond to the ertog-/øre-standard discussed by A. W. Brøgger in
1921. Weights of c. 4 g constitute the largest group and the punched-dot decoration found on several
weights suggests that this could be regarded as another unit, closely related to the ertog/øre-standard. There
is a smaller group of lead weights that are adjusted to c. 26 and 13 g, the older øre-standard proposed by
Brøgger and Asgaut Steinnes. The material as a whole is nevertheless characterized by considerable varia-
tion, indicating that the weights were calibrated according to slightly different objects either in parallel or at
different times. Cubo-octahedral weights of copper alloy seem to be related to the weight of the dirham,
while the oblate spheroid weights are too poorly preserved for us to establish their original weight.
During the 1998–2003 campaign 378 weights were weights and balances (6.1) and leads on to a discus-
found in the settlement of Kaupang. This increases sion of chronological change and a critical evaluation
the total number of weights from the site by a factor of of the rigid distinction amongst weight-types seen in
ten. In this paper, the heterogeneity of the weights influential works from the last decade (6.2). This is
(Fig. 6.1) has stimulated a wide-ranging discussion of followed by a discussion of weight-standards (6.3),
the use and meaning of Viking-period weights and what kind of activities the weights and balances were
balances. Observed differences between the weights used in and the symbolic meaning connected to them
from graves and in the settlement at Kaupang serve as (6.4).
a point of departure for the presentation of the
6. pedersen: weights and balances 119

guished by a large number of weights, 410 in all, and

Figure 6.1 Weights from Kaupang. one just possible fragment of a balance (Tab. 6.2 and
Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM. Appendix 1). Charlotte Blindheim’s settlement exca-
vations of 1956–1974 produced 31 identifiable weights
and a fragment of a possible balance. The surveys and
excavations of 1998–2003 (Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch.
6.1 Graves and settlement – two different worlds? 2 Fig. 2.4) yielded 378 identified weights, 280 found by
Viking-period Kaupang consists of an urban settle- metal-detector during the surface surveys and 98
ment stretching along the shore surrounded by sev- during the excavations. They were found during all
eral large cemeteries (Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch.2.) the different excavations of 2000–2003, the main
Weights and balances are represented both in the set- research excavations (MRE), the Cultural Resource
tlement and in some graves, but within the cemeter- Management (CRM) excavation and the small-scale
ies they are quite a rare find (Tab. 6.1), occurring in harbour excavation. Another weight was found when
only six burials (Blindheim et al. 1999:115–9),1 or 3.7% the Museum of Cultural History (KHM) undertook a
of all excavated graves (Stylegar 2007). A total of ten minor excavation of a section with preserved Viking-
weights and two balances has been found in four cre- period deposits in 1999 (Stene 1999).
mation graves and two inhumation graves located In addition to the weights in Tables 6.1–6.2, two
within three separate cemeteries (Tab. 6.1, Fig. 6.2). lead weights were found during KHM’s metal-detec-
The single weight associated with one of the inhuma- tor surveys in 2005 (Kristensen 2005), 7 close to the
tion graves (Ka. 301) probably did not belong to this existing barrow cemetery at Lamøya and in an area
burial (Blindheim et al. 1995:29, 1999:117), but it is that may have belonged to the cemetery (Fig. 6.2).
nevertheless highly likely that it was originally de- However, as the surveys at Lamøya actually produced
posited in a nearby inhumation grave within the some indications of settlement, including a glass rod
densely packed Bikjholberget cemetery. All the for bead-production, lead waste from casting, a few
weighing equipment is from excavations organized lead ingots and some fragments of schist, it is not
by professional archaeologists: three finds by Nicolay possible to ascertain whether these weights originat-
Nicolaysen in 1867 and three by Charlotte Blindheim ed from graves or represent settlement activity. These
in the 1950s and in 1974. weights have accordingly been omitted from Tables
The settlement, on the other hand, is distin- 6.1–6.2.

Grave Weights Balance Cemetery Grave-type Excavator Gender Date
Ka. 6 1 1 N. Kaupang Barrow/cremation Nicolaysen Male 900–950

Ka. 8 3 1 N. Kaupang Barrow/cremation Nicolaysen Male 900–950
Ka. 4 2 N. Kaupang Barrow/cremation Nicolaysen Male 900–950
(Ka. 301) 1 Bikjholberget (Flat/inhumation?) Blindheim
Ka. 282 2 Bikjholberget Flat/inhumation Blindheim Male 900–1000
Ka. 126 1 Hagejordet Barrow/cremation Blindheim Female 900–1000
Total 10 2
Table 6.1 Graves with weights and balances.
Excavation and surveys Weights Balances
Blindheim’s excavations and surveys 1956–1974 31 (1?)

Skre’s surface surveys 1998–20022 280
Skre’s cultural rescue management (CRM) excavation 2000–20033 15
Skre’s main research excavation (MRE) 2000–20024 82
Skre’s harbour excavation 20035 1
Museum of Cultural History (KHM) 19996 1
Total 410 (1?)
Table 6.2 Weights and balances from the settlement.
6.1.1 Types of weights at Kaupang described by established typologies (like Kyhlberg

Even though we have to compare very different 1980b:219–20; Steuer 1997:44–51). The material is
quantities, there is a striking contrast between the even more varied than expressed by Table 6.4 and
weights found in the settlement and those from Figure 6.5, as most types lack a clear delineation.
graves at Kaupang (Fig. 6.3). While the ten weights Rather, the weights vary in shape so that the different
from the graves are all made of copper alloy or a com- types meet at the boundaries. For instance the large
bination of copper alloy and iron, 82% of the 410 group of cylindrical lead weights (Fig. 6.5.c) touches
weights from the settlement are made of lead. the group of conical (Fig. 6.5.f) as well as the oblate
The graves are in fact characterized by a rather spheroid lead weights (Fig. 6.5.a), while the latter also
homogeneous sample of weights (Fig. 6.4, Tab. 6.3 meets up with the biconical weights (Fig. 6.5.e). (For
and Appendix 2). With the possible exception of a further details and definitions of the types see
now lost, uncertain copper-alloy weight,8 all the Appendix 1.)
weights are copper-alloy cubo-octahedral weights, or The totally predominant type in the settlement is
oblate spheroid weights of copper alloy and iron. The the cylindrical lead weight – amounting to nearly half
latter have an iron core surrounded by a copper-alloy
mantle (Blindheim et al. 1999:115, Tab. V). Both
weight-types are common in the Scandinavian Vi- 1 Birgit Heyerdahl-Larsen (in Blindheim et al. 1999:115, tab.V)
king-period material. It is generally accepted that the presents a seventh grave (Ka. 127, KVI gr.1), but this grave is
types originated in the Islamic world (Steuer 1987: heavily disturbed (Blindheim 1974b) and the lead object is
460; Kruse 1992:80–1; Sperber 1996; Gustin 1999:251), most likely not a weight.
but they were subsequently produced in Scandinavia, 2 C52003, C52263, C52264 and C52517.
for instance at Birka (Söderberg 1996; Gustin 1997: 3 C52516.
171) and on Gotland (Östergren 1989:171 and fig. 56). 4 C52519.
No evidence of such production has been found at 5 C53160.
Kaupang. 6 C52105.
The settlement, unlike the graves, has a wide vari- 7 C54291/1 and C54291/3.
ety of different weight-types (Fig. 6.5, Tab. 6.4). The 8 Described in the Museum catalogue as “a bead of brass (with
heterogeneous character, especially of the lead no doubt a weight)” (Blindheim et al. 1981:203) and possibly
weights, gives a more differentiated picture than that an oblate spheroid weight too.

1950-57
MRE excavations 2000-2002
1956-67, 1970, 1974
70
7
Non-excavated barrow Ka. 8
8
6
35 Ka. 6
Excavated barrow 10 10 6
9
71
Cemetery 34
2
3 73
45
4 36 Ka. 4
Settlement area 44 15
Area with plot-division 14 26

23 54 16
51 52 1253 25
69
Weights 48 1138 1324
17 50 20 68 Bjønnes
5 49 21 67
47 43 65 66
Weights and balances 42 61
62
33
64 Nordre
59 60
30 58 18 22 Kaupang
1 31 32
41 63
29 40 57
28 56
46 55 39
19 27
37
Hagejordet
127?
126?
Ka. 126
Ka. 282
Ka. 301
Bikjholberget
290
203-204
229
205
Søndre Lamøya
Kaupang
Vikingholmen
230
218
217
0 100 200 m

Type Copper alloy Copper alloy/iron Lead Total
Oblate spheroid - 7 70% - 7 70%

Cubo-octahedral 2 20% - - 2 20%
Uncertain 1 10% - - 1 10%
Total 3 30% 7 70% - 10 100%
Table 6.3 Weight-types from the graves at Kaupang.
Type Copper alloy Copper alloy/iron Lead Total
Oblate spheroid - - 16 4% 9 2% 25 6%
Cubo-octahedral 44 11% 1 0.2% 5 1% 50 12%
Cylindrical 2 0.5% - - 193 47% 195 48%
Segment-shaped 1 0.2% - - 33 8% 34 8%
Conical 2 0.5% - - 44 11% 46 11%
Rectangular prism 2 0.5% - - 24 6% 26 6%
Biconical 1 0.2% - - 18 4% 19 5%
Others 3 0.7% - - 12 3% 15 4%
Total 55 14% 17 4% 338 82% 410 100%
Table 6.4 Weights from the settlement at Kaupang.
Figure 6.2 Overview of graves with weights and balances. The weight associated with Ka. 301 probably did not belong to this
burial. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem and Elise Naumann.
of the weights (Tab. 6.4). This type also illustrates the Cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weights, segment-
considerable variation within the types of lead shaped and conical lead weights are the next largest
weight. The diameter:height ratio varies from 1:1 to groups. While both of these lead weight-types show
5:9 and the weight from 1.2 g to just above 200 g. This great internal variation, the cubo-octahedral copper-
is also the range for all lead weights that are more or alloy weights have a homogeneous character and are
less fully preserved. Even though most of the cylin- all very light. Cubic/rectangular and biconical lead
drical weights are straight-sided, there is one subtype weights constitute smaller groups. Especially within
with a convex side and another with a concave side. the biconical group a subtype with a clearly marked
90 Figure 6.3 A comparison of weights from the graves and

Copper alloy settlement at Kaupang (N graves =10, N settlement = 410).
80 Copper alloy / iron
Lead
70 Figure 6.4 Weight-types from Kaupangs graves. a. Cubo-
octahedral weight of copper alloy; b. Oblate spheroid weight
60 of copper alloy and iron (Blindheim et al. 1981:pl. 8:7, pl.
50
86g). Scale 1:1.
40
30
20
10
m 0
% Graves Settlement

a b c1 c2 c3
d1 d2 f1 f2
e g1 g2 g3

Figure 6.5 Types of weights from the settlement of Kaup-

ang, with subtypes. a. Oblate spheroid (C52519/ 14716); b. a b
Cubo-octahedral (C52519/18388); c. Cylindrical: c1. straight
side (C52519/15039) c2. concave side (C52517/617) c3. convex
side (C52517/818); d. Segment-shaped: d1. (C52517/777)
d2. (C52519/19669); e. Biconical (C52519/20041); f. Conical:
f1. (C52517/675) f2. (C52517/645); g. Rectangular prism:
g1. square, flat (C52517/766) g2. rectangular, high
(C52517/921) g3. cubic (C52517/419).
Scale 1:1. Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh.
Figure 6.6 Two possible weights from the settlement of

Kaupang a. C52517/2076 b. C52519/17263.
Scale 1:1. Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh.
equator is very uniform in appearance, although the

specimens differ in size. The majority of the lead
weights are probably local products (below, 6.4.3).
In contrast to the graves, the oblate spheroid
weights of copper alloy/iron constitute one of the
smaller groups. There are also some marginal types
and weights collected in the group “others”. The lat-
ter is a very heterogeneous group, including some
elaborate weights (discussed below, 6.4.4) and several
possible weights of well-defined shape but without
known close parallels (Fig. 6.6). On the strength of
the intentional shaping of the latter and the fact that
there is no alternative interpretation for these ob-
jects, it appears most likely that they were in fact used
as weights.
Eight lead weights have remains of heavily cor-
roded iron (Fig. 6.7.a and Appendix 1). From the iron
itself it is impossible to identify original form or
function, although this might be the remains of a sus-
pension loop attached to the weights (Kyhlberg
1975:fig. 4, 1980b:220). Unlike the other weights at the
site, the largest weight, of 203 g, might thus have
belonged to a steelyard (Jansson 1936: 18–9), a form
of scales used for larger loads than the balance.
Steelyards are known from other Viking-period finds
such as the Mästermyr tool chest from Gotland
(Arwidsson and Berg 1999 [1983]:9, pl. 2) and cylin-
drical steelyard-weights of lead have been identified
at Birka (Kyhlberg 1975:159). Unlike the balance, each
steelyard has just one weight, which is attached to the
iron bar and moved laterally when weighing.
Another cylindrical lead weight has a small central
knob on the top that might have been used as a grip
for lifting (Fig. 6.7.b).
The oblate spheroid weights of copper alloy and
iron are poorly preserved. When the original surface
of the coating is preserved, however, it is golden and
thus most likely brass. The best preserved cubo-octa-
hedral copper-alloy weight (Fig. 6.21.b) is character-

a b
ized by a similar golden and shiny surface, unlike the is a relatively well-preserved collapsible balance of
other weights of this type. The surface of the weight copper alloy with both beam and scale-pans (Fig.
was analysed using a scanning electron microscope 6.8). It can be identified as Heiko Steuer’s type 3
(SEM).9 This non-destructive analysis cannot give us (1987:liste 6:31), characterized by its needle-shaped
the precise composition of the original alloy, but it tongue of steel and the beam of six-sided section dec-
confirms that the weight was made of brass. The sur- orated with a wolf-tooth pattern (Steuer 1987:462;
face consisted of 85–89% copper (Cu) and 10–13% 1997:25–6, abb.4–5). A few fragments of a lock and a
zinc (Zn). A cubo-octahedral weight from the Blind- hinge from a special copper-alloy container for bal-
heim excavations was previously analysed and it is ances were found with it. The copper-alloy balance in
likewise made of brass, but with some traces of lead the other grave is very badly preserved and only a few
(Pb).10 Destructive SEM analyses of a lead weight11 fragments of the scale-pans are present,12 together
demonstrated that it is made of almost pure lead with a few fragments of a container. It is not possible
(99.1%) with small amounts of tin (0.4%), antimony to identify this balance according to type, but the
(0.1%) and copper (0.4%) (Jouttijärvi 2006). Based presence of the container suggests that it too was col-
on a visual comparison with this weight it seems lapsible. The poorly preserved possible balance-frag-
highly likely that most, perhaps all, the lead weights ment of copper alloy found in the settlement of
are made of equally pure lead. This is further sup- Kaupang during the 1956–1974 surveys cannot be
ported by the fact that most objects of lead from identified by type.
Kaupang that have been analysed by SEM are of The balances from Kaupang have previously been
almost pure lead (Jouttijärvi 2006). regarded as Western imports (Blindheim et al. 1981:
177), but according to Steuer’s typology the better
6.1.2 Types of balance at Kaupang preserved one and even the fragmented balance is
Balances, on the contrary, are represented in much more probably of an “Eastern” type. The fragments
smaller numbers at Kaupang. While two specimens show no signs of tin coating otherwise characteristic
have been found in two separate graves, just one pos- of Steuer’s type 2, the only collapsible balance-type
sible fragment has been found in the settlement. This with an assumed Western origin (Steuer 1987:462,
is far from surprising as the loss of complete balances 1997:23). Balances were probably produced in Scan-
in a settlement area is improbable in view of their size dinavia during the Viking Period, as demonstrated
and value. One of the balances from one of the graves by unfinished balances at Birka (Kyhlberg 1980b:

wise, four deliberately cut spindle-whorls (Øye, in

Figure 6.7 a. Lead weight for a steelyard (?). The iron prep.), halved, or almost halved,13 suggest themselves
bump on the top is probably remains of a suspension loop as possible weights. This seems especially likely due
(C52517/ 244). b. Lead weight with a lead knob (C52519/ to the fact that a couple of weights were treated in the
15671). Scale 1:1. Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh. same way.14 Moreover the weight of the spindle-
whorls is in accordance with the weight of the
Figure 6.8 Balance from grave Ka. 6 at Nordre Kaupang, weights. The spindle-whorl of 12.1 g is especially
C4232b. Scale 1:1 (Blindheim et al. 1981:pl. 12:5). noteworthy in this respect (below, 6.3.3).These coins
and the fragmented whorls are, however, excluded
from the statistics, although they will be included in
the discussion of spatial distribution (below, 6.4.1).
Perforated cones and cylinders of lead have formerly
been interpreted as weights (Kyhlberg 1973b:figs. 59a,
c; Wallace 1987: 212; Kruse 1992:79), but, considered
alongside the other textile-production tools at the
site, perforated hemispheres, cones and cylinders of
lead are more convincingly identified as spindle-
whorls at Kaupang (Øye, in prep.). This is supported
by the fact that no sets of weights from graves in
South-Eastern Norway contain perforated lead
weights (Pedersen 2000).
More consequentially, it is far from easy to draw a
line between the less regular lead weights and frag-
ments of ingots or pieces intended for leadworking.
Kilograms of lead waste in the settlement of Kaupang
bear witness to extensive leadworking (Pedersen, in
prep.). A Viking-age grave at Sævli, Aust-Agder,15
demonstrates that irregular pieces of lead did serve as
weights. An irregular piece of lead from the grave
271–2) and Hedeby (Steuer 1987:462). No evidence of (Fig. 6.9) had been adjusted to the same weight-stan-
such production has been found at Kaupang. dard as the more regular lead weights in the set
(Brøgger 1921:4, 11). Identification of such weights
6.1.3 Representativity from the settlement area has been impossible. The
The total number of weights from the settlement is corpus of weights has thus been restricted to fairly
less certain than Table 6.2 suggests. In 32 cases, iden- regular types, or their miscasts, and other objects
tification as a weight is uncertain due to the condi- with regular shaping that most probably served as
tion of the object, or to the hypothetical weight lack- weights (see Appendix 1 for details). It should, how-
ing close parallels. It is not a straightforward matter ever, be kept in mind that formal regularity was not
to draw a dividing line between weights and ingots, essential for the users – although the formal regulari-
but I have treated all objects with any kind of punch- ty of many weights makes it likely that it was normal.
mark as weights (below, 6.3.4 and 6.4.4). In theory, Different methods of artefact recovery have affec-
anything small and heavy could be used as a weight – ted the corpus of weights. No sieving was undertaken
a fragment of an ingot or even a stone. In the graves during the 1956–1974 settlement excavation (Tollnes
at Birka, and in the settlement, weights are found in 1998:17), rendering it probable that some smaller
purses or containers together with coins and other weights were lost. During the MRE all the preserved
artefacts (Kyhlberg 1980b:224–7; Rispling 2004a:30). deposits and even some of the plough-layer were
Ola Kyhlberg (1980b:219 and 224–7) has considered sieved (Pilø 2007b:156–8). In addition, in the MRE
both beads and brooch-knobs as weights. The use of
such artefacts as weights could hardly be recognized
in settlement material unless they are found in asso- 9 Analysis by Birgit Wilster Hansen, KHM, University of Oslo,
ciation with regular weights, for instance in a purse. report at the conservation department.
Heiko Steuer (1997:12 with references) has interpret- 10 A63Ivt: information from the catalogue card for bronze
ed two Roman coins found in purses as weights, and No. 106.
a similar interpretation of Roman coins was also pro- 11 C52519/16583.
posed by A. W. Brøgger (1921:108). It is thus possible 12 C4240a.
that the two Roman bronze coins from Kaupang 13 C52517/490 of 22.3 g, C52517/1964 of 9.2 g, C52517/2269 of 20.1
(Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Tab. 3.1) might have been g and C52519/15522 of 12.1 g.
used as weights as well (see also below, 6.4.1). Like- 14 C52517/2185, C52517/2610, C52517/2584 and C52519/15497.

Figure 6.9 The weight-set from Sævli. Drawing, Bjørn-

Håkon Eketuft Rygh, based on Brøgger 1921:fig. 5. Scale 1:1.
Figure 6.10 A heavily corroded weight of copper alloy/iron

(C52505/1301, max. measure 2.5 cm). Photo, Vegard Vike,
KHM.
Figure 6.11 A comparison of the material from Skre’s sur-

veys and excavations 1998–2003. (NSurface surveys = 280,
NAll excavations = 98, NMRE = 82, NCRM = 15).
the modern ploughsoil was metal-detected during its

removal in squares. Thus most of the preserved and
identifiable weights from this trench are assumed to
have been collected. The preserved deposits were also
sieved in the course of the CRM and the harbour
excavations. A comparison of the collections of
weights from the MRE and the 1956– 1974 excavation
shows that they are roughly equivalent in terms of
both range of sizes and average weight. The larger
number of weights from the MRE is thus foremost a
product of the recovery of finds from the modern
plough-layer. Fortynine weights of a total of 82 came
from this context. Artefact recovery from the dis-
turbed soil above the excavated area has thus con-
tributed to the larger and even more heterogeneous
find assembly. Even more radically, metal-detecting
had immense impact on the recovery of weights dur-
ing the 1998–2003 campaign.
The conditions for the preservation of metal,
especially iron, copper alloy and silver, are far from
ideal at Kaupang (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:182). Final
traces of artefacts in the form of corrosion products
were repeatedly observed during the 2000–2002
excavations and some of the cubo-octahedral weights
were saved, fortunately due to observant staff. Cop-
per-alloy weights, especially those with an iron core,
suffer badly from the conditions. Four out of a total
of six weights of copper alloy/iron from the MRE
were first identified from x-radiographs. Unidenti-
fied iron from these excavations has been x-rayed,
but 10% of the iron from the MRE was corroded
beyond recognition. The collection of iron from the
modern ploughsoil during the excavations and sur-
face surveys was restricted to identifiable artefacts of
assumed Viking-age or 11th- to 16th-century date.
Although the staff were trained to identify objects
such as corroded weights, it is highly likely that some
were overlooked. The copper-alloy mantle is often
totally corroded at Kaupang, so it is highly likely that

90
Copper alloy
80 Copper alloy / iron
Lead
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
% Surface Excavations MRE CRM
surveys (all)
some weights from the modern plough-layer may all it seems highly likely that some heavily corroded
have been misinterpreted as unidentifiable iron and weights were lost during what was actually Nico-
left behind. This assumption is supported by the cor- laysen’s first large cemetery excavation, hastily con-
pus of weights from the modern ploughsoil (Fig. ducted during one summer month of 1867 and rely-
6.27). The interpretation of the signals from the ing heavily on local labour (Pedersen 2000:28–31).
metal-detector is especially difficult at Kaupang due The lack of lead weights at the cemeteries is less expli-
to the ground effect.16 All three oblate spheroid cable by the conditions of presevation in view of the
weights of copper alloy/iron from Blindheim’s exca- good preservation of lead in the settlement and the
vations in the settlement were identified quite recent- fact that two fairly well-preserved lead net-sinkers
ly through ongoing x-radiography17 – illustrating have been found in inhumation graves at Bikjhol-
how hard these are to identify visually (Fig. 6.10). berget. Lead weights placed on a cremation pyre
The lead weights are in general much better pre- would melt, of course, as lead melts at a temperature
served and lead is easily detected as it yields strong just above 300ºC, but this does not explain the lack of
metal-detector signals. It could be expected that lead weights in the inhumation graves. Further
smaller lead weights would be under-represented in Viking-period cremation graves with lead weights in
the material from the surface surveys, and this is South-Eastern Norway,18 and at Birka (Kyhlberg
clearly the case. While the average weight from the 1980b:294–305), show that weights could be kept off
surface surveys is of 13.3 g, the average weight from the pyre but added to the burial subsequently.
the MRE is of 9.5 g. The degree of preservation of the The conclusion must be that although conditions
weights collected probably gives an indication of how for preservation have clearly distorted the ratio be-
the preservation conditions have biased the material. tween weights of different materials the striking dif-
56% of the lead weights from 2000–2003 could be ference between the graves and the settlement at
regarded as fairly well preserved, as opposed to 11% of Kaupang is genuine. Neither is it likely that the num-
the copper-alloy weights and none of the weights ber of weights at the cemetery matched the amount
with an iron core. A comparison of the weights from in the settlement nor that the material and types were
the excavations and the metal-detector surveys originally represented in equal proportions at the
respectively (Fig. 6.11) indicates that weights of cop- cemeteries and in the settlement. The absolute pre-
per alloy/iron are even slightly more under-repre- dominance of lead weights in the settlement is a
sented in the metal-detected material from the sur- result of unfavourable conditions for copper alloy
face surveys – as expected. and iron, but it seems likely that the majority of the
With one exception, the weights from the graves weights were indeed of lead to begin with.
are heavily corroded. Two of four oblate spheroid
weights from Blindheim’s excavations in the cem-
etery were first identified by x-ray examination
(Blindheim et al. 1995:82). Equivalent x-radiography 15 C8272–3. Unfortunately this piece can no longer be found.
of Nicoalysen’s material was conducted by Blind- 16 Personal comment Peter Pedersen, De Bornholmske
heim – after a century of further decay of the iron in Amatørarkæologer.
the storage rooms, but with negative results with 17 C52505/73, C52505/1301 and C52505/1875.
regards to weights (Blindheim et al. 1981:199). All in 18 C7838–44, C8272–3 and C30317.

6.2 A radical change from the 9th were in use at Kaupang in the second quarter of the
to the 10th century? 9th century at the latest.
The difference between the groups of weights from A cylindrical lead weight was found at Plot 2A in a
the cemetery and the settlement is thus a definite one. layer, AL60592, dated to SP II sub-phase 2 (Pilø
This section will evaluate whether chronology might 2003:76). The dating of the layer prior to AD 840/850
be an explanatory factor in this. All five Kaupang could however be questioned as it contains several
graves with a balance and/or weights are dated to the younger glass beads (Wiker, in prep.). The layer is
10th century, three of them prior to AD 950 (Tab. described as heterogeneous and it is possible that the
6.1). It is, indeed, highly likely that the two other weight belongs to an unrecognized younger struc-
10th-century graves belong to the first half of the cen- ture. Accordingly the weight will merely be regared as
tury, as the cemeteries lack later graves with just two a possible SP II-weight in the following. In addition
possible exceptions (Stylegar 2007:81). Thus none of to these six weights – being from the MRE where the
the graves with weighing equipment belongs to the method of excavation and recording allows for a
first century of the town’s existence. This cannot be detailed dating – a weight from the CRM was found
explained by a general lack of 9th-century graves at in a structure that most probably dates to SP II, based
Kaupang, as a considerable proportion of the datable upon a comparison with the MRE. The rectangular
graves do belong to this century (Stylegar 2007:80). lead weight was situated in a stone construction in-
However it could be a function of differences be- terpreted as a plot-division (Pilø 2007c:169, fig.
tween the cemeteries. The majority of the graves with 8.12)22 and in the MRE comparably solid plot-divi-
weighing equipment are situated at the cemetery of sions belong to SP II (Pilø 2007d:196–8).
Nordre Kaupang, dominated by 10th-century graves Another two weights originally related to SP II in
and with fewer than 20% of the graves dated to the the MRE belong more probably to an unrecognized
9th century. Bikjholberget, with equal numbers of later feature. A cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weight
9th- and 10th-century graves has only one (maybe (C52519/18388) and an oblate spheroid copper-alloy
two?) grave(s) with weights (Tab. 6.1). The internal weight with iron core (C52519/40035) were found in
differences do not affect the fact that no graves from AL66930, originally interpreted as a layer from SP II
the 9th century contain weighing equipment. The (Pilø 2003:40). These weight-types, however, are not
weights from the settlement, on the other hand, are known to appear this early at any other site (below,
from different chronological contexts (below, 6.2.1). 6.2.2), and this very uncertain context cannot form
In the following, the difference between the graves the basis for a re-dating of the types. As the layer was
and the settlement will be explored. excavated mechanically and is described as heteroge-
neous with great internal differences (Pilø 2003:
6.2.1 The chronological distribution 40–1) it is entirely possible that a later feature may
of weights in the settlement have been overlooked in the area. This is supported
Weights appear for the first time in the settlement in by the fact that the layer also contained beads from
Site Period (SP) II, dated from c. AD 805/810 to c. AD the second half of the 9th century (Wiker, in prep.).
840/850 (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:185–6). However, These two latter weights are consequently added
no more than five weights belong to the period, all of to the two weights from SP III in the MRE trench. SP
lead. Three of the five weights are cylindrical lead III comprises activity from AD 840/850 to AD
weights, while one is a biconical lead weight and the 960/980 (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:186). Two weights
other a unique conical lead weight with convex top are from the preserved deposits of SP III: the fill of a
and base (Fig. 6.6.b). well,23 and a small pit,24 respectively. One is a rectan-
Within SP II a single weight belongs to one of the gular copper-alloy weight, and the other a cylindrical
earliest layers from the site period at Plot 1A.19 The lead weight that suggests lead weights remained in use
remaining four weights all belong to SP II sub-phase after SP II, although the fill could, of course, include
2 at Plots 3A and 3B (Fig. 6.27), dated to the second material of SP II redeposited. From the harbour exca-
quarter of the 9th century. One of the four was found vation, a cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weight be-
in one of the earliest layers from sub-phase 2 at Plot longs to a preserved deposit,25 and this weight has
3A,20 hence a date around AD 825 could be suggest- been used to date the layer to the later part of the 9th
ed. The others belong to layers from the later part of century and possibly into the early 10th (Pilø
sub-phase 2,21 hence towards AD 840/850. However, 2007d:200). Accordingly the layer has a date that cor-
the significance of single objects should not be exag- responds to the preserved deposits of SP III and the
gerated in these poorly preserved settlement deposits weight has therefore been included in that group.
with the problems of identifying younger pits cutting Two weights come from the fill of pits from the
the cultural layers and the intense bioturbation, lead- MRE that are no more precisely dated than SP
ing to vertical transportation of small artefacts I–III.26 However, these weights, both oblate sphe-
(Milek and French 2004:12–3; Pedersen and Pilø roid, point themselves towards a dating post-870/880
2007:185). Nonetheless it is evident that lead weights (below, 6.2.2), well into SP III. A rectangular copper-

SP I SP II SP III SP I–III Late-medieval Modern Unknown Stray finds

plough-layer ploughsoil
0 5 (7) 2 (5) 2 (5) 20 (26) 324 (330) 4 1
Table 6.5 The distribution of the 378 weights from the Skre excavations of the stratigraphic sequences.
alloy weight and two lead weights from the CRM contemporary sites. Ribe has lead weights from the
trench belong to structures with an assumed date of first quarter of the 8th century and throughout the
SP I–III: a post-hole,27 a pit,28 and a cultural layer,29 preserved phases until c. AD 850 (Feveile and Jensen
respectively. 2006:fig. 9.35). In Birka the first weights, of lead,
The collection of weights of the preserved dep- appear in Phase 1, dated to the second half of the 8th
osits of SP III and SP I–III thus comprises some types century (Gustin 1998:76; 2004c:312). Thus, the occur-
additional to SP II. Copper-alloy weights in the form rence of weights at Kaupang in SP II rather than SP I
of two rectangular and two cubo-octahedrals appear seems to coincide with the general change in activity
for the first time along with three oblate spheroid in the MRE from SP I to SP II, represented by several
weights of copper alloy/iron. As demonstrated by the changes in the artefactual material (Pedersen and
two weights from the reinterpreted context AL66930 Pilø 2007:187) together with the raising of the first
there are uncertainties attached to the dating of the permanent buildings (Pilø 2007d:195). Whether the
preserved deposits of SP III. Not all of the pits con- lack of weights in SP I is characteristic for the area of
tain datable artefacts or material suitable for den- the MRE in particular or the settlement in general, is
drochronological dating and later material may have an open question.
sunk into some of the pits. The preserved deposits of
SP III in the MRE have a suggested end-date around 6.2.2 Dating of the weight-types
AD 900 (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:186), but detailed Since most of the weights from the settlement have
analyses of the glass beads demonstrate that SP III come from the plough-layers, the dating of the types
deposit contains types dated from AD 800 to AD 950 themselves are important for a better understanding
(Wiker, in prep.). Thus it is hard to establish whether of their time of use. However, most of the weight-
oblate spheroid weights or the cubo-octahedral types found in the settlement were long-lived, and
weight in the area of the MRE were lost prior to the only a few weights could be dated with certainty to
turn of the century. the Viking Period alone. Three lead weights with pre-
Most weights from the settlement at Kaupang served Insular mounts (below, 6.4.4: Figs. 6.33b, 6.37a
are from disturbed contexts (Tab. 6.5). Of the 378 and 6.42b) can most probably be dated to the 9th and
weights found during the Skre survey and excava- 10th centuries, as weights of the same type have been
tions of 1998–2003, 20 (26) belong to the later medie- found in Scandinavian graves of this date in Norway,
val plough-layer and 324 (330) to the modern plough- Scotland and Ireland (Graham-Campbell 1980:307–
soil. This reflects the fact that 74% of the weights were 8; Wamers 1985:catalogue 27, 38, 43, 64 and 80). It is
found by metal-detector during the surface surveys also highly likely that a group of ten other lead
and that the site has been heavily disturbed by weights with different types of mounts and inlays
ploughing in modern and later medieval times. The (below, 6.4.4) belong to the same period.
high amount of finds from the modern ploughsoil is Otherwise, the numerous lead weights can be
also a result of the sieving of 35% of the modern regarded as representatives of a long-lived (lead)
ploughsoil in the MRE trench and the use of the
metal-detector when it was removed (Pilø 2007b:
156–8). Although the plough-layers consist of materi- 19 AL1022171.
al from the layers destroyed later (the disturbed SP 20 AL76555.
III), an unknown proportion of material from SP I 21 AL65597, AL61041 and AL62411.
and II is included as well, due to the complete disrup- 22 A3315.
tion of the Viking-period cultural layers over much 23 AL22286 in A1019170.
of the settlement, and the redeposition of older mate- 24 AL65721 in AL25261.
rial in the disturbed layers (Pedersen and Pilø 2007: 25 AL4453.
186). 26 AL43104 in A1035711 and AL41983 in A40814.
The complete lack of weights and balances in SP I 27 A3549.
could not be explained by a general lack of weights in 28 A11958.
the region, as they appear in Scandinavia at several 29 AL4360.

weight-tradition. Weights of lead were in use into the octahedral weights must have been lost or deposited
14th century (Færden 1990:241; Steuer 1997:460) and after AD 860/870 and the 25 oblate spheroid weights
the cylindrical examples have parallels back in the after AD 870/880. According to Heiko Steuer (1987:
Migration Period, as in a mid-6th-century grave 460; 1997:12), cubo-octahedral and oblate spheroid
from Snartemo, Vest-Agder (Hougen 1935:14 and weights appear from AD 870/880 in all the lands
34),30 and a 6th-century grave from Holte, Roga- around the Baltic, but the excavations in the settle-
land.31 Correspondingly, cylindrical copper-alloy ment of Birka of 1990–1995 have demonstrated that
weights have parallels in Norwegian graves dating cubo-octahedral weights were already in use around
from the Roman Iron Age (Blindheim 1974a:73),32 860/870, while the oblate spheroid weights appear in
Migration Period (Magnus 1978:166–79),33 and Me- the next phase (Gustin 2004c:314). Only B1alt, a sub-
rovingian Period (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:283).34 A few type of the oblate spheroid weights, is restricted to
similar weights occur in graves at Viking-period the Viking Period. All other subtypes continue into
Birka (Kyhlberg 1980b:298–305) and in post-Viking the 11th and 12th centuries (Steuer 1997:abb. 232).
Oslo (Færden 1990:241). One weight of this type Due to the poor conditions for preservation, the
found in a grave at Auby, Tjølling, 8 km north of identification of subtypes has not been possible at
Kaupang, even demonstrates the nearby use of cylin- Kaupang. It is not impossible, therefore, that some
drical copper-alloy weights back in the Roman Iron were lost after the urban settlement was abandoned,
Age. but this seems most unlikely. With their presence in
A considerable proportion of the weights might local graves in mind, it seems reasonable to postulate
thus, in theory, be older or younger than the Viking- the use of cubo-octahedral and oblate spheroid
period, but none are of types that can definitely not weights in the settlement area at least into the first
have been in use in the Viking Period. The assembly half of the 10th century.
itself – characterized by many different weight-types Compared with Norwegian grave-finds, it is
–nevertheless points towards a Viking-period date. striking that no massive oblate spheroid weight of
All well-preserved lead and copper-alloy weights copper alloy has been found in the settlement. This
found in Norway in the preceding periods are cylin- type is quite common amongst grave-finds, but fore-
drical, while lead weights of different shapes are most in graves from the 11th century. According to
found in Norwegian Viking-period graves (Pedersen, Steuer (1997:47 and abb. 232) none of the earliest
U. 2001:fig. 4). Likewise the settlement of Helgö with oblate spheroid copper-alloy weights (B1alt) are mas-
weights from the Migration Period to the beginning sive. Such weights are first represented with the later
of the Viking Age is dominated by the cylindrical type subtypes appearing from the last decades of the 10th
(Kyhlberg 1980b:181), while the assemblage at the century onwards. The lack of these subtypes could,
Viking-period settlement of Birka (Gustin 2004a: then, suggest that few weights were in use towards the
table 1) is as varied as that from Kaupang. Unlike the end of the 10th century. One weight might belong to
Kaupang weights, the majority of the weights from the last years of activity in the urban settlement, dur-
Birka have been found in definitely Viking-period ing the later part of the 10th century. The pear-
deposits. Moreover the very restricted quantity of shaped weight of copper alloy (Fig. 6.12.a) has simi-
copper-alloy weights of types other than the oblate larities to a copper-alloy weight from Saude, Tele-
spheroid and cubo-octahedral also seems to point mark (Fig. 6.12.b) found with a balance dated to c.
towards a Viking-period date – or at least no earlier. AD 980–1320 (Steuer 1997:358 and abb. 165). Similar
In groups of weights pre-dating the Viking Period, weights are also found in Norwegian medieval towns
such as from the Norwegian graves,35 or at Helgö (Grieg 1933:fig. 324; Færden 1990:fig. 25).
(Kyhlberg 1980b:181 and 291–3), copper-alloy weights
are much more frequent. Moreover, most datable
artefacts from the 1998–2003 campaign belong to the 6.2.3 A chronological change?
9th and 10th centuries (Pilø 2007c:177–8). Only a The fact that all five (seven) weights from SP II are of
handful of pre-Viking-period finds of other types lead could suggest that all early 9th-century weights
have been found in the settlement area and the at Kaupang were made of this metal, although no
restricted later medieval find material reflects a rural firm conclusion can be drawn from the limited quan-
settlement where weights should not be expected. It tity of evidence. It does seem highly likely that some
is altogether most likely that all the weights are relat- other lead weights from disturbed contexts originally
ed to Viking-period activity at the site. belonged to the 9th century. 9th-century use of lead
Due to the high proportion of undatable weight- weights in the settlement is not reflected in the ceme-
types at Kaupang, it is impossible to ascertain over teries. Due to the destruction of most preserved lay-
what period weights were lost in the settlement area, ers post-dating AD 840/850, the settlement finds can-
or whether they were actually lost continuously. At not shed light on the use of weights in the 10th centu-
least we know that a minimum of 18% of the material ry. Accordingly, the copper-alloy/iron weights in the
reflects considerably later use than SP II. Fifty cubo- graves could either be the only weight-types in use at

Figure 6.12 a. A pear-shaped copper-alloy weight

C52517/2274. Drawing, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh.
b. Weight from Saude, Telemark, C9204 (Ab 1879:fig. 57).
Scale 1:1.
a b
these later dates, or they could be a selective sample peculiarity of Kaupang, but typical of both these con-
from a wider range consisting of both lead and cop- temporary urban sites in Scandinavia. At Birka the
per-alloy weights. The large quantity of lead weights observed differences are furthermore based on a sta-
in the disturbed settlement deposits seems to favour tistically significant find-assemblage.
the latter hypothesis. Seen in relation to the limited At Birka, too, the deposition of weights in the
amount of weights from the preserved deposits of SP graves starts considerably later than the use of weights
I–III it seems most likely that lead weights continued in the settlement. In the settlement weights are found
to be lost after AD 850 and cover a considerable time- from the outset, in the second half of the 8th century,
span, probably well into the 10th century – although and in all subsequent phases (Gustin 2004c:94), while
it is doubtful that they were lost at the same rate all no weights were deposited in graves in the earliest
the time and everywhere (see below). Later use of period at Birka (Kyhlberg 1980a:69 and 79). Using
lead weights is supported by the existence of a few seriation, Kyhlberg argues that deposition of weights
cubo-octahedral and oblate spheroid weights of lead in graves was a custom that was taken up no earlier
in the settlement. These certainly indicate the parallel than the middle of the 9th century and which in-
use of weights of lead and copper alloy or copper creased steadily from then onwards. The fact that
alloy/iron at some point after AD 860/870 or AD 80% of the weights from graves are of types dated
870/880. To shed more light on the relationship be- post-AD 860/880 (Kyhlberg 1980b:219) strengthens
tween the 9th and the 10th centuries in the use of his interpretation. A change in the burial practice at
weights, material from the rest of Scandinavia will be urban sites some time in the late 9th century thus
drawn into the discussion that follows. seems to explain the lack of 9th-century graves with
Substantial finds of weights seem to be character- weights at Kaupang. The relevant graves at Birka are
istic of Scandinavian Viking-period urban sites such distinguished from those at Kaupang by being more
as Birka, Hedeby and Dublin (Steuer 1987:473; Wal- numerous: 148 burials (Kyhlberg 1980b: 201), i.e. 13%
lace 1987:212–5; Gustin 2004a). Like Kaupang, Birka is of the excavated graves (Clarke and Ambrosiani 1995:
characterized by a settlement with surrounding 74) contain weighing equipment, in contrast to 4% at
cemeteries, and weights and balances are found in Kaupang (above, 6.1). The occurrence of balances,
both contexts. As the sites are broadly contemporary, however, is even lower, found in no more than four
they are suitable for comparison. Birka was estab- graves (0.3%), and thus even less frequent than at
lished in the second half of the 8th century and con- Kaupang (1.2%).
tinued to c. AD 970 (Clarke and Ambrosiani 1995:75). The material from the excavations in the settle-
A superficial comparison of the Kaupang material ment of Birka 1990–1995 could contribute to a much
and weights from the graves and the settlement exca-
vation at Birka 1990–1995 (inspired by Gustin 2004c:
figs. 5.5–5.6) demonstrates that the differences ob- 30 C26001.
served at Kaupang have counterparts at Birka (Fig. 31 St4547.
6.13). At Birka too, the settlement is dominated by 32 C13202 Auby, Tjølling, Vestfold.
lead weights and the graves by copper-alloy weights, 33 B4590 Evebø, Gloppen, Nordfjord.
some of them with an iron core. Accordingly, the dif- 34 C525 Bråten, Norderhov, Ringerike.
ference between the graves and settlement is not a 35 Based on notes 30–4 and C340 and B4842.

better understanding of the use of weights and bal- period material. It is an open question whether the
ances in a settlement in the late 9th and 10th cen- weights there reflect Viking-period activity. They
turies, but it is not yet published with detailed con- resemble the Kaupang weights, and were accompa-
textual information. It is clear, as at Kaupang, that nied by fragments of silver dated to the Viking Period
lead weights are predominant in the earliest phases, (Skre 2007e:240–2), but all four coins from Huseby
but it is also obvious that copper-alloy and copper- belong to the 11th–16th centuries (Blackburn, this
alloy/iron weights predominate in the latest phases vol. Ch. 3:68). It is thus equally likely that the weights
(Gustin 2004c:94). At Birka, the earliest copper-alloy were used in connexion with the handling of silver in
weights appear around AD 860/70 (Gustin 2004c: the medieval stofa built at the same place in the 11th
312–4) and after their appearance only a few lead century.
weights are found in the following phases (pers. The lack of settlement parallels might reflect the
comm., Björn Ambrosiani and Ingrid Gustin). fact that few Viking-period settlement sites have been
Moreover the Birka material demonstrates that a identified and excavated in Norway. Evaluated
large number of weights were lost in a limited area against the Danish material it seems highly likely that
over a short period of time. All the weights from the more settlement sites with weights will be located in
1990–1995 excavations are from a trench of about 350 the future. In Denmark, Viking-period settlement
sq m and most of the 199 lead weights belong to a sites at different economical and political levels with
period of approximately 50 years (pers. comm., varying amounts of weights are found through
Björn Ambrosiani and Ingrid Gustin). The Birka metal-detector surveys and large-scale settlement
material thus contrasts with the material from Kaup- excavations (Henriksen 2000; Watt 2000; Jørgensen
ang, where no more than five (seven) weights were 2003; Ulriksen 2004:fig. 4). About twenty weights
found in the deposits of SP I and SP II that should found by metal-detector at different places in South-
cover roughly the same period of time. Thus the loss Eastern Norway during the last few years might rep-
rate of weights at the two sites is strikingly different resent further settlement sites, but the weights have
(this will be returned to below, in 6.4.1 and 6.4.3). as yet been found in such small numbers at each site
At Birka the change in weight-types is contempo- that they could just as well have originated from
rary with a radical change in the activities at the exca- ploughed-out graves. The majority of the weights are
vated plot – with the cessation of the bronzecaster’s also of types of a wide chronological distribution,
workshop (Gustin 2004c:94). The large amount of from the Migration Period to the post-Viking Period:
lead weights is closely related to workshop activity it is therefore uncertain that they are of the Viking
(below, 6.4.3). It is thus possible that excavations at Period. Nevertheless excavated Viking-period build-
other plots at Birka or of other 10th-century deposits ing sites without weights, such as the chieftain’s farm
might reveal that the radical reduction of the lead at Borg in Lofoten (Munch et al. 2003), seem to show
weights primarily reflects a change in activity. An- that weights are not present in the finds at all con-
other find from Birka shows that weights made of temporary settlements, not even the most prestigious
lead and copper alloy were used together into the ones. Seen in the light of the large body of material
middle of the 10th century. A collection of weights, representing craft and exchange at Kaupang, it seems
coins, beads and jewellery interpreted as the contents likely that the high number of weights in the settle-
of a purse includes four oblate spheroid weights of ment area reflects the extensive production and
copper alloy/iron and two lead weights (Gustin 1999: exchange activities here, which may be unparalleled
248, 2004c:94). Based on the t.p.q. of AD 938–9, this elsewhere in Early Viking-period Norway.
find is dated to around AD 950 (Rispling 2004a:30). The graves at Kaupang, on the other hand, can be
Unfortunately no other Viking-period settlement assessed in light of a series of graves. In Norway,
material from the area of what is now Norway can Viking-period weights and balances occur in some
shed light on the use of weights. The collection from 130 finds outside Kaupang, of which around a hun-
the settlement at Kaupang is truly outstanding in the dred are identified as graves.38 As at Kaupang, the
Norwegian archaeological record. None of the c. 200 majority of the grave finds with weighing equipment
Viking-period weights outside Kaupang is securely in South-Eastern Norway are concentrated in small
associated with a settlement, with the exception of a clusters (Fig. 6.14). Fjære and Valle in Aust-Agder,
possible Viking-period lead weight in a rock shelter Tune in Østfold, Løten/Hamar/Stange in Hedmark
at Fana, Hordaland,36 and four weights of a possible and Hedrum/Larvik in Vestfold appear as areas with
Viking-period date at the chieftain’s farm at Huse- a concentration of graves with weights and/or bal-
by,37 about 1 km from Kaupang (Appendix 1). Like ances (Pedersen, U. 2001:28–9). As a result, the con-
Kaupang, the hall at Huseby belongs to the Skirings- centration of graves with weights at Kaupang does
sal complex (Skre 2007e). Unlike the settlement area not stand out as unique, but seems to reflect a ten-
of Kaupang, the excavation at Huseby produced con- dency in South-Eastern Norway for graves with
siderable amounts of artefacts from the Early Iron weights to occur in clusters. There are, in fact, even
Age and the Middle Ages in addition to the Viking- more graves containing weighing equipment at near-

Figure 6.13 A comparison of weights from Kaupang and Kaupang, settlement

Birka (after Kyhlberg 1980b:219 and 298–305; Gustin (N = 410)
2004a:table 1). 14 %
4%
82%
Copper alloy
Copper alloy / iron
Lead
Others
Kaupang, graves
(N = 10)
by Hedrum by the River Lågen than at Kaupang. As

all datable graves in Hedrum/Larvik are dated to the
same period of time as Kaupang (Pedersen, U.2001: 30%
29), it seems quite possible that they were influenced
by the activity there. As at Kaupang, the areas of these
grave-clusters are characterized by imported finds
70%
and other indications of trade and accumulation of
wealth (Brøgger 1922; Martens 1969; Larsen 1980,
1986). In most places the graves can be dated within a
limited period of time. Thus these graves from
South-Eastern Norway with weighing equipment
Birka, settlement 1990-95
could contribute to the understanding of the Kaup-
(N = 293)
ang graves and will be drawn into the debate on the
use of the equipment in the following sections.
At first sight, the deposition of weights in the
graves of South-Eastern Norway seems to differ radi-
cally from the deposition of weights in the graves at 24 %
Kaupang. Of the 101 weights from the graves, 36%
(36) are lead (Fig. 6.15). However, the 30 graves with 8%
these 101 weights represent a much longer period of
time, from the 9th century to the late 11th, and there 68%
are notable differences between the graves that can be

dated to the earlier and later parts of the Viking Pe-
riod respectively (Appendix 4). Ten graves are cer-
tainly later than c. AD 950 and these contain 46
weights of which only 1 (2%) is made of lead. In con- Birka, graves
(N = 252)
trast, the nine graves that are certainly older than c.
950 have a total of 25 weights, of which 16 (64%) are 4%
of lead. Thus these graves also seem to suggest that
4%
lead weights were predominant in the Early Viking
Period but were totally outnumbered by copper-
27%
alloy and copper-alloy/iron weights by the end of the
65%
36 B11109.
37 C52518.
38 Based on Pedersen 2000, Jondell 1974, and additional data
from http://www.arkeoland.uib.no/losemFS. htm, searched
several occasions up to 31.12.06.

Figure 6.14 Graves from South-Eastern Norway with

weights and/or balances. Map, Elise Naumann and Unn
Pedersen.
Figure 6.15 The material of the weights from graves in

South-Eastern Norway, mixed graves excluded. (Nall =101,
N<950 =25, N>950 = 46).
Kaupang
point to a predominance of lead weights in the 9th

century changing to copper-alloy weights from the
latter part of the 9th century and into the 10th.
However, later use of lead weights is well attested in
10th- and 11th-century Dublin (Wallace 1987:212) and
0 50 100 km remains an element in Scandinavian medieval towns
Pre 950 10th century
such as Oslo and Lund. In Oslo this element is rather
Post 950 Viking Age
modest (Færden 1990:239) but lead weights have
been documented into the 12th century in Lund
(Molander 1976:193). It is difficult to reach definite
period. As at Kaupang, no grave can certainly be chronological conclusions, but the evidence current-
dated to the 9th century, but one dated c. AD 850–950 ly available seems to suggest that there was a shift in
might belong there. Due to the restricted number of dominance from lead weights in the Early Viking
graves and the relatively imprecise dating of most of Period to one of copper-alloy or copper-alloy/iron
them, the precise date of this change is hard to pin- weights in the later Viking Period. What is demon-
point. It is nevertheless possible that one grave dated strated beyond doubt is that the grave-finds from the
to c. AD 900 gives some indication of the time of two urban sites Kaupang and Birka do not reflect the
change, with its three lead weights and nine copper- actual use of weights there in the early 9th century.
alloy and copper-alloy/iron weights.
Two of the graves dated 900–950 with a total of 6.2.4 Two different groups of weights?
four lead weights support the inference that lead In the graves and the settlement at Kaupang nearly all
weights were still used in the settlement of Kaupang the copper-alloy weights are cubo-octahedral while
in the 10th century. These two graves are likewise nearly all the copper-alloy/iron weights are oblate
both from Vestfold. The pre-950 graves also indicate spheroid (Tabs. 6.3–6.4). The same is the case at Bir-
that the deposition of weights in graves at Kaupang ka (Kyhlberg 1980b:298–305; Gustin 2004a:tab. 1) and
differs significantly from the deposition of weights in in the graves of South-Eastern Norway (Pedersen
graves in the surrounding area. As we have seen, sev- 2000:fig. 4.3). As these two types were introduced in
eral graves contain lead weights and three of these the second half of the 9th century (above, 6.2.2) the
graves are located in the immediate vicinity of Kaup- observed shift from lead to copper-alloy weights
ang, one in Larvik,39 and two at Hedrum,40 7, 5 and seems to be closely related to the appearance of these
22 km from Kaupang respectively. Although the new forms. Steuer (1987:460; 1997:44–5; 2002) has
cemeteries at Kaupang are at the place where lead repeatedly emphasised the difference between lead
weights were unquestionably in use, it is in the hin- weights on the one hand and these two types on the
terland that the use of these weights is witnessed in other. He regards the former as a diverse group,
the graves. opposed to what he calls “regulated” (genormt)
To sum up, Kaupang clearly illustrates that graves weights. His distinction has had great influence in
do not mirror life. Nevertheless some similarities weight studies in recent decades, especially Ingrid
between Kaupang, Birka and the graves with weights Gustin’s (2004c) discussion of the Swedish material.
from South-Eastern Norway are striking. They all In Steuer’s and Gustin’s research the regulated

120
Copper alloy or copper alloy / iron
Lead
100
80
60
40
20
0
% All graves < 950 > 950
weights received far more attention than the lead terized by a wide variety of different shapes during
weights. Due to their high proportion amongst the the Viking-period (above, 6.2.2). It is noteworthy
weights from the settlement of Kaupang the lead that it was the shapes of the new types that were
weights will be the main focus of discussion in the copied, not details like the decoration otherwise
next section, analysed along with all other types of characteristic of these types of weights. There must
weights. This could contribute to a better under- have been no intention to match the regulated
standing of the use of weights prior to the introduc- weights by weight in the medium of the much heavier
tion of the regulated weights and provide us with a lead. Thus these weights seem to suggest that the
more nuanced picture of the use of weights and bal- shapes introduced with the new, regulated weights
ances in the period following their introduction. were incorporated into the traditional use of weights
There are undoubtedly differences between the in Scandinavia. Gustin (1997:171) has drawn our
two groups. As Steuer (1987:467) has pinpointed, the attention to the fact that the oblate spheroid weights
production of the so-called regulated weights is tech- are made either of copper alloy alone or with a cop-
nically much more advanced than that of lead per-alloy mantle around an iron core (se also Steuer
weights. The copper-alloy mantle and the decoration 1997:33 and 285–6), and that both types were pro-
of the regulated weights make adjustments impossi- duced at Birka. The copper-alloy/iron weights were
ble, in contrast to the soft lead weights which could protected against change, as Steuer has claimed,
easily be adjusted using a knife. The material from while the properties of the massive copper-alloy
Kaupang and Birka has also demonstrated that the weights are identical to other types of massive cop-
two types have different chronological ranges, and per-alloy weight and more similar to the lead weights
that the people there saw little or no reason to include than to the remaining weights with a mantle. Steuer
the lead types in the graves (Fig. 6.13). (1997:33 and 312–5) has himself noted that some of the
Nevertheless, there is a fusion of the two groups massive oblate spheroid weights were apparently
of weights at Kaupang (Fig. 6.16) represented by lead manipulated to change their weight. Accordingly,
weights of cubo-octahedral or oblate spheroid shape. even these oblate spheroid weights seem more closely
As the oblate spheroid weights are quite similar to the related to the local weight-tradition.
cylindrical lead weights with convex sides the latter Some grave-finds could even suggest that the reg-
type might be questioned; the cubo-octahedral lead ulated weights themselves were to some extent in-
weights on the other hand have a distinct shape and corporated in the Scandinavian weight-tradition.
are unquestionably copies of the copper-alloy ones. Weights from the two groups are not mutually exclu-
Both types of lead weight are represented in the set- sive in the graves: lead weights and regulated weights
tlement of Kaupang. Even though oblate spheroid appear together in some cases. Amongst the eleven
lead weights are known from Birka (Gustin 2004a: graves of South-Eastern Norway with lead weights
tab. 1), Paviken at Gotland (Lundström 1981:111), and and more than one weight, three contained regulated
Uppåkra in Lund (Gustin 1999:260–1), these weight- weights too. The same phenomenon is also observed
types have had little attention so far. I find it reason-
able to regard these weights as a part of the heteroge-
neous (lead) weight-tradition deriving from the Iron 39 C11790–4.
Age. As we have seen, this tradition becomes charac- 40 C14139–44 and C12480–3.

in the few graves in Birka with lead weights, as all four ply weighing out an amount equal to one’s weight(s),
graves with more than one lead weight contained carefully composed sets of weights from Viking-peri-
regulated weights as well (based on Kyhlberg 1980b: od graves and hoards reveal a sophisticated use of
298–305). As discussed above, even the purse from weights which presupposes specialized knowledge.
the settlement of Birka contained both groups of The method of subtraction – to put weight(s) togeth-
weights (above, 6.2.3). According to Steuer (1987: er with the weighed object(s) and then subtract that
459–62), the first collapsible balance (type 3) was weight from the total in the other scale – was used
introduced along with the regulated weights. The besides that of addition (Steinnes 1927; Kyhlberg
three finds from South-Eastern Norway with this bal- 1980b:150). This section will address the possibility of
ance-type, however, have weights representing all identifying what standards the weights at Kaupang
possible combinations: lead weights alone, regulated were calibrated according to, and whether the
weights alone, and a combination of the two. The punched-dot decoration seen on a large number of
grave with regulated weights alone is that at Kaup- the weights is related to identifiable standards. The
ang. Steuer’s (1987:462) type-2 balance, considered to modern metric gram is used in the following when
be the Western response to the introduction of type referring to Viking-period weighing in general and
3, is found in three graves in South-Eastern Norway: the Kaupang weights in particular. This weight in
two with lead weights, the third with a combination grams was of course irrelevant to the Viking-period
of regulated and lead weights (Appendix 4). The use user of weights and balances, but it is a useful tool for
of different types of weight and of balances seems our understanding of standards, weight-units and
more pragmatic than regulated. In the following sec- accuracy.
tion, the use of all types of weight will be discussed
comparatively, to evaluate similarities and differ- 6.3.1 Accuracy
ences. The accuracy of the balance is the decisive factor in
the accuracy that could be achieved when weighing
6.3 Weight-standard (Kyhlberg 1980b:150; Sperber 1996:18–25; Steuer
Calculation of weight-standards, using more or less 1997:112–22). The accuracy of the balance also gov-
sophisticated statistical analyses, has been one of the erns the production of new weights. The balance’s
main projects in research on Viking-period weights sensitivity, or response to changes of equilibrium,
and balances. Several studies have concluded that determines whether differences between two roughly
Viking-period weights and balances were functional equal weights can be registered when each is put in
tools of quite high accuracy and usefulness (Brøgger one scale-pan. Erik Sperber (1996:fig. 5.1, 18–25 and
1921; Steinnes 1927; Kyhlberg 1980b; Steuer 1987; 115–7) tested three well-preserved Viking-period bal-
Sperber 1996; Steuer 1997). Although this equipment ances experimentally and combined his observations
could be used in a less sophisticated manner, by sim- with an advanced equation based on the properties of

Deflexion of tip (g/mm)

Figure 6.16 Cubo-octahedral weights and an oblate sphe- 1.0
roid weight of lead (A63cc (d=1.7 cm), C52517/383 (0.9 x 0.9
x 0.8 cm), C52517/2034 (d=1.9 cm), C52517/2392 (1.2 x 1.1 x
1.2 cm). Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM. 0.8
Figure 6.17 Result of experimental testing of Viking-period

weights and balances. The weight needed for deflecting the 0.6
tip one millimetre increases with increasing payload (after

Sperber 1996:fig. 3.5).
0.4
0.2
Payload (g)
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50
the balance-type. Assuming that the user could type. In sum, Sperber’s and Steuers observations
observe a 1 mm deflection of the tip of the pointer, demonstrate that the accuracy of the Viking-period
Sperber claims that the addition of 0.2–0.4 g in one balances is high, but that minor differences registered
scale could be noted by the user when both scales by modern equipment would not be noticed.
were without any other load, while an addition of Due to their different properties the balance types
0.6–1.0 g or more was necessary at a load of 50 g (Fig. also have different capacities. According to Steuer
6.17). Sensitivity is thus reduced at heavier loads. (1987:note 203) the ideal maximum capacity of the
These results are roughly in accordance with the type-3 balance is around 10–20 g while the 11th- to
smallest preserved weights from the Viking Period, of 14th-century balances of his types 7 and 8, with beam
0.2–0.3 g (Steuer 1997:116). lengths of 175 and 215 mm respectively, would have
Sperber’s study is subject to some uncertainty as ideal maximum capacities of 100 and 200 g respec-
two of the balances from these experiments are rather tively (Steuer 1997:323). Comparing sets of weights
poorly preserved and have been repaired in modern and balances in graves and hoards there is a clear ten-
times. Both Sperber himself and Steuer have argued dency to conform to the capacity of the balance
that even greater accuracy could have been achieved. (Steuer 1997:abb. 235). Some finds, however, such as
The use of Viking-period weights and balances was the Sævli grave (Brøgger 1921:4), seem nevertheless to
dependent upon the competence of the users, and imply that its balance of type 3 was used for much
their ability to observe changes of equilibrium. An heavier loads. Its weight of c. 53 g, for instance, is
experienced person could achieve greatest accuracy more than 2½ times the calculated capacity.
using a familiar balance and could probably correct In the 10th century, highly accurate balances were
for problems, for instance caused by wear (Kyhlberg available at Kaupang. The balance identified in a
1980b:150; Sperber 1996:24–5). Sperber (1996:24) sug- grave is the most accurate example, a Steuer type 3
gests that a competent user could observe a 0.3 mm (above, 6.1.2). As no balances from the 9th century
deflection of the tip, while Steuer (1997:116–8) stress- have been found at the site, the accuracy of the bal-
es that there are considerable differences between dif- ances in use at that time is uncertain, but according
ferent types of balance in the Viking-period material to Steuer (1997:abb. 165) the only type of Viking-peri-
with regards to their accuracy. The longer and lighter od balance in use before the end of the 9th century
the beam and the pointer, and the lighter the scale- was his type 1, a non-collapsible balance. This balance
pans and strings or chains suspending them, the is about half as accurate as type 3 (Steuer 1987:463).
greater the accuracy (Steuer 1997:119). According to Change due to corrosion and secondary damage is
Steuer (1987:462–3), his type-3 balance was the most another important factor when evaluating the
accurate one in use in the Viking Period. He has sug- weights in what follows. Although some are much
gested that 3 g was the minimum load that could be better preserved than others they have all been affect-
weighed on this balance within an accuracy of 1%, ed by the fact that they have spent a thousand years in
while a load of 4.25 g could be weighed within an the ground. All the lead weights, for instance, are
accuracy of 0.7%, hence giving a range of 4.22–4.28 g covered with an oxide layer of unknown thickness.
(Steuer 1987:463). Two of the balances tested by But unless these weights are damaged by a network of
Sperber are of Steuer’s (1997:463 and abb. 9) type 7 cracks they have proved to be useful in metrological
from the late Viking-period – a much less accurate studies (Sperber 2004:63 and 72). When the term

“well-preserved” is used, it is thus as a relative term – present state. Amongst the in total 23 listed weights
used for weights without other signs of damage than there are eight øre-weights of 23.334–24.442 g, one
a slightly corroded surface. ertog of 7.942 g and three half-øre of 11.826–11.971 g
The graves from Kaupang and the rest of Norway (Tab. 6.7). According to Brøgger (1921:80–4; 1936:79)
reflect the very careful handling of weights and bal- this ertog/øre-standard is closely related to the oblate
ances, implying that much effort was invested in spheroid weights of copper alloy, but a few weights of
maintaining their accuracy. Both balances from lead and copper alloy/iron from other districts be-
Kaupang were found with fragments of a copper- long to the group as well. Although Brøgger did not
alloy casing, and similar casings are known from note this, the slightly lower weight in grams of some
another seven, or possibly nine, Norwegian graves. of the latter weights is probably the result of their
The weights in a grave from Fjære, Aust-Agder,41 lay being slightly affected by corrosion, to judge by their
inside a leather purse, wrapped in birch bark. An- present state.
other balance from Fjære was found in a leather According to Brøgger (1921:8 and 16), the ertog/
purse that was wrapped in leather and birch bark.42 øre-standard succeeded an “old Norwegian” øre fix-
For another two finds there is evidence of weights ed at 26.8 g and sub-divided by seven. Again he fixes
and balances having been wrapped in textile and the øre by the heaviest weight in the group (Brøgger
birch bark respectively.43 About a third of the graves 1921:6–7). Unlike for the ertog/øre-standard, Brøgger
from South-Eastern Norway had evidence of remains (1921:4) could base his study in this respect on five
of boxes, leather purses, wood fragments, or textiles well-preserved sets of weights with striking similari-
in which the weighing equipment either was, or may ties, dating from the Migration Period into the
have been, wrapped (Pedersen 2000:fig. 5.3). Given Viking Age.46 The historian Asgaut Steinnes (1927)
the accidental find circumstances or unskilled exca- demonstrated that the construction of these sets to
vation of many of the finds, the original frequency of achieve a wide range of different weights is an aspect
the phenomena was probably considerable higher. that goes hand-in-hand with the calibration of each
Although observed in graves, this presumably reflects individual weight to a common standard. Steinnes’s
the everyday handling of the equipment. In the few critical commentary upon Brøgger’s study proved it
cases where such information has been noted, there more likely that the early øre was divided into 20
are indications that weights and balances were part of units (of c. 1.3 g) (Tab. 6.6). This gives less deviation
the deceased’s costume, hanging down from the belt, of each single weight and moreover demonstrates
in a purse, case or bag (Nicolaysen 1886:33; Hougen that these were highly useful sets. Steinnes (1927:15–6)
1923). This has also been observed in Birka’s well- suggested that the name of the smaller unit could
documented graves, where wrapping is even more have been penningr. This is an old designation in
pronounced (Kyhlberg 1980b:212 and 217). Norway, referring to the smaller units of an øre. After
AD 1047, 1 øre in Norway could be divided into 16, 20,
6.3.2 Standards 30 or 60 pennings depending on the varying standard
The existence of different weight-standards and of the coinage (Steinnes 1927: 15). According to
systems has been demonstrated by several studies Steinnes, it is not unlikely that it originally referred to
(Brøgger 1921; Steinnes 1927; Kyhlberg 1980b; Sperber a twentieth, as the penning has been used in Anglo-
1996). These studies will be presented and discussed Saxon. In the following I will adopt Steinnes’s sug-
in the following to provide a background for the gested term penning/øre when referring to the earlier
identification of weight standards at Kaupang. A. W. øre, just like I have adopted Bøgger’s ertog/øre when
Brøgger’s Ertog og Øre of 1921 has been particularly referring to the later øre (for a thorough discussion of
influential in later studies of metrology. Based on a weighing related terms and their use see Kilger, this
group of weights from Norwegian graves, Brøgger vol. Ch. 8). Steinnes (1927) demonstrated that the
(1921:85) postulated a Late Viking-period weight-unit penning-units could be counted in halves and quar-
øre of 24.59 g, divided by three to an ertog of 8.19 g. ters. Accordingly some of the sets could produce any
His exact numbers are based on the single weight that quarter-, half- or complete penning over a consider-
gives the highest øre, a lead weight of 12.295 g, said to able span.
represent ½ øre (Brøgger 1921:84–5). His choice is With the Viking-period set of lead weights from
surprising and unfortunate as this is a heavily dam- Jåtten, Jæren47 (Tab. 6.6) any whole, half or quarter
aged, conical weight. The poor preservation of the of a penning up to 3½ øre (70 pennings) could be
two lead weights in the grave in question is even produced using its series of 1½, 2, 3, 4½, 5¾, 10, 20
described in the museum catalogue and thus could and 30 pennings (Steinnes 1927:9). Steinnes based the
not have arisen after Brøgger’s study.44 In other theoretical common denominator (~1.334 g) on the
respects his study is based on better preserved five smallest weights, with the result that his theoreti-
weights:45 for instance his assessment of a series of cal weights of ½, 1 and 1½ øre are all slightly too low.
copper-alloy weights from Setesdal and Telemark In my opinion the strikingly precise correspondence
(Brøgger 1921:81–2) is consistent with their good between the 2 penning and the 1 øre (20 pennings)

Units Actual Theoretical weight Theoretical weight

weight (after Steinnes: 1.33385 g) (after 1 øre/2 penning weights: 1.34 g)
30 = 1½ øre 40.345 g 40.016 (-0.329) 40.200 (–0.145)

20 = 1 øre 26.805 g 26.677 (-0.128) 26.805
10 = ½ øre 13.456 g 13.339 (-0.117) 13.400 (–0.056)
5¾ penning 7.662 g 7.670 (+0.008) 7.705 (+0.043)
4½ penning 5.993 g 6.002 (+0.009) 6.030 (+0.037)
3 penning 4.045 g 4.002 (-0.043) 4.020 (–0.025)
2 penning 2.680 g 2.668 (-0.012) 2.680
1½ penning 1.962 g 2.001 (+0.039) 2.010 (+0.048)
Table 6.6 All the weights in the set from Jåtten (after Steinnes 1927, with additions).
weights points towards 1.34 g as an even better com- resent 1½, 3¼, 3½, 4½, 5 and 5½ pennings. There are
mon denominator (Tab. 6.6) – if so, this weight-set is remarkably small deviations from the common
even better calibrated to a common standard. Kilger denominator, but it should be noted immediately
(this vol. Ch. 8.3) emphasises the grain as the build- that my tentative calculations are subject to much
ing block of the weigh-system. For example he re- larger critical problems than Steinnes’s study. All
gards Steinnes’ 1.33 g unit as 20 grains of 0.067 g and these weights are from the same grave, but they most
accordingly Steinnes’ 2 penning as 40 grains. Regard- likely originated from several slightly different sets
less of how its weights are described, the Jåtten set is and it is far from obvious which weights belong to
undoubtedly precicely calibrated and a highly useful each set. I have suggested it is the weights that show
tool for weighing. This hoard from Jåtten contains a the least deviation from a common denominator that
balance of Steuer’s type 2 and it can therefore be originally belonged to a set, but this is not necessarily
dated to the 10th century48 (Steuer 1987:462 and liste true. Moreover, even more weights may originally
6a, 1997:24). have been deposited in the grave. One weight from
In Brøgger’s mentioned list of the ertog/øre- the grave (of 1.239 g) is not listed by Brøgger, proba-
weights from Setesdal and Telemark (Tab. 6.7), all bly because it is a bit corroded. It is further possible
the weights are massive weights of copper alloy and that some weights were lost during the non-profes-
all but three are from the same grave at Nomeland, sional excavation in the early 19th century. According
Valle, Aust-Agder.49 This grave is coin-dated post- to the museum catalogue (C30539) further weights
AD 1065/1080 (Skaare 1976:catalogue no. 70). No bal- reported to be from this farm could originally have
ance is reported to be found, but as the grave was not
professionally excavated one may have been lost.
Some of the weights in the list are only briefly men- 41 C7838–44.
tioned by Brøgger; for instance the two weights of 42 C8278–85.
4.481 and 4.803 g and three weights of 12.9–13.5 g 43 C4188–97 and C XXX–MXXXII.
(Tab. 6.7). As we have just seen, the three latter 44 C17669 Valle, Tune, Østfold. Their present weights are also
weights correspond very well to half of an early øre, roughly in accordance with Brøgger’s figures, and it is there-
but Brøgger dismisses the combination as a mixture fore unlikely that there has been a misplacement.
of old and new without any further discussion. 45 I checked the available weights from South-Eastern Norway
According to him, there is no rational relationship at KHM in Oslo in 1999.
between these weights and the ertog/øre-weights 46 Brøgger (1921:3; 1936:75, note 10) dated the C525, Bråten,
(Brøgger 1921:82). Buskerud, set to the 2nd–3rd centuries, but it has later been
Neither Brøgger nor Steinnes has commented on dated both to the Migration Period or later (Kyhlberg
a few hints of a possible fusion between the early and 1980b:164), and to the Merovigian period (Kilger, this vol.
later øre. Running through Brøgger’s list from Ch. 8:283).
Nomeland with the three early half-øre as a basis for 47 B4772.
three different theoretical common denominators 48 Steuers dating of the type is inconsequent. Elsewhere he sug-
(see Tab. 6.7), it seems evident that several weights gests a date between the last decades of the 9th century and
could actually represent pennings as discussed by the third quarter of the 10th (Steuer 1997:abb. 165).
Steinnes. Some of the Nomeland weights could rep- 49 C30539.

Actual weight Ertog/(later) øre Penning / (early) øre Based on ½ early øre:
(after Brøgger) 1.345 g 1.305 g 1.293 g
24.442 g 1 øre
24.416 g 1 øre 18 pennings (–0.206)
(23.914 g)* 1 øre
(23.879 g)** 1 øre
23.803 g 1 øre
23.414 g 1 øre 18 pennings (+0.076)
23.370 g 1 øre 18 pennings (–0.096)
(23.334 g)*** 1 øre
13.452 g ½ øre (10 pennings) = 13.452 g
13.050 g ½ øre (10 pennings) = 13.050 g
12.928 g ½ øre (10 pennings) = 12.928
11.971 g ½ øre 9 pennings (+0.134)
11.894 g ½ øre
11.826 g ½ øre
7.942 g ertog 6 pennings (+0.128)
7.391 g 5½ pennings (+0.007)
6.509 g 5 pennings (+0.016)
6.485 g 5 pennings (–0.020)
6.061 g 4½ pennings (–0.009)
4.803 g 3½ pennings (–0.096)
4.481 g 3½ pennings (+0.045)
4.271 g 3¼ pennings (–0.030)
2.071 g 1½ pennings (–0.054)
Table 6.7 Weights from Setesdal and Telemark (after Brøgger 1921:81–2, with additions). All the weights are from the same
grave (C30539), with the exception of * (from C1671–2) ** (from C13781–7) and *** (from C22234).
belonged to this grave. As we might expect any quar- strengthened by the fact that two of the other later
ter of a penning to be present, the smallest penning- øre-weights (of 23.370 and 23.414 g) are even more
weights should also be regarded as uncertain due to closely calibrated to the same denominators (1.293
the considerable difference between the common and 1.305 g respectively) as two early half-øre from
denominators implied by the early half-øre weights. the grave (Tab. 6.7). Compared to Brøgger’s early
In any event, this grave provides evidence of the use øre-sets like Jåtten, there is nevertheless a noteworthy
of weights of the early øre towards the end of the difference in that no weights of 1 early øre or multi-
Viking Period. This is not surprising as an øre of c. 26 ples thereof are represented at Nomeland.
g was still in use after the Viking Period (Steinnes It is possible that the later øre, its half and the
1936:92). ertog, do belong to the same set as the penning-
Isolating the early øre-weights based on 1.345 g weights, and they could in fact be seen as 18, 9 and 6
(Tab. 6.7), a penning/øre-set with units of 1½, 3½, pennings. Although there are uncertainties attached
4½, 5½ and 10 pennings may be represented in the to the Nomeland set and the hypothetical calcula-
Nomeland grave. The fact that this is a highly useful tions above, the find nevertheless seems to suggest an
set, giving all half and whole pennings up to 1 early inter-relationship between the early and later øre.
øre, seems to strengthen the case that these weights Even the other way around, some of the smaller pen-
originally constituted a set. It is also obvious that this ning-weights in the Jåtten set could equally fit well
hypothetical set was found together with ertog/øre- into the system of ertog/øre. 1½ and 3 pennings cor-
weights. In my opinion it is even possible that there is respond to half and a quarter of an ertog respectively,
a rational relation between this set and some of the and a hypothetical 6 pennings would actually corre-
ertog/øre-weights – in contrast to what Brøgger spond to Brøgger’s ertog. In the hypothetical Jåtten
(1921:82) claimed. Even a later øre, a later half-øre, set based on 1.34 g, 6 pennings would have had a
and an ertog, could have been calibrated to this theo- weight of 8.04 g. No such weight is represented there,
retical common denominator of 1.345 g, although the but a 6-penning weight of 7.923 g has been identified
deviation is slightly higher. This possibility seems by Steinnes (1927:10) in the Viking-period set of lead

weights from Sævli, Fjære, Aust-Agder (Tab. 6.8).50

This set otherwise shows a strong resemblance to the Units Jåtten Sævli
other early øre-sets, with an øre of 26.289 g and 1½, 2,
3, 5¾ penning, half- and 2 early øre-weights (Steinnes 40 = 2 øre 52.998 g
1927:10–1). The Sævli set was found in a grave that 30 = 1½ øre 40.345 g
could be dated between the last decades of the 9th 20 = 1 øre 26.805 g 26.289 g
century and the first half of the 11th by its balance of 10 = ½ øre 13.456 g 12.923 g
Steuer’s type 3 (Steuer 1987:liste 6, 1997:abb. 165). The 6 7.923 g
set from Sævli is clearly internally calibrated – not as 5¾ 7.662 g 7.332 g
perfectly as the set from Jåtten, although, as Steinnes 4½ 5.993 g
has emphasised, the 6-penning weight is closely in 3 4.045 g 3.857 g
agreement with the 2-(early) øre weight. The sets of 2 2.680 g 2.558 g
weights from Jåtten and Sævli, and the Nomeland 1½ 1.962 g 1.856 g
grave, thus draw attention to the fact that the ertog/
øre-units were integrated with the earlier, long last- Table 6.8 The sets of weights from Jåtten and Sævli (after
ing penning/øre-system. This might point towards Steinnes 1927).
the penning as the stable element in the Scandinavian
weight-system while the number of pennings that
constituted one øre changed. The relationship be-
tween the penning and the two different øre will be system. The lead weights at Birka with a weight below
considered further in the discussion of the weights 5 g also belong to the former system in his view, while
from Kaupang (below, 6.3.3). the larger lead weights have a unit weight of 8.22 g,
The ertog is a crucial element according to Brøg- representing two mitqāl (Sperber 2004:72–3). Kilger
ger’s study, but amongst the weights from South- (this vol. Ch. 8:305) has suggested that the differences
Eastern Norway outside Kaupang it is much less pro- between Birka and Gotland might reflect two differ-
nounced (Pedersen 2000). Besides the Sævli and ent traditions for calibrating the weights and not nec-
Nomeland sets with their penning elements only one essarily two different systems. In his opinion it is
other well preserved weight of 8 g (+/– 0.5 g) is repre- highly possible that slightly different objects (or type
sented in the corpus (of 7.69 g).51 A brief comparison of grains) were used when calibrating the weights at
of the Jåtten and Sævli sets further demonstrate that different sites. I will return to the question of cali-
there are considerable differences between different brating and the presented units when discussing the
weight-sets, despite their internal calibration and well-preserved weights from Kaupang (below, 6.3.3).
good preservation. This difference will be kept in In the last three decades, the study of weight-
mind when the weights from Kaupang are analysed units has developed into a highly specialized disci-
below (6.3.3). pline characterized by advanced statistical and me-
Brøgger’s early øre corresponds to a Dublin unit trological examinations (Kyhlberg 1980b; Sperber
of 26.6 g outlined by Patrick F. Wallace (1987:212). 1996). In some statistical approaches the calculations
According to Wallace, the weights found in the settle- themselves sometimes appear as the main objective
ment of Dublin were adjusted to this standard, with while the cultural historical context of the weights is
the exception of oblate spheroid copper-alloy neglected. Sperber’s (2004) latest study of the weights
weights adjusted to a standard of c. 24 g. Sperber from Birka’s settlement excavation of 1990–1995
(1996:110) has observed some geographical variance illustrates the importance of an integrated and con-
in the latter type. He suggests that the oblate spheroid textualized study of weights from settlement con-
copper-alloy(/iron) weights from Birka and Gotland texts. For instance he wonders how the weight-users
are related to two slightly different weight systems at Birka could separate weights based on the very
with a unit weight of 4.0 g and of 4.23 g respectively. similar standards from each other without discussing
He considers the standard on Gotland to refer to the the fact that his study includes weights used over a
mitqāl of 4.233 g – the ideal Islamic gold weight (Sper- period of 200 years (Sperber 2004:68). It is possible
ber 2004:62; see also Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8.5). Local that the question would be irrelevant if the stratigra-
variation is likewise observed with the cubo-octahe- phy at Birka were taken into consideration. Due to
dral weights from Birka. According to Sperber (1996:
110) they belong to two different systems or types of
weight-set. Both the systems are related to a unit of 48 Steuers dating of the type is inconsequent. Elsewhere he
12.7 g, but are divided differently (giving sub-units of suggests a date between the last decades of the 9th century
0.705/1.41/2.822 g and 0.795/1.59/3.17/6.35 g respec- and the third quarter of the 10th (Steuer 1997:abb. 165).
tively). 12.7 g represents three mitqāl. Sperber (1996: 49 C30539.
110; 2004:62) describes the two systems as the Islamic 50 C8272–3.
market- (dirham-) system and the Islamic-Swedish 51 C20133 Bergan, Hedrum, Vestfold.

the “plough-layer character” of the weight assembly

at Kaupang, a study of weight-units here will be sub- Figure 6.18 Well-preserved weights from the settlement
ject to similar problems. As Kyhlberg (1980b:163) has sorted according to weight. (N0–28 g = 182, N0–6 g =86).
put it, these weights are metrological stray finds. The Off the graph: 28.2, 31.40, 32.11, 33.56, 36.3, 37.21, 37.69,
material cannot be used to pinpoint the weight-stan- 42.63, 50.29 and 98.78 g weights (all lead).
dard at any given time, or changes in the use of
weights and standards over time. Nevertheless a
more general picture will be presented in section
6.3.3, below, based on the well preserved weights
from the settlement of Kaupang. Due to the relatively
good preservation of the lead weights at the site, a
discussion of standards can be based on a large num-
ber of weights. It should however be kept in mind
that the general trends reflect quite a long time-span,
possibly including several changes over time.
As the discussion so far has shown, sets of weights
have been at the centre of attention in metrological
studies. When analysing the weighing equipment in
Norwegian graves it is apparent that three main
groups of graves can be identified: graves with a sin- represent the ertog of 8 g as this weight has proved to
gle weight, graves with a set of weights and a balance, be rare amongst weights from elsewhere in South-
and graves with just a balance (Pedersen 2000:66–9, Eastern Norway (above, 6.3.2). Even some of the larg-
2001b:26). While the last group seems to be the prod- er weights (off the graph) are approximate multiples
uct of unprofessional excavations or accidental dis- of 24 g, as, for instance, 1½ (36.3 g) and 4 (98.78 g).
coveries of graves, the complete set and the single The most marked concentration of weights is found
weight seem to reflect two distinct Viking-period around 4 g (± 0.25 g) with 23 specimens (12%). This
deposition traditions. Graves with a single weight are group, and another smaller concentration of 9
also a common phenomenon at Birka (Kyhlberg weights (5%) around 2 g (± 0.2 g), could be further
1980b:201). This could reflect the handling of weights evidence of Brøgger’s younger ertog/øre, although, as
in connexion with the burial and have no reference discussed above, these are also essential units of the
or relevance to the everyday, practical use of weights. early øre as identified by Steinnes – respectively 3 and
However the ability to test a trading partner’s set of 1½ pennings. In general the ertog/øre-units are much
weights is a good functional explanation for posses- more evident than the pennings/øre at Kaupang –
sion of a single weight (Sperber 1989:95). This inter- suggesting that the former is the most credible sys-
pretation is also relevant to the weights in the settle- tem. In what follows, therefore, these units will be
ment at Kaupang. It is therefore uncertain that they referred to as half- and quarter-ertogs. The early øre
all originally belonged in sets – some may have been itself and its half are represented, but to a very mod-
test weights. est extent, by only three possible half-øre of 13 g (±
0.5 g) and four possible øre of 26.5 g (± 0.5 g). Using
6.3.3 The weight of well-preserved weights the Jåtten and Sævli finds as comparanda, it is strik-
from the settlement ing that no 1½ (c. 40 g) or 2 early øre (c. 54 g), or 4½-
Sperber (2004:72) has combined visual studies of the penning (c. 6 g) weights have been found. The con-
lead weights from Birka with measurements of their tinuing series around 7.7 g might, on the other hand,
density. This proved that weights with at most fine or represent 5¾ pennings, but it is impossible to distin-
medium fine cracks were very well preserved, and guish this unit from the ertog concentration around
only marginally affected by corrosion. The well-pre- 8 g. All in all, the weight-assembly from Kaupang
served weights from Kaupang have a similar appear- demonstrates beyond doubt that the penning/øre-
ance and so can shed light upon standards and units. weights, as represented in the weight-sets from Jåtten
In general, the 192 well-preserved weights from and Sævli, were marginal. In this respect the assem-
Kaupang (Fig. 6.18) imply the real existence of blage has more in common with the Late Viking-
weight-standards. In particular, the lacunae appear- period grave from Nomeland with its strong ertog/
ing amongst the heavier weights and the strong con- øre element combined with a few pennings of differ-
centration of weights around 8 g (± 0.3 g), and minor ent sizes (above, 6.3.2).
clusters around 12 g (± 0.3 g) and 24 g (± 0.5 g) seem Compared with the material from the excava-
to underline the existence of a principal standard tions in the Black Earth at Birka of 1990–1995 (Sper-
comparable with Brøgger’s later øre of c. 24 g divided ber 2004:lists 1–11), the corpus of weights from Kaup-
into halves (half-øre) and thirds (ertogs). It is espe- ang lacks the smallest weights. At Kaupang there is
cially interesting that as many as 16 weights (8%) may just one weight that was originally less than 1 g, a

Grams
28 6
24
4
20
2
16
0
12 0 86
Lead
4
Copper alloy
0
0 182
small cubo-octahedral weight of 0.32 g.52 This is al- pennings. This series could be continued with 16,
tered a little more than the weights presented in (20) and 24 g, which is 2, (2½) and 3 ertogs, or 12, (15)
Figure 6.18 (see Appendix 1) and was found during and 18 pennings. 20 g, however, is represented by
the excavations. In Sperber’s list of the weights from only one cylindrical lead weight. In the Norwegian
Birka 1990–1995, on the other hand, there are almost weight system from the medieval period the ertog is a
forty lead weights below 1 g, most of them well pre- major unit (Brøgger 1936:78), but at Kaupang c. 4 g
served. This striking difference between the two (half an ertog), its multiples and its half, are even in
assemblies may be explained by the fact that 74% of evidence. Sperber (1996:83) has earlier observed a 4-g
the weights from Kaupang 1998–2003 were found unit amongst the oblate spheroid weights of copper
with a metal-detector in the modern plough-layer – a alloy/iron from the graves at Birka while the lead
method that favours larger objects. weight in the group of 5–40 g there had a slightly
Figure 6.18 includes all possible weights and even higher unit weight of 4.11 g, termed a mitqāl by
irregular weights that might be miscast and is subject Sperber (2004:73).
to some uncertainty, but the general picture is the Christoph Kilger (this vol. Ch. 8:316) has intro-
same even if these are excluded (Fig. 6.19). Accept- duced the term qveiti as a possible Scandinavian term
ance of the uncertain and irregular objects as weights for the half-ertog (c. 4 g). While the weights of 12, 20
is thus corroborated. and 28 g immediately suggest themselves as multiples
The larger number of weights of a relatively small of the qveiti rather than of the ertog, the possible exis-
size agrees with the character of the settlement finds. tence of a qveiti of c. 4 g and an ertog of c. 8 g compli-
In general these consist of small objects, compared cates the study of the weights from Kaupang. Other
with the graves, a phenomenon that is especially pro- major concentrations are either multiples of both,
nounced with the glass beads (Wiker, in prep.). The namely 8 and 16 g, or, like 24 g, a multiple of the
larger weights were probably more easily retrieved if qveiti, the ertog and the half of an øre, i.e. 12 g. A pri-
dropped. There could, moreover, be additional ex- ori, the general picture from Kaupang with a similar
planations for the high-number of half-ertog weights distribution of the weights along the horizontal axes
of c. 4 g. Firstly, weights of this small size would func- of 4 and 8 g nevertheless suggests that the possible
tion well as a single weight for testing a trading part- qveiti-weights and ertog/øre-weights are closely re-
ner’s set of weights (above, 6.3.2). Secondly, weights lated. The term qveiti is accordingly linked to ertog/
of 4 g appear to be present in many weight-sets, lead- øre in the following, while the discussion of the
ing Steinnes (1927:14) to suggest that this was the punched-dot decorated weights (below, 6.3.4) will
original weight-unit. According to Steinnes the Brå- address the relationship between the qveiti and the
ten set53 has a series of ¾, 1, 1½, 2, 2¼, 3 and 4 pen- ertog/øre in more detail.
nings along with larger weights. Here ¾, 1½, 2¼, 3
and 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively constitute two arithmetical
series, both including the 3 pennings, corresponding
to c. 4 g.54 Taking a closer look at the major concen- 52 C52516/4097.
trations in Figures 6.19 and 6.20, at 4, 8 and 12 g, they 53 C525 see note 46.
actually constitutes another arithmetical series – 54 The theoretical weight is 3.972 g while the actual weight in
either as a series of ½, 1 and 1½ ertogs or 3, 6 and 9 this set is of 3.750 g (Steinnes 1927:14).

Grams
28 6
24
4
20
2
16
0
12 0 66
Lead
4
Copper alloy
0
0 141
A hypothetical weight-standard could be calcu- common denominator as the weights that corre-
lated from the well-preserved, regular weights (Fig. spond to Steinnes’s penning/øre. Assuming that the
6.19), but due to their considerable variation and the weights were calibrated as Steinnes has suggested for
clear tendencies it seems to be of limited interest. The the sets like Jåtten and Sævli, the common denomi-
simple plotting of the well-preserved weights clearly nator (his 1 penning) should lie close to 1.3 g.
demonstrates the wide variation that hides behind As lead weights were produced at Kaupang (be-
earlier suggested standards (e.g. the weight catalogue low, 6.4.3), calibration took place locally.The roughly
of Sperber (2004)). The lack of distinct clusters similar distribution along the horizontal axes of 2, 4,
amongst the lightest weights and the considerable 8, 12 and 24 g indicates that weights of each size were
variation in general illustrate that there was no strict calibrated according to the same common denomi-
adjustment of all weights to precise units. The cluster nator. Unity was probably achieved by calibrating
of weights around 24 g might serve as an example. these weight-sets against a specific type of object.
Even though a few weights have an almost identical This could have been an existing weight or another
weight just below 24 g there is a continuous series of weight-adjusted object such as the Merovingian gold
ten weights from 23.54–24.76 g; much more than cor- coin as suggested by Kilger (this vol. Ch. 8:284–6).
rosion and the inaccuracy of the balances could Correspondingly, Kyhlberg (1980b:154 and 164) has
account for (above, 6.3.1). At this general level the regarded a tremissis of 1.294/1.296 g as the common
weights at Kaupang seem to express the intended ad- reference point for the lead weight-set from Colon-
justment of a considerable proportion of the weights, say, Scotland. The tremissis found at Kaupang has a
but not the really precise adjustment of them all to weight of 1.25 g, but, as Kilger has emphasised, it has a
one strict standard. little damage and may originally have weighed c. 1.3 g.
Nevertheless, just as individual sets of weights The corresponding variation within the clusters
may have been internally calibrated, such a set could of 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 g indicates that the weights once
have been as accurate as the Jåtten set (Tab. 6.6). The belonged to sets calibrated slightly differently. As it is
variation witnessed for the clusters in Figure 6.19 relatively unlikely that all the weights from each indi-
actually corresponds to the considerable variation vidual set ended up as accidental losses at the site, this
witnessed between internally calibrated sets such as seems to imply that a larger group of weight-sets were
those from Jåtten and Sævli (Tab. 6.8). Furthermore, once calibrated against the same object. The varia-
judged from the distribution along the horizontal tion suggests that the weights of these objects varied
axes of Figure 6.19, it seems highly likely that 2, 4, 8, 12 slightly, possibly through time, and hence that sever-
and 24 g lie close to the values to which it was intend- al slightly different objects were used for calibration.
ed to calibrate many of the weights at Kaupang. As In the analyses of the punched-dot decorated
multiples of 4 g are so pronounced, this weight – and weights, below (6.3.4), the question of calibration will
its half, 2 g – a priori could be suggested as the com- be discussed in more detail.
mon factor of the majority of the weights, apart from It is essentially the lead weights we can consider,
the smallest ones. However, judged from the weight- and these weights that were adjusted to the pveiti/
sets in the graves from Sævli and Nomeland (above, ertog/øre of c. 4, 8 and 24 g (Fig. 6.18). None of the
6.3.2), it is also possible that the weights correspon- copper-alloy/iron weights, and only six copper-alloy
ding to Brøgger’s ertog/øre could have the same weights, could be included in the group of well-pre-

Grams
Figure 6.19 Well-preserved weights from the settlement
sorted according to weight. Irregular and uncertain weights 28
excluded (N0–28 g = 141, N0–6 g =66). Off the graph 31.40,
Cylindrical
32.11, 37.21, 37.69 and 98.78 g weights, all lead. 24
Figure 6.20 All well-preserved lead weights from the settle- 20

ment sorted according to weight (N=176). Off the graph
28.2, 31.40, 32.11, 33.56, 36.3, 37.21, 37.69, 42.63, 50.29 and 16
98.78 g weights.
12
served weights already discussed. The pveiti/ertog/

Grams
øre-units are well represented amongst different
types of lead weight, but the biconical and oblate 28
spheroid lead weights stand out for being especially
Bionical
well adjusted to this standard (Fig. 6.20). Accordingly 24 Oblate spheroid
the settlement finds from Kaupang demonstrate that
the few weights of lead of this standard which Brøg- 20
ger observed in grave finds from rural areas along
with the many oblate spheroid copper-alloy (/iron) 16
weights belong to a much larger, heterogeneous
group of lead weights. 12
Above, it was regarded as highly likely that a con-
siderable proportion of the lead weights from distur- 8
bed contexts belong to the 9th century (6.2.3). This
suggests that the pveiti/ertog/øre-standard was in use 4
in the settlement at Kaupang in that century. It is
only the five (six) lead weights from SP II in the MRE 0
that can be regarded with any degree of certainty as
roughly contemporary. Four of these are so well pre-
served that their weight is little altered by damage or
corrosion (Tab. 6.9). One, the biconical weight from Grams
Plot 1A, has a weight comparable to Brøgger’s ertog. 28

This might suggest that a third of an øre of c. 24 g was
Segment
already in use in the second quarter of the 9th centu- 24 Rectangulart
ry. With the foregoing discussion on the early øre in Cubo-octahedral
mind, it could just as well indicate that the use of the 20 Conical
6 pennings from the earlier øre-system of c. 26 g had Other
begun by this date. Seen in relation to the general pic- 16
ture, with a large number of pveiti/ertog/øre-weights
(Figs. 6.18–6.19), the former may appear most likely, 12
but such a conclusion is unreliable as a change may
have happened before the rest of the weights were 8
lost. The unique weight of 28.2 g from Plot 3B does,
however, support the existence of the pveiti/ertog/
4
øre-standard as early as the second quarter of the 9th
century. It is a multiple of a qveiti of 4 g, like the
0
majority of the weights at the site. When combined it
seems quite possible that these weights should be
regarded as pveiti/ertog/øre-weights. This is a very

limited statistical basis, but these two pveiti/ertog/ to the fact that these weights may belong to different
øre-weights nonetheless make up 40% of all the sets of weights and to separate times.
weights from SP II. Even the slightly less well-pre- Amongst the well preserved copper-alloy weights,
served cylindrical weight of 21.67 g from Plot 2A with there is one possible cylindrical weight (8.91 g), one
a possible SP II date (above, 6.2.1) is most likely 1 later possible conical weight (3.03 g), the late 10th-century
øre. It has only minor damage. A couple of grams at pear-shaped weight (Fig. 6.12.a of 16.28 g) and three
most have been lost, suggesting an original weight of cubo-octahedral weights (Tab. 6.10). The pear-
just below 24 g. shaped weight fits the pveiti/ertog/øre-standard, but
A fractionally higher common factor of 4.11 g has none of the cubo-octahedral weights do. They seem
been suggested for the 17 larger lead weights from rather to correspond to the system for this type of
Birka (Sperber 2004:73). Their context has not been weights earlier suggested by Sperber (above, 6.3.2).
discussed in detail, but according to Gustin (2004c: The weight of 3.539 g is exactly proportionate to a
94), only a few lead weights were deposited at Birka dirham according to Sperber (1996:55 and 64), at 5:4,
after the introduction of the cubo-octahedral weights and corresponds with his so-called Islamic system.
c. AD 860/870. Accordingly it seems possible that The weight is, moreover, a multiple of the smallest
some of the pveiti/ertog/øre-weights there were also weights of 0.355 g that Steuer (1987:463 and 477) has
lost before c. AD 860/870, but this conclusion awaits identified in Hedeby and Birka. The lightest cubo-
a future study of the context of the Birka weights. octahedral weight of 1.558 g corresponds to Sperber’s
Moreover, in Ribe 23 of 24 lead weights belong to so-called “Swedish/Islamic” system from Birka in
stratified contexts that pre-date AD 850 (Feveile and which the unit of 1.59 g is prominent (Sperber 1996:
Jensen 2006:fig. 9.36). The original weight of these 110). The weight of 3.038 g corresponds to roughly
objects is more uncertain than the Kaupang ones, but double the weight of 1.558 g, but was then most likely
Feveile and Jensen (2006:143) have noted that there is calibrated against a slightly different object. Hitherto,
a tendency towards multiples of 4 g there as well. One the production of cubo-octahedral weights has not
weight of 8.09 g belongs to a phase dated AD been demonstrated at Kaupang, and it is therefore
800–820, while two weights of 12.24 g and 28.83 g possible that the weights were calibrated at widely dif-
belong to phases dated AD 800–850 and AD 820–850, ferent places before being brought to Kaupang. A
respectively (Feveile and Jensen 2006: 130, figs. 9.36 comparison with the lead weights demonstrates that
and 9.12). Accordingly the possible use of pveiti/ these sizes of cubo-octahedral weights of copper alloy
ertog/øre weights at Kaupang in the second quarter are represented in lead as well, but due to the more or
of the 9th century seems to fit into a larger picture, less continuous series of lead weights of this small size
although this cannot be established beyond doubt. it is hard to judge whether or not this is merely a coin-
The weight of 7.54 g from Plot 3B could on the cidence.
other hand be regarded as 5¾ pennings, compared
with the Sævli and Jåtten sets (Tab. 6.8). It seems less Museum no. Weight (g)
likely that this weight could be an ertog, as the lowest
øre in Nomeland (Tab. 6.7) would give an ertog of C52517/507 1.558
7.79 g and just a single later øre-weight of 22.48 g from C52517/2523 3.038
Kaupang would give a consistently light ertog. As dis- C53160/7 3.539
cussed above, this weight belongs to a larger group of
potential 5¾ penning weights. Likewise, the 5.03 g Table 6.10 The weights of well-preserved cubo-octahedral
weight could be 3¾ pennings. This weight too has weights of copper alloy.
some close parallels at Kaupang, being comparable
with cylindrical lead weights of 4.95 g and 5.17 g. Like The spherical weights of copper alloy/iron are gener-
the Jåtten and Sævli sets and the Nomeland grave, ally very poorly preserved, but, based on an evalua-
even this small group of weights from SP II thus sug- tion of the weight and the size of the best preserved
gests that the pveiti/ertog/øre-system and the pen- ones, it seems likely that ½, 1 and possibly 1½, 2½ and
ning/øre-system were in use simultaneously. These 4 later øre-weights are represented amongst them.
weights could belong to several different sets, but as Their original weight in grams remains undeter-
they represent units of different sizes, like the sets mined.
from the graves, it seems possible that the weights
from the two systems at Kaupang in SP II formed 6.3.4 Punched-dot decoration
highly practical sets, with which the user could on the weights from the settlement
achieve a wide range of different values (Steinnes Weights could be decorated in a wide variety of ways
1927). The well preserved weights from Kaupang as a (below, 6.4.4), and the most common type of decora-
whole do not disprove an interwoven character of the tion found at Kaupang is different types of punch-
two systems as suggested above (6.3.2), but cannot marks in the form of dots. This kind of decoration is
provide a strong argument in favour of it either, due quite common on Viking-period weights and has

Type Changed Weight Plot
C52519/20388 Cylindrical Much 4.29 3A SP II, sub 2

C52519/24586 Cylindrical Little 5.03 3A SP II, sub 2
C52519/16578 Cylindrical Little 7.54 3B SP II, sub 2
C52519/20041 Biconical Little 8.00 1A SP II
C52519/16583 Cylindrical Some 21.67 2A SP II sub 2?
C52519/17263 Unique Little 28.20 3B SP II, sub 2
Table 6.9 The weights from SP II.
repeatedly been discussed in relation to weight- organised as on a modern die, but on the weight of
standards and -units (Brøgger 1921:106–7; Kyhlberg copper alloy/iron (C52519/13888) they are distributed
1980b:270–1; Steuer 1987:abb. 15–6, 1997; Sperber irregularly. The differences within the group are rep-
2004:73–5). Two slightly different interpretations of resented by C53160/7 and C52517/2523. While the for-
these punchmarks have been proposed. They have mer has all the finer details, such as a beaded border
either been seen as marking the position of the on all triangular and square sides (Fig. 6.21.b), the lat-
weights within a set (Kyhlberg 1980b:270–1) or as ter is as simple as a decorated cubo-octahedral weight
marking the weight-units (Brøgger 1921:106–7). In can be, with a plain punchmark and no border.
other words the punched-dot decoration has either Only three weights are so well preserved that the
been regarded as individual or as standardized, al- punchmarking is all present. Consequently the total
though it has also been emphasised that even number of dots on most weights is more or less
punched dots could have an ornamental character uncertain. The overall picture nevertheless suggests
too (Brøgger 1921:106). that regularity was the norm, and it seems highly like-
A total of 74 weights from the settlement at Kaup- ly that the corroded sides had the same number of
ang are decorated with punched dots of different punchmarks as the well-preserved sides. Thus a total
shapes and sizes (Appendix 1): 43 of lead, 28 of copper number of punchmarks has been suggested for most
alloy and 2 of copper alloy/iron. 28 are cubo-octahe- weights with several of their sides preserved or partly
dral weights of copper alloy and one is the weight of preserved.
the same type with an iron core. Thus 64% of these There seems to be a relationship between the
weights (N = 45) have traces of punched-dot decora- number of dots and the weight of the weights. In
tion. It is highly likely that all were originally punch- comparing the weight with the number of dots even
marked. The same is most likely the case with the the examples that are classified as having undergone
oblate spheroid weights of iron with a copper-alloy “some” alteration can be used. The term “some”
mantel, but only one has some identifiable remains describes weights that have not changed too much to
of punchmarks left. This weight is so badly preserved give a good indication of the original weight. Table
that the original marking is impossible to recon- 6.12 is a simplified version of Table 6.11 with all the
struct. Amongst the other types of copper-alloy weights that are much altered or have incomplete
weights only one rectangular prismatic weight decoration (D) excluded. A closer comparison of
(C52516/3164) is decorated with six punchmarks. these weights seems to suggest that it is the number of
The decoration on the cubo-octahedral weights punchmarks on the square sides and not the total
seems to be quite standardized, all being decorated number of punchmarks that indicates the weight.
with circular dots (Fig. 6.21 and Tab. 6.11). These Comparing the weights with six punchmarks on their
punchmarks vary only slightly. Most were made with square sides regardless of the total number of dots,
a hollow punch, a few with a compact punch, and there seems to be four weights that could originally
one with a punch that left a double circle. All the have been around 3.5 g (3.539, 3.307, 3.47 and 3.263 g
weights with well-preserved punchmarks have dots respectively). While two of these weights definitely
on all six square sides: in most cases the same number have a punchmark on the triangular sides as well, the
of dots on each side, but in one case different num- last certainly has no punchmark on these sides.
bers. The latter weight (C52517/507) also differs Allowing for the variation represented by the trian-
slightly from the others in its less regular shape. With gular sides, this little group of weights thus suggests
the exception of this example, the square side is that the marking of the cubo-octahedral copper-alloy
always marked with an even number of punchmarks. weights could have been standardized. There is also a
Some weights are also marked on the eight triangular clear tendency for a higher number of dots to coin-
sides, in which case always with a single punchmark. cide with a greater weight. Both weights with only
On most of the square sides the punchmarks are four dots weigh 3.0 g or less, while the weight with

Figure 6.21 Punched-dot decorated cubo-octahedral

weights from the settlement of Kaupang. a. C52519/18388.
Drawing, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh. Scale 2:1. b. C53160/7
0.9 x 0.8 x 0.8 cm. Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
two dots weighs 1.6 g or less. The tendency, however, weights suggest, then, that the marking was stan-
is not a rule. One rather well preserved weight of dardized. If the dots refer to the weight of the objects
2.805 g clearly breaks the pattern, being marked with these weights were calibrated against, it implies ob-
six dots, while the weight with an unequal number of jects of 0.75–0.80 g. Steuer (1987:abb. 15) has demon-
dots on its rectangular sides, respectively 1 and 2, strated that all the best preserved weights at Hedeby
weighs 1.6 g just like the weight with 2 dots on all its are multiples of 0.355 g. Isolating some of the best
sides. The latter could be brought into the general preserved weights presented by Steuer, three weights
pattern if we postulate that the highest number of of c. 1.42 g, 2.84 g and 4.266 g seem to correspond to
punchmarks on a square side was what counted. the two Kaupang weights. These Hedeby weights are
A similar tendency for weight to increase with an marked with 2, 4 and 6 punchmarks respectively,
increasing number of dots was observed by Steuer which could refer to the multiple of 0.71 g they repre-
(1987:abb. 15) and Sperber (2004:fig. 5.5) but as at sent. The variety at Kaupang and Hedeby neverthe-
Kaupang this is not a strict rule. Their studies of less demonstrates that the system behind the mark-
cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weights also demon- ing is complex. The meaning of the regularities and
strate that uneven numbers of dots, respectively 1 and their deviations is not obvious and will need to be
3, can in fact be found on the square sides. Such substantiated by comparison with punchmarks on
weights might be hiding amongst the poorly pre- the lead weights.
served examples at Kaupang. None of these weights The punched-dot decoration found on a total of
at Hedeby or Birka, on the other hand, is marked 43 lead weights is much more heterogeneous and
with 5 dots on a square side. Compared with the appears more individualized (Figs. 6.5, 6.22–6.23,
weights from Hedeby and Birka presented by Steuer, Tab. 6.13, Appendix 3). There is a much wider range
the weights from Kaupang fit into a larger picture of punchmarks documented: circles, triangles, rec-
well. Amongst the weights with 6 dots there is a tangles, crosses etc. The punchmarks are also placed
marked concentration around 3.5 g and a few weights in a less regular manner. However some of these
of c. 2.8 g, as at Kaupang. The most distinct concen- weights, too, are both similar in the type and number
tration of weights with 4 dots is around 2.8 g with a of the dots and in weight. Most of the punched-dot
tail up to 3.0 g, which is slightly lower than the two decorated lead weights are cylindrical, but conical,
weights at Kaupang. Two dots has a main cluster biconical and rectangular weights are also marked
around 1.6 g, as at Kaupang. this way. Amongst all lead weights, regardless of
As already discussed, it is possible that the well- marking, 28% of the biconical, 16% of the conical and
preserved weights of 3.0 g and 1.6 g from Kaupang 15% of the cylindrical lead weights have punched-dot
belong to the same system, but were calibrated decoration. It is especially noteworthy that the bicon-
against slightly different objects. Assuming that the ical weights are over-represented in this way, as this is
maximum number of punchmarks on one square the type of weight that is best adjusted towards the
side is significant, it is noteworthy that the largest multiples of four grams. Considering the size of the
weight has twice as many dots on its square sides and well-preserved weights, the sample is otherwise a rep-
is double the weight of the smallest. This seems to resentative cross-section of the lead weights from the
suggest that the marking could refer to the actual site (Fig. 6.19). There is no tendency for the pveiti/
weight. Like the group of weights around 3.5 g, these ertog/øre-weights to be over-represented or vice ver-

Museum no. Decoration Weight
Dot Total ■ ▲ Beaded Quality g Alteration

border
C53160/7  36 + 8 6 1 Y/Y A 3.539 Little

C52517/1006  36 + 8 6 1 Y/Y B 3.171 Some
C52517/2621  36 + 8? 6 1 ?/? C 3.307 Some
C52519/15035  36 + 8? 6 1 Y/? B 2.805 Some
C52517/1707  36 6 - Y/N A 3.47 Some
C52517/2561  36 6 - Y/Y B 2.88 Some
C52517/2153  36? 6 ? Y/? C 3.263 Some
C52517/2291  36? 6 - Y/N C 1.998 Much
C52519/13888  36? 6 - N/N B 2.99 Some
C52517/2548  36? 6 ? Y/? C 2.93 Much
C52517/1930  36? 6? ? ?/? C 2.521 Much
C52519/18388  24? + 8? 4 1 Y/N B 1.13 Much
C52517/2523  24 4 - N/N A 3.038 Little
C52517/1999  24? 4 ? Y/N C 3.047 Some
C52519/14336  12 2 ? Y/N C 1.066 Much
C52519/15175  12 2 - Y/N B 1.17 Some
C52517/51  12? 2 N/N B 1.624 Some
C52517/1976  12? 2 - Y/N C 0.88 Much
C52517/761  12? 2 - Y/N B 0.878 Much
C52517/507  9? 2/1 - N/N B 1.558 Little
C52517/1945  ? 6? ? Y/? D 2.486 Some
C52517/783  ? 1? ? ? D 0.778 Much
C52517/317  ? >3? ? ? D 3.154 Much
C52517/1664  ? 2? 1? ? D 2.315 Some
C52517/280  ? >2? ? ? D 1.899 Much
C52517/169 ? ? ? ? ? D 2.973 Much
C52517/1952 ? ? ? ? ? D 2.54 Much
C52517/2162  ? ? ? ? D 2.162 Much
C52517/2691  ? ? ? ? D 2.096 Much
Table 6.11 Cubo-octahedral copper-alloy or copper-alloy/iron weights from the settlement with punched-dot decoration.
■ = Number of dots on each of the six square sides. ▲ = Number of dots on each of the eight triangular sides. Y/Y = beaded
border ■ and ▲ Y/N = beaded border ■ Quality = the preservation of the decoration: A = well-preserved on all sides; B =
well-preserved on some sides; C = identifiable; D = incomplete.
Museum no. Decoration Weight

Dot Total ■ ▲ Quality g Alteration
C53160/7  36 +8 6 1 A 3.539 Little

C52517/1006  36 +8 6 1 B 3.171 Some
C52517/2621  36 +8? 6 1 C 3.307 Some
C52519/15035  36 +8? 6 1 B 2.805 Some
C52517/1707  36 6 - A 3.47 Some
C52517/2561  36 6 - B 2.88 Some
C52517/2153  36? 6 ? C 3.263 Some
C52519/13888  36? 6 - B 2.99 Some
C52517/2523  24 4 - A 3.038 Little
C52517/1999  24? 4 ? C 3.047 Some
C52519/15175  12 2 - B 1.17 Some
C52517/51  12? 2 - B 1.624 Some
C52517/507  9? 2/1 - B 1.558 Little
Table 6.12 A selection of the best preserved cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weights (Tab. 6.11).

a b c d
e f g h
i j k l
sa. With a few exceptions the lead weights are deco- could refer to the 3 ertogs of c. 8 g. The 2 dots on the 8
rated on only one side and the total number of dots is g weights could, on the other hand, refer to these
therefore considerably lower than on the cubo-octa- weights being two pveiti of c. 4 g, the most frequent
hedral weights. The number of dots on any one face is size found at Kaupang. The latter interpretation
roughly in the same range for both groups, support- would be valid for the 4 g weights with 1 dot too.
ing the suggestion made above that it is the number There thus seem to be reasons to regard the pveiti as a
on one side, not the total of punchmarks, that is rele- unit of its own, and not just as a fraction of the ertog.
vant with the cubo-octahedral weights. Unlike the With these observations as a point of departure,
cubo-octahedral weights at Kaupang, both even and the weight of each individual weight has been divided
odd numbers are represented on one side, in an by the number of punchmarks (Tab. 6.13). Allowing
unbroken series from 1 to 5 and then with 7 as the for the same variation as witnessed by the main con-
maximum. Five punchmarks, not found on cubo- centration of the weights in Figure 6.18,55 it is quite
octahedral weights from Kaupang, Hedeby or Birka, clear that the punched-dot decoration represents
are documented in three cases, implying certain dif- considerable regularity. Once again the pveiti-unit of
ferences in marking between the lead weights and the c. 4 g stands out clearly as the most prominent size. A
cubo-octahedral weights. total of 12 weights (28%) are marked as multiples of
The lead weights are much better preserved and pveiti; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 respectively. Moreover it is
only one is so altered that it is misleading to draw its even possible that its multiple of 6 is present too, as
original weight into discussion. Compared to the one weight is marked with three hour-glass shaped
cubo-octahedral weights there is a similar tendency punchmarks which could be interpreted as 6 dots.
towards more dots on heavier weights, but there is The ertog of c. 8 g is also frequent, represented by
considerable lassitude in the relationship between nine or ten weights (23%) including the weight just
weight and number of punchmarks. For instance 3 mentioned and otherwise in multiples of 1, 2, 3, 4 and
dots are found on weights of 1–32 g, while 1 dot is 5. The early half-øre of c. 12 g is represented by three
found on weights from 1–27 g (Tab. 6.13). There are weights (7%), while one weight with 1 dot might refer
nevertheless some weights of a similar size with the to the early øre of c. 26 g. More than half of the
same number of punchmarks. In the group with 1 dot marked weights thus seem to refer to the pveiti/
there is a cluster around 4 g, amongst the weights ertog/øre-standard, but in three different ways –
with 2 dots a cluster around 8 g, and in the group with pointing to the pveiti, the ertog and the half-øre as
3 dots a cluster around 23 g. If the group around 23 g bases respectively. The majority of the punched-dot
is related to the pveiti/ertog/øre-system, the 3 dots decorated lead weights thus seem to refer to sizes that
are generally well represented amongst the weights
from the site. These weights could not otherwise be
55 2 g (± 0.2), 4 g (± 0.25), 8 g (± 0.3), 12 g (± 0.3) distinguished from each other by their general shap-
and 24 g (± 0.5). ing, the type of punch used, or size. This seems to

factor is multiplied (Steuer 1987:abb. 15). In contrast

Figure 6.22 Punched-dot decoration on a selection of to the cubo-octahedral weights, the common factor
lead weights. a. C52517/153, b. C52517/935, c. C52517/2182, of the lead weights differs dramatically, but the possi-
d. C52517/2067, e. C52517/2698, f. C52519/9376, g. C52519/ bility that the punchmarks refer to units of different
14049, h. C52517/1923, i. C52517/2448, j. C52517/2335, sizes could explain the observation above that cubo-
k. C52517/990, l. C52517/916. Scale 1:1. octahedral weights of different sizes have the same
Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh. number of punchmark on their square sides.
The difference between the units the punchmarks
Figure 6.23 A selection of punched-dot decorated weights. refer to is even more pronounced if the lead weights
Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM. that might refer to the smallest common denomina-
tors are drawn into discussion. Three weights refer to
remarkably small unit(s) – between 0.3 and 0.83 g. It
is possible that my interpretation can be questioned
in the case of the smallest, a weight of 1.15 g, with 3
dots, with no close parallels (Fig. 6.22.e). It is never-
theless noteworthy that 0.355 g is a unit that is ob-
served amongst the cubo-octahedral copper-alloy
weights from Hedeby (Steuer 1987:463). The other
two (of 1.29 and 1.65 g respectively), decorated with 2
punchmarks each, have some parallels amongst the
lead weights with 2 dots at Birka, at 1.33–1.69 g (Sper-
ber 2004:List 7).
There are also a few well-preserved weights that
suggest that these three sizes were regarded as three appear to be multiples of other units (1.48, 3.56, 3.64,
different units, but presumably within the same sys- 4.96, 6.76, 8.53 and 10.70 g). These, however, are sizes
tem – as weights of equal heaviness could refer to dif- that are less pronounced amongst the weights them-
ferent units. selves. This could indicate that the markings of these
Despite the differences already noted – like the weights are individual. Viewed in the light of the
much more individualistically shaped punchmarks – group as a whole, it is equally likely, however, that
the markings of these Pveiti, ertog and half-øre mul- these are units we now have difficulty identifying.
tiples of lead thus seem to have much in common What is clear is that the common denominator of
with the markings of the cubo-octahedral copper- 1.3 g suggested by Steinnes for the sets from Sævli and
alloy weights. As with the well-preserved cubo-octa- Jåtten is missing – and likewise the grain of c. 0.067 as
hedral copper-alloy weights at Hedeby, discussed emphasised by Kilger (this vol. Ch.8:314). As discus-
above, the dots seem to refer to the times a common sed above, 1.3 g is equal to the weight of a tremissis,

Museum no. Weight-type Decoration Weight Suggested interpretation
Dot Total Per side Quality g Alteration Multiple of Unit
C52517/471 Cylindrical  (7) (4) +(3) D? 38.51 Much - -

C52517/153 Cylindrical  7 7x1 A 26.51 Little 3.79 Pveiti x 7
C52517/818 Cylindrical  5 5x1 A 37.96 Some (7.59) Ertog(?) x 5
C52517/935 Biconical  5 5x1 A 37.55 Some (7.51) (Ertog?) x 5
C52517/316 Cylindrical Irreg. 5 5x1 A 18.71 Little 3.74 Pveiti (?) x 5
C52105a Conical Irreg. 5 5x1 B 17.8 Some (3.56) (Pveiti?) x 5
C52517/2386 Conical Irreg. 4 (3)? (4? x 1) D? 34.54 Some - -
C52517/1923 Rectangular ▲ 4 2x2 C 7.12 Little 3.56
C52519/14053 Biconical  4 (3?) 4x1 A 15.84 Little 3.96 Pveiti x 4
C52517/685 Biconical  4 (3?) 4x1 C? 31.4 Little 7.85 Ertog x 4
C52517/2182 Cylindrical  4 4x1 C 19.82 Little 4.96
C52517/1043 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A 32.11 Little 10.70
C52519/15946 Cylindrical ▲ 3 3x1 A 24.35 Little 8.12 Ertog x 3
C52517/433 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A 23.17 Little 7.72 Ertog x 3
C52517/2077 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A? 22.12 Some (7.37) Ertog (?) x 3
▲
C52517/2067 Cylindrical ▲ 3 (6) 3 (6) x 1 A 22.33 Some (7.44/3.72) (Ertog?)x 3/Pveiti x 6
C52517/1936 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A 11.26 Little 3.75 Pveiti x 3
C52517/2051 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A 10.91 Little 3.64
C52516/3770 Cylindrical  3 3x1 A 9.15 Some (3.05)
C52517/2698 Plate-shaped  3 3x1 A 1.15 Little 0.38
C52517/449 Cylindrical ▲ 2 2x1 C 23.78 Little 11.89 ½ øre x 2
C52517/856 Cylindrical Irreg. 2 2x1 A 16.44 Little 8.22 Ertog x 2
C52517/982 Oblate sph.  2 2x1 C 15.48 Little 7.74 Ertog x 2
C52517/2096 Cylindrical ▲ 2 2x1 A 13.89 Some (6.95)
C52517/2448 Cylindrical  2 2x1 C 10.93 Some (5.47)
C52517/315 Cylindrical  2 2x1 A 8.88 Little 4.44
C52517/1989 Conical  2 2x1 A 8.07 Some (4.04) Pveiti (?) x 2
C52517/794 Conical  2 2x1 A 7.97 Little 3.99 Pveiti x 2
C52519/9376 Cylindrical ✚ 2 2x1 A 7.93 Little 3.97 Pveiti x 2
C52517/2419 Conical Irreg. 2 2x1 C 7.74 Some (3.87) Pveiti x 2
C52517/1681 Conical  2 2x1 A 6.68 Some (3.34)
MO60IV yy Cylindrical  2 2x1 A 1.29 Little 0.65
C52519/14049 Cylindrical  2 2x1 A 1.65 Little 0.83
C52517/2335 Cylindrical + 1 1 x 1? B 27.01 Little = 1 early øre(?)
C52517/1688 Cylindrical  1 1 x 1? A 11.55 Little = (½ øre?) x 1
C52517/1538 Biconical  1 1x1 C? 10.28 Some (=) (½ øre?) x 1
C52517/2202 Cylindrical  1 1x1 A 8.53 Little =
C52517/278 Cylindrical  1 1x1 C 8.24 Little = Ertog x 1
C52517/990 Conical ▲ 1 1x1 A 6.76 Some (=)
C52517/617 Cylindrical  1 1x1 A 4.13 Little = Pveiti x 1
A65IV p Biconical  1 1x1 A 4.02 Little = Pveiti x 1
C52517/916 Cylindrical  1 1x1 A 3.81 Little = Pveiti x 1
C52517/443 Cylindrical  1 1x1 A 1.48 Some (=)
Table 6.13 All lead weights with punched-dot decoration. Quality = the preservation of the decoration:
A = well-preserved on all sides; B = well-preserved on some sides; C = identifiable; D = incomplete.

which Kyhlberg and Kilger have suggested as the cali- 6.4 The weights – function and meaning
bration prototype of Viking-period weights, and a As illustrated by the discussion to this point there is
unit that would have been useful in the calibration of little reason to doubt that Viking-period weights and
most of the lead weights from Kaupang (above, balances were highly functional. What types of activi-
6.3.3). This could imply that the identification of 1.3 g ties they were used in has, however, been an issue of
as a size used for the calibration of weights is wrong, debate during the past decade (Steuer 1987; Feveile
but it is also possible that it shows that calibration 1994; Steuer 1997; Gustin 1998, 1999; Pedersen 2000;
and weighing are two different aspects of the use of Pedersen, U. 2001; Steuer et al. 2002; Gustin 2004c:
weights, relevant to different categories of user. With 106–12). In this section, functional and symbolic
the strong resemblance in sizes characterizing the aspects of Viking-age weights will be explored on the
corpus of weights from Kaupang, it seems highly basis of the Kaupang finds. The limited material from
likely that the punched-dot decoration primarily stratified Viking-age contexts does not permit far-
illustrates how weights were handled in practice reaching conclusions but, analysed together with the
when weighing at Kaupang. The majority of the Norwegian grave finds, the Kaupang weights can
weights then referred to a given number of pveiti, shed light upon some situations that weighing equip-
ertog or half-øre. ment was involved in. The point of departure for the
The punchmark may refer to the size of load that discussion is the spatial distribution of the weights in
a weight-set was intended for. Steuer (1987:467) has the settlement.
suggested that the cubo-octahedral copper-alloy
weights were intended for the weighing of small 6.4.1 The spatial distribution of weights
amounts (of gold) while the oblate spheroid weights in the settlement
were for larger loads (of silver) (see also Kilger, this Weights were found over much of the accessible area
vol. Ch. 8.5). As demonstrated by Steuer (1987:abb. during the surface surveys (Fig. 6.24). In essence, the
15–6), the number of dots on the individual sides of distribution of the weights follows the general distri-
the weight-types are roughly the same, even though bution of finds from the surface surveys, with a main
the weights are of widely different sizes. It is thus pos- concentration in the central area. The total lack of
sible that the markings of both these weight types and weights in the south-westernmost part merely re-
the lead weights refer to how precisely a weight(-set) flects the fact that no metal-detecting was undertaken
was calibrated. In sum, the punched-dot decoration there. A considerable degree of down-slope displace-
on most (or all?) of the weights seems to be a marking ment is expected in the modern ploughsoil due to
of units in a standardized way, but able to refer to ploughing (Pilø 2007b:144–5), but generally the most
several different units. When it comes to the lead considerable movement of artefacts is observed
weights, an individual way of shaping the marking down the slope towards the harbour, to the south-
was nevertheless allowed for within the standard. east. Thus the distribution throughout the length of
Whether the different units were marked the same the settlement from south-west to north-east proba-
way at the same time or at different times is indeter- bly shows that weights were used over much of the
minable from the Kaupang material. settlement area. The question of whether or not these
Only 13% of the lead weights from Kaupang were ploughed up weights were used in different areas at
marked with punchmarks. This could suggest that no the same time will remain unanswered, but it is note-
more than one or a few weights within each set were worthy that different types of weight are widely dis-
marked. In the Jåtten set, for instance, no weights are tributed, including the oblate spheroid weights and
decorated with dots. On the other hand all the cubo- the cubo-octahedral weights which post-date AD
octahedral copper-alloy weights are marked in this 870/880 and AD 860/870 respectively. It does not
way. Gustin (2004c:242–4) has emphasised the need seem likely the weights from the surface surveys orig-
for trust in trade, and has regarded the strict regula- inate from one restricted area and phase, like the
tion of the cubo-octahedral copper-alloy weights and large collection of lead weights in the workshops at
the spheroid copper-alloy/iron weights as an indica- Birka (Gustin 2004c:94).
tion of the superiority of these weights in trading. Even weights of different types are distributed in
Seen in the light of the strong (lead) weight-tradition most parts of the settlement, indicating a general use
in Scandinavia, and the adjustment of most lead of weights of lead as well as the oblate spheroid and
weights from Kaupang, it could just as well have been cubo-octahedral weights. A few distinctive patterns
the other way around – that the new and foreign nevertheless seem to reflect specific activities. With
weights had to prove themselves trustworthy while two exceptions, the south-westernmost part of the
the traditional way of weighing was more readily settlement has not got weights of copper alloy(/iron)
accepted. over a length of about 150 m. This area will be dis-
cussed in section 6.4.2, below, along with the area east
of the MRE with a concentration of cubo-octahedral
copper-alloy weights. Moreover the distribution map

0 100 200 m
Surveyed twice
Surveyed 3 times
Lead, rectangular
0 50 100 m
Copper alloy/iron, Copper alloy, conical
oblate spheroid
Lead, oblate spheroid Lead, biconical
Copper alloy, Lead, cubo-octahedral Lead, other

cubo-octahedral
Lead, cylindrical Spindle whorl Viking-age sea-level
Copper alloy, cylindrical Lead, segment-shaped Surveyed cultural-deposit areas MRE excavations 2000-2002
Copper alloy, Lead, conical Non-surveyed Blindheim excavations

segment-shaped cultural-deposit areas

Figure 6.24 Spatial distribution of weights from the surface

surveys. Map, Elise Naumann and Unn Pedersen.
seems to suggest that the assumed local production of the structures from Blindheim’s excavation identi-
of cubo-octahedral lead weights could have been the fies her masonry building remains as plot divisions
result of production in a hypothetical workshop or towards the harbour (Pilø 2007c:169). The spatial dis-
workshop area. Three of these five weights cluster tribution of weights in the trench (Fig. 6.26) points to
and a fourth weight was found along their north- the use of weights over much of the excavated area, as
west/south-east axis, which thus could have been weights are present on all the different plots in the
moved further down the slope from the same area by area. However, the eleven weights with recorded
later ploughing. Three possible weights in the form of stratigraphical information were all related to the so
fragmented spindle-whorls (above, 6.1.3) are also called “Black Earth layer” corresponding to the later
found in the central area of the settlement, but their medieval plough-layer. Some of the weights may
location neither confirms nor challenges the inter- have belonged to preserved Viking-period layers, but
pretation of the object as a weight. Such is the case this is no longer verifiable as the deposits were re-
with the spindle-whorl found in the MRE (Fig. 6.27). moved in spits (Pilø 2007a:133). Again, the overall
In addition to the surface surveys, the CRM tren- picture could represent a long period of time.
ches, although narrow, cover different parts of the A similarly wide distribution characterizes the 50
settlement area. The nine weights from the CRM out- weights found during the excavations in the modern
side the area of the MRE have a quite dispersed distri- ploughsoil of the MRE and connected areas of the
bution (Fig. 6.25). Three were found south-west of CRM (Fig. 6.27). Like the material from the surface
the MRE trenches, one in the fill of a pit,56 and two in surveys, the weights may in theory belong to activity
a well.57 In both cases it is impossible to ascertain from SP I to SP III (above, 6.2.1). The complete lack
whether the weights belonged to the fill of the feature of weights of copper alloy/iron is striking. As this
or a later plough-layer sunken into it. North of the weight-type was found both during the metal-detec-
MRE a weight was found in a post hole of probable tor campaign and in the later medieval plough-layer
Viking-period date.58 Four weights were found with- right below, this probably reflects a failure to identify
in 50 m north-east of the 1957–1974 excavation these weights on a purely visual basis (above, 6.1.3).
trenches, one in a structure interpreted as a Viking- This is further supported by the fact that two of the
period plot-boundary,59 one in a layer of the Viking three weights of copper alloy/iron from the later
Period,60 one in a structure of uncertain date,61 and medieval plough-layer first were identified by x-radi-
one in the later medieval plough-layer.62 Finally, ography. It is likely that the weights in the modern
another 70 m north-east a weight was found in the
later medieval plough-layer.63 The single weight
found during the harbour excavation was in a mid- 56 A12794.
den layer deposited below the Viking-period sea- 57 A1635.
level. 58 A3549.
The weights from Blindheim’s excavations are 59 A3315.
also widely scattered. Of the 31 weights, four were 60 A4360.
from the excavation trench but without contextual 61 A27825.
information, while one was found in a test pit in the 62 A1021858.
slope north of the excavation area. A reinterpretation 63 A1112.

N Figure 6.25 Spatial distribution of weights from the har-

bour excavation and the CRM excavation outside the area
of the MRE trench. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise
Naumann and Unn Pedersen.
Figure 6.26 Distribution of weights from Blindheim’s exca-

vations. The weights are located within squares of 2 x 2
meters. Hatched areas indicate less presice location of three
weights. Map, Elise Naumann and Unn Pedersen.
Plot 3A. The situation in the latter part of SP II is per-

haps a better illustration of the degree of destruction
by ploughing in the MRE than it is of the situation in
the second quarter of the 9th century. Judging from
Plots 3A and 3B, the use of weights first increased
towards the end of SP II sub-phase 2, and this phase
has been completely ploughed away at Plots 1A and
Copper alloy/iron, Harbour excavation 2003 Lead, conical 1B.
oblate spheroid A comparison between SP II and the overlying
CRM 2000-2002 Lead, rectangular
Copper alloy later medieval plough-layer gives an almost overlap-
cubo-octahedral Viking Age sea-level
ping concentration at Plot 3A, in both layers consti-
Lead, cylindrical MRE 2000-2002
0 25 50 m tuted by lead weights. This could indicate that lead
Lead, segment-shaped Blindheim excavation
weights were used in the same area in the following
period too, where the stratified deposits are disturbed
by the plough. The second half of the 9th century
plough soil are even more corroded because of the probably saw continued permanent settlement at
more unstable environment and repeated ploughing. Kaupang (Pilø 2007d:202). However, two of the lead
In the MRE trench and connected areas of the weights at Plot 3A were found in the post-Viking-age
CRM, a total of 24 weights derive from the later road associated with the later medieval plough-layer.
medieval plough-layer (Fig. 6.27). These too reflect Judging from the description of the layer64 in the
quite a wide distribution and use of weights. How- excavation documentation (Pilø 2003:136), it is possi-
ever, compared with the distribution in the modern ble that deposits from the later part of SP II were dis-
ploughsoil above, the weights are basically concen- turbed during the digging of the later medieval
trated towards the plots. Just one weight was found plough-layer above.
above the midden area towards the harbour in the The clearly limited amount of weights from SP II
south-easternmost part of the trench, although the may reflect the limited use of weights in the second
later medieval plough-layer covered considerable quarter of the 9th century, but could equally reflect
parts of the midden area (Pilø 2003:fig. 4.45). Like- the very careful keeping of weights. The latter seems
wise all the four weights from SP III, one weight from to be supported by the fact that no weights were
SP I–III on Plot 3B, and two weights dated by type to found during the extensive excavations in the mid-
the later part of SP I–III, are located at the plots den area towards the harbour. Looked at more close-
where they are distributed from south-west to the ly, the distribution of weights in the preserved Vi-
north-east (Fig. 6.27). The spatial distribution in SP king-age deposits shows a strong concentration to-
II is rather different, as a single weight was found on wards the areas of buildings. The weight on Plot 1A
Plot 1A while the other four all belong to two minor was found in an activity layer beneath the wall bench
concentrations on Plots 3A and 3B. The concentra- of building A200, while one weight from Plot 3A was
tion at Plot 3A and 3B could be from activities that are found in the activity layer belonging to the first phase
roughly contemporary. The weight with a uncertain of building A30265 (Fig. 6.28). The other weight on
SP II date is located at Plot 2A, close to the weights at Plot 3A is from a layer deposited after the building

was taken or had fallen down, but it was nevertheless

situated in the area of the buildings (Fig. 6.28). Like-
wise the two weights from Plot 3B were found in lay-
ers right above building A301 (Fig. 6.28). Even the
weights from these layers could have been re-dep-
osited from the layers originally belonging to the 0 5 10 meters
buildings.
The Kaupang material is limited, but Mats Ros-
Copper alloy/iron, oblate spheroid Lead, cylindrical Area with lead weight,
lund’s (1995) analyses of the distribution of weights cylindrical (1)
Copper alloy, cubo-octahedral Lead, segment-shaped
and silver in Sigtuna AD 980–1250 seem to give a sim- Copper alloy, conical Lead, conical Area with lead weight,
ilar picture with a larger data set. Roslund demon- Copper alloy, biconical Lead, rectangular
cylindrical (1)
strated that weights and coins were much more Copper alloy, other Fragment of balance Area with copper alloy
weight, cubo-octahedral (1)
abundant in the area of the residential buildings than Lead, oblate spheroid Structures
in the workshop area facing the street. A large pro-

portion of the weights were, moreover, found in the
interior of the houses. This led Roslund (1995:156) to Trondheim, or by a more archaic form of trade at
conclude that most of the weighing of silver in the Sigtuna as the coins there were older and foreign, in
form of coins took place in the private part of the contrast to those in Trondheim. At Kaupang there is
town. Correspondingly, the small buildings at no indication of the weights being used in connexion
Kaupang were probably domestic houses, albeit with with the passages, but it is possible that the small
some elements of craft production (Pilø 2007d: houses with some craft activities could be regarded as
203–11). There are several differences in character a fusion of the dwelling houses and the workshops
between Sigtuna and Kaupang, but the restriction of and shops found in later medieval towns.
weights to residential buildings may still be relevant.
Even the weights found in the purse from a burnt 6.4.2 Tools of trade
house in Birka (Gustin 2004c:94), seem to suggest Viking-period balances and weights have repeatedly
that weights were used indoors, or at least kept been regarded as tools of trade for the weighing of sil-
indoors in the earlier part of the Viking-period. Jon ver as currency (Petersen 1934:42; Brøgger 1936:77;
Anders Risvaag (2006) has, however, demonstrated Blindheim 1956:62; Jondell 1974:3; Larsen 1986:111;
that the so called Library Site in Trondheim has a Steuer 1987:405–6; Stalsberg 1991:76–7; Sperber 1996:
quite different spatial distribution of coins in the 9–10). Persons buried with balances and/or weights
period AD 1050–1100. The coins there had a distinct are often described as traders (Brøgger 1936:77), even
distribution along the main passage Kaupmanna- when their grave contains just one weight (Blind-
stretet. The coins were found in connexion with the heim 1974a:74). It should, however, be borne in mind
street, with some inside the workshops and shops fa- that Viking-period trading in the form of buying and
cing it, while only one coin was found in the dwelling
houses behind (Risvaag 2006:133–5). Risvaag suggests
that the difference between Trondheim and Sigtuna 64 AL48076.
could be explained by better cleaning of the houses in 65 AL76555.

N N
Site Period II Site Period III
Site period I-III (X)
4B 4B
3B 4A 4A
3B
3A 3A
2B 2B
2A 2A
1A 1B
1B
1A
0 4 8 Meters 0 4 8 Meters
N N
Late medieval plough layer Modern ploughsoil
4B 4B
3B 4A 4A
3B
3A
2B 3A
2B
2A 2A
1B 1A
1B
1A
Copper alloy/iron, Copper alloy, Lead, oblate spheroid Lead, rectangular

oblate spheroid cubo-octahedral
Lead, cylindrical Lead, biconical
Copper alloy/iron, Copper alloy, cylindrical Lead, segment-shaped Lead, other

cubo-octahedral
Copper alloy, rectangular Lead, conical Spindle whorl of lead
Copper alloy, other Uncertain
selling was one of a wide variety of forms of ex- used to form alliances and hierarchies (Hedeager
change, such as gift-giving, robbery, redistributive 1999a:245–7) or as a medium for the paying of fines
collection, and the collection of taxes, bails and du- (Brøgger 1921:34–9). It has been demonstrated be-
ties – all involving precious metals (Miller 1986; Chri- yond doubt that such arm- and neckrings of silver
stophersen 1989a; Samson 1991; Hedeager 1993; Skre and gold were adjusted according to weight, both in
2000). It is highly likely that weights and balances the Viking Period and in the preceding centuries
were used in several of these forms of exchange (Brøgger 1921:29–41; Hårdh 1996:137–42). This meant
(Pedersen, U. 2001; Gustin 2004c). Arm- and neck- that ornamented metalwork was weighed at its pro-
rings of gold and silver have been interpreted as gifts duction and possibly even checked (in secret?) by its

N
Figure 6.27 Distribution of weights by Site Periods and
plough-layers. Finds from the excavations of the MRE and
connected areas of CRM. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise 3B
Figure 6.28 The distribution of weights of Site Period II.

Illustration, Julie K. Øhre Askjem.
*
3A
2B 2A
new owner after being received as a gift. Due to sil-

1B Midden
ver’s transformable quality, the socially important area
silver objects could be fragmented to neutral hacksil-
ver, while fragmented silver could in turn be melted
down and re-cast to form a socially meaningful gift.
1A
The close connexion between gold and weighing
equipment in the Migration Period is nicely illustrat-
ed by a hoard from Holte, Rogaland,66 where two Midden
area
cylindrical lead weights were found with eight pieces
of ring-money, three bracteates and a tiny globule, all 0 2 4m
of gold. As Kyhlberg (1980b:161–2) has demonstrated,
the ring-money from this hoard is all well adjusted to
Hearth Excavation outline 2002 Ditch
a common factor, of which the pieces represent sev-
Floor deposit Drainage Lead weight, cylindrical
eral different multiples. Due to the most careful han-
Deposit in side-aisle Post-hole/stake-hole Lead weight, biconical
dling of gold at Kaupang (Pedersen, in prep.), weigh-
Midden Stone Lead weight, other
ing of gold is hard to trace contextually, but the activ-
ity seems to be illustrated by an intentionally cut
Bench line/wall Plot divition ditch
* Uncertain
Excavation outline 2000-2002 Pit

fragment of a gold rod (C52519/14052) found in the
modern ploughsoil. This weighs 3.4 g and may thus
itself have been adjusted according to weight, as it in economy in Scandinavia and Northern Europe east
fact represents 2½ pennings of 1.36 g. of the Elbe as a weight-money economy, Gewichts-
Intentionally fragmented silver, “hacksilver”, has geldwirtschaft, in which silver was valued according
been interpreted as a form of currency used in buying to weight, opposed to the coin-money economy,
and selling (Hårdh 1996:17). Being intentionally cut, Münzgeldwirtschaft, west of Elbe. In the weight-
the hacksilver itself points to the use of weights and money economy there was a need for weighing
balances in transactions in which the silver was val- equipment whenever buying and selling with silver as
ued according to its weight. The relationship of hack- currency, while individual coins of a roughly equal
silver and weights is relatively easily explored at weight were minted from a given (and weighed)
Kaupang, and provides a point of departure for a dis- amount of silver within the coin-money economy
cussion of the use of weights and balances in trade. (Steuer 1987:406). In this case then, the coins could
The local combination of weighing equipment, be counted when paying (Steuer 1987:406). In
intentionally fragmented silver and a wide variety of Steuer’s works from 1987 and 1997 this interpretation
imported and locally produced goods, suggests that a is of relevance to all types of weights. More recently,
considerable proportion of the hacksilver was used in in Gustin’s (1997:163, 1999, 2004c) discussion of Vi-
local trade. The hacksilver at Kaupang is character- king-period exchange, and in Steuer et al.’s (2002:
ized by its high degree of fragmentation, indicating 137) latest discussion of the weights from Hedeby
that even small-scale transactions involved weighed
silver as the means of payment (Hårdh, this vol. Ch.
5:103). Steuer (1987:406; 1997:11) has described the 66 St4547.

(with reference to Gustin), this interpretation has

been reserved primarily for the so-called regulated Figure 6.29 Distribution of coins, hacksilver and weights by
weights, while the lead weights have been linked to Site Periods and in the plough-layers. Finds from the exca-
metalcasting (below, 6.4.3). vations of the MRE and connected areas of the CRM. Map,
Like the weights, both hacksilver and coins are Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann and Unn Pedersen.
predominately found in the modern or later medie-
val plough-layer at Kaupang (Blackburn, this vol. Ch.
3:31; Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114). However, six pieces of
hacksilver belong to SP II (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114),
four in sub-phase 2 of Plot 3B,67 one in sub-phase 2
of Plot 2B68 and one in Plot 4B (Fig. 6.29). The ap-
pearance of the hacksilver thus seems to correspond
well in time with the first concentration of lead
weights – appearing in SP II in the second quarter of
the 9th century (above, 6.2.1). The existence of hack-
silver several years prior to the first appearance of
regulated weights thus seems to demonstrate that
even the lead weights were used for weighing silver at
Kaupang, at least in an early phase of the weight-
money economy as defined by Steuer (1987:406). these Western coins were used as money (Moesgaard
Judging from the spatial distribution of the hack- 2004. For a different view, see Skre, this vol. Ch.10:
silver in SP II (Fig. 6.29) there seems to be a close 347–8). No weights were found with this silver. Yet
association between lead weights and silver as cur- another silver fragment was found on Plot 4B in
rency on Plot 3B, although the material is rather lim- another layer with a possible connexion to a building.
ited. The only concentration of hacksilver from SP II This layer is also characterized by casting waste.
was found in close connexion with weights as four With one exception, all the silver on Plot 3B is
hacksilver-fragments on Plots 3B/2B are closely relat- related to the area of Building A301. Thus the hacksil-
ed spatially to the two weights on Plot 3B. It is, more- ver, like the weights, seems to be found in connexion
over, possible that another three small silver frag- with the areas of dwelling houses, just like the coins
ments and seven pieces of observed silver corrosion and weights at Sigtuna and the purse with weights
from the phase-related contexts could have been and coins at Birka (above, 6.4.1). One hacksilver-
used as hacksilver as well (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:103). fragment belongs to an activity layer in the house, six
Three of these, a highly corroded fragment and two belong to layers outside the house and two, like the
pieces of observed silver corrosion respectively, add weights, belong to layers accumulated after the house
to the concentration of hacksilver on Plot 3B. It was gone. As Roslund (1995:155–6) has argued, this
therefore seems very likely that they represent the private character of transactions involving silver
same type of activity. The silver corrosion observed might imply that they had a social dimension besides
in SP I and the silver on Plots 2A and 2B in SP II are, their economic nature, and he suggests that a social
on the contrary, more probably related to casting, act like handshaking or the sharing of food or a drink
due to the presence of production waste (Pedersen, accompanied weighing. In this respect it is interest-
in prep.). There are a few finds related to casting even ing that finds of vessel glass suggest that wine drink-
on Plot 3B, but they were found in such limited ing took place in Building A301 (Gaut 2007). The
amounts that there is little reason to assume that importance of trust and the need for the creation of
casting took place on this Plot in SP II sub-phase 2 safety around economic transactions has also lately
(Pedersen, in prep.). On Plot 3A there is no connex- been emphasised by Gustin (2004c). In her eyes an
ion between the weights and silver used as currency, urban site such as Kaupang was established to pro-
in light of the complete lack of silver of any kind at vide physical as well as legal protection for the
the plot. This could, however, merely reflect more traders, while trade itself was encompassed by strict
careful handling of silver than on the neighbouring routines (Gustin 2004c:242–3).
plot, and does not allow any far-reaching conclusions No silver belongs to SP III, but a total of five
to be drawn. hacksilver-fragments and eight fragments or ob-
A Frankish silver coin deposited before 850 served remains of silver are no more accurately dated
(Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:56) was found on Plot 4B than to SP I–III (Fig. 6.29). As in SP II, the hacksilver
together with a fragment of hacksilver and another is concentrated in the north-easternmost part of the
silver fragment in an activity layer, possibly associat-
ed with a building. The combination of a coin and a
piece of hacksilver is easily associated with the use of 67 AL46019, AL66841, AL62023 and AL68122.
silver as currency, but is has been questioned whether 68 AL45904.

N Site Period II N Site Period III
Site period I-III ( X )
4B 4B
3B 4A 4A
3B
3A 3A
* 2B
2B
2A 2A
1B 1A 1B
1A
N N
Late medieval plough layer Modern ploughsoil
4B 4B
3B 4A 4A
3B
3A 3A
2B 2B
2A 2A
1B 1A 1B
1A
Copper alloy/iron, Copper alloy, cylindrical Lead, segment-shaped * Uncertain

oblate spheroid
Copper alloy, rectangular Lead, conical Hacksilver
Copper alloy/iron, Coin, copper alloy Lead, rectangular Silver fragment

cubo-octahedral
Copper alloy, other Lead, biconical Ingot, silver
Copper alloy, Lead, oblate spheroid Lead, other Spindle whorl

cubo-octahedral
Lead, cylindrical Coin, silver Layer with a piece
of hacksilver (SP I-III)
MRE. A concentration of silver, including one frag- Kaupang. This lump, originally the contents of a cru-
ment classified as hacksilver, was found north-east of cible, shows the melting down of silver. Several half-
Plot 4B along with a weight. This area is characterized melted, intentionally cut coin-fragments, together
by metalcasting. It is therefore possible that all the sil- with intentionally cut fragments of jewellery and
ver here, including the piece defined as hacksilver, ingots, can be identified. It is thus quite obvious that
served first and foremost as raw material for casting. hacksilver was reworked in the metalcasters’ work-
A peculiar object from the metal-detector surveys shops at Kaupang. The combination is not surpris-
(Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.1) illustrates the ing, as the capacity for remelting seems to be essential
interwoven character of currency and metalcasting at to the importance of silver in the Viking Period.

Complete objects could easily be changed into hack-

silver and vice versa. Figure 6.30 The distribution of weights, hacksilver, silver
With one exception, the six hacksilver fragments fragments, coins and lead spindle whorls from the metal-
in the later medieval plough-layer seem to corre- detector campaigns, 1998–2002. Map, Elise Naumann and
spond well with the concentrations of silver in SP II Unn Pedersen.
on Plot 3B and Plot 4B and in SP I–III north-east of
Plot 4B (Fig. 6.29). As in SP II, the boundary ditch be-
tween Plots 3A/B and 2A/B represents the southern-
most limit of the distribution of both hacksilver and
dirhams. With the exception of a single hacksilver-
fragment, all the seven silver coins and all the hack-
silver were concentrated on the B-plots – if a similar
plot-division is postulated to the north-east. The 13
silver fragments in the later medieval plough-layer
are much more scattered, but on Plot 3B and north-
east of Plot 4B they group with the hacksilver. The
possible weight in the form of a Roman copper-alloy
coin in the later medieval plough layer was found
above Plot 2A, but its location neither confirms nor
challenges the interpretation of the object as a weight. worthy concentrations of silver. The area rather
The same is the case for the two Byzantine coins reflects the general distribution.
found in the modern plough-layer. In the area excavated from 1956 to 1974 there is a
Like the distribution of the weights, the distribu- wide distribution of hacksilver and coins (Fig. 6.31).
tion of hacksilver and coins from the metal-detector Parallel with the weights, the silver is mainly concen-
campaigns is widely dispersed (Fig. 6.30). It is there- trated on the plots, or in the area right in front of
fore possible that the wide distribution in the modern them, but a greater concentration was also found in
ploughsoil of the MRE (Fig. 6.29) primarily reflects a the harbour area. The weights and the silver might,
general use of silver as well as a general use of weights. however, reflect activity over a long period of time.
However in the modern ploughsoil in the area of the Turning to other sites, Posthus in Ribe has 24 lead
MRE some concentrations amongst the total of 6 weights and c. 67 coins (mainly sceattas), but no
dirhams, 13 pieces of hacksilver, and weights, seem to hacksilver from the preserved phases, which end
overlap, suggesting a relationship between the groups around AD 850 (Feveile and Jensen 2006:140, 143 and
of artefacts. This is especially the case north-east of 145–6). At Birka 1990–1995, on the other hand, frag-
Plots 4A/B. Most of the hacksilver and coins were mented silver is present from the earliest phases, as
found north-east of the division between Plots 1A/B are weights. Gustin (1998:78) has suggested that this
and 2A/B. Compared with the results from the metal- silver might have functioned as currency, but she has
detector campaigns, the area south-west of this line is emphasised that this interpretation is problematic as
characterized by a very limited amount of silver: just the silver shows a strong correspondence with dep-
one coin and a fragment of hacksilver were found osits related to metalwork. The first stratigraphic
during the MRE and only a further 5 coins and 2 sequence in Birka with a coin is dated to around 800,
pieces of hacksilver further south-west within an area but there are only a few coins from the settlement
of 150 m length. Thus the concentration of hacksilver prior to AD 900 (Gustin 2004b:98).
and silver fragments to the north-easternmost plots None of the graves from Kaupang contains coins
observed in the preserved cultural layer seems to or hacksilver, and again Kaupang’s graves seem to
reflect a real difference in activities between Plots correspond with the other graves from South-East-
1A/B and 2A/B on one side and 3A/B and 4A/B on the ern Norway where the amount of coins and hacksil-
other. As demonstrated by the differences within the ver is limited. Four graves with weighing equipment
plough-layers, this difference was not merely the contain a total of eight complete coins and a coin-
product of the assumed destruction of layers post- fragment, and no hacksilver (Pedersen, U. 2001:20).
dating the 830/840s on the south-westernmost plots. The combination of coins and weights is also very
This south-western area without silver also corre- restricted in time and space. All the finds are late
sponds to the area with almost no regulated weights 10th- and 11th-century finds from Aust-Agder. In
(above, 6.4.1). It is possible, then, that this area reflects contrast to Kaupang, 30% of Birka’s graves with
some use of lead weights with no relation to silver weighing equipment contained coins (based on
currency, a situation comparable to that on Plot 3A in Kyhlberg 1980b:294–7). However, based on a general
SP II. In the area of the small concentration of cubo- study of the coins’ contexts in Birka’s graves, Kyhl-
octahedral copper-alloy weights east of the MRE berg (1980b:216) concluded that these seem to be an
(above, 6.4.1), on the other hand, there are no note- offering, not personal belongings like the weights.

0 100 200 m
Surveyed twice
Surveyed 3 times
Copper alloy, cylindrical Lead, oblate spheroid 0 50 100 m
Copper alloy, conical Lead, cubo-octahedral
Copper alloy, Lead, cylindrical Coin, silver

segment-shaped
Lead, segment-shaped Hacksilver Surveyed cultural-deposit areas
Copper alloy/iron, Lead, conical Silver fragment Non-surveyed cultural-deposit areas

oblate spheroid
Lead, rectangular Ingot, silver Viking-age sea-level
Copper alloy, Lead, biconical Silver crucible melt MRE excavations 2000-2002
cubo-octahedral
Lead, other Spindle whorl Blindheim excavations

Figure 6.31 The distribution of weights, hacksilver and

coins in Blindheim’s excavation of 1956–1974. Map, Elise
Figure 6.32 A soapstone mould for weights found during

Blindheim’s excavation in the settlement (MO60b; 8.2 x 4.9
cm). Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
sen, U. 2001:25). At Birka, numerous lead weights,

dominated by the cylindrical type, are found prima-
rily in phases 2–5 (c. AD 750–860) in connexion with
0 5 10 Meters metalcasting workshops (Gustin 2004c:94–5, 311).
Many of these weights could be related directly to
Copper alloy/iron, Lead, segment-shaped Area with silver-coin
casting through their distribution on the workshop
oblate spheroid Lead, conical Area with lead, cylindrical (1)
Copper alloy, cubo-octahedral Lead, rectangular
floors or amongst workshop waste (Gustin 1999:247).
Structures
Copper alloy, conical Fragment of balance Area with lead, cylindrical (1)
These craft-related weights thus underline the im-
Copper alloy, biconical Silver coin and cubo-octahedral portance of contextual study of the weights, and
Copper alloy, other Hacksilver Area with copper-alloy,
cubo-octahedral (1)
demonstrate that weights, besides being tools of
Lead, oblate spheroid Cluster of hacksilver
trade, served other functions.
Lead, cylindrical Area with hacksilver with
It is clear that there is a relationship between
weights and non-ferrous metalwork in the Viking
Age, but the explanation of this remains uncertain.
Again, then, the graves do no reflect real life. It seems The precise role of the weighing equipment in metal-
that the absence of silver coins and hacksilver from casting is not discussed in Feveile, Gustin and Jen-
most graves may reflect the fact that valuables like sil- sen’s works. In the works of Gustin (1997), and Steuer
ver, when consciously deposited, appear primarily in et al. (2002) who adopted Gustin’s interpretation of
hoards in this period, while the graves predominantly lead weights, the suggestion has chiefly been to ex-
contain tools and personal belongings such as clude the lead weight from the discussion of econom-
weights. ic relations in the Viking-period. The relationship of
the weights and non-ferrous metalworking at Kaup-
6.4.3 Weights and metalcasting ang will be discussed in a forthcoming study (Peder-
Ken Ravn Hedegard (1992:85) presented an alterna- sen, in prep.), but it is clear that there are no pre-
tive functional explanation of weights and balances, served Viking-period deposits with a concentration
claiming that they were used by bronzecasters to get of metalworking waste and a high number of weights
the right alloy. Following the finding of lead weights like at Birka. This section will address the most evi-
in bronzecasters’ workshops in Birka and Ribe, Claus dent connexion between metalcasting and weighing
Feveile (1994:58; Feveile and Jensen 2006:144) and equipment at Kaupang: the local production of
Gustin (1999:246–8) have also stressed that lead weights.
weights could be evidence of metalcasting rather In the settlement, some of the lead weights were
than exchange. A comparable contextual relation- undoubtedly miscast, while three soapstone moulds
ship between lead weights and waste from casting has for weights testify to local weight-production (Fig.
also been demonstrated in a rural context by Stig 6.32). These moulds are for cylindrical, conical and
Jensen (1990:31), at the Viking-period magnate farm segmented weights, which are amongst the weight-
of Gamle Hviding, Jutland. Even some of the Nor- types most frequently found in the settlement area.
wegian Viking-period graves with weighing equip- Based on the shape of the cavities alone, production
ment contain equipment for casting in the form of of lead weights can be suggested as, with few excep-
moulds and crucibles (Pedersen 2000:96–7; Peder- tions, these types appear as lead weights. One of the

cavities in one of the moulds has been analysed under

SEM and remains of lead were identified (Jouttijärvi
2006; Pedersen, in prep.). One weight was also in-
cluded when a series of lead artefacts were subjected
to lead isotope analyses (Jouttijärvi 2006). As the
weight grouped with a wide range of waste connected
to leadcasting, it seems highly likely that this was a
local product (Pedersen, in prep.). Production of
weights and balances seems characteristic of several
Viking-period urban sites. Moulds for oblate sphe-
roid weights, massive copper-alloy weights, and cop-
per-alloy/iron weights have been found at Birka
(Söderberg 1996; Gustin 1997:170–1). Wallace (1987:
212) has also viewed the lead weights from Dublin as
local products.
Weighing equipment is, in fact, essential for the
production of weight-adjusted objects, such as a
weight itself. Weights and a balance would also be
essential to the production of other weight-adjusted
objects such as ingots. In addition to the moulds for
weights, a variety of moulds for ingots have been
found in the settlement. Like the weights, the ingots a. The metal is melted in a crucible or iron spoon,
from Kaupang are generally adjusted to standard or
weights (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:106–7; Pedersen, in b. The metal is melted in the mould itself
prep.). 3. A mould of about the requisite size is produced
and each weight is checked using a weight and
There are, in theory, several possible models for the balances after casting, and adjusted, if necessary,
production of weight-adjusted objects: with a knife.
1. A given amount of metal is weighed out prior to
casting. It is melted in a crucible or an iron spoon Judging by the soapstone moulds from Kaupang,
and then poured into a mould of the right size or alternative 2b is less likely, as there is no indication of
somewhat larger. any mould having been heated repeatedly. Alter-
2. During the carving of the soapstone mould test native 2a is also questionable as several of the soap-
castings are undertaken until the right weight is stone moulds have a rather irregular base. Even a
achieved. The mould is filled to the rim each time minor variation in the mould would change the
and the test weights checked with weights and amount of metal that would fill the cavity. This could
balances. When the desired weight is achieved a perhaps be corrected by holding the mould firmly,
series of weights are cast by filling the mould to but alternatives 1 and 3 appear much more likely.
the rim. During the casting: Alternative 3 could be directly linked to some

Figure 6.33 Weights with gold. a. Conical lead weight with

a remains of gold foil (C52517/552: 1.86 g). b. Rectangular lead
weight with a gilt copper alloy mount (C52517/419: 9.67 g).
c. Conical copper-alloy weight with remains of gold
(C52517/892: 9.27 g). Scale 1:1.
Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh.
b Figure 6.34 a.Weight with Anglo-Saxon coins from Fjære,

Aust-Agder (C7822; max.d: 1.9 cm). Photo, L.-A. Chepstow-
Lusty, KHM. b. A Swedish weight with a pseudo-Arabic
inscription (after Sperber 1996:fig.8.1). c. A weight with a
pseudo-Arabic inscription from Rolfsøy, Østfold (C4188–97;
d: 2.6 cm) Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
c
weights, especially a group of cylindrical lead weights These weights with gold are not unique to Kaup-
with an irregular facetted rim, but for the majority of ang. A cylindrical lead weight with gold foil has been
the weights alternative 1 appears most likely. found in a grave at Birka (Kyhlberg 1980b:299) and
weights with gilt mounts are known from several
6.4.4 Weights and symbolic meaning Norwegian graves (see below). Some weights thus
So far the practical use of weighing equipment has seem to have been objects of considerable value in
been the main concern, but a group of at least 27 themselves (Kyhlberg 1980b:269). This is consistent
more elaborately decorated weights from the settle- with the careful handling of the weighing equipment
ment invite reflection upon other meanings that may evident in several grave finds (above, 6.3.1).
have attached to Viking-age weights and balances. It can be suggested that the gold inlay may refer to
Effort and value were invested in the embellishment the use of weights in handling precious metal. Con-
of these weights, and it does not seem likely that their sidering the specific weights with such appliqués at
decoration served merely to distinguish the weights Kaupang, this should be concerned primarily with
in a set from one another. The symbolic meaning of the weighing of gold. The use of weights when weigh-
the weighing equipment will not be discussed ex- ing gold in the Viking and Migration Periods has
haustively here, but along with a description of the been demonstrated, inter alios, by Brøgger (1921:
decorated weights some interpretations will be pre- 24–45) and, as discussed above (6.4.2), there is some
sented showing that a wider perspective is necessary evidence of the weighing of gold at Kaupang. The
if we are fully to understand the use of weights and hoards imply that the weighing of gold was even
balances in Viking-period society. more common in the Migration Period. Most finds,
A small conical lead weight of 1.86 g is one of the including weights from this period, included objects
more modest members of the group of decorated of gold too.69 At Kaupang, weights were probably
weights in terms of size and shape (Fig. 6.33.a). How- more often used in weighing silver, but it is possible
ever, microscopic remains of gold foil in the circular that (some) lead weights, even in this later period,
depression on its upper face reveal that its modest were primarily associated with the weighing of the
size was not proportionate to its importance. Gold more valuable gold.
was undoubtedly of high value in the Viking-period, Sites other than Kaupang show that silver was
as is illustrated locally at Kaupang by the very careful used to decorate weights too. A set of seven copper-
handling of gold in metalwork (Pedersen, in prep.). alloy weights with silver inlays have been found at
The small lead weights may appear less sophisticated Lundeborg, where there was activity from the 3th
than the cubo-octahedral and oblate spheroid century to the 7th (Thomsen 1993:80 and 94–100). In
weights, but this conical lead weight was apparently light of the poor preservation of silver at Kaupang, it
seen differently by its producer and user(s). Deco- is possible that silver appliqués could have been lost
ration in gold is not restricted to this weight. A fur- here (Figs. 6.39–6.40). Coins that appear to be of sil-
ther four weights from Kaupang have remains of ver were used to decorate lead weights in the Viking-
gold: respectively a rectangular lead weight with a gilt period (Fig. 6.34.a). Thus a very direct reference to
mount (Fig. 6.33.b), a conical copper-alloy weight the use of weights in weighing coin seems to be
(Fig. 6.33.c), and two further weights discussed below expressed by the Anglo-Saxon styccas mounted on to
(Figs. 6.37.a and 6.42.b). two lead weights in a 9th(?)-century grave from Aust-

Agder (Skaare 1976:Catalogue I.67).70 The amount of

silver in the styccas is very low, but this does not nec-
essarily count against the interpretation: rather it
explains why the two coins were taken out of circula-
tion and mounted on to the weights. Their symbolic
value as coins was probably more important than
their economic value as metal. Three similar weights
have been found in England, one of them at Torksey
in Lincolnshire (Kruse 1992:82; Blackburn 2002:99).
Written sources record that the Viking great army
camped at Torksey in 872 and the site has a large col-
lection of different weight-types, silver coins, hacksil-
ver and ingots, reflecting the weight-economy of the
Scandinavians (Blackburn 2002). The site and the
weights could thus be seen as reflexes of the collec- b
tion of tribute characterizing the Scandinavian inva-
sion. Although these weights have been found in
England, their context at Torksey implies that Scan-
dinavians could have been involved in their produc-
tion, as lead weights with various types of appliqué
are characteristic of other Scandinavian sites such as
Kaupang and Birka. If otherwise, and Anglo-Saxon
production can be demonstrated, the association of
coins and weights might nevertheless have been the
reason why these weights were kept by Scandi-
navians, brought back to their homeland, and finally
deposited in a grave.
Even oblate spheroid weights of copper alloy/iron
could have involved a corresponding, but less direct,
reference to coins. One of the oblate spheroid
weights (Fig. 6.34.c) in the chamber grave at Rolfsøy
has special decoration corresponding to the decora-
tion characteristic of a small group of weights with
imitations of Arabic inscriptions inside a beaded bor-
der (Sperber 1996:96–101). This decoration is similar
69 St4547, B4590, B4842 and C26001 (notes 30–35). c

70 C7816–30, Vik, Fjære, Aust-Agder.

Figure 6.35 Decorated lead weights: a. With a “flower”

punchmark (C52264/3.3 3.83 g) b. With a carved border
a (C52517/1985 of 3.57 g). Scale 1:1. Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon
Eketuft Rygh.
Figure 6.36 Lead weight with an inlay of glass (C52519/

15228 of 1.96 g; max. d: 0.9 cm).
to the script on dirhams (Fig. 6.34.b). The Arabic of currency: they were media in the battle for social
inscriptions are the characteristic feature of Islamic position (Samson 1991; Hedeager 1993).
coins, and I have therefore suggested that for a Scan- The lead weights with gold belong to a larger, het-
dinavian, this decoration could have connoted the erogeneous group of decorated lead weights (Figs.
handling of coins (Pedersen, U. 2001:26–7). If so, the 6.35–6.40). The small conical lead weight actually has
oblate spheroid weights might be a parallel to the lead an almost identical counterpart, of the same weight,
weights with coins, expressing the close relationship but decorated with an inlay of green glass instead of
between weights and coins – or even with silver more gold (Fig. 6.36). Another cylindrical weight seems to
generally, as a considerable proportion of the silver have been decorated with semi-circular punchmarks
that reached Scandinavia during the Viking Period and an iron inlay(?), but this weight is now heavily
came in the form of coin (Steuer 1987:480). Like the corroded (C52517/2609). Lead weights from Kaupang
gold appliqués, the coin-weights and the oblate sphe- are, with few exceptions, decorated only on one side
roid weights might have expressed the owner’s access (Figs. 6.33 and 6.35–6.40; Tab. 6.13; Appendix 3). A
to the precious metal that could lay a foundation for cylindrical weight with a flower-like punchmark (Fig.
his or her future economic and/or social success. 6.35.a) on both top and bottom is the only exception
Viking-period silver and gold were more than a form within the group of elaborately decorated weights.
The most modest decoration is found on a small
cylindrical lead weight with a delicately carved bor-
der on its upper face (Fig. 6.35.b).
In addition to the weight with the gilt mount (Fig.
6.33.b), a further nine lead weights are, or have been,
decorated with copper alloy in different ways (Figs.
6.37.a and 6.38; Appendix 1). The most impressive
weight has a mount in the shape of a bird (Fig.
6.37.a). This naturalistic, gilt bird covers much of a
rather irregular lead plate. The bird is depicted in
profile and has a slightly bent head characterized by a
large crooked beak and a prominent eye. Distinct
feathers cover its body, while its wing has conspicu-
ous horizontal lines. Its surviving foot ends in three
claws. This gilt copper-alloy bird was most probably
re-used on the weight, as a series of other mounts
found on lead weights (see below). There are some
Scandinavian Viking-period depictions of naturalis-
tic birds: for instance on the Sigurd carving on Ram-
sundsberget in Södermanland (Hed Jakobsson 2003:
fig. 30). There are also some naturalistic bird
brooches of the 11th and 12th centuries (Pedersen, A.
2001) but the bird has its closest parallel in Insular

Figure 6.37 a.Weight consisting of a gilt copper-alloy bird

cast in a lead plate (C52517/2168 of 15.88 g; max. l: 2.6 cm,
max. w: 2.3 cm). Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
b. Panel on a cross shaft from Croft-on-Tees, North
Yorkshire. Photo, T. Middlemass, Corpus of Anglo-Saxon
Stone Sculpture.
art, on the stone frieze from Croft-on-Tees in North a

Yorkshire (Fig. 6.37.b) dated to the late 8th century
(Youngs 1999:288 and fig. 23.6). Some of the Scan-
dinavian birds have a feathered body (Pedersen, A.
2001), but they all have quite short legs, unlike the b
birds on the weight and in the Croft-on-Tees frieze. It
is therefore most likely that the bird itself was pro-
duced in an Insular workshop, like a series of other
Insular mounts on lead weights found in Norway,
including Kaupang (see below).
The other weights with copper-alloy traces are
very varied. One rectangular weight has a now lost
rectangular mount (C52517/2734), while one conical
weight has a relatively well-preserved circular cop-
per-alloy mount (Fig. 6.38.d). This mount has lines
radiating from a central circle towards the rim and a
hollow space inside the circle which could indicate
that it originally had some kind of inlay – for instance
of amber or glass. Another rectangular weight (Fig.
6.38.a) could have had a similar mount or a copper-
alloy mantle, but now it has only a sunken area with
some heavily corroded remains of copper alloy. Two
of the weights have a copper-alloy mantle on their
upper surface: respectively a triangular weight (Fig.
6.38.b) and a hemispherical weight (A66IVs). One
heavily corroded cylindrical(?) lead weight has a rela-
tively modest rectangular inlay of copper alloy (Fig.
6.38.c). Finally, two weights have fainter traces of
copper alloy (C52519/15176 and C52517/2134). Nine
(12?) further weights have a depression on their up-
per surface indicating that they originally had some
kind of inlay or were intended to have one (Figs.
6.39–6.40). During the conservation process possible
remains of amber have been observed in a depression
on the top of one of these, a cylindrical lead weight
(Fig. 6.39.c). No other remains of inlays have been
identified. As some of these weights have quite small
depressions, it is possible that the depressions should
be regarded as punched-dot decoration. The weight

Figure 6.38 Lead weights with copper-alloy decoration.

a a. C52517/812 (22.46 g) b. C52517/1893 (23.48 g)
c. C52517/828 (7.61 g). d. 69PIo (33.1 g) (d: 2.1 cm).
Photo, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM. Scale 1:1.
b c
with the possible amber remains has a very small cav- (Fig. 6.41.a). At least another six graves,71 one
ity, illustrating the problem of distinguishing one hoard,72 and a stray find,73 have similar weights (Fig.
category of marking or decoration from the other 6.41.b–d), all being made of lead and ornamented
when the material is corroded. with Insular mounts, most often gilt (Wamers 1985:17
Weights with elaborate decoration are not a dis- –27). All of these finds are from the west coast of Nor-
tinctive characteristic of the settlement of Kaupang. way. According to Egon Wamers (1985:17–24), the
Similar weights have been found in other Scandinav- majority of the Insular mounts on these weights are of
ian settlements and graves. The weights with glass and ecclesiastical origin. These weights are generally larg-
amber have close parallels at Birka, where some lead er than those from the settlement at Kaupang. Once
weights have inlays of precious stone (Sperber 2004: again, the settlement finds indicate that weights from
71). A lead weight with a glass inlay is reported from graves represent a selection from a much larger cor-
the Viking camp at Torksey (Blackburn 2002: 99). pus.
Similar, and even more elaborate weights with ap- The two weights from Kaupang with gilt copper-
pliqués are found elsewhere in Norway – for instance alloy mounts – the rectangular weight (Fig. 6.33.b)
at Hurum, c. 60 km further north on the Oslofjord and the bird weight (Fig. 6.37.a) – probably belong to
coast, were a lead weight with a gilt copper-alloy this group with Insular decoration. The bird has fur-
mount and an amber inlay has been found in a grave ther parallels in Insular art besides the Croft-on-Tees
frieze: for instance on a fragment from the Lindis-
farne scriptorium depicting the eagle of St John in a
very similar manner, but with an even more powerful
attitude (Webster and Backhouse 1991:catalogue
83b). The mount of the rectangular weight is heavily
corroded, but its net-pattern is found on Insular
works such as the harness from the grave at Soma,
Western Norway (Wamers 1985:taf. 21–2).
Looked at in light of the local lead weight-pro-
duction at Kaupang and the considerable quantity of
decorated lead weights, the local manufacture of
some of these weights can be suggested. The two
strikingly similar lead weights with inlays of gold and
glass respectively appear as potentially local prod-
ucts. When it comes to the weights with Insular
mounts, Insular production appears more likely, in
spite of the weights found in the Norwegian graves
71 St1981, B4511i-k, B6356m, B11131d-e, T1047 and T18198c-d.

d 72 B1856.
73 T3213.

Figure 6.39 A selection of lead weights with depression

indiacting that they originally had mount or inlay.
a. C52519/14958 (12.24 g), b. C52517/114 (8.39 g)
c. C52517/2637(3.57g) d. C52519/14890 (3.95 g) e. C52517/974
(9.8 g). Scale 1:1. Drawings, Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh.
Figure 6.40 A selection of lead weights with depression a b c

indiacting that they originally had mount or inlay.
d e
and at Kaupang. As Susan Kruse (1992) has convinc- Amongst the smaller weights with appliqués or inlays
ingly argued, larger sets of weights decorated this way from Kaupang there is only one well-preserved
are found in Insular contexts. Both the Viking camp weight, the tiny weight of 1.9 g with the glass inlay,
at Torksey (Blackburn 2002:98), and the Viking base but another, C52517/1893 (Fig. 6.38.b), of 23.48 g, has
at Woodstown in Ireland (Downham 2004:74), have undergone very little alteration, so that its original
produced several weights decorated with mounts of weight was c. 24 g, or Brøgger’s later øre.
different types. These weights could still have been Although the majority of the mounts appear fair-
Scandinavian products, but then more likely pro- ly regular, they are usually fragments of larger ob-
duced abroad than at home (Kruse 1992:82). jects. Several originate from shrines, like that from
In some cases it would appear that the mounts Hurum which once belonged to a house-shaped reli-
and not the weights themselves were the primary ob- quary (Wamers 1985:18). These objects have accord-
ject of attention in the production of the weights, as ingly very commonly been interpreted as booty from
the shaping of the weight seems to have been deter- Viking raids (Bakka 1963:5; Wamers 1985:85). The
mined by the appliqué (Fig. 6.41.a). Nevertheless, mounts on the weights form part of a wider assem-
their weights accord with the weight-standard. The blage of Insular objects in Scandinavia, often found
weight from Hedrum, for instance, is of 294.8 g, equal in graves. In support of the interpretation of the
to 12 later øre of 24.6 g or 11 early øre of 26.8 g. objects as booty, it has been emphasised that they are

Figure 6.41 Weights with copper-alloy mounts. a. Hurum

(CMXXXb). Photo, Arnold Mikkelsen, National Museum
of Denmark. b. Tårland (B1856). Photo, Ann Mari Olsen,
Bergen Museum. c. Håland (St1982). Photo, Terje Tveit,
Museum of Archaeology, Stavanger. d. Hopperstad
(B4511i). Photo, Ann Mari Olsen, Bergen Museum.
mostly re-worked into new objects by the Scan- to wealth obtained abroad in a general way. The fact
dinavians (Wamers 1985:85, 1991). The interpretation that most of these appliqués are gilt speaks for a close
of the Insular material as booty has recently been relationship between these two groups of weights. An
criticized by drawing attention to the considerable equally ostentatious reference to valuables plundered
circulation of ecclesiastical objects in secular contexts abroad is inscribed in runes on a silver neckring
within the British Isles, and the fact that monastic found at Senja, Troms, dated to the early 11th century
and secular craft-production overlapped to a degree (Olsen 1960:127–35). It reads: Fórum drengja Fríslands
(Gaut 2001:113–25). It has also been stressed that the á vit, ok vígs fôtum vér skiptum: “We travelled to meet
alteration of objects is already a trend in Scandinavia the warriors of Friesland, and exchanged the profits
prior to the first raids on Insular monasteries, and a of war”.
general trend elsewhere in Europe too (Gaut 2001: If the final owner of the shrine at Setnes was the
97–100). The latter is illustrated in the corpus of raider in person this challenges the popular picture of
weights by a specimen from Håland with a fragment the plundering masculine Viking – the grave is a
of ornamental metalwork in Scandinavian style (Fig. woman’s grave. In any event, the shrine itself and this
6.41.c). exceptional woman’s grave serve to remind us that
One of the graves with an Insular mount on a the symbolic meaning attached to weighing equip-
weight, the 10th-century grave from Setnes, Møre og ment could extend far beyond its daily use. As a bal-
Romsdal,74 contains some very peculiar artefacts, ance serves to compare the amounts in two scales
which seem to provide direct evidence of plundering with one another, it appears to have the potential of
abroad – namely a shrine obviously forced open and supporting abstract thinking. The balance has served
a possible fragment of a bishop’s staff (Marstrander as a symbol throughout history. Both in Ancient
1963:129–31 and 144). It is implausible that a more or Egypt (Sperber 1996:13–6) and within Christianity
less complete reliquary shrine ever came on to the (Hermansen 1936:fig. 3) it was associated with the
market and could be bought by a passing Scandi- weighing of souls. In Viking-period society, where
navian. Seen in this context, at least these two moun- gift and counter-gift were essential to the establish-
ted lead weights in the Setnes grave appear to be asso- ment and maintenance of social relations and the
ciable with a Viking raid on the British Isles. Wamers construction of hierarchies, this potential might
(1991:117) has also stressed that the use of some of again have been triggered. This seems to be under-
ecclesiastical objects in Scandinavian women’s dress lined by the use of weights and balances as metaphors
can be quite ostentatious. Compared with the wide in the later Norse written sources. In Óláfs saga Helga
variety of decorated weights from the settlement at it is said of Erling Skjalgsson: ... engi lagei í aera skál
Kaupang, it also appears that re-used ecclesiastical or en hann vildi ...: literally, “nobody put anything in
para-ecclesiastical objects are over-represented in the any other scale than the one he desired”, but meaning
grave finds. These weights thus seem to be favoured that nobody did anything at all against his will. Sim-
as grave goods compared with other embellished ilar use of the idiom ... lagei í aera skál ... is also found
weights. No matter how these objects were attained in the Bishops’ Sagas and Flateyjarbók (Cleasby et al.
abroad, it is highly likely that at home they primarily 1869:541). From the latter text it is apparent that it is
bear witness to a successful raid. Like the weights words that are weighed against each other. Weights
associable with silver or gold, they may have referred could likewise be used to talk about doing what one

a b
c d
wanted, besides being used as a metaphor for esteem astical object, or rather a fragment of one. It origi-
(Cleasby et al. 1869:425). This could explain why nates from the ridge of the roof of a house-shaped
weighing equipment was selected for grave deposi- reliquary shrine (Wamers 1985:18). The seal, on the
tion. The equation of weights with esteem agrees with other hand, seems to have been produced as a weight
the interpretations suggested above: that the weights as it stands, and I would suggest a Scandinavian ori-
connoted the possession of valuables essential to gin as most likely. Seen in its Insular context, with the
social success. close resemblance to the eagle of St John and the
The eagle mounted on the lead weight belongs to birds from the inhabited vine-scroll on the Croft-on-
a small group of zoomorphic weights. One of the Tees frieze, it is possible that the bird was of ecclesias-
most distinctive weights found during the 1998–2003 tical origin too.
campaign is shaped as an animal head, resembling a These zoomorphic weights are not rare birds.
seal’s head (Fig. 6.42.a). Its eyes are represented by Several similar weights are known from Norwegian
two large depressions, and it has a large nostril and an and Insular graves. A grave from Hopperstad, Vik,
emphatic mouth, almost like a muzzle. It is possible Sogn contained an animal head (Fig. 6.43.b) with
that the cavities for the eyes once had inlays, although similarities to the weight from Blindheim’s excava-
no remains of such could be identified today. An- tions. This weight also originates from a similar
other beast-like animal head was found during house-shaped shrine (Wamers 1985:18). A similar gilt
Blindheim’s excavation. This gilt copper-alloy head animal head with eyes of glass was found in a grave at
(Fig. 6.42.b) is filled with lead and has a long snout,
emphatic ears and eyes with eyebrows, scrolled nos-
trils and pointed teeth. This is also an Insular ecclesi- 74 T18198.

a b
Hurum, Buskerud (Fig. 6.43.a). As it is hollow under- human soul into an animal (Kristoffersen 1995:12–4).
neath, it was once interpreted as the shaft of a knife Depictions of animals could, for instance, invoke the
(Undset 1878:42), but as the animal head was found dyrefylgja, a totemic shadow animal existing in the
inside the scale-pan together with the two weights, an Otherworld but able to cross the border into this
interpretation as a weight is more likely. A Viking- world to protect someone (Kristoffersen 1995:13; He-
age grave from Setnes, Romsdal, Western Norway deager 1999b:233). It is noteworthy in this respect that
contains a weight (Fig. 6.43.c) with a complete ani- the eagle has been pinpointed as an important fylgja-
mal represented in Irish style. Similar zoomorphic animal along with the bear, the boar and the wolf
weights are also found in Scandinavian graves out- (with its pointed teeth) (Hedeager 2004). We can
side Scandinavia, such as an early 9th-century grave probably never truly grasp the symbolic meaning of
from Ballyholme, Northern Ireland (Brøgger 1921:fig. the animal-weights, but as all Scandinavian people
19–28) and a grave on Colonsay, Scotland (Brøgger may indeed have felt dependent upon animal helpers
1921:fig. 29–35). The representation of animals is even (Hedeager 1999b:234) it can be suggested that refer-
found on several balances, for instance one from ence to such animals would be in accord with the use
Haug, Verdal, Nord-Trøndelag,75 which is decorated of weights and balances to weigh precious metals. In
with an animal head on both tips of the beam. The written sources and material culture a wide range of
balance from Jåtten, Rogaland (Brøgger 1921:fig. animals are portrayed as the helpers of gods and
6a),76 is decorated with two bronze birds, one on humans. Amongst birds, Hugin and Munin gather
each chain. A small copper-alloy bird is even men- knowledge for Odin when flying around the world,
tioned amongst the possible objects of standardized while the hero Sigurd is forewarned of a fatal attack
weight found in purses in Birka (Kyhlberg 1980b: by birds in Fáfnismál (Fáfnismál:32–9). The two birds
228), but no picture of this artefact has been pub- overhanging the scale-pans of the Jåtten balance (Kil-
lished. ger, this vol. Ch. 8:Fig. 8.22) are strongly reminiscent
The house-shrine animal is undoubtedly closely of the two birds in the scene depicted on Ramsunds-
related to the other ecclesiastical Insular mounts on berget, Södermanland, Sweden, where the two birds
weights, but the re-use of these particular parts of in the tree top watch over Sigurd (Hed Jakobsson
shrines as weights by the Scandinavians seems far 2003:fig. 30). The birds on the balance might have
from accidental, as animals are fundamental to Vi- watched the weighing of the valuable metals. Viking-
king-age art. Siv Kristoffersen (1995), Lotte Hedeager period exchange has been described as a risky busi-
(1997; 1999b; 2003) and others have emphasised the ness. The relationship between the parties was strictly
active use of animal art in Scandinavian Iron-age defined in respect of each specific type of exchange
society. It seems highly likely, as a result, that the (Miller 1986). An unfortunate choice of form of ex-
embellishment of the weights and balances was much change could have drastic consequences for the indi-
more than passive decoration. Kristoffersen (1995:11) viduals involved (Miller 1986; Hedeager 1993). Some
argues that the animal art is not a representation of
an animal, but rather that it is the animal, or creates
an animal. This animal art was rooted in the Norse
mythology (Hedeager 1999b) and makes strong refer- 75 T19010c.
ence to the transformation or shape-changing of the 76 B4772a.

Figure 6.42 Two zoomorphic weights from Kaupang.

a. C52516/4096 (6.59 g; h: 1.4 cm). b. Bryggen 67k (19.604 g;
l: 3.5 cm). Photos, Eirik Irgens Johnsen, KHM.
Figure 6.43 Zoomorphic weights from Norwegian graves.

a. Hurum, Buskerud (CMXXXI). Photo, Arnold Mikkelsen,
National Museum of Denmark. b. Hopperstad, Sogn og
Fjordane (B4511k). Photo, Ann Mari Olsen, Bergen
Museum. c. Setnes, Romsdal, (T18198d). Photo, NTNU,
Museum of Natural History and Archaeology.
help from better informed animal helpers would be

desirable in a situation where both valuables and
social reputation were at stake. a
6.5 Summary
The weights and balances from the settlement of
Kaupang contribute to an understanding of the
Viking-period comparanda from Norway by both
adding to and complementing a large collection of
grave finds. The most striking characteristic of the
Kaupang assemblage is the large quantity of lead
weights and the considerable heterogeneity. In the
settlement at Kaupang, lead weights of different types
appear first in the second quarter of the 9th century.
Only 17 of the 410 weights have been found in a data-
ble stratigrafied context – the rest are loose finds, for
the most part from plough-layers. Due to the lack of
preserved settlement deposits from the period post-
AD 840/850, it is hard to know how the use of weights b
may have varied after their introduction. Only a few
of the weights can be given a narrower date on the
strength of their type. However, on such evidence
one can conclude that at least 18% of the weights were
used after 860/880.
On the basis of the grave finds from Kaupang it is
evident that weights and balances were still used in
the settlement in the first half of the 10th century.
Although no firm conclusion can be drawn from the
finds from Kaupang, graves in South-Eastern Nor-
way and the settlement finds and graves at Birka sug-
gest that while lead weights were predominant in the
9th century, they are totally outnumbered by weights
of copper alloy or copper alloy/iron by the 10th cen-
tury. Over time, weights were used in most parts of
the settlement area at Kaupang, but at least prior to
AD 840/850 they seem to have been handled with
great care, and normally used indoors.
pveiti/ertog/øre-weights of lead, or multiples of 4 c
g, were a characteristic element at Kaupang. Accord-

ingly the settlement finds from Kaupang demon- and balances were also used in connexion with met-
strate that the few weights of lead of this standard alcasting, in trade – weighing hacksilver, and very
which Brøgger observed in grave finds from rural probably also in other transactions such as tax-col-
areas along with the many oblate spheroid copper- lection, gift-exchange, and the payment of tribute.
alloy(/iron) weights belong to a much larger, hetero- The weights at Kaupang also served as symbols, ex-
geneous group of lead weights. The punched-dot pressing identity, status and very probably religious
decoration on some of the lead weights seems to be a ideas too.
marking of units in a standardized way, but able to
refer to several different units, foremost the pveiti (4 Acknowledgements
g), the ertog (8 g) and the ½ later øre (12 g). From the The conservators Elin Storbekk, Birgit Wilster Han-
Kaupang finds, it is difficult to determine when the sen and the illustrator Bjørn-Håkon Eketuft Rygh
pveiti/ertog/øre-weights were introduced, although have all offered valuable observations during their
two weights suggest that c. 8 g and another multiple work which have contributed to the conclusions of
of 4 g were in use as early as the second quarter of the this study. I wish also to thank Elisabeth Farnes, Ve-
9th century. This is a very limited statistical basis, but gard Vike and Kristin Fjærestad, Revita, KHM who
these nonetheless make up 40% of all the weights told me about the newly identified weights from the
from SP II. x-ray examination of the iron from Charlotte Blind-
The weights of different types and material were heim’s excavations of 1956–1974 and supplied me
highly useful equipment used in several different sit- with details and photos. This paper benefited com-
uations. The large amount of weights in the settlements by Bjarne Gaut, Lars Erik Gjerpe, Christoph
ment of Kaupang could partly reflect the local pro- Kilger, Lars Pilø, Heid Gjøstein Resi, Dagfinn Skre,
duction of lead weights. As equipment, the weights Gry Wiker and anonymous referees.

Appendix 1-4

Appendix 1 Weights from the settlements of Kaupang and Huseby
Museum no. Intrasis-id * Material Type ** Sub-type Uncertain Irregular Weight Change
KAUPANG:
1956-74:
C62IVppp Lead Cylindrical Straight side 2.053 Little
A65IVp Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 4.02 Little
MO59/65IVm2 Lead Cylindrical Oval 24.057 Little
D64IVyy Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat 3.47 Little
A63IVcc Lead Oblate spheroid 25.376 Some
A63IVt Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 2.15 Some
A63IVl (1) Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 1.04 Some
A63IVk Copper alloy Conical Rounded top X 3.03 Little
A65IVw Lead Cylindrical Convex side X 2.59 Much
C62IVvvv Lead Cylindrical Straight side 7.994 Some
MO59/65IVl Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 1.54 Much
C62IViii Lead Conical Truncated cone 3.858 Little
MO60IVzz Lead Segmented X X 2.554 Some
MO60IVyy Lead Cylindrical Straight side 1.285 Little
MO60IVww Lead Conical Truncated cone 26.172 Little
MO60IVvv Lead Cylindrical Convex side 7.983 Little
MO60IVk Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 1.078 Much
MO59IVn Copper alloy Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 2.278 Much
MO59IVl Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 1.277 Much
C62IVwww Lead Cylindrical Convex side 2.751 Little
B54/70IVc Lead Conical Truncated cone 36.135 Much
BO66IVk Lead Cylindrical Convex side 3.1 Much
A66IVm Lead Segmented 11.394 Little
A66IVs Lead Segmented 38.788 Much
Bryggen 67k Copper alloy Other Animal head filled with lead X 19.604 Much
69Plo Lead Conical Truncated cone 33.097 Some
D63IVpp Lead Cylindrical Straight side 14.634 Some
BO66IVf Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 3.7 Little
C52505/ 73 BO59 nr.103 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid Much
C52505/ 1301 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid Much

C52505/ 1875 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 77 Much
1998-2003:
C52003 c1 9940153 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 4.4 Little
C52003 c2 9940154 Lead Segmented X 36.3 Little
C52003 c3 9940155 Lead Cubo-octahedral 8.5 Much
C52003 c4 9940132 Lead Cylindrical Convex side 6.9 Some
C52105a Lead Conical Truncated cone X 17.8 Some
C52263/ 1 9941730 Lead Cylindrical Oval 37.69 Little
C52264/ 3.1 9940401 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 2.9 Some
C52264/ 3.2 9940459 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 2.8 Some
C52264/ 3.3 9940735 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 3.83 Little
C52264/ 3.4 9940513 Lead Cylindrical Convex side 7.2 Little
C52264/ 3.5 9940590 Lead Segmented X 22.6 Some
C52264/ 3.6 9941035 Lead Other Mushrom-shaped X X 15.1 Little
C52264/ 3.7 9940486 Lead Conical Truncated cone X 13.4 Some
C52516/ 365 1000276 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat/ cut corners 4.05 Some
C52516/ 413 1000370 Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat 2.12 Little
C52516/ 416 1000373 Lead Cylindrical Oval 1.96 Some
C52516/ 917 1000951 Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination X 4.33 Little
C52516/ 2218 1002374 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 1.46 Some
C52516/ 3164 1003381 Copper alloy Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat X 10.16 Some
C52516/ 3854 1004103 Lead Segmented 1.23 Little
C52516/ 4096 1004472 Copper alloy Other Animal head X 6.59 Some
C52516/ 4097 1004473 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 0.32 Some
C52516/ 4103 1004479 Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat X 10.62 Little
C52516/ 4104 1004480 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 4.77 Little
C52516/ 4299 1004777 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 2.35 Much
C52516/ 5772 1004182 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic X 3.62 Some
C52516/ 5773 1021893 Lead Conical Pointed top/ convex side X 4.42 Little
C52517/ 42 28630 Lead Cylindrical Straight side X X 6.52 Some
* The weights from the Blindheim excavations are referred to by their ** The delimitation of the groups is based on the following definitions:
preliminary catalogue number (for an introduction to this number Conical: diameter top/diameter base ≤ 0.9
see Pedersen 2000). Cylindrical: diameter top/base > 0.9
Oblate spheroid lead weights: diameter middle/ends ≤ 0.7
Biconical: pronounced or marked equatorial line

Decoration L W Ht Diam Diam base Diam top Context Main context
None 0.4 0.8 M3 1956–74: (LMPL?)

Punched dot 0.6 1 0.8 0.8 Stray find 1956–74: ?
None 0.65 2.3 2.1 D3 (?) 1956–74: (LMPL?)
None 1.1 1 0.4 H17, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 1.4 1.7 1 1 W-7, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None Ca. 0.9 W-6, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
Not preserved Max: 0.6 X-3, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 1.5 V-2, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 0.4 1.1 Mixed BO/A site 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Depression 0.6 1.4 N5, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
Not preserved 0.7 Building wall HI 1956–74: (LMPL?)
None 0.6 0.9 0.8 M4, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 0.7 0.9 C1v, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
Punched dot 0.3 0.8 B7, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 1.15 1.8 1.4 E1, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 0.6 1.3 D7, upper black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Not preserved 0.6 D2 1956–74: (LMPL?)
None 0.7 1.1 0.5 F2 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Not preserved Y-2 1956–74: (LMPL?)
None 0.5 0.9 Stray find 1956–74: ?
Depression 2.2 2.1 1.25 B10, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 0.5 1.1 A/BO-site by gravel ridge HV 1956–74: (LMPL?)
None 0.9 1.5 YZ-1-2 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Mantle of copper alloy 1.5 2.1-2.4 X6 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Gilt 3.44 Max: 1.97 Max. 1.96 H20/21 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Mount of copper alloy 1.5 2.1 1.9 Test pit -J+7 1956–74: ?
None 2.2 2 0.4 K5, black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL)
None 0.9 0.7 0.6 By the wall alongside the stream 1956–74: ?
Not preserved Max: 2.2 29.26 from 0/ 3.14 from B. C,
black-earth layer 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Not preserved Max: 2.5 D2 1956–74: (LMPL?)
Not preserved 2.7 3.2 ? 1956–74: ?
None? 0.46 1.14 O993998 MPS

Textile imprint 1.61 1.83 O993998 MPS
None 1.19 1.18 1.2 O993998 MPS
None 0.78 1.39 1.16 1.16 O993996 MPS
Punched dot 1.2 1.9 1.35 Stray find Stray find
None 0.72 2.9 O993995 MPS
Not preserved Max: 0.85 Max: 0.79 Max: 0.75 O993992 MPS
“Flower” punchmark 0.4 1.25 O993992 MPS
None 0.45 1.57 O993992 MPS
None 1.35 1.88 O993992 MPS
None 1.35 1.5 O993992 MPS
None 1.09 1.52 O993992 MPS
None 1.43 1.18 0.33 AL4360/ G1000198 SP I-III?
None 1 0.94 0.32 A3315/ R5G1000224 SP II?
None 0.26 1.06 A1021858/ G1000226 LMPL
None 0.55 1.1 0.86 0.84 AL100/ G1000867 LMPL?
None 0.42 0.78 A3549 SP I-III?
Punched dot 2.3 1.4 0.7 A11958 SP I-III?, 3B
Punched dot 0.5 1.71 AL1112/ G1004010 LMPL?
None 0.42 0.72 A12794 ?
Lost inlay for eyes? Base: 1.13 Base: 1.02 1.43 AL100/ G5653 LMPL?
Not preserved? Max: 0.47 Max: 0.47 Max: 0.43 AL100/ G5430 LMPL?
None 1.43 1.37 0.61 AL1004419/ G1004486 MPS
None 0.58 1.05 A1635 ?
Not preserved 1 1.35 A27825 ?
None 0.8 0.78 0.68 AL100/ G5430 LMPL?
None 1.02 1.07 A1635 ?
None 0.95 1.11 O28687 MPS
Punched dot 0.68 0.68 0.65 O28687 MPS


C52517/ 90 990016 Lead Segmented X X 15.15 Some
C52517/ 97 990024 Lead Segmented X 12.44 Little
C52517/ 111 990039 Lead Cylindrical Convex side 4.36 Little
C52517/ 114 990042 Lead Biconical? Straight ends/ marked carination 8.39 Some?
C52517/ 153 990086 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ cut rim 26.51 Little
C52517/ 169 990108 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 2.973 Much
C52517/ 190 990130 Lead Cylindrical Straight side X 3.89 Little
C52517/ 217 990158 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ cut rim X 1.63 Little
C52517/ 227 990168 Lead Segmented X 2.04 Some
C52517/ 244 990185 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ convex top 202.94 Some
C52517/ 257 990199 Copper alloy Segmented X 11.441 Some
C52517/ 264 990206 Lead Other Truncated pyramid X 10.32 Little
C52517/ 267 990209 Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 7.85 Little
C52517/ 283 990228 Lead Oblate spheroid? X 74.48 Some
C52517/ 286 990231 Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 11.41 Some
C52517/ 298 990243 Lead Oblate spheroid 15.27 Little
C52517/ 310 990256 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic X 22.01 Some
C52517/ 315 990261 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ cut rim 8.88 Little
C52517/ 337 990284 Lead Conical Truncated cone 20.73 Some
C52517/ 363 990311 Lead Conical Truncated cone X 7.44 Some
C52517/ 383 990332 Lead Cubo-octahedral 5.29 Little
C52517/ 419 990371 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 9.67 Some
C52517/ 431 990383 Lead Cylindrical Straight side X 7.78 Some
C52517/ 457 990410 Lead Cubo-octahedral 3.73 Some
C52517/ 471 990425 Lead Cylindrical Straight side X 38.51 Much
C52517/ 473 990427 Lead Oblate spheroid 22.27 Some?
C52517/ 499 990454 Lead Biconical? Straight ends/ marked carination 98.78 Little
C52517/ 507 990462 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 1.558 Little
C52517/ 528 990483 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ high X 10.57 Some
C52517/ 544 990501 Lead Conical Truncated cone 7.45 Little
C52517/ 552 990509 Lead Conical Truncated cone 1.86 Some?
C52517/ 560 990517 Lead Other 6-sided prism X 17.96 Little
C52517/ 617 990582 Lead Cylindrical Concave side 4.13 Little
C52517/ 640 990608 Lead Cylindrical Convex side 4.05 Some
C52517/ 645 990614 Lead Conical Truncated cone X 7.82 Little

Not preserved Max: 1.7 2.4 1.65 1.65 O28687 MPS

None 0.52 1.06 O28687 MPS
None 0.72 1.35 O28687 MPS
None 0.95 1.88 O990000 MPS
None 1.27 1.37 O990000 MPS
None 0.48 1.06 O990000 MPS
None 0.56 1.09 0.88 0.84 O990000 MPS
Depression 0.78 1.3 0.99 0.99 O990000 MPS
None 0.38 0.78 O990000 MPS
None 0.66 1.33 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.81 2.11 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.92 Max: 0.85 Max: 0.84 O990000 MPS
None 0.39 0.9 O990000 MPS
None 0.39 1.31 O990000 MPS
Iron pin? 0.66 1.34 O990000 MPS
None 0.52 0.8 O990000 MPS
None 0.89 0.89 0.59 O990000 MPS
None 0.65 0.82 O990000 MPS
None 0.61 0.82 O990000 MPS
Remains of iron 2.22 3.53 O990000 MPS
None 0.8 1.55 O990000 MPS
None 1.15 Max: 1.82 O990000 MPS
None 0.76 1.28 1.14 1.14 O990000 MPS
None 0.63 1 0.77 0.77 O990000 MPS
None 1.2 1.05 x 1.15 0.9 x 0.6 O990000 MPS
None 1 1.41 0.99 0.94 O990000 MPS
None 1.21 2.17 O990000 MPS
None 0.75 1.27 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.79 0.72 Max: 0.68 O990000 MPS
None 2.2 2.83 1.75 1.75 O990000 MPS
None 0.91 1.51 1.02 0.83 O990000 MPS
None 0.35 0.84 O990000 MPS
None 1.07 1.51 1 1 O990000 MPS
None 1.48 1.47 1.28 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.9 0.89 0.88 O990000 MPS
None 1.18 2.05 1.56 O990000 MPS
None 0.65 1.07 O990000 MPS
None 1.03 1.66 O990000 MPS
None 0.75 1.34 1.13 O990000 MPS
None 0.91 0.84 0.89 O990000 MPS
None 0.65 0.79 O990000 MPS
None 0.83 1.29 0.95 O990000 MPS
Gilt mount of copper alloy 1.25 1.17 1.17 O990000 MPS
None 0.95 1.15 O990000 MPS
None 0.75 1.28 O990000 MPS
Remains of iron? 0.95 1.28 0.65 0.65 O990000 MPS
None 0.94 1.61 1.3 1.3 O990000 MPS
None? 0.85 0.7 0.87 O990000 MPS
Punched dot Max: 3.4 0.95 O990000 MPS
None 1.32 1.7 1.07 1.07 O990000 MPS
None 0.35 1.31 O990000 MPS
None 0.55 1.06 O990000 MPS
None 2.01 2.77 2 1.86 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.67 0.64 0.62 O990000 MPS
None 1.33 1.1 1.03 O990000 MPS
None 0.62 1.81 O990000 MPS
None 0.9 1.15 0.99 O990000 MPS
Inlay of gold 0.6 0.89 0.67 O990000 MPS
None 1.99 1.66 1.15 O990000 MPS
None 0.76 1.46 O990000 MPS
None 0.83 1.49 O990000 MPS
None 0.51 1.11 0.96 0.96 O990000 MPS
None 1.11 1.41 0.55 O990000 MPS
None 1.05 1.86 1.68 O990000 MPS
None 1.1 1.55 1.2 O990000 MPS

C52517/ 712 990686 Lead Cylindrical Irregular side X 12.28 Some
C52517/ 765 990745 Lead Segmented X X 8.32 Little
C52517/ 793 990774 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ high 14.75 Little
C52517/ 812 990793 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat 22.46 Some
C52517/ 814 990795 Lead Segmented 2.19 Some?
C52517/ 817 990798 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 2.39 Much
C52517/ 818 990799 Lead Cylindrical Convex side 37.96 Some
C52517/ 822 990803 Lead Segmented X X 3.93 Little
C52517/ 828 990811 Lead Rectangular prism? Rectangular/ flat X 7.61 Much
C52517/ 857 990841 Lead Other Star-shaped X 8.56 Little
C52517/ 892 990877 Copper alloy Conical 9.27 Some
C52517/ 921 990907 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ high 13.32 Some
C52517/ 930 990917 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ cut rim 20.65 Much
C52517/ 934 990921 Copper alloy Cylindrical Straight side X 6.483 Some
C52517/ 982 990975 Lead Oblate spheroid 15.48 Little
C52517/ 984 990977 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 23.07 Some?
C52517/ 986 990979 Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat 6 Some
C52517/ 990 990983 Lead Conical Rounded top 6.76 Some
C52517/ 995 990988 Lead Conical Truncated cone/ concave side X 6.69 Little
C52517/ 1008 991002 Lead Cylindrical Convex side X 6.83 Much
C52517/ 1062 991058 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ convex end X 13.23 Little
C52517/ 1665 105028 Lead Conical Truncated cone 6.71 Much
C52517/ 1746 105122 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 91.42 Some
C52517/ 1789 105173 Lead Cylindrical Straight side 3.69 Little?

Punched dot 1.47 2.09 1.55 1.44 O990000 MPS

None 1.01 1.84 1.56 1.51 O990000 MPS
None 0.85 1.57 O990000 MPS
None 0.7 1.04 O990000 MPS
None 0.62 1.01 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.62 0.59 Max: 0.58 O990000 MPS
None 6.5 1.29 O990000 MPS
None 2.41 2.33 0.64 O990000 MPS
None 0.54 1.43 O990000 MPS
None 1.25 1.92 O990000 MPS
Punched dot Max: 0.58 Max: 0.58 Max: 0.57 O990000 MPS
None 0.53 0.76 O990000 MPS
None 1.43 1.18 0.92 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.8 1.25 1 O990000 MPS
Not preserved 0.77 Max: 0.72 Max: 0.65 O990000 MPS
Not preserved 0.8 1.09 O990000 MPS
Inlay or mount of copper alloy 2.52 2.02 0.73 O990000 MPS
Depression 0.47 0.89 O990000 MPS
None 0.19 1.4 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 1.11 2.36 2.01 2.01 O990000 MPS
None 0.7 1.06 O990000 MPS
Inlay of copper alloy Max: 1.49 Max: 1.22 0.79 O990000 MPS
None 0.51 1.22 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.82 1.77 1.49 1.44 O990000 MPS
None 1.49 1.56 0.8 O990000 MPS
None? 0.51 1.4 O990000 MPS
None 0.91 1.34 O990000 MPS
None 0.61 1.4 O990000 MPS
Inlay of gold 0.8 2.01 0.68 O990000 MPS
None 0.54 1.05 0.8 O990000 MPS
None 0.68 1.02 0.76 0.75 O990000 MPS
None 1.13 4.74 O990000 MPS
None 1.36 1.14 0.99 O990000 MPS
None 1 1.89 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 1.3 2.1 1.6 1.6 O990000 MPS
None 0.85 1.46 0.89 0.96 O990000 MPS
None 1.04 1.25 O990000 MPS
None 0.99 1.77 O990000 MPS
None 0.7 1.77 O990000 MPS
None 0.65 2.43 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 1.13 1.54 0.9 0.8 O990000 MPS
Iron pin? 1.11 2.09 O990000 MPS
None 1.15 1.11 0.56 O990000 MPS
None 0.76 1.2 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 1 1.1 O990000 MPS
None 1.14 1.17 0.95 O990000 MPS
Punched dot 0.88 0.86 0.84 O990000 MPS
None 0.71 1.29 1.13 1.13 O990000 MPS
None 0.64 0.89 O990000 MPS
None 1.19 1.38 O990000 MPS
None 0.62 1.39 O990000 MPS
None 0.42 1.51 O992999 MPS
None 1.35 1.75 1.58 O992999 MPS
None 0.31 1.21 O992999 MPS
Punched dot 0.79 1.55 1.2 1.15 O992999 MPS
None 0.38 1.14 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.77 0.77 0.76 O105000 MPS
None 0.84 1.38 1.2 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.87 1.19 0.98 O105000 MPS
None 0.43 1.18 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.88 0.87 0.86 O105000 MPS
None 0.81 1.29 O105000 MPS
None 0.7 0.85 O105000 MPS
None 0.7 1.64 O105000 MPS
Not preserved 2.3 3.19 1.78 1.78 O105000 MPS
None 1.09 1.6 O105000 MPS
None 0.5 1.17 O105000 MPS
None 0.48 1.12 O105000 MPS

C52517/ 1794 105179 Lead Cylindrical Concave side X 3.75 Little

C52517/ 1818 105204 Lead Conical Pointed top X 6.66 Some
C52517/ 1856 105246 Lead Biconical? One convex end / sharp carination X 5.93 Some
C52517/ 1870 105261 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ convex top X 18.22 Much
C52517/ 1893 105285 Lead Other Triangular 23.48 Little?
C52517/ 1923 105320 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 7.12 Little
C52517/ 1956 105355 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ cut rim X 4.01 Little
C52517/ 1995 105444 Lead Segmented 3.44 Some
C52517/ 2008 55006 Lead Oblate spheroid? X 25.53 Little?
C52517/ 2034 55032 Lead Oblate spheroid 31.68 Some
C52517/ 2076 55074 Lead Other Arrow-shaped prism X 16.63 Some
C52517/ 2101 55099 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 12.17 Much
C52517/ 2105 55103 Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat 4.71 Some
C52517/ 2108 55106 Lead Other Triangular X 9.13 Little
C52517/ 2134 55132 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ high 15.39 Some
C52517/ 2168 55170 Lead Other Bird on lead plate X 15.88 Some?
C52517/ 2183 55185 Lead Other Truncated pyramid X 9.42 Some
C52517/ 2185 55188 Lead Cylindrical Half/ straight side 21.51 Much?
C52517/ 2238 55243 Lead Cylindrical Straight side/ convex top X 42.63 Little
C52517/ 2247 55252 Lead Conical Truncated cone 13 Little
C52517/ 2259 55264 Lead Rectangular prism Square/ flat 5.89 Some
C52517/ 2273 55278 Lead Cylindrical Convex side X 21.53 Much
C52517/ 2274 55279 Copper alloy Other Pear-shaped 16.28 Little

None 0.74 0.95 O105000 MPS

None 0.63 0.94 O105000 MPS
None 0.62 1.25 O105000 MPS
None 1.07 1.31 O105000 MPS
None 0.5 1.17 O105000 MPS
None 0.57 1.01 O105000 MPS
None 0.44 1.14 O105000 MPS
None 0.9 1.34 0.96 O105000 MPS
Depression? 1.54 1.39 O105000 MPS
Mantle of copper alloy 2.55 2.46 0.8 O105000 MPS
None 1.01 0.99 O105000 MPS
None 0.71 1.05 0.64 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 1.05 1.03 0.88 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.88 Max: 0.87 Max: 0.82 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.91 0.89 0.77 O105000 MPS
None 0.6 0.98 O105000 MPS
Punched dot 0.62 0.61 0.61 O105000 MPS
Carved border 0.56 0.93 O106000 MPS
Punched dot 1.03 1.35 1.18 O106000 MPS
None 0.69 2.01 O106000 MPS
Punched dot 0.94 0.9 0.86 O106000 MPS
None 1.41 1.84 1.21 O55000 MPS
None 0.38 1.26 O55000 MPS
None 1.73 1.91 1.2 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 0.48 1.59 O55000 MPS
Not preserved 1.4 1.52 0.9 0.9 O55000 MPS
None 1.9 1.55 0.95 O55000 MPS
None 0.82 1.36 O55000 MPS
None 1.21 1.15 1.04 O55000 MPS
None 0.94 0.96 0.55 O55000 MPS
None 1.81 1.69 0.77 O55000 MPS
Remains of decoration? 0.68 0.95 O55000 MPS
Remains of copper alloy 1.8 1.5 0.78 O55000 MPS
None 0.81 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 0.82 1.41 O55000 MPS
Punched dot 0.97 0.95 0.92 O55000 MPS
Gilt mount of copper alloyMax: 2.6 Max: 2.33 Max: 0.99 O55000 MPS
None 1.5 0.98 x 1.05 0.81 x 0.5 O55000 MPS
None 2.1 1.23 O55000 MPS
None 0.6 1.37 O55000 MPS
None 0.7 1.59 O55000 MPS
None 0.74 1.65 1.48 1.48 O55000 MPS
None 0.94 1.6 0.55 O55000 MPS
None 0.53 0.96 0.86 0.86 O55000 MPS
None 1.2 2.34 O55000 MPS
None 0.73 1 0.8 0.8 O55000 MPS
None 1.14 1.28 1.1 O55000 MPS
None 1.15 1.65 O55000 MPS
None 1.6 1.14 0.49 O55000 MPS
Remains of iron 1.2 2.32 2.11 2.11 O55000 MPS
None 2.1 1.69 O55000 MPS
None 1.3 1.74 O55000 MPS
None 0.43 1.05 O55000 MPS
None 0.64 0.96 O55000 MPS
None 0.36 1.14 O55000 MPS
None 0.74 1.2 O55000 MPS
None Max: 1.19 2.67 2.31 O55000 MPS
None 0.73 1.87 O55000 MPS
None 0.8 1.24 0.96 0.96 O55000 MPS
Punched dot 0.8 2.57 2.16 O55000 MPS

C52517/ 2392 55424 Lead Cubo-octahedral 11.54 Little

C52517/ 2416 55448 Lead Cubo-octahedral X 4.16 Little
C52517/ 2538 55575 Lead Segmented X 3.1 Little?
C52517/ 2544 55581 Lead Cylindrical Straight side X 10.88 Little?
C52517/ 2584 55621 Lead Segmented Half 10.78 Much?
C52517/ 2610 55647 Lead Cylindrical Half/ straight side 4.29 Much?
C52517/ 2631 55668 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 11.52 Little
C52517/ 2643 55680 Lead Oblate spheroid? 11.75 Little
C52517/ 2698 55738 Lead Other Plate-shaped X X 1.15 Little
C52517/ 2706 55747 Lead Conical Truncated cone X 6.87 Little?
C52517/ 2734 55783 Lead Rectangular prism Cubic 24.04 Some
C52519/ 11891 1040293 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat X X 12.33 Little
C52519/ 13835 1017646 Lead Cylindrical? Straight side X 0.88 Much
C52519/ 13888 1017524 Copper alloy/ iron Cubo-octahedral 3 Some
C52519/ 14030 1008934 Lead Biconical Small ends/ sharp carination X 8.33 Little
C52519/ 14310 1012852 Lead Conical Pointed top X X 2.6 Little
C52519/ 14357 1013221 Lead Cylindrical Concave side/ convex ends 2.11 Little
C52519/ 14448 1012045 Lead Cylindrical Concave side 7.88 Some

None 1.16 1.06 1.21 O55000 MPS

None 0.83 0.79 0.85 O55000 MPS
Punched dot Max: 1.06 1.36 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 1.34 2.37 O55000 MPS
None 0.6 1.26 O55000 MPS
None 0.83 2.23 O55000 MPS
None? 0.37 1.61 O55000 MPS
None 1.07 0.82 0.62 O55000 MPS
None 0.39 1.41 O55000 MPS
None 0.79 1.2 1.02 O55000 MPS
Not preserved 2.06 2.9 1.9 O55000 MPS
Not preserved Max: 1.18 1.52 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 1.05 1.19 O55000 MPS
Punched dot 0.83 0.8 0.76 O55000 MPS
None 0.58 1.06 O55000 MPS
None 0.6 1.86 O55000 MPS
None 0.45 1.57 O55000 MPS
None 0.41 1.09 O55000 MPS
Punched dot 0.83 0.83 0.82 O55000 MPS
Not preserved Max: 1.6 1.91 1.14 O55000 MPS
None 0.8 2.22 O55000 MPS
Punchmarks and remains of iron 0.66 1.22 O55000 MPS
None 0.92 0.45 1.56 O55000 MPS
None 0.82 1.79 1.53 O55000 MPS
None 0.54 0.92 O55000 MPS
None 1.16 1.16 0.99 O55000 MPS
None 0.8 0.98 0.66 O55000 MPS
Depression with inlay of amber? 0.39 1.19 O55000 MPS
None 0.88 1.46 1.03 O55000 MPS
Knob? 0.54 1.04 O55000 MPS
None 1.03 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 0.22 1.2 O55000 MPS
None 0.45 1 O55000 MPS
Punched dot 1.1 0.92 0.26 O55000 MPS
None 0.77 1.38 0.8 O55000 MPS
None 0.8 1.92 O55000 MPS
None 1.17 2.35 O55000 MPS
Lost mount of copper alloy?1.64 1.5 1.34 O55772 MPS
Punched dot 0.7 1.3 1.15 1.15 AL15467/ G7238 MPS
None 0.43 1.34 1.14 1.14 AL15467/ G15559 MPS
None 1.6 1.4 0.7 T14863 MPS?
None 0.45 1.1 AL15467/ G7218 MPS
None 0.63 1.08 0.81 0.81 AL15467/ G7302 MPS
None Max: 1.27 1.75 AL46011/ G47501 LMPL
Not preserved 1.35 1.57 1.07 1.07 A1035711/ AL43104/ G43148 SP I-III
None 0.6 0.69 AL15467/ G15539 MPS
None 1.34 1.61 1.04 AL15467/ G29577 MPS
None Max: 0.97 Max: 0.86 Max: 0.44 AL45018/ G45045 LMPL
None 0.41 1.22 AL49986/ G49989 LMPL
Punched dot 0.89 0.93 0.94 AL37654/ G37895 LMPL
None 0.74 1.63 AL15467/ G29580 MPS
None 0.17 1.1 AL15467/ G29598 MPS
None 0.38 1.35 AL15467/ G29602 MPS
None 1.3 1.51 0.5 0.35 AL15467/ G29925 MPS
Punched dot 0.23 1.11 AL15467/ G15551 MPS
Punched dot 1 1.63 1.28 1.11 AL15467/ G29860 MPS
None 0.29 0.87 AL45018/ G45047 LMPL
None 0.7 1.04 AL38223/ G38275 LMPL
None 0.46 0.75 AL39332/ G39616 LMPL
Punched dot Max: 0.67 Max: 0.63 Max: 0.60 AL37654/ G40038 LMPL
None 0.6 1.12 AL40514/ G40574 LMPL
Punched dot? 0.75 0.75 Max: 0.68 AL37654/ G41040 LMPL
None 0.48 0.78 AL37654/ G41221 LMPL
Punched dot? 0.63 1.27 AL15467/ G15519 MPS
None 0.96 1.82 AL19423/ G31971 MPS?
Not preserved 1.7 1.03 1.03 AL43092/ G43480 LMPL
None 0.67 1.09 0.86 0.81 AL15467/ G29578 MPS


C52519/ 14890 1014057 Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 3.95 Some?
C52519/ 14958 1012173 Lead Conical Truncated cone 12.24 Some?
C52519/ 15038 1009614 Lead Other Half-cylinder X 12.11 Little
C52519/ 15046 1009617 Lead Oblate spheroid 8.65 Some
C52519/ 15062 1009616 Lead Conical Pointed top X 3.98 Little
C52519/ 15066 1009615 Lead Segmented 24.13 Some
C52519/ 15497 1010124 Lead Cylindrical Half/ straight side X 12.53 Much?
C52519/ 15518 1008930 Copper alloy Cylindrical Straight side X 8.91 Little
C52519/ 15628 1004621 Copper alloy Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat 3.71 Some
C52519/ 17263 1023033 Lead Other Conical with concave ends X 28.2 Little
C52519/ 19029 1024836 Lead Conical Truncated cone 4 Some
C52519/ 20041 1025858 Lead Biconical Straight ends/ sharp carination 8 Little
HUSEBY:
C52518/ 828 828 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat 3.38 Some
C52518/ 1226 1226 Lead Rectangular prism Rectangular/ flat 2.87 Little
190 kaupang in skir ingssal · part i

None 0.38 1.03 AL19423/ G30934 MPS?

None 0.75 1.27 AL44883/ G44917 LMPL
None 0.61 0.93 0.6 AL45018/ G45047 LMPL
None 0.85 1.61 0.83 AL48076/ G49034 LMPL
None? Max: 0.78 Max: 0.74 Max: 0.73 AL29000/ G30087 MPS?
Depression 0.63 1.04 0.7 0.7 AL15467/ G29849 MPS
None 0.59 1.08 AL43092/ G43721 LMPL
Depression 1.09 1.46 1.03 Stray find Stray find
None 0.25 1.05 AL15467/ G15475 MPS
None 1.06 1.53 AL15467/ G29847 MPS
None 1.11 1.75 1.75 1.63 AL15467/ G15551 MPS
Punched dot 0.85 0.82 0.8 AL15467/ G29849 MPS
None 1.25 0.9 1.2 AL15467/ G29860 MPS
None 0.46 1.59 AL15467/ G29860 MPS
None 0.83 1.22 0.86 0.86 AL15467/ G29872 MPS
None 0.85 1.03 AL15467/ G30011 MPS
None? 1.15 2.13 AL15467/ G30024 MPS
Iron pin? 0.72 1.65 AL15467/ G30025 MPS
Remains of copper alloy 1.13 1.99 AL48076/ G49518 LMPL
Inlay of green glass 0.52 0.85 0.65 AL19423/ G31476 MPS?
None 0.58 1.04 AL15467/ G15607 MPS
None 0.78 1.02 0.8 0.76 AL29000/ G29030 LMPL?
None 0.52 0.78 AL15467/ G15575 MPS
None 0.45 1.65 AL15467/ G29841 MPS
None 0.71 1.58 AL15467/ G29861 MPS
None 0.86 1.51 AL15467/ G29859 MPS
Not preserved Max: 0.93 Max: 0.91 Max: 0.89 AL15467/ G29873 MPS
None 0.62 2.07 AL15467/ G29885 MPS
None 0.33 1.39 AL15467/ G29917 MPS
None 0.65 1.37 AL15467/ G29917 MPS
None 1.07 1.24 AL15467/ G29949 MPS
None 1.2 1.04 0.74 A1019170/ AL22286 SP III
Knob 0.89 2.54 AL15467/ G1020877 MPS
None 0.75 1.73 AL15467/ G15535 MPS
None 0.84 1.6 1.34 AL15467/ G17956 MPS
Punched dot 0.91 1.94 AL19423/ G19606 MPS?
None 0.8 1.23 AL15467/ G7250 MPS
None 0.44 1.13 AL15467/ G7314 MPS
None 0.75 1.42 AL15467/ G7366 MPS
None 0.78 1.25 1.06 1.09 AL62411/ G62550 SP II sub 2, 3B
None 0.73 2.15 AL60592/ G60666 SP II sub 2?, 2A
None 1.98 1.23 1.73 AL61041/ G61487 SP II sub 2, 3B
Punched dot 0.74 0.7 0.64 AL66930/ G66976 SP III?, 1A
None 0.7 1.25 0.94 AL15467/ G30017 MPS
None 0.71 1.79 AL15467/ G30019 MPS
None 0.9 1.22 0.84 0.84 AL1022171/ G62365 SP II, 1A
None 0.55 1.45 AL65597 SP II sub 2, 3A
None 1.17 1.8 1.8 1.69 A25261/ AL65721 SP III, 2A
None 0.51 1.3 AL76555/ G76653 SP II sub 2, 3A
Not preserved 1.3 1.39 AL66930/ G66968 SP III?, 1A
Not preserved Max: 1.18 1.56 A40814/ AL41983/ G42006 SP I-III, 4A
Punched dot 0.86 0.82 0.81 AL4453/ G4491 SP III?
Not preserved Max: 1.32 1.9 1.14 N30:1

None 0.98 0.91 0.58 E31:1
Not preserved 1.56 2 1 1 E14:2
None 1.13 1.01 0.3 B5:1

Appendix 2 Weights and balances from the cemeteries at Kaupang
Museum no. Preliminary-id Material Type Weight Change Decoration
C4222 Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral 7.142 Some Dot decoration

C4223 Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 21.235 Much Dot decoration
C4232b Copper alloy Cubo-octahedral Lost? Unknown
C4240b(1) Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 13.783 Much Not preserved
C4240b(2) Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 14.546 Much Dot decoration?
C4240b(3) Copper alloy Uncertain Lost Unknown
K/1954m(1) Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 7.8 Much Not preserved?
K/1954m(2) Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 29.2 Much Not preserved?
K/Vie Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 17.2 Much Dot decoration
K/XXXVg Copper alloy/ iron Oblate spheroid 5.4 Much Dot decoration
Appendix 3 Drawings of punched-dot decorated lead weights from Kaupang
(see also Figs. 6.5 and 6.22)
a b c d e f
C52516/3770 C52517/278 C52517/315 C52517/316 C52517/433 C52517/443
g h i j k l
C52517/449 C52517/471 C52517/617 C52517/685 52517/794 C52517/856
m n o p q r
C52517/982 C52517/1043 C52517/1538 C52517/1681 C52517/1688 C52517/1936

Quality decoration Description decoration Ht L W Diam Context
Well preserved all sides  1 dot / beaded border 1.005 1.03 0.98 Ka. 4 (Mound 112)
Well preserved one side 3 dots (triskele)/ beaded border 1.79 1.83 Ka. 4 (Mound 112)
Ka. 6 (Mound 90)
2.2 2.46 Ka. 8 (Mound 91)
Incomplete Part of beaded border 1.85 2.34 Ka. 8 (Mound 91)
Ka. 8 (Mound 91)
Ka. 282 (K/1954 grave VII)
Ka. 282 (K/1954 grave VII)
Well preserved all sides 3 dots (triskele)/ beaded border 1.4 1.9 Found during excavation of Ka. 301 (K/VI grave 1)
Well preserved all sides 1+ 2 / 2 beaded borders 1.3 1.65 Ka. 126 (Mound 1?)
s t u v w x
C52517/1989 C52517/2051 C52517/2077 C52517/2096 C52517/2202 C52517/2386
y z aa
C52517/2419 C52519/14053 C52519/15946
Figure 6.44 Drawings of punched-dot decorated lead

weights from Kaupang (see also fig. 6.5 and 6.22). Scale 1:1.

Appendix 4 Other finds of weights and/or balances in South-Eastern Norway
Museum number Farm (gnr./bnr.), municipality (kommune), fylke Weights lead regulated Balance
CMXXX-XXXII OBerg (25/), Hurum, Buskerud 3? (2) 2 Type 2

B5207 Nomeland, Valle, Aust-Agder 2
C957-8 Vestre Holstad (15/), Ås, Akershus 1 1 Type 4
C1672 Nomeland (47/), Valle, Aust-Agder 6? (4) 6
C2641 Eidsvoll, Øvre Romerike, Akershus 1 1
C3922-5 Skeimo (6/), Vegårshei, Aust-Agder 1 1
C4188-97 Nedre Haugen (129/), Rolfsøy, Østfold 11 (?) 3 8 Type 2
C5305-6, C5357-9 Haugen (43/), Hedrum, Vestfold 1 1
C7816-30 Vik (24/), Fjære, Aust Agder 4 4
C7838-44 OBrinksværmoen (40/), Fjære, Aust-Agder 2 2
C8272-3 Sævli (21/or 22/), Fjære, Aust-Agder 8 8 Type 3
C9203-11 Åkerhaugen, Sanda, Telemark 6 Type 7
C10719-35 Vestre Engelaug (221/), Løten, Hedmark 1 1
C10736-53 Vestre Engelaug (221/), Løten, Hedmark 2 1 1 2 x Type 3
C11790-4 Bøkeskogen, Larvik, Vestfold 3 3
C12480-3 Nes (81/), Hedrum, Vestfold 1 1
C12484-90 Nes (81/), Hedrum, Vestfold 2
C12501-10 Nes (81/), Hedrum, Vestfold 1 1
C13781-7 Århus (37/), Fyresdal, Telemark 1 Type 6
C14139-44 Roligheten (34/), Hedrum, Vestfold 1 1
C16062 Prestegården (63/), Tune, Østfold 2 1 1 1
C17668-73 Valle (129/5),Rolfsøy, Østfold 2 2 Type 2
C19362-78 Løland (68/), Vigmostad, Vest-Agder 4 (?) 4 Type 3
C20133 Bergan (51/), Hedrum, Vestfold 4 1 1 Type 3/5
C20315 Arstad (17/), Ottetsad, Stange , Hedmark 2 2
C21211 Såheim (129/ or 130/), Tinn, Telemark 2 (?) Type 5
C22234 Vegusdal (11/2), Herefoss, Aust Agder 1 1
C22766 Gile (93/2), Ø. Toten, Oppland 1 1
C23116 Bringsvær (40/14), Fjære, Aust-Agder 8 (?) 8 Type 5/6?
C27679 Araksbø, Sandnes (32/ or 33/), Bygland, Aust-Agder 1
C30317 Jordkjenn (21/4-6), Tvedestrand, Aust-Agder 1 1
C30539 Nomeland (47/), Valle, Aust-Agder 21 21
C34262 Tussehaugen, Viki (44/7), Valle, Aust-Agder 3 3
C34684 Tussehaugen, Viki (44/7), Valle, Aust-Agder 2? 2
C36653 Gullabråten, Majors- Alm (150/1), Brandbu, Oppland 1 1
C38000 Smørkollen, Aker, Hedmark 1 1
C38620 Engelaug Østre (222/1), Løten, Hedmark 6 6 Type 6
C38621 Engelaug (221/1), Løten, Hedmark 1 1
C50270 Lunde (6/32), Farsund, Vest-Agder 1 1
C52727/9-11 Koppang (19/264), Hedmark 3*
C52834/7 Evje (38/1), Rygge, Østfold 1* 1
C52518 Huseby (1032/20,21), Larvik, Vestfold 5 2 3
C53315 Gulli (8/1), Tønsberg, Vestfold 1 1
C53670/8 Værne kloster (89/1), Østfold 1 1
C54954/1 Horgen (26/1), Akershus 1*
C54963/2 Huser (17/1), Akershus 2*
C54964/1-3 Strøm, (27/1), Akershus 3*
C56065 Unknown 1 1
C56279-80 Ringsaker area, bla Farberg (210/1), Hedmark 10 10
C56281 Indre Østfold, Eidsberg og Askim 9 (8?) 9
C56282 Unknown? 2 2
C56283-4 Ringsaker, Hedmark 5 1 1
C56216 Selvig, Hurum, Buskerud 1? 1
C5046-9 Dolven (134/,135/,136/), Brunlanes, Vestfold Type 3
C7859-64 Huseby (73/, 74/), Blaker, Akershus Type 3
C8278-85 Fjære (19/), Fjære, Aust-Agder Type 3
C9528-79 By (220/), Løten, Hedmark Collapsible
C10775 OTjøme church, Rød øvre (1/1), Vestfold 1
C13458-78 Allum (73/), Hedrum, Vestfold Type 3
C13698-715 Odeberg (114/, 115/), Hedrum, Vestfold Type 5?
C13950-9 Råkleiv, Landvik, Hommedal, Aust-Agder 1
C14130-8 Roligheten (34/), Hedrum, Vestfold Type 3
C15855 Bjørke (98/), Nes, Akershus Collapsible
C18442-48 Breiland, Fyresdal, Telemark Type 6
C18746-7 Opstad (72/, 73/), Tune, Østfold 1
C21812 The schoolhouse at Bryni, Romedal, Stange, Hedmark 1
Notes:
The classification of the balances is from Steuer (1987:list 6 and 6a, 1997:list 1 and 5–6), with a few exceptions.
* Based on information from KHM’s Gjenstandsbase 27.10.2006.

Context Date
Grave 10th century (Steuer 1987:Liste 6a and 462, 1997:24 )

Graves, mixed -
Grave After c. AD 870/880 (Steuer 1987:Abb. 9 )
Grave 10th century
Grave Late Viking Age
Grave 10th century
Grave c. AD 900 (Stylegar and Nordseng 2003:361)
Hoard 10th century (Petersen 1940:145; Skaare 1976:140)
Grave c. AD 900 (Larsen 1986:112)
Grave Viking Age (Larsen 1986:112)
Grave After c. AD 870/880 (Steuer 1987:524, Abb. 9, Larsen 1986:111)
Hoard c. AD 970/80-1300 (Steuer 1997:358, Abb. 165)
Grave After c. AD 950 (Martens 1969:94)
Grave 11th century (Martens 1969:96)
Grave c. AD 900-950(?)
Grave c. AD 900-950 (Forseth 1993:315)
Grave Viking Age
Graves, mixed -
Grave After c. AD 870/880 (Steuer 1987:Abb. 10)
Grave c. AD 900-950 (Steuer 1987:Liste 6a and 462, 1997:24; Forseth 1993:310)
Graves, mixed -
Graves, mixed -
Grave Viking Age (Kristensen 2007:136)
Grave Late Viking Age (Petersen 1919:176)
Grave 11th century (Skaare 1976:144)
Grave After c. AD 990 (Steuer 1997:Abb. 15:B1mittel, Abb.232)
Stray find 6th-14th century
Grave Viking Age
Grave After AD 1065/80 (Skaare 1976:145)
Grave Viking Age
Grave c. AD 900-950
Stray find? 6th-14th century
Grave c. AD 1000-1050 (Risbøl Nielsen 1994:7)
Settlement
Grave c. AD 900-950 (Gjerpe 2005:40)
Stray find? 6th-14th century
Grave c. AD 900 (Petersen 1940:156)
Grave 10th century (?) (Petersen 1940:155)
Grave 10th century (?) (Petersen 1940:159-60)
Grave Late 10th century or early 11th (Martens 1969:93)
Grave? -
Grave c. AD 900 (Braathen 1989:55)
Grave Late 10th century (Braathen 1989:56 and 99)
Grave c. AD 850-900 (Petersen 1940:160)
Grave 10th century (Petersen 1940:157)
Grave -
Grave? c. AD 1000 (Steuer 1997:382)
Graves, mixed -
Grave Early 11th century (Braathen 1989:81)

Part II:
Silver, Trade and Towns
Kaupang from Afar: 7

Aspects of the Interpretation of Dirham Finds
in Northern and Eastern Europe
between the Late 8th and Early 10th Centuries
ch r i stoph kilger
The settlement at Kaupang has proved to be uniquely rich in dirhams, quite on its own on the North
Sea coast of Scandinavia. From stratigraphical evidence and comparative numismatic studies it has already
been shown that dirhams were circulating in Kaupang in great quantity by the second half of the 9th centu-
ry. These finds of individual coins differ from the evidence of hoards from Southern and Western Scan-
dinavia, which on the whole appear only from the beginning of the 10th century. The coins found at Kaup-
ang are in fact consistent with the dirhams found in Eastern Europe and around the Baltic of the 9th centu-
ry.
This chapter seeks to analyse and to explain the individual finds of dirhams at Kaupang within a wider
geographical and chronological perspective, taking account of the hoard finds from Northern and Eastern
Europe. This study shows that the use of dirhams as silver bullion differed as it developed regionally, specif-
ically in respect of the conventions and procedures established within the networks that were responsible
for the distribution of silver. Thus the evidence of the dirham hoards not only provides evidence of con-
tacts, but testifies above all to the acceptance of dirham silver in the particular region.
A regional analysis of finds, in which the inflow of dirhams is phased, is used to argue that the use of
dirhams in Kaupang forms part of a longer-term sequence that began in the Southern Caucasus and East-
ern Europe towards the end of the 8th century. The use of dirham silver gained a foothold in the Baltic area
in the second quarter of the 9th century. In the course of the second half of the 9th century the use of dir-
ham silver expanded to the West, to appear in a few coin hoards on the Continent and in Britain. It is fur-
ther proposed that the significant upswing in the hoarding of dirhams after c. AD 860 – according to the
termini post quos [t.p.q.’s] – reflects an increase in the inflow of silver from the East not hitherto recognized.
The common notion that there was a silver crisis is challenged on methodological grounds. Interestingly,
this increased supply does not appear in the form of dirham hoards in Southern and Western Scandinavia
in this period in the same way as it does in the Baltic zone and Eastern Europe. Rather, it appears at sites
such as Kaupang.
As a result, Kaupang may be regarded as a local entrepôt at which dirham silver was used in a way that
probably increased in tempo during the second half of the 9th century and then lasted to the 920s or early
930s at the latest. At Kaupang, dirham silver was handled in various ways, as weighed silver bullion in rela-
tively small units or in the production of larger units such as ingots. In this way, Kaupang played a crucial
role in the distribution of silver in such larger unit-forms beyond the settlement during this period. With
the arrival of Samanid silver in Southern Scandinavia in the course of the second quarter of the 10th centu-
ry, the role of Kaupang was undermined and the use of dirham silver as weighed silver bullion came to be
practised outside of the trading site. At this juncture, we find the first hacksilver and dirham hoards appear-
ing in Southern and Western Scandinavia.
7. k i l g e r : k au pa n g f r o m a fa r 199
N Figure 7.1 Archaeological sites in South-Western Scandi-

Herten
navia with a high number of dirham finds (yellow). Distrib-
ution of dirham hoards in Southern Scandinavia (> 50
dirhams) and Western Scandinavia (> 5 dirhams), t.p.q.
between c. 850 and 950 (red) (see notes 4–6). Map, Julie K.
Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann.
Figure 7.2 Distribution of hoards containing Islamic coins

in Europe and Eurasia. Map, Elise Naumann, based on
Jansson 1988:570, fig. 2.
Holtan Torgård
which can be attributed to Viking-period hoards,

graves or settlements (Khazaei 2001:63–5, tab. X). If
Teisen
we start from the find-situation we are faced with at
Vela
present, Kaupang accounts for about 15% of the total.
Grimestad
Kaupang
As coins from a settlement context, the Kaupang
dirhams have no parallel in Norway. In a wider geo-
graphical perspective too, the settlement finds from
Kaupang stand out as being of great significance.
Hitherto, there is no other known find place along the
North Sea coasts of Scandinavia that can be compared
with this dirham-rich settlement on the outer edge of
the Oslofjord. It is first the so-called central places
further south such as Uppåkra in Skåne and Tissø on
Hammelev
Bräcke Sjælland that show any comparable concentration of
Over Randlev I
Ramløse
Sigerslevøster finds.1 At Hedeby too, the most important trading site
Tissø
Uppåkra of Southern Scandinavia, there is a larger number of
Grisebjerggård Neble
Terslev
dirhams (Fig. 7.1).2
A comparison with the dirham hoards of West-
Hedeby
Sønder Kirkeby ern and Southern Scandinavia provides another way
0 50 100 km
of grasping the significance of Kaupang as a site
where dirhams are found.3 Two of the three largest
hoards in Norway of the Early Viking Period are
7.1 Introduction from the Oslofjord area, with Grimestad, Vestfold,
The two campaigns of archaeological excavation in lying in the immediate vicinity of Kaupang.4 In all of
the settlement area at Kaupang that were carried out the hoards, however, the number of coins is lower
from 1956–74 and 1998–2003 produced 92 Islamic sil- than in the find-assemblages from settlement con-
ver coins of the type known as dirhams. The dirham texts. Thus Kaupang also stands as the largest single
was used as the official coin of payment in the mus- collection of dirhams yet known in Norway. Again,
lim-governed Caliphate which in the Viking Period we have to look further south to find hoards that can
extended from Spain in the west to what is now be compared with or even exceed the number of
Afghanistan in the east. In addition to the dirhams, coins from Kaupang. Here, a number of massive
there are two Roman bronze coins of the 4th century, hoards around the Kattegat come into view, most of
a Merovingian gold tremissis struck at Dorestad in all on the island of Sjælland (Fig. 7.1).5 Some dirham
the 7th century, two Byzantine bronze coins, five sil- hoards have also been found in Western Scandinavia,
ver deniers/denars from Western Europe, and one but these are, as a rule, small compared with the
Scandinavian coin struck in the 9th century. The dir- Southern Scandinavian hoards in the Oslofjord area,
hams are thus the predominant group of coins at Skåne, and elsewhere in Denmark.6
Kaupang (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.1, Tab. 3.1). We can be confident from the outset that the re-
There is evidence of about 630 dirhams in Norway gional distribution of dirham finds we can see today
200 means of exchange · part ii

0 200 400 km
N
Kaupang
shows that Kaupang was an important site for the 1 Uppåkra, 224 ex. (von Heijne 2004:253 and 289); Tissø, 101 ex.
exchange and use of dirham silver in the North Sea (pers. comm. Gert Rispling).
zone during the Early Viking Period. This makes 2 A total of 75 dirhams has now been recorded. To the year 2002,
Kaupang a unique object of analysis for the investiga- 38 specimens had been found (Wiechmann, in prep.). These
tion of the use of dirhams in this period. The aim of probably include a small hoard from the Viking-age harbour
this contribution is to use Kaupang as a basis for a area of nine cast dirham forgeries made of pewter (Steuer
study of the significance of dirham silver in the ex- 2002:155–9). A recent metal-detector search conducted on the
change relationships during the 9th century and the site has produced 37 further specimens (pers. comm. Volker
early 10th in Northern and Eastern Europe. The goal Hillberg).
is to place the distinctive features of the dirham evi- 3 The geographical terminology used in this chapter is explained
dence we have at Kaupang and elsewhere in Southern in section 7.2.
and Western Scandinavia within a larger geographi- 4 Grimestad, Vestfold, 77 ex. (t.p.q. 921/2); Teisen, Østre Aker, 63
cal and chronological framework. In order to pro- ex. (t.p.q. 932) (Khazaei 2001:102). The t.p.q. of Teisen has been
duce answers, the regional development of the use of revised from 923 on the basis of a dirham issued in the name of
dirham silver has to be examined. The work thus has Caliph al-Qahir billah (932–4) (pers. comm. H. Khazaei).
to address a number of fundamental methodological 5 Dirham hoards with more than 50 coins, and t.p.q. c. 850–950 –
questions relating to the analysis of dirham hoards. Swedish and Danish hoards listed by von Heijne (2004:215–6):
Mark Blackburn discusses the individual finds of Sønder Kirkeby, Falster, 97 ex. (t.p.q. 846/7); Over Randlev I,
coins from the settlement area of Kaupang in this Jutland, 242 ex. (t.p.q. 910/1); Neble, Sjælland, 200 ex. (921/2);
volume (this vol. Ch. 3). The hacksilver and other sil- Sigerslevøster, Sjælland, 54 ex. (t.p.q. 921/2); Bräcke, Skåne, 129
ver objects such as rings and ingots are discussed by ex. (t.p.q. 921/2); Ramløse, Sjælland, 271 ex. (t.p.q. 932); Terslev,
Birgitta Hårdh (this vol. Ch. 5). The large collection Sjælland, 1,750 ex. (t.p.q. 940/1); Grisebjerggård, Sjælland, 1,159
of weights is analysed by Unn Pedersen (this vol. Ch. ex. (t.p.q. 942/3); Hammelev, Jutland, 122 ex. (t.p.q. 942/3).
6). The present contribution should complement 6 Western Scandinavian dirham hoards containing more than 5
those studies by attempting to locate the occurrence coins: Vela, Rogaland, 10 ex. (t.p.q. 930/1); Torgård, Sør-
of dirham silver at Kaupang in a wider European per- Trøndelag, 8 ex. (t.p.q. 862/3); Holtan, Sør-Trøndelag, 65 ex.
spective. (t.p.q. 950/1); Herten, Nordland, 18 ex. (t.p.q. 920/1). The t.p.q.
of Herten could well be later, due to the presence of an imita-
Dirham finds from Kaupang tion of a Samanid dirham (H 315?), which implies the year 927/8
The areas around the Baltic Sea form the core area of (Khazaei 2001:201, No. 17); Rønnvik, Nordland, 46 ex. (t.p.q.
dirham finds in Northern Europe and have held a 949/50) (Khazaei 2001:39).
Kaupang
Bulgar
Suwar
al-Shash
Samarqand
Marw
Harunabad
al-Abbasiyya Amul Balkh
al-Rafiqa
al-Muhammadiyya Andaraba
Madinat al-Salam
Tudgha Wasit
al-Basra
0 500 1000 km
primary place in research into Scandinavian contacts dirhams that extended from the Caliphate to the
with Eastern Europe and the Caliphate in the Early North Sea lands. According to Kolbjørn Skaare
Viking Period (e.g. Arbman 1955; Noonan 1994; Call- (1976:47–9), who examined the coin finds of the
mer 2000a, 2000b). On the island of Gotland alone, Viking Period in Norway, dirham silver achieved its
on the present count around 65,500 dirhams are greatest importance in Western and Southern Scan-
known, while there are c. 16,700 from mainland dinavia in the 10th century. This is despite the fact
Sweden and Öland (von Heijne 2004:23). In Western that a small number of dirhams did reach some parts
Scandinavia and areas of Southern Scandinavia, of Norway as early as the 9th century. Skaare’s con-
dirhams are a less prominent category of finds. clusions are clear and uncontroversial in relation to a
Despite the rich collection of finds from Kaupang, study of the dating of the dirham hoards. Nearly all
Vestfold lies on the margin of a large area of such hoards that have been found in Southern
Northern and Eastern Europe which began to intro- Scandinavia in connexion with the North Sea zone
duce dirham silver as a standard of value in the are dated no earlier than c. AD 915. The exceptions
course of the 9th and 10th centuries (Fig. 7.2). are few. The larger examples, with more than 50
Studies of the regional distribution of dirham coins, are no earlier than c. 920.7
hoards show that Southern and Western Scandinavia The early 10th-century find-phase represented by
in the 9th century remain an area virtually devoid of the hoards of Southern and Western Scandinavia is,
finds in contrast to Eastern Scandinavia, parts of East however, entirely inconsistent with the coin finds
Central Europe and Russia, which are rich in finds from Kaupang. Already in the earlier excavations
throughout both the 9th and 10th centuries. This sit- under Charlotte Blindheim’s direction in 1956–74, a
uation changes during the 10th century as deposition large number of coins had been recorded, including
in hoards increases markedly over the whole of 21 dirhams, five Western deniers, and one Roman
Scandinavia (Sawyer 1971:110–12). By this stage bronze coin. The Islamic coins at this point exclu-
Southern and Western Scandinavia had apparently sively comprised dirhams of the Abbasid caliphs
become part of a super-regional circulation zone for struck during the 8th and 9th centuries (Skaare

caliph’s governors in the provinces of Central Asia.

Figure 7.3 Mints represented in the Kaupang material. The Samanids began to strike their own coins at the
Abbasid mints (red); Samanid mints post-892/3 (blue); end of the 9th century. A third group consists of
other dynasties (yellow): Wasit – Umayyad mint; Amul – mixed finds of both Abbasid and Samanid dirhams
Alid mint; Tudgha – unknown Moroccan dynasty; Bulgar- representing a transitional phase from the importa-
Suwar – probable mint-places of the so-called Volga Bulgar tion of Abbasid coins to that of Samanid coins at the
imitations. Seven Samarkand dirhams from Kaupang beginning of the 10th century (Noonan 1990:252;
(Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 45, 47, 57, 58, 61, 62, 83) below, Ch. 7.7).
were issued under a variety of dynasties, including the But what dynastic situation is reflected at Kaup-
Abbasids, Tahirids and Samanids. Map redrawn by Julie K. ang, and how is it to be placed in this chronological
Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann after CNS 1.3:289. scheme? In order to assess the proportions of
Abbasid, Samanid and other dynasties, the Kaupang
dirhams are compared with other finds from Norway
and, at a general Scandinavian level, with finds from
Sweden. After Russia, Sweden – including Gotland
and the medieval Danish regions of Skåne, Blekinge
and Halland – has the highest quantity of Islamic
dirhams in Europe (von Heijne 2004:23). The
Swedish finds are also well documented, and for the
1976:139). Blindheim’s excavations thus produced most part have been studied numismatically.8 They
clear evidence that considerable quantities of dir- can consequently support an understanding of the
hams struck before 900 could be found in Viking- quantitative relationship between dirham finds from
period settlement contexts in Southern Scandinavia the 9th century under Abbasid dominance and the
(Blindheim et al. 1981:183–4). In the most recent exca- 10th-century importation of Samanid coins at a gen-
vations and recording, between 1998 and 2003, siev- eral, Northern European level.
ing and metal-detecting has produced 71 more dir- At present, information on 82,000 dirhams from
hams. The new finds support the view of an extensive about 1,690 Swedish finds has been collected, out of
circulation of dirhams in Kaupang before the 10th which 61,000 coins can be identified more precisely.9
century. As in the collection from the Blindheim ex- A tabulation of the dynastic association of all the
cavations, the overwhelming majority are 8th- and Swedish finds shows the quantitative relationship be-
9th-century Abbasid dirhams. However there is now tween the Abbasid and the Samanid group. The Sa-
also a small number of Samanid and Volga Bulgar manids make up c. 69% of the Swedish finds. Mar-
dirhams struck in the 10th century (Blackburn, this kedly lower is the proportion of Abbasid coins, at
vol. Ch. 3.1., Tab. 3.1). 25%, followed by the Volga Bulgars as the third lar-
In order to understand the distinct assemblage at gest group at 1.8%. The fourth largest group can be
Kaupang, with its high proportion of Abbasid dir- assigned to the Umayyad caliphate (Tab. 7.1, Fig. 7.4).
hams, we need to take a closer look at the chronolog-
ical grouping of the dirham finds of the Viking
Period in Northern and Eastern Europe. In numis-
matic overviews, the Viking-period dirham hoards
from the end of the 8th century to the end of the 10th
have been divided into three chronological sets (e.g. 7 See notes 4–5. Slemmestad, Aust-Agder, four samanid
Fasmer 1933; Welin 1956a; Yanin 1956; Noonan 1990). dirhams (t.p.q. 915), Tab. 7.13. The exception is Over Randlev
This classification is based upon an assessment of the I, Jutland, 242 ex. (910/1) (von Heijne 2004:365–6). The
composition of the hoards and how that changes Danish hoards are listed here in chronological order (von
over time. The earliest group of hoards, beginning at Heijne 2004:215–6).
the end of the 8th century in the Caucasus and subse- 8 The numbers of the Swedish dirham finds are based on a cat-
quently, in the 9th century, also found in Russia and alogue edited by Thomas Noonan, but as yet unpublished.
Scandinavia, is dominated by dirhams struck by the On the basis of Noonan’s catalogue all the Swedish finds have
Abbasid dynasty which came to power in the middle been registered in a database at the Stockholm Numismatic
of the 8th century (below, Ch. 7.3–7.6). Abbasid Institute. Total numbers of individual coin finds and hoards
dirhams were struck at mints in the Middle East, have recently been published by Landgren (2004). Johan
Central Asia and North Africa. The later group, Landgren has kindly given me access to this database, which I
which begins to predominate in the Eastern and have made use of in several places in this article. It is referred
Northern European dirham hoards during the first to in this chapter as “Landgren database”.
quarter of the 10th century, is composed almost 9 The 14,200 specimens from the two huge, newly found hoards
entirely of Samanid dirhams from mints in Central at Spillings were not included. The majority of coins have not
Asia (Fig. 7.3). The Samanid emirs ruled as the yet been identified to numismatic standards.
Figure 7.4 Ratios between Islamic dynasties in Swedish

hoards.
Islamic dynasties in Swedish hoards
Figure 7.5 Ratios between Islamic dynasties in Norwegian
hoards.
Figure 7.6 Ratios between Islamic dynasties in finds from

metal-detecting and the archaeological excavations at
Kaupang.
Abbasids
Samanids
Volga Bulgars
Umayyads
Others
Dynasty Number %
Islamic dynasties in Norwegian hoards
Samanids 38,523 69
Abbasids 14,201 25
Volga Bulgars 995 1.8
Umayyads 862 1.5
Buwayhids 492 0.8
Hamdanids 250 0.4
Saffarids 236 0.4
Tahirids 227 0.4
Abbasids
Uqaylids 107 0.2
Samanids
Umayyads Marwanids 90 0.2
Others Banijurids 86 0.1
Idrisids 39 0.06
Spanish Umayyads 33 0.05
Ikhshidids 20 0.03
Table 7.1 Total numbers of coins of different Islamic dynas-

ties found in Sweden (Landgren 2004:23, fig. 8).
Islamic dynasties in finds at Kaupang
A preliminary tabulation of all the dirhams found in

Norway has been published recently by Houshang
Khazaei (2001). The Norwegian dirham finds are still
being studied, but Khazaei’s work is able to give us an
approximate view of the ratios of Abbasid, Samanid
and Umayyad dirhams at Kaupang and in the re-
Abbasids mainder of the Norwegian corpus (Tab. 7.2, Fig.
Samanids 7.5).10 I have decided not to take account of imita-
Umayyads tions, primarily of Volga Bulgar and Khazar dirhams,
Others
which have been much more fully studied in the
Swedish finds. We cannot exclude the possibility that
there are more Norwegian examples that have been
recorded as official Samanid or Abbasid dirhams.
The dirham hoards from Norway other than at
Kaupang show a virtually identical ratio in percent-
age terms between the Abbasid and the Samanid

Dynasty Norway % Kaupang % Total %
Samanids 302 66.2 7 9.1 309 58

Abbasids 116 25.4 63 81.8 179 33
Umayyads 11 2.4 4 5.2 15 3
Marwanids 4 0.8 - 4 0.8
Hamdanids 3 0.6 - 3 0.6
Spanish Umayyads 3 0.6 - 3 0.6
Saffarids 3 0.6 - 3 0.6
Uqailids 3 0.6 - 3 0.6
Buwayhids 2 0.4 - 2 0.3
Buyids 2 0.4 - 2 0.3
Banijurids 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Hammudids 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Ispahbads 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Jafarids 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Kharijits 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Ziyarids 1 0.2 - 1 0.2
Idrisids/Moroccan dynasty 1 0.2 1 1.3 2 0.3
Tahirids - 1 1.3 1 0.2
Alids - 1 1.3 1 0.2
Total 456 100 77 100 533 100
Table 7.2 Overview of dirhams found in Norway and Kaupang respectively, classified by the Islamic dynasties. Imitations
and unidentified coins omitted (Khazaei 2001).
groups as in the Swedish hoards. At 66%, however, The early Viking-period trading sites
the proportion of Samanid dirhams is a fraction as dirham zones
lower. However the Kaupang dirhams’ dynastic char- The increasing use of metal-detectors on Iron-age
acter is markedly different, with a large majority of settlement sites in Southern Scandinavia since the
Abbasid coins, making up about 82% (Fig. 7.6). At 1980s has transformed our perception of Viking-
the same time, the high number of coins from the period coin and silver finds (Moesgaard 1999:18–31;
earliest dynasty of caliphs, the Umayyads (AD 661– von Heijne 2004:45). It was likewise initially as a
750), at 5%, is of interest. Combining the Kaupang result of metal-detecting that the central places of
finds with the remaining finds from Norway would Southern Scandinavia such as Tissø and Uppåkra
change the quantitative representation of the most came to notice as rich productive sites with Islamic
common dynasties significantly, which is otherwise silver coin (Silvegren 1999:99–104; Jørgensen 2003:
almost the same in both Sweden and Norway. These 190, fig. 15.14). Before the sudden adoption of metal-
figures make a case for separating the finds from detecting in the 1980s and the growing numbers of
Kaupang from the other Norwegian finds. single finds of coins from settlement deposits our
The circulation of dirham silver in the settlement
area of Kaupang appears to be concentrated in the
period before 900. The few later coins indicate activi- 10 Including grave finds (17) and single coin finds (14) with
ty continuing into the 10th century to a more limited determinable dirhams listed by Khazaei (2001:40). Grave
extent. Comparison implies that the importance of finds: 11. Bø, Sandnes (1 ex.); 14. Haugen, Hedrum (3 ex.); 30.
Kaupang as a place of exchange of dirham silver Kjørmo, Lund (1 ex.); 32. Heigreber, Mosterøy (2 ex.); 37.
peaked in the 9th century rather than in the 10th. But Hopperstad, Vik (1 ex.); 39. Mo, Ørsta (1 ex.); 42. Setnes,
the composition of the dirham assemblage at Kaup- Gryten (1 ex.); 58. Ner Bjørgen, Namdalseid (2 ex.); 60. Klinga
ang does not stand out as unusual in a wider (3 ex.); 65. Børøya, Hadsel (2 ex.); Single coin finds: 12. Huse-
Southern Scandinavian perspective. Other find-rich by, Tjølling (1 ex.); 15. Mannevik, Brundenes (1 ex.); 29. Kar-
settlements, such as Uppåkra in Skåne, which has møy? (1 ex.); 31. Tjoraneset, Sola (1 ex.); 33. Sekse, Ullensvang
been examined with metal-detectors in recent years, (1 ex.); 36. Lillevang, Vik (3 ex.); 40. Masdal, Vartdal (1 ex.);
have a large majority of Abbasid dirhams struck dur- 49. Strinda (1 ex.); 52. Værnes churchyard, Stjørdal (1 ex.); 55.
ing the 8th and 9th centuries (von Heijne 2004:253). Verdal (1ex.); 59. Innherad (1 ex.); 67. Bleik, Andenes (1 ex.).
attention was focused primarily on coins from graves such as, for instance, Hedeby and Birka, which have
and hoards. Indeed the graves by the settlement site been characterized as “nodes” (Sindbæk 2005:70–
of Birka had a prominent place in discussions of the 98). Transregional, long-distance trade was chan-
importation of dirhams and the significance of silver nelled and coordinated through these nodes in the
coin in exchange relationships in the Early Viking Viking Age. Here one could obtain and re-deploy sil-
Period. ver in the same way as in the Viking-period trading
Johan Callmer (1980) drew attention to the fact sites which begin to develop in many places in
that coins in 10th-century graves at Birka are domi- Scandinavia at the end of the 8th century. To this
nated by earlier, pre-Samanid dirhams, and thus dif- extent, I believe that Callmer’s model is highly rele-
fer sharply from the composition of hoards, which vant to an understanding of the concentrated use of
are dominated by Samanid dirhams. As an explana- dirhams at sites such as Birka, Kaupang, Tissø and
tion of the differences between coins in grave and in Uppåkra.11
hoards, Callmer (1980:204–7) proposed the hypothe- However, Callmer’s conclusions rest upon a
sis that there were two different spheres of circulation series of premisses that in my view need to be consid-
for dirham silver. Sites such as Birka functioned as ered more carefully; above all, that the hoards and the
special collection points for coined silver during the coin-finds from the settlement sites represent differ-
9th and 10th centuries. At these sites the silver had a ent spheres of circulation that did not come into con-
more economically directed role to play and was put tact with one another. The idea of different spheres of
to use in a well-developed exchange system. Through circulation has wide consequences for comparative
comparative studies, Callmer believed it was possible studies of different categories of finds of coin. Call-
to demonstrate that coins in circulation at the trad- mer’s sphere-model implies that the dirham hoards
ing sites were not intermixed with the hoards over a cannot be interpreted in the same way as coin-finds
very long period. From about the second quarter of from Viking-period trading sites. The model has, as a
the 9th century onwards, a local stock of coin was result, been used principally by archaeologists as a
accumulated which was subsequently used in trans- source-critical argument that hoards with coins are
actions right through to the second quarter of the not intrinsically representative so as to be able to sup-
10th century. This system was so effective that is was port a comprehensive assessment of the circulation
little supplemented with new silver in the form, for of coins and silver in the Early Viking Age. At the
instance, of the Samanid dirhams that appear in great same time one puts brackets around the coin-finds
quantities in hoard finds at the beginning of the 10th from the trading sites and alleges that they do not
century. Hoards away from the trading sites, by con- necessarily directly reflect the importation of dirham
trast, reflect, in Callmer’s view, a less developed ex- silver from the East. Instead, they represent, as in the
change system in which silver was accumulated in case of Birka, a closed system involving the local re-
large masses without being used directly in transac- use of old coined silver over a period of about a cen-
tions. To hoard silver in the “hoard societies” was less tury. It is my belief, however, that the chronology of
directly economically motivated, but governed first the dirham hoards, their composition and their
and foremost by the desire to increase one’s prestige regional distribution, have not been investigated in
(Callmer 1980:206). sufficient detail to justify a categorical separation of
The idea of two distinct spheres of circulation has distinct spheres of circulation of dirham silver such
also been proposed by a number of other archaeolo- as Callmer and other scholars have proposed.
gists in order to challenge the representativity of the Callmer has nonetheless put his finger on a series
dirham hoards so that they cannot be presumed to be of key points concerning both the use and the impor-
so reliable for discussion of the extent and chronolo- tance of dirham silver in Scandinavia in the Early
gy of silver circulation in the Viking Period as other- Viking Period. These relate to the discussion con-
wise has been supposed (e.g. Jansson 1985:180–1; cerning the chronology of the importation of dir-
Thurborg 1988:308). The distinctive composition of hams from the East: in other words, the relationship
the Kaupang finds, being dominated by earlier Abba- between the Abbasid imports of the 9th century and
sid dirhams, would fit very nicely with Callmer’s the Samanid imports of the 10th. Why did the supply
inference of a closed local coin-stock in circulation. of Samanid coin have such a late impact at Birka and
The sphere-model could also be used to explain the none at all at Kaupang? Another issue is the signifi-
great quantity of dirhams in the settlement area cance of sites such as Birka and Kaupang in the ex-
which is not mirrored at all in the few dirham hoards change and handling of coined silver at both regional
outside of the settlement. Kaupang could thus, along and local levels. Do these sites really embody an eco-
with other find-rich settlements of the Viking Period nomic system closed off to their hinterlands in re-
in Southern and Eastern Scandinavia, have func- spect of the use of dirham silver? In order to answer
tioned as a sort of enclave for the handling of dirham these questions, it is also necessary to study the
silver within a specialized economic system. This regional development of the use of dirham silver out-
would apply equally to other “classic” trading sites side of Kaupang, Southern Scandinavia and Birka.

Here, the sphere-model provides us with interesting of silver in the hoard. Instead of coins, silver seems to
starting points as it links up different categories of have been valued in the shape of rings and ingots.
coin-find as well as different empirical and theoreti- The coinless ring and ingot hoards – which are diffi-
cal questions within the numismatic and archaeolog- cult to date closely – start to appear in Southern
ical evidence base. Scandinavia in the 9th century (Skovmand 1942:28–
43, tab. 10). The distribution of non-minted silver
The dominant 10th century hoards seems mainly concentrated in this period in
In studies of the use and significance of silver in the the South, on the Danish islands and in Jutland.
Viking Period, three overlapping periods have been The situation changes significantly with the earli-
identified in respect of super-regional dirham- est occurrences of dirham hoards in Southern Scan-
exchange, and these have been incorporated into a dinavia in the first quarter of the 10th century. It is
series of historical, archaeological and numismatic interesting that the inception of what Birgitta Hårdh
overviews (Sawyer 1971:86–119; Spufford 1988:65–73; identifies as the “hacksilver period” coincides with
Noonan 1997; Roesdahl 2001:122–4). At the same the appearance of the dirham hoards (Hårdh 1996:
time, these periods have been integrated with a 92–3). On the basis of these hoards, Southern Scan-
broader cultural historical understanding of the dinavia has been identified by Hårdh (1996: 170–1,
Early Viking Period. The first period concerns the 2004:215–16) as an area of innovation in respect of the
beginning of the inflow of dirhams and the establish- use of hacksilver. In Western Scandinavia, the re-
ment of contacts with Russia during the 9th century. gions in what are now Western and Northern Nor-
The dirham finds represent the beginning of the way, both hacksilver and ring hoards seem to occur
Viking-period expansion to the East. The second later, and to belong on the whole to the 10th and 11th
period concerns the inflow of Samanid silver in the centuries (Grieg 1929:200–29 and 230–64). It is not,
first half of the 10th century. The Samanid dirham however, possible to rule out the inception of hoard-
period reveals the large-scale use of silver in the ing of large amounts of silver in this area by the end
Scandinavia and the establishment of a silver econo- of the 9th century.12 The few dirham hoards in
my based on standardized weights and balances Western Scandinavia, which are usually small collec-
(Steuer 1987:459–69, 479, 1997). tions, occur more regularly from AD 920 onwards.13
Towards the end of the 9th and during the 10th Analysis of the hoard evidence in Southern and
century we also find more comprehensive and sub- Western Scanadinavia suggests that the use of silver
stantial evidence in hoards for a large-scale and on a considerable scale began on the eve of the 10th
diverse silver-jewellery industry in Scandinavia and century. However, the most recent investigations in
the Slavonic regions (Duczko 1985:111–12; Hårdh the settlement area at Kaupang have produced a
1996:65–72, 2004:213–14). Dirhams probably provid- series of new and unexpected find-contexts. Un-
ed the quantities of silver needed for producing coined hacksilver appears in a stratigraphical context
heavy rings and other jewellery (Arrhenius et al. that can be dated to the second quarter of the 9th
1973). The transition to the importation of Western century (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114). Dirhams have
European coined silver in the second half of the 10th only been found in the unstratified context of the
century has been identified as a third period (e.g. ploughsoil (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:188).This means
Jonsson 1990). In this case, emphasis is placed on the that the large quantity of 8th- and 9th-century
demise of, for instance, Birka, and the transforma-
tion of both social organization and the traditional
pattern of exchange that such sites represented in 11 When Callmer wrote his article in 1980, the central places of
Early Viking-age society (Callmer 1994:72). Southern Scandinavia were neither known to nor discussed
The periods outlined here, which reflect the fluc- by archaeologists. Callmer made use of the sphere model pri-
tuations in the flow of coined silver from Russia, tend marily with a view to characterizing the economic relation-
on the whole to represent the situation in the dir- ship between the classic Viking-period trading sites and their
ham-rich eastern regions of Scandinavia, i.e. what is hinterlands.
now Sweden and the territories with direct access to 12 The chronology of the early ring hoards of Western and
the Baltic Sea zone. From the Baltic region as a whole Northern Scandinavia is uncertain, owing to the lack of coins.
we currently know of about 70 dirham hoards that Jewellery hoards are generally dated to the 10th and 11th cen-
can be dated to the 9th century. In Southern Scan- turies. James Graham-Campbell (1999) has recently discussed
dinavia, what is now Denmark, Norway and the plaited and twisted ring-types in both gold and silver, which
southern parts of Sweden such as Skåne, Bleking and are the most common type of neckring in Western
Bohuslän, there are only five hoards of dirhams Scandinavia and are generally dated to the 10th century. He
recorded from the same period (see Checklist of suggests that the plaiting technique originated in the Danish
Dirham Hoards: below, 7.10). In almost all of these area in the course of the 9th century.
hoards the dirhams have been reworked as jewellery 13 See note 6. The exception is the tiny hoard of Torgård, Sør-
or comprise only a tiny fraction of the total amount Trøndelag.
dirhams would appear to have been circulating in the the 9th and 10th centuries. The settlement finds from
settlement area from the 850s onwards at the earliest Kaupang now form a bridge between a number of
(Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:52–3; Pedersen and Pilø categories of find which otherwise appear separately
2007:184–6). The excavations in Kaupang have also in hoard and other find-contexts. But the chronolog-
revealed extensive metalcasting involving lead, silver ical connexion between these categories of finds is
and gold. Ingots of bronze, lead and silver have been still unclear. As I have shown, the dirhams form a
found, and moulds for ingots (Pedersen, in prep.). central group of finds which have rarely – except in
Amongst the dirham finds, a lump of silver com- the case of Birka – been studied methodically in their
posed of hacksilver and some eight half-melted archaeological context (for Birka, see Gustin 1998,
dirhams stands out (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 2004a, 2004b; Jonsson 2001). Unfortunately, the lay-
3.1). This provides some evidence that amongst other ers that originally contained the dirhams at Kaupang
uses, dirhams at Kaupang were employed as a source have been disturbed, so that we have only approxi-
of material for the silversmith. mate indications of when the dirhams began to turn
From a southern and western Scandinavian per- up here and over what length of period they were
spective it is evident that the use of silver during the used in the settlement area.
9th century – either as unminted silver, as hacksilver The principal questions I wish to answer in this chap-
or as Islamic dirham silver - has been regarded as less ter can thus be formulated as follows:
of a problem. This is because before the finds were
made at Kaupang and Uppåkra, attention was fo- • In what way can the dirham hoards be used as a
cussed almost exclusively upon the dirham hoards source to shed light on the transfer of dirham sil-
and their 10th-century date. Here, then, we run into ver in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea zone during
the difficulty of analysing and interpreting numis- the 9th and early 10th centuries?
matic and archaeological sources of evidence togeth- • Why do dirham hoards first appear in Southern
er, and of locating them within a common cultural Scandinavia at the beginning of the 10th century
historical framework. The Kaupang finds are able to while in Eastern Scandinavia and around the
change this situation and to afford us an insight into Baltic there are many hoards of the 9th century?
the use of dirhams in the 9th century, something • How can the low quantity of Samanid dirhams at
which will also, then, influence our understandings Kaupang be explained, although the settlement
of hacksilver, of the introduction of standardized seems to have flourished during the first half of
weighing equipment, and of the significance of the the 10th century?
ring hoards without coins of Southern and Western • And finally, what role was played by sites in
Scandinavia. I shall discuss that more fully in my next Southern Scandinavia such as Kaupang, which
contribution to the present volume (Kilger, this vol. were obviously nodal points for long distance
Ch. 8). trade in their own regions? Do these sites really
embody an economic system closed off to their
The questions hinterlands in respect of the use of dirham silver?
It seems likely that the situation that comes so clearly
into view in a number of different contexts in the In order to understand the special context of dirham
10th century, where silver was being used in large finds in Southern Scandinavia and at Kaupang, we
quantities and in various circumstances, was the need to examine the development of dirham-ex-
result of a longer-term development running some change in the central regions for 9th century dirham
way back in time. The whole situation in respect of finds in Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea zone. The
dirham finds in Southern Scandinavia seems to be main sources we have to rely on in this respect are the
full of contradictions. The examination of the numis- dirham hoards. We will take a closer look at these in
matic composition of the dirhams from Kaupang the coming sections before we return again to Kaup-
and Uppåkra in Skåne indicates a role for Abbasid ang.
dirham silver in the 9th century which did not leave
any traces in the form of dirham hoards outside of 7.2 Phasing
those sites. Instead, we have ring and ingot hoards, This section contains an attempt to phase the impor-
that with very few exceptions contain no dirhams. It tation of dirhams into Eastern and Northern Europe
is not before the 10th century that dirham and hack- across the 9th century and early in the 10th. The
silver hoards emerge as a distinct category of find, phasing that is derived primarily from the occurrence
both in Southern and in Western Scandinavia. of Abbasid dirhams is merely in sketch form, with
We have not really been able to establish if there is only individual but prominent features emphasized.
any connexion between the large quantities of 9th- It is based principally on observable changes in the
century dirham hoards in the Baltic area and the composition, and on the geographical distribution of
occurrence of what are usually coinless ingot and dirham hoards. It is thus an attempt to highlight the
ring hoards in Southern and Western Scandinavia in significant elements of both chronological and re-

770 780 790 800 810 820 830 840 850 860 870 880 890
Western Europe (7) 3 1 1 2 7

Southern/ Western Scandinavia (6/1) 1 1 1 1 2 1 7
Eastern Scandinavia/ Finland (50/1) 1 1 4 1 7 2 6 12 7 6 4 51
Central Europe (21) 1 3 9 1 1 2 2 1 1 21
Eastern Europe (77) 2 4 7 13 6 5 8 2 22 6 1 1 77
The Caucasus (23) 2 4 1 4 3 3 3 1 1 1 23
2 7 10 16 29 11 15 12 13 40 16 8 7 186
Table 7.3 European hoards containing dirhams, t.p.q. 770–900, according to location.
gional importance. The general perspective also takes

account of coin hoards from the monetized areas of
Western Europe that occasionally contain dirhams.
A general summary of the finds

Finds from every part of Europe have been reviewed
in order to reveal the general trends. The histogram
here (Fig. 7.7) offers a comprehensive tabulation of
the latest coin dates of 186 hoards containing dirhams
from Europe within the 8th and 9th centuries (Tab.
7.3). This corresponds to phases I–IVa (below,
7.3–7.6). However I have not systematically included
dirham finds that are dated post-896 and which may
include higher or lower proportions of Samanid dir-
hams. The inception of the importation of Samanid
coins, phase IVb, and the nexus of problems sur-
rounding the Samanid-dominated hoards, will be
taken up in more detail in a separate section (below,
7.7) focused on the first decades of the 10th century.
The period from c. 770 to 920/930 is divided into
five phases amongst which it appears justified to
locate the individual hoards. A similar phasing of the Figure 7.7 Chronological distribution of European hoards
Russian finds based principally on numismatic crite- with dirhams of the 8th and 9th centuries according to t.p.q.
ria has already been published by Noonan (1984a).
The database excludes hoards of fewer than five
coins.14 A minimum number of five coins yields sta-
tistical reliability for an analysis of the composition 45
of the dirham hoards (Noonan 1994:221). Grave finds Distribution of European hoards
40
of dirhams and very small dirham hoards have not Dirhams (186)
been included in the analysis. The hoards on which 35
the present study is based are listed in a catalogue,
classified by region and t.p.q. (below, 7.10). 30
25
Geographical terminology
In this text I discuss finds including Islamic coins 20
from various regions of Europe. In so doing, I shall
15
use general geographical designations which corre-
spond to a number of present-day states. 10
14 An exception is Hässelby, Gotland (t.p.q. 796/7) with three 0

coins that constitute the dirham hoard with the earliest latest 770 780 790 800 810 820 830 840 850 860 870 880 890
coin on Gotland (Fig. 7.10–7.11).
The Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbajdzan, Georgia, and for methodological reasons. Brather proposes phases
southern parts of modern-day Russia. of 80–100 years instead.
Eastern Europe: Russia, Belorus, The Ukraine, and Brather’s fundamental source-critical approach
the Baltic states. is highly justified, but I nevertheless believe it is pos-
Central Europe: The eastern parts of Germany, sible to outline narrower phases in the importation of
Poland, and Romania. dirhams, even if they are hard to trace. It is precisely
North-Western Europe: France, Belgium, The the regional differences in the deposition of hoards,
Netherlands, Great Britain, and Ireland; apart from of which an account was given at the start of this
Ireland, this corresponds to the Anglo-Saxon king- chapter, that render it desirable to work with a finer
doms of England and the Frankish realm, where chronology and a more searching analysis of the im-
monetization was fully established. portation of dirhams in the 9th century. The reduc-
The Southern Baltic Sea zone: refers primarily to the tion in minting in the Caliphate in the first half of the
find-rich coastal regions of Eastern Germany and 9th century, which is one of the key planks in
Poland. Brather’s argument against a finer chronology, was of
Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and shorter duration than is commonly supposed. Fun-
Finland. damental numismatic research of recent years has
Eastern Scandinavia: comprises mainland Sweden also provided us with new ways of dating dirham
and the Baltic islands of Gotland, Öland, Åland, and hoards from this critical period (see below, pp.
Bornholm. 224–5). The greatest challenge to sorting out the
Southern Scandinavia: Skåne, Halland, Bohuslän, the chronology of the dirham hoards, however, is the
Oslofjord region, the Danish islands (except long circulation period for dirham silver, which can
Bornholm), Jutland, and Schleswig-Holstein. affect our interpretation of the significance of the
Western Scandinavia: regions of Western and t.p.q.’s of the hoards. Thus, the t.p.q.’s thus need not
Northern Norway. necessarily give us a direct indication of either the
date of importation or that of deposition. A factor
Methodological principles that lies behind our ability to assess the period of use
Sebastian Brather (1997:85–90) has laid out a series of in the area of deposition – and one which is absolute-
arguments based upon methodological and source- ly crucial – is, in my opinion, how the exchange of
critical foundations that oppose over-general inter- coined silver was organized in the Viking Period.
pretations of the dirham finds which tend to ignore Within the dirham period, we have to allow for
the fundamental mechanisms of the importation of relatively long periods of circulation that are not
these coins. Amongst other things, Brather has at- immediately perceptible in the finds we have. What is
tempted to show the analytical potential, albeit with, essential for an assessment of the coin-finds is to
to an even greater extent, the methodological limita- determine when dirhams were introduced to the area
tions, of using latest coin dates (t.p.q.) and the com- in which the find has been made. It is less important
position of coin-finds. The varying frequency of lat- to be able to pinpoint the exact date at which any par-
est coin dates in hoards that can be seen in the his- ticular hoard ended up in the ground, something that
togram (e.g. Fig. 7.7) cannot be used as a direct indi- has often been the centre of attention, particularly in
cation of phases of importation or as a basis for the critical debate over how reliable the t.p.q.-figure
describing the intensity of contacts between the may be. There is no reason why there should be any
Islamic world and Northern and Eastern Europe. direct connexion between the period of use in the
Increases and decreases in the frequency of deposi- coins’ original monetary region and the period of use
tion are primarily reflections of phases of minting of the coinage in the areas in which it came to be
and of the number of dirhams that were in circula- deposited in Northern and Eastern Europe. To use a
tion in the Caliphate (see below, p. 222). He also numismatic expression, we should distinguish cate-
points out the difficulty of dating contacts between gorically between the date of minting in the place of
areas on the basis of coin-finds in light of the long origin and the dates of both importation and circula-
period of circulation for dirhams that we must always tion in the place of deposition.
reckon with. In addition to this, the flood of coins The phasing I present here works with short peri-
from the Islamic world to Eastern and Northern ods of 20 to 40 years. The date-boundaries of the
Europe was influenced by many factors that render it phases are based initially on the t.p.q. of the hoards.
difficult to reach any single view of the contacts or As I would emphasize, both the phases and the calen-
exchange relationships within this extensive area. It is drical dates assigned to them are to be treated prima-
therefore also hard to judge just how representative rily as a matrix within which the hoards can be locat-
our finds actually are. Altogether, it seems dubious to ed in relative terms, both chronologically and geo-
create shorter phases of dirham importation down to graphically. The phasing is of less validity for deter-
intervals of two or three decades. Such phases can be mining the period over which the coins were used in
found, but are difficult to justify from the coin-finds the area of deposition. In some cases it is not possible

to rule out a particularly long period of circulation

that is not revealed by the latest coin date. Number Dirhams Largest
The criteria I make use of for the construction of of finds dirham hoard
this matrix are firstly the information that is embod-
ied in the composition of the hoards, such as the Baltic islands - - -
regional range of mints in the Caliphate, the occur- Southern Baltic coast - - -
rence of distinct groups of coins, the age-structure, Western Scandinavia - - -
and size. Another important indicator is the varying Finland (mainland) - - -
regional distribution of hoards. A third criterion by East Central Europe - - -
which the 9th-century dirham finds can be grouped Southern Scandinavia 1 (4–7) (4–7) Ribe
chronologically is the test-marks typical of dirham Eastern Europe 2 34 31 Staraia Ladoga
silver called “nicking”. A fourth criterion by which The Caucasus 6 335 187 Gandza
the period at which the dirhams were imported to
particular regions can be determined is the presence Sum 9 376
of coin-finds from stratified or other closely dated
contexts. A marginal, but chronologically highly de- Western Europe - - -
pendable category of finds is hoards with dirhams
from the monetized areas of North-Western Europe Sum -
where the dating of the dirhams can be compared
with other Western European coins in the assem- Table 7.4 The regional distribution of dirham hoards, phase I (t.p.q. 770–90).
blages. The find-spots of these are usually immedi-
ately associable with the areas of minting and use of
the European coins. and Eastern Europe. The Southern Caucasian hoards
The purpose of this phasing is primarily to show of Eurasia stand out as a locally peculiar and chrono-
changes in the flow of dirhams from the East, and logically well-defined set of finds compared with
how that may be related to the particular pattern of occasional hoards that also appear in the areas of
finds of dirhams we have at Kaupang and in Southern Russia and Scandinavia.
Scandinavia. The phases will in all probability come
to be modified for the various dirham-using regions An inverted view of transit trade
of Eastern and Northern Europe. Rather than a It is from the last quarter of the 8th century that we
trans-regional chronology of dirham imports, such have examples of dirham hoards from the Southern
as I present in this paper, it will probably prove possi- Caucasus (Noonan 1980:407; Fig. 7.8). Towards the
ble to establish different chronologies of the importa- end of the 8th century this area developed into a cru-
tion and circulation of dirhams for various areas of cial link in the trade involving dirhams between the
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea area. This will be pos- Caliphate and Eastern Europe (Noonan 1984b:165).
sible when the quantity of archaeologically investi- Trading relationships were able to develop in the
gated sites with large numbers of individual finds of Eurasia that lay within the Islamic sphere of interest
dirhams grows to the point at which they can be after the long conflict between the Khazars in the
compared with the silver hoards from the same Northern Caucasus and the Arabs of the Caliphate
region. In an ideal situation we shall have strati- was settled and succeeded by peaceful contacts. A
graphically excavated and thus well-dated contexts political and economic rapprochement between
for the finds, as we have at Birka, Ribe, and now these kingdoms developed over an extended period
Kaupang too. in the second half of the 8th century and in the early
9th (Noonan 1981:51–2, 2001:143–4).
7.3 The Caucasian link (Phase I, t.p.q. 770–790) One indication that the Caucasus was the earliest
The earliest finds of Islamic coins in one of the east- link in the chain of exchange of dirham silver be-
ern border zones of Europe are from the last quarter tween the Caliphate and Eastern Europe is found in
of the 8th century. These are above all in locations in the composition of the early dirham hoards (Noonan
the Southern Caucasus where there are a few hoards 1984b: 158–71). Comparative studies of compositions
of dirhams alone (Noonan 1980:402, map 1, 407). It is show that Eastern European hoards are almost iden-
on the basis of the distinctive regional distribution of tical with contemporary dirham finds from the
finds that in this section I shall review a number of Middle East (Noonan 1980:446). Hoards in both
questions that relate to the interpretation of the earli- areas contain a relatively high proportion of coins,
est dirham hoards. around 25%, struck by non-Abbasid dynasties
As we can see from Table 7.4, the evidence of the (Noonan 1986: 128). Their composition thus diverges
finds from Phase I shows little relationship with that markedly from that of other finds in the eastern
of the distribution of dirham finds from the classic provinces of the Caliphate in Central Asia. A Central
Viking Period as it emerged post-800 in Northern Asian source for the early Eastern European finds
Staraja Ladoga
Kaupang
Glazov
Ribe
Gora Bachtrioni
Tauz Ganja
Kariagino
Verkhnii Sepnekeran
0 500 1000 km
would thus seem to be quite implausible (Noonan Europe after c. 860 cannot be matched in the Cau-
1981:51). Dirhams from the central regions of the casus (Tab. 7.3). Dirham hoards disappear there. The
Caliphate in the Middle East should, therefore, with contacts were then probably relocated to other routes
all probability have passed through the Caucasus on that gave direct access to the Caspian Sea and the
their way to Eastern Europe. lower Volga region. It is also at this time that Russian
Another piece of evidence is the fact that many merchants are mentioned for the first time in Arabic
early Russian hoards have a latest coin from a mint- sources (Noonan 1984b:165–6).
place in the Southern Caucasus (Noonan 1984b: 158– According to Noonan, deposition in the South-
9).15 Coin-production in the Southern Caucasus, ern Caucasus area was a phenomenon that arose in
however, was markedly reduced after c. 810, and the wake of the growth of transit trade with Eastern
from that time it loses significance as a means of trac- Europe. Indirectly, it is an indication of the growing
ing the area of distribution of dirham silver towards circulation of dirhams in this area (Noonan 1984b:
Northern and Eastern Europe (Noonan 1984b:162– 170–1). Noonan’s idea of the Caucasian link offers us
3). This situation is probably connected to the gener- many important insights by which we can set the
ally negative trend in coining in the Caliphate at the Eastern and Northern European dirham hoards of
same time (below, 7.5). From the middle of the 9th the early Viking Period into a wider context. But the
century onwards, the Caucasus seems to have lost its large-scale geographical perspective provides little
dominant position as a transit area. This conclusion space for one to look at and analyse this deposition as
is based upon the observation that the marked an autonomous practice that was the result of ideas
increase in deposition in Northern and Eastern and practices in the area of the finds itself (Kilger

doga, there is thus no immediate historical connex-

Figure 7.8 Distribution map of dirham hoards, t.p.q. ion between the Caucasian and the Russian hoards. If
770–790. (The finds and their distribution are shown in there had been some organized transit trade involv-
Brather 1997.) Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann. ing dirhams such as Noonan proposed, more hoards
should have been found in the area of Russia with
t.p.q.’s in the 780s and 790s.
If we move our perspective on the finds west-
wards to Scandinavia, we encounter a find-situation
similar to that in Russia. Another find that should be
evidence for an earlier appearance of dirhams in an
8th-century context in Scandinavia is a small hoard
with forged dirhams that has been found in a strati-
fied layer at Ribe.18 This layer has been dated den-
drochronologically to the 780s (Feveile and Jensen
2000:24, fig. 6). A dirham found on its own has been
recorded at Birka in a layer of the late 8th century or
beginning of the 9th (Gustin 2004b:98; Rispling
2004a:55, no. 102). From Groß Strömkendorf in the
West Slavic area, too, we also have a small number
now of 8th-century dirhams (pers. comm. Lutz
2005). Rather, the distribution of finds is interpreted Ilisch). In this connexion we should also note that
in terms of trade routes in relation to which the there are a number of women’s graves from main-
dirhams were deposited for whatever reason while on land Sweden and from Norway that contained a con-
their determined way to Eastern or Northern Europe. siderable number of 8th-century dirhams,19 or imita-
The transit model has also proved, for many general
histories, a reliable construction enabling one to put
the Viking-period expansion towards the East in a 15 Further critical questions concerning the method of using the
fully European perspective (e.g. Bolin 1953; Hodges most recent mints in a hoard to reconstruct transit-routes
and Whitehouse 1983). The dirhams were moved were previously discussed by Noonan (1980:404–6).
from area to area by means of external stimuli and 16 Hoards such as Glazov (t.p.q. 784?), Ungeni (t.p.q. 792/3), and
agents. It was foreign groups, such as Vikings or Penzlin (t.p.q. 798/9) have been considered unreliable in this
Russian merchants, who played a leading role in the respect. The same problems also apply to the larger hoard of
exchange relationships and who controlled this tran- Novye Mliny (t.p.q. 795?) which has also largely been dis-
sit trade (e.g. Arbman 1955). However I believe that persed (Noonan 1981:59 and 82).
the idea of transit also presupposes use of dirhams in 17 E.g. Tsimliansk (t.p.q. 799–807), Krivianskaia stanitsa (t.p.q.
the region to which they came. In the first dirham 807/6), Kniashchino (t.p.q. 808/9) and Zavlishino (809/10)
phase, as a result, the Caucasian finds should be (Noonan 1984b:154–6).
matched by a comparable quantity of hoards in 18 The tiny hoard from Ribe is completely corroded but con-
Eastern Europe but this is not the case. tains probably between four and seven coins. Two of the
From the dates of the latest coins, there is just one specimens which have been identified, lying on the outer sur-
hoard from Russia that matches the earliest cluster of face on either side, are identical copies of an Umayyad
finds in the Caucasus chronologically. This is the dirham issued H. 81, AD 700/1 (Feveile and Jensen 2000:24,
famous hoard at Staraja Ladoga (t.p.q. 786/7) that n.10). According to Rispling, imitations of dirhams – inside
was found at the end of the 19th century outside the and outside the Caliphate – are first documented after the
well-known Viking-period settlement in N.W. Rus- year 835. Thus the dirhams should be regarded as forgeries of
sia. This small but well-documented find of 31 dir- some kind rather than imitations (pers. comm. Gert
hams has quite a compact composition, chronologi- Rispling).
cally, with the range between the earliest and the lat- 19 This applies first and foremost to the much discussed grave-
est coin being less than 40 years (Noonan 1980:420, find from Tuna i Alsike, Uppland, with eight dirhams (t.p.q.
1981:82). The few other Russian finds from the end of 784/5). The admixture of grave goods from other burials in
the 8th century are poorly recorded in terms of the same cemetery cannot be ruled out (pers. comm. Björn
provenance, and generally inadequately documented Ambrosiani). As it would now appear, in addition to the
(Brather 1997:93 n.147).16 It is not before the first coins, the grave assemblage contained female jewellery: a pair
decade of the 9th century that a number of finds form of oval (tortoise) brooches of JP 37. The beads include poly-
a coherent and consistent set in this area.17 From the hedrical cornelian beads. Brooches of type JP 37 are dated to
latest coin dates, we can see a clear chronological gap the 9th century (Jansson 1985; Skibsted Klæsø 1999), and cor-
of about twenty years between the Caucasian and the nelian beads of the polyhedrical type to the second half of that
Russian horizons. With the exception of Staraja La- century (Callmer 1977).
tions thereof.20 It is striking, however, that all of tacts, but also the use of coined silver in some way or
these graves are dated by find-assemblages of, inter another in the area in which it came to be deposited.
alia, beads and brooches to the 9th century. We cannot exclude the possibility that dirhams
The datings of the secure dirham deposits show were melted down in Eastern Europe at the end of the
that there is a chronological disjunction between the 8th century in order to produce larger silver artefacts.
earliest evidence of finds in the Caucasus on the one The spiral-twisted Permian silver neckrings of stan-
hand and those in Northern and Eastern Europe on dardized weights belong here. These are very com-
the other. The earliest deposits in Russia and Scan- mon in the Central Volga region (Arne 1914:217–18;
dinavia are harder to assess and the problems in Hårdh 2006:143). It is presumed that the area of pro-
using this evidence need to be discussed more thor- duction of the Permian rings both in silver and cop-
oughly on another occasion. However there is clear per coincides with the old Finno-Ugric territories in
evidence that small quantities of dirhams were in cir- what are now Russia and the Baltic states (Hårdh
culation in the North-West of Russia and probably 1996:138; Gustin 2004c:292–3). Measured in grams,
also at nodal points in the Baltic Sea zone such as at the Permian rings generally cluster around units of
Staraja Ladoga before 800 (Callmer 2000b:62), and at 100, 200 and 300 g. Most common are rings weighing
Birka around the year 800 (Gustin 2004b:97–8). around 200 g (Hårdh 2006:144, tab. 1, this vol. Ch.
5:108–13). It is conceivable that they were produced
Conclusions from North African dirhams, which dominate the
The earliest dirham finds in areas immediately adja- Russian dirham finds from the beginning of the 9th
cent to Europe are from the last quarter of the 8th century (see following section 7.4). The North Afri-
century in the Southern Caucasus. This region was a can dirhams observed a lighter weight-standard than
monetary border-zone between the Caliphate to the those struck in Iraq and Iran. On average they weigh
south and the Khazar kingdom to the north. Al- c. 2.5–2.7 g.21 A ring of about 100 g could thus be
though isolated dirhams can be identified at the end made with 40 North African dirhams, or four units of
of the 8th century with the help of independent 10 coins (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8.4). This may provide
stratigraphical datings in Ribe and Birka, these coins us with a further opportunity to interpret the absence
have no substantial presence in the archaeology of of dirham finds from Eastern Europe in the earliest
these regionally important trading sites. The same dirham period. It is possible, then, that there were
conclusion may be drawn with regard to the occa- extensive and regular contacts through which dir-
sional hoards such as that at Staraja Ladoga. These ham silver – as remelted metal – fulfilled an impor-
can therefore scarcely be used as evidence of regular tant role within a field of exchange that need not nec-
contacts with the dirham-using areas both within essarily find expression in the form of coin hoards.
and around the Caliphate.
Noonan’s concept of a Caucasian link based 7.4 The establishment of the dirham network
upon numismatic arguments is, despite my criticism in Eastern Europe (Phase II, t.p.q. 790–825)
of the transit model, still very persuasive. But one can In this section the dirham hoards from the end of the
question whether the few finds can really be used to 8th century and the first quarter of the 9th are dis-
support wide-ranging conclusions concerning, for cussed, in order to reveal distinctive regional phe-
instance, the existence of large-scale dirham transit nomena in the composition of the finds. This pro-
trade as early as the end of the 8th century (e.g. vides a subtler view of the distributional network for
Brather 1997:91–4). Other scholars have proposed dirham silver in Eastern Europe at the beginning of
that there may have been some importation of dir- the 9th century. The analysis also reveals a geograph-
hams to Scandinavia during the 8th century which ically bounded area of dirham circulation beyond
would not necessarily be visible in hoards (Welin Russia in the southern Baltic lands.
1974; Jansson 1985:180, 1988:569). The motivation of Phase II comprises finds with t.p.q.’s from c. AD
their arguments has been, as for Noonan, to discuss 790 to 825. This phase represents the first importation
the beginning of contacts with the Islamic world. I of dirhams not only to Eastern Europe but also fur-
believe, however, that the dirham finds have to be ther west to the Baltic Sea zone (Noonan 1984a:
looked at from another viewpoint. The more inter- 159–60). The Russian hoards are absolutely the pre-
esting question is when the exchange of dirhams dominant group of finds both in terms of the number
came to take place in a more organized way, and what of finds and in respect of their size (Tab. 7.5). This
the reasons for that were. The chronological gap be- leading place is retained by the Russian hoards
tween the Caucasian and the Russian hoards may throughout the 9th and for much of the 10th cen-
well indicate a change in the way dirhams were used turies. It is striking that dirham hoards are found dis-
in the area of Russia. That was the point at which the tributed over many areas of Russia, while those in the
hoards appear. As far as the earliest hoards in the Baltic lands are found on Gotland but particularly
Southern Caucasus are concerned, those dirham along the southern Baltic shores. There is a clear con-
finds do not just reflect transit trade, routes or concentration around the mouth of the Vistula (Bart-

Number of finds Dirhams Largest dirham hoard
Western Scandinavia - - -
East Central Europe 1 7 7 Răducăneni-Ias˛i
Finland (mainland) - - -
Sweden (mainland) 1 5 5 Birka 1991 (small)
Southern Scandinavia 1 8 8 Østerhalne Enge22
Baltic islands 6 124 67 Hejde-Prästgården
Southern Baltic coast 12 369 124 Mokajmy Sójki
The Caucasus 9 1,623 610 Stisdzir
Eastern Europe 29 5,114 c. 1,700 Orsha?
Sum 59 7,250
Western Europe 3 32 -
Table 7.5 The regional distribution of dirham hoards, phase II (t.p.q. 790–825).
czak 1997; Brather 2006:134, fig. 1), and possibly also 20 These include three finds with pressed silver-foil jewellery.
one around the mouth of the Oder (Fig. 7.9). A few These items were produced using 8th-century Umayyad
finds, nearly all small, occur in mainland Sweden at dirhams as patrix dies. They are the female graves from Norrö
Birka, in Jutland, and towards the south-east of Cen- Västergård, Östergötland (t.p.q. 730), 6 specimens, and Tuna
tral Europe. Deposition in the Caucasus continued. i Badelunda, Uppland (t.p.q. 744) with 14 (Callmer 1977:nos.
There are also three coin hoards from inside the 131 and 161; Jansson 1985:156). There is also an uncertain find-
Carolingian Empire with a small number of dirhams group consisting of oval brooches, a trefoil brooch and beads
(Ilisch 2005). from Reine, Komnes, Norway (t.p.q. 714), with 8 foils pressed
on Umayyad dirhams (Callmer 1976:no. 24; Skaare 1976:no.
The North African signature 41). Umayyad coins are very well struck and have typical, easi-
Dirham finds with t.p.q.’s from 790/800 to 825 form ly recognized decoration in the form of annulets and rings.
the first clear group of dirham hoards in Europe. A They also have a high relief, making them ideally suited for
typical feature of the finds from Eastern Europe in use as patrices (pers. comm. Gert Rispling). Consequently it
this period is the Abbasid dirham struck in Iraq and is highly likely that Umayyad dirhams, which are very com-
North Africa post-769 (Noonan 1986:145–6). Distin- mon in Scandinavian female graves, were deliberately selected
guishing this as the period of the earliest importation for use as jewellery (e.g. Welin 1974, 1976; Thurborg
of dirhams in to Europe was therefore proposed by 1988:308–9).
the Russian numismatist Richard Fasmer (1933; 21 This is further confirmed by the coin glass weights we know
Noonan 1984a:159; Fomin 1990:69). The composition from North Africa. Given on Egyptian glass weights is the fig-
of known and well-documented hoards from the ure of 13 kharrūba (Balog 1976:26). The Egyptian kharrūba or
beginning of the 9th century reveals clear differences qı̄rāt weighed 0.195 g, which corresponds to a dirham weight
between the Russian hoards and the finds from of c. 2.53 g (Miles 1960:319–20).
around the Baltic. A good indication of this is provid- 22 It is uncertain whether Østerhalne Enge, Jutland, is to be
ed by a quantitative comparison of the distribution of counted as a dirham hoard. The coins were mounted with
Iraqi, Iranian, North African, Caucasian and Spanish loops and found together with other artefacts (von Heijne
coins (Tab. 7.6).23 It is quite clear that the proportion 2004:358). There is no further information on the find. It may
of North African coins is quite different. This differ- have been a grave-find. Other graves in Scandinavia with
ence is most evident in the case of the Polish and East early dirhams are normally female graves dated to the 9th
German hoards, in which the proportion is only century (see nn. 19–20).
about 3%, as opposed to over 50% in those from else- 23 Tables 7.6 and 7.8, making use of information on the compo-
where in Eastern Europe. The few finds from Got- sition of Northern and Eastern European finds dated pre-850,
land stand in between with a figure of c. 15% (Fig. are based partly on Thomas Noonan’s unpublished find cata-
7.9). logue. The list of finds with information on the geographical
composition was kindly made available by Gert Rispling. The
composition of some Swedish finds has been checked and
partially revised by Rispling. A new review will form the foun-
dation of a project on the first phase of Abbasid minting
(750–833) (pers. comm. Gert Rispling).
Peterhof Kniashchino
Birka
Kaupang Vylegi
Kholopii Gorodok
Ungeni
* Demiansk
Ugodichi
Semenov Sarskoe Gorodishche
Østerhalne Enge Nabatovo Gorodok
Zavalishino Elmed
Kretomino Khitrovka
Orsha
Prerow-Darss Bergen Borki
Penzlin Minsk Province Lapotkovo
Grzybowo
Neubrandenburg ** Pokot
Nizhnie Novoselki
Litvinovichi Kremlevskoe
Iarylovichi
Novye Mliny
Novotroiskoe Nizhniaia Syrovatka
Biebrich
Tsimliansk
Steckborn Krivianskaia
Ilanz ˘ ˘ ˛
Raducaneni-Iasi
Svetlograd
Karchag
Stisdzir
Savane Pshaveli
Mtisdziri
Arkhava
Bash-garni
Agdam
* Gotland: ** Prussia:
Hässelby Stegna
Hammars Mokajmy-Sójki
Ockes I Braniewo 0 500 1000 km
Visby Dlugobór
Norrgårda-Norrbys I Zalewo
Hejde-Prästgården Krasnolaka
Figure 7.9 Distribution map of dirham hoards, t.p.q. 790–825. Russian hoards with a high percentage of North African
dirhams, reaching 50% (green shading); West Slav and Prussian hoards with a very low percentage of North African
dirhams, around 3% (red shading); Gotlandic hoards with around 15% North African dirhams, probably deposited after c.
825 (dark blue shading); hoards containing North African dirhams in the Carolingian empire (yellow shading). Map, Julie
K. Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann.

T.p.q. Hoard Dirhams ? Spain Africa Iraq/Iran Central The Khazar

Asia Caucasus
Sweden (mainland)
810/11 Birka 1991 (small) 5 1 0 0 3 1 0 0
100 20 0 0 60 20 0 0
Gotland
796/7 Hässelby 3 - - 2 1 - - -
804/5 Hammars 8 1 0 3 4 0 0 0
816/7 Visby (vicinity of) 21 0 0 5 15 0 1 0
818/9 Norrgårda-Norrbys I 27 0 0 3 22 2 0 0
824/5 Prästgården Hejde 67 16 0 6 39 2 1 3
126 17 0 19 81 4 2 3
100 13.5 0 15.1 64.2 3.2 1.6 2.4
Southern Baltic coast

802/3 Prerow-Darss 72 28 0 5 38 0 1 0
811/2 Stegna 17 0 0 1 12 4 0 0
811/2 Zalewo 20 4 0 1 14 1 0 0
813/4 Krasnol-a̧ka 10 0 0 1 8 1 0 0
815/6 Bergen/Rugard 12 0 0 0 11 1 0 0
815/6 Braniewo 47 0 0 0 40 7 0 0
817/8 Mokajmy-Sójki 124 64 0 0 56 4 0 0
818/9 Neubrandenburg (vicinity of) 7 0 0 0 5 2 0 0
309 96 0 8 184 20 1 0
100 31.1 0 2.6 59.5 6.5 0.3 0
East Central Europe

805/6 Răducăneni-Iaşi 7 0 0 0 6 1 0 0
100 0 0 0 85.7 14.3 0 0
Eastern Europe
803/4 Peterhof 83 0 0 72 10 1 0 0
805/6 Kholopii Gorodok 24 0 1 10 12 1 0 0
805/6 Krivianskaia stanitsa 82 0 0 49 30 0 3 0
809/10 Zavalishino 51 2 0 20 27 2 0 0
812/3 Nizhniaia Syrovatka 206 39 1 109 49 ? 8 0
812/3 Ugodichi 148 0 22 62 53 7 4 0
820/1 Iarylovichi 285 1 4 142 125 7 6 0
820/1 Elmed 147 0 0 56 76 8 7 0
1,026 42 28 520 382 26 28 0
100 3.9 2.7 50.7 37.2 2.5 2.7 0
sum total 1,473 156 28 547 656 52 31 3

100 10.6 1.9 37.1 44.6 3.5 2.1 0.2
Table 7.6 The regional composition of hoards, t.p.q. 800–25 (Rispling, in prep).
The small proportion of North African coins and Caliphate there was no controlled circulation of
non-Abbasid dirhams in finds of the early 9th centu- coinage as there was in Carolingian Europe (e.g. Met-
ry in the Southern Baltic area has puzzled several calf 1990); coins struck in different regions were
scholars (e.g. Fomin 1990). In general, the North accepted anywhere within the realm. As a result, the
African dirhams should be represented in all areas dirham hoards show a mixture of coins from various
that have early dirham finds, both inside the Cali- mints and various periods. But this mixing was not
phate and beyond (Noonan 1986:128–9). Inside the solely the result of trading links within the Caliphate.
It also depended upon the fact that the level of coin-

production varied in intensity from period to period Figure 7.10 The three coins from the earliest dirham hoard
at the mints within the Caliphate. Over a longer peri- from Hässelby, Gotland (t.p.q 796/7) (CNS 1.3.3; SHM-
od of time this led to the conflation of various region- KMK 8212). (left) Abbasid, al-Mansur, Madinat al-Salam,
al coin-stocks (Brather 1997:108–10). Since the coins (1)54 =749/50, 1.55 g., (middle) Kharijite imam, Khalaf ibn
were valid throughout the Caliphate, the hoards al.Mada, Tudghah, 17(6)= 792/93, 2.54 g. (right) imitation,
ought to be of similar composition irrespective of Idrisid eller Sulaymanid, “Tilimsan”, 180–225 =796–839,
where they are found. Why, then, are the hoards of 1.34 g. Scale 2:1. Photo: Gabriel Hildebrand, Museum of
Eastern Europe so different in composition from National Antiquities, Stockholm.
finds along the southern shore of the Baltic and on
Gotland?
The West Slav and Prussian dirham paradox

One possibility is that the hoards from the West Slav
and Prussian area and those from Russia have differ-
ent areas of origin. The differences between the two
sets in size and composition may indicate that there
were distinct distributional networks for dirhams at
the beginning of the 9th century. It is conceivable
that the concentration of dirham hoards along the declined drastically during the first quarter of the 9th
Oder and around the mouth of the Vistula is the century (below, 7.5).
result of contacts between here and the interior of The find-situation in respect of dirhams has
Central Europe and thereby to the areas that were in changed markedly in Poland and Eastern Germany
contact with the Black Sea area. However, as of yet, in recent years. Metal-detecting on the site of the
there is only one recorded dirham find from South- large settlement at Janów Pomorski – probably the
Eastern Europe with the same dating and composi- Viking-period Truso – on the Baltic coast of Poland
tion that could bear witness to such a connexion has recorded 322 dirhams (Bogucki 2004:114). Like
(Teodor 1980).24 More dirham hoards should have Kaupang, most of these were single finds of coins that
been found in Central Europe if this area was an had somehow been lost within the settlement area.
important transit zone in the 9th century (Curta The coins have not been published in detail, but pre-
2003). Although we cannot exclude the possibility of liminary information on their dating is available
dirhams having been melted down to uncoined silver (Brather 2006:137–40). The latest dirham at Janów
in Central Europe, dirham silver should still have left Pomorski dates to the 850s (Bartczak et al. 2004:46) ,
clearer traces in the archaeological evidence than we but most – of those dated so far – were struck in the
can yet see. 8th century or the first two decades of the 9th. It is
An alternative possibility is a source through, or noteworthy that other datable finds show that the
along, the border areas of the Frankish Empire. A settlement itself continued into the 10th century
decisive argument against importation from Western (Bogucki 2004:114).
Europe is that the few dirhams that are known from
late 8th-century coin hoards in the Carolingian realm
are all North African (Fig. 7.9). They were imported 24 The find from Răducăneni-Iaşi (t.p.q. 805/6), in what is now
to Western Europe from the western part of North Romania, comprised seven dirhams of which three were per-
Africa after c. 790 (Ilisch 2005).25 The small West Slav forated. The coins had not been fragmented and revealed no
and Prussian dirham hoards ought in this case to marks of cutting, i.e. nicks, which are very common in 9th-
consist overwhelmingly of North African coins, century hoards (see section 7.5). The absence of nicking sug-
which is not the case.26 gests a later dating to the second half of the 9th century.
The third and most plausible explanation, which 25 For example Ilanz (t.p.q. 793); Biebrich (t.p.q. 795); and
Noonan has already suggested, is founded on source- Steckborn (t.p.q. 799/800) (McCormick 2001:817, 825 and
critical arguments. The finds from Poland and 831).
Eastern Germany should, in Noonan’s view, have 26 Lutz Ilisch draws attention to the point that the North
been of similar composition if they were contempo- African dirhams differ stylistically from the other contempo-
rary with the Russian hoards. However their compo- rary dirhams struck in the eastern provinces of the Caliphate.
sition is in fact like that of hoards that occur only Their inscriptions are small and usually barely legible. This
after c. AD 840 in Russia. It is then that the Abbasid may have affected the identification of the coins, especially in
dirhams again became dominant in the circulating early publications (pers. comm. Lutz Ilisch). Most 9th-centu-
silver (Noonan 1986:128–9). Further support for this ry hoards in Poland were lost during the Second World War,
analytical argument comes from the fact that the so that their composition cannot be examined afresh (pers.
finds are small and that coining in the Caliphate comm. Mateusz Bogucki).

A comparable find-spot is Kap Arkona on Rügen, quantities outside the West Slav and Prussian area
further to the west in what is now German Vor- and occur first and foremost in Russian and Swedish
pommern. Archaeological work at the site has pro- hoards with t.p.q.’s post-860 (Noonan 1985:44–6).
duced 17 single finds of dirhams (Ilisch 2000: 19–24). The dirham hoards from the southern Baltic
A point of interest is that it is possible to distinguish a lands thus do not provide any direct insight into their
chronologically earlier group of 14 Umayyad and date of importation and period of use. The low pro-
Abbasid dirhams that are dated to between 719 and portion of North African coins in the hoards is there-
826 and a later group of two Samanid dirhams struck fore to be seen as a result of the dirhams having
between 892 and 922. The earlier group also includes arrived relatively late, probably from Russia. An ad-
a Sassanid drachma struck at the end of the 6th cen- ditional argument for later importation is that after c.
tury. The fragments included a North African dir- 825 the West Slav/Prussian area is virtually void of
ham that could only be identified on stylistic evi- finds (Fig. 7.16). There are just three large hoards
dence (Ilisch 2000:n.27). A striking feature of the Ar- from the period c. 825–860, which is phase III (below,
kona collection is the absence of coins dated between 7.5). Coins in the many small hoards that date to
826 and 892. phase II in terms of t.p.q. thus probably came into
It is precisely the settlement finds, in my view, circulation to any substantial degree only after 825,
that are able to explain the early, non-North African and at the latest before 840 along the southern shores
find-layer in the West Slav/Prussian area. Arkona, of the Baltic.
and Janów Pomorski above all, show site continuity If this interpretation is correct, it gives us a clear
from the 9th to the 10th century. At both sites it example of later importation and a long period of cir-
seems that the same stock of coins circulated culation of dirham silver which cannot be seen in the
throughout the 9th century and was not supplement- dating of the hoards (see the methodological princi-
ed with coins struck in the second half of the 9th cen- ples, above, 7.2). At Arkona, the dirhams were in cir-
tury. Dirhams from this period are found in great culation, according to their calendrical dates, for
some 50–70 years before they were supplemented ness to a better organized exchange of dirhams with
with Samanid dirhams struck at the end of the 9th the area of Russia at a later period. This process got
century. If that is so, it points to a regionally restrict- underway at a date at which the proportion of North
ed circulation of coined silver. This left its mark in African coins in the Russian hoards was falling. To
the form of single finds of dirhams in the focal settle- judge by the composition and size of the hoards, that
ments in the West Slav and Prussian territory, and in happened no later than the end of the 820s. The same
the form of dirham hoards outside of those sites. line of argument means that the Gotlandic hoards,
because of the higher proportion of North African
The early Gotlandic find-group dirhams, are evidence of an earlier importation of
The early Gotlandic hoards, which constitute the dirham silver than to the West Slav and Prussian
other dominant find-group in the Baltic area of phase area. That began along the southern shores of the
II, contain a higher proportion of North African dir- Baltic in a more organized way in the 830s and 840s.
hams, at 15% (Fig. 7.9). The coin-range corresponds There are exceptions, however. A few tiny Got-
with neither the Polish-East German nor the Russian landic hoards have a much higher proportion of
finds. The proportion of North African dirhams in North African dirhams – for instance Hässelby (t.p.q.
the Gotlandic hoards remains practically the same 796/7) and Hammars (t.p.q. 804/5) (Tab. 7.6, Fig.
after 825 at around 14% (Tab. 7.8). In contrast to the 7.10). Characteristic of these finds is also the high
Gotlandic finds, the proportion of North African proportion by weight of uncoined silver, both frag-
dirhams in the Russian finds falls from c. 50% to c. mented and unfragmented (Fig. 7.11).27 Although we
6% in the period between c. 825 and 850. The compo- cannot exclude the possibility that these hoards were
sition implies that the importation of dirham silver deposited later, their coins will very probably have
to Gotland did not start in the early 9th century, as in
Russia, but rather later. Were the situation different,
there should be more and larger Gotlandic finds, and 27 For example Hässelby (t.p.q. 796/7): weight of coins 5.43 g,
they should include a higher proportion of North weight of jewellery 363.21 g (Arrhenius, Welin and Tapper
African dirhams. It is therefore reasonable to con- 1973:fig. 1; CNS:1.3.3); Hammars (t.p.q. 804/5), weight of
clude that many of the early Gotlandic finds bear wit- coins c. 20 g, weight of jewellery 278 g (CNS:1.4.6; Stenberger
1947:69).

Figure 7.11 Non-minted objects in the tiny dirham hoard

from Hässelby, Dalhem Parish, Gotland (t.p.q. 796/7,
Inv.no. 8212): fragments of spiral striated rings and ingots.
Photo, Christer Åhlin, Museum of National Antiquities,
Stockholm.
arrived on Gotland before c. 825. Isolated hoards have a significantly higher proportion of North
such as Hässelby and Hammars may therefore be the African dirhams, however, are interpreted here as the
products of individual interchanges at a time when products of occasional dealings early in the sequence
the exchange of dirhams with those parts of Eastern of development.
Europe that used such coins was beginning. The analysis of the hoards thus demonstrates that
exchange relationships that made use of dirham sil-
Conclusions ver developed over an extended period in the Baltic
The comparative analysis of the composition and size Sea zone. This presumably involved the same mecha-
of the dirham hoards, combined with their geo- nisms, i.e. the conventionalization of the use of dir-
graphical distribution, shows that the use of these ham silver, that I have described in relation to phase I
coins can be limited to an area in Eastern Europe and between the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The
the Caucasus in the first quarter of the 9th century. corollary of this is that coins were not distributed en
Phase II has the first significant concentrations of masse over any wide geographical area. It was only
finds outside of the Caucasus that can be taken as evi- when the use of dirham silver became a day-to-day
dence that the handling of dirham silver had become practice, which means when coined silver became
established in various parts of Russia. Islamic coins part of the everyday and constantly repeated routines
had been integrated into the practices governing of exchange, that dirham hoards begin to appear in
exchange relationships in this area. Abassid dirhams larger quantities in the same region.
struck in North Africa are dominant in the material.
This can be used as a basis for tracking this develop- 7.5 The establishment of the dirham network
ment within Russia. in the Baltic area (Phase III, t.p.q. 825–860)
The analysis of the composition of early dirham The period from 830/840 to the 870s has been identi-
hoards from the Baltic Sea area apparently shows that fied as a phase of consistent importation; which
the use of dirham silver had not spread beyond the means a second wave, bringing large amounts of dir-
area of Russia to any significant degree at the begin- hams to Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea zone, fol-
ning of the 9th century. The large number of hoards lowing the first wave of the beginning of the 9th cen-
along the southern shores of the Baltic lack the im- tury (Bartczak 1997:232–3). By way of introduction, I
portant North African signature. A comparison with shall look at the monetary situation within the
single finds of dirhams from settlements in this same Caliphate during the second quarter of the 9th centu-
area rather indicates the later importation of dirham ry. A number of scholars have drawn particular at-
silver from Russia, probably not before the 830s or tention to a decline in minting after c. 810 that creates
840s, and possibly later still. The early t.p.q.-figures problems for the chronological assessment of dirham
thus provide no direct indication on when dirham hoards. The question is, how that monetary situation
silver came into use in this area. A closer study of the affected the distribution and handling of dirham sil-
composition of the Gotlandic finds shows that ver outside of the Caliphate. Another topic I shall dis-
dirham silver reached the island in large quantities cuss briefly is the testing of coined silver.
and a more regular manner only after c. 825. Dirham As we can see from Table 7.7, the period c. 825–
silver thus came into regular use later in the Baltic Sea 860 stands out as the clearest phase of deposition of
zone than in Russia. A few Gotlandic hoards which dirham silver in a number of regions around the
The reduction of minting in the Caliphate

Number Dirhams Largest Dinars Dirham hoards with t.p.q.’s within the first half of the
of finds dirham hoard 9th century are difficult to interpret. This is because
the output of dirhams fell dramatically in the Cali-
East Central Europe - - - - phate as a result of the internal war amongst Caliph
Finland (mainland) 1 20 20 Housulanmäki - Harun al-Rashid’s sons, and of religious conflicts
Southern Scandinavia 2 98 97 Sønder Kirkeby 9 Hoen between Sunni and Shi’ite muslims (Noonan 1986:
The Caucasus 6 772 394 Apeni - 154–5; Rispling 2004a:29). The difficult interior polit-
Sweden (mainland) 4 929 468 Wäsby - ical situation had an impact on the circulation of
Baltic islands 10 2,169 894 Runne - coins and silver both within and beyond the Cali-
Southern Baltic coast 4 2,709 2,211 Ralswiek - phate. Noonan (1986) has produced figures for the
Eastern Europe 16 6,427 c. 1,500 Iagoshury - level of minting at the most productive mint-sites of
Sum 43 13,125 9 the Abbasids in the Caliphate between 750 and 850.
His calculations are based upon a study of the finds
Western Europe 1 1 1 Westerklief I - from Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the Caucasus
and the Caliphate that are dated pre-850. There is a
Table 7.7 The regional distribution of dirham hoards, phase III (t.p.q. 825–60), with clear reduction in minting in the reign of Caliph al-
the gold dinars from the Norwegian hoard of Hoen included. Mamun after 810 (Fig. 7.12). The few finds that can be
dated post-810 probably do not reflect the collapse of
contacts between Russia and the Caliphate but rather
the low level of minting under Harun al-Rashid’s
Baltic Sea, most of all on the island of Gotland. A successors. This means that hoards with t.p.q.’s in the
number of hoards are also known from mainland first two decades of the 9th century could have been
Sweden and Finland, and on the islands of Åland and deposited later, from the 820s to the 840s, when coin
Falster. Particularly striking is the reduction of finds production in the Caliphate fell to its lowest level.
in the southern Baltic area, with just four hoards in Finds with only a few dirhams in particular risk being
contrast to the many dated c. 800–825 (see above, 7.4, assigned too early a date (Brather 1997:96–7).
and Tab. 7.5). These finds are scattered over a wide One consequence of this monetary situation is
area from Rügen in the west and in Prussia and that the dirham hoards of the first half of the 9th cen-
Lithuania. Eastern Europe is again dominant as the tury contain a preponderance of earlier coins from
central area of deposition in phase III. The deposi- the coin-rich period of the second half of the 8th cen-
tion of finds continues in the Caucasus. Most hoards tury and the reign of Harun al-Rashid. In numismat-
have a latest coin date in the 830s (Fig. 7.7). ic history, this has been identified as the first break in
the 9th-century flow of dirhams to areas outside of
the Caliphate (Noonan 1985:42). As was discussed in
Figure 7.12 The mint output under the early Abbasids the previous section, this reduction in minting helps
(750–850) as reflected in hoards from the Middle East, the to explain the distinctive composition of the early
Caucasus, Russia and the Baltic area (after Brather 1997:fig. dirham hoards along the southern shores of the
3). Illustration, Elise Naumann. Baltic (above, 7.4). In my view, though, it is possible
to see more detail in this interruption. It was of short-
er duration than is commonly assumed.
al-Mansûr 754-775 Hârûn ar-Râsid 786-809 al-Ma`mûn 813-833
An interesting point is that Noonan’s calculations
al-Mahdi 775-785
20 % do not include finds with t.p.q.’s post-850.28 Hoards
of that group have a much higher proportion of
dirhams struck between 815 and 850. In these later
hoards they constitute a rather higher proportion,
15 %
18–25%, while in hoards with t.p.q.’s pre-850 the fig-
10 % 28 For further methodological cricitisms of Noonan’s approach,

see Ilisch 2000:n.24.
29 The total number of coins from Stora Tollby II has most
5%
recently been revised to 155 specimens. Thus five coins have
been counted twice in this table (pers. comm. Gert Rispling).
Similarly the total figure for other Eastern European hoards
has been changed, e.g. Kohtla to 481 ex. and Kislaia to 670 ex.
0%
0 0 0
(Rispling 2001:nos. 38 and 39). The percentages in the table,
5 0 0 5 5 5 5
0
75 84
0
80 5
79 80
83 0
5
78 0
76 5
76 82
0
75 84
5
79 81
5
85
80
81
78
83
76
78
77
82
83
9/
77
4/ 9/ 9/ 4/ 9/ 4/ 4/ 9/ 4/ however, are not significantly affected.

9/
9/
9/
4/
9/
4/
4/
9/
9/
4/
4/
74 75 75 78 79 79 81 82 83 84
84
80
76
82
81
77
77

T.p.q. Hoard Dirhams ? Spain Africa Iraq/Iran Central The Khazar

Asia Caucasus
846/7 Sønder Kirkeby 97 65 0 5 26 1 0 0
100 67 0 5.2 26.8 1 0 0
Sweden (mainland)
850/1 Kettilstorp-Storegården 30 11 0 0 16 3 0 0
100 36.6 0 0 53.3 10 0 0
Gotland
833 Norrgårda-Norrbys II 62 12 0 11 32 6 1 0
834–42 Stora Tollby II 160 9 1 32 88 21 6 3
834/5 Sandgårde 12 5 0 2 5 0 0 0
835 Norrkvie I 30 5 0 1 19 4 0 1
840/1 Ocksarve I 439 40 3 57 278 43 6 12
842/3 Norrgårda-Jakobssons 59 0 2 9 43 3 1 1
762 71 6 112 465 77 14 17
100 9.3 0.8 14.7 61 10.1 1.8 2.2
Åland
837/8 Svedjelandet 107 0 4 12 79 4 4 4
100 0 3.7 11.2 73.8 3.7 3.7 3.7
Southern Baltic coast

828/9 Ramsowo 336 8 0 10 278 33 7 0
841/2 Ralswiek 2,211 560 4 134 1,320 126 32 35
2,547 568 4 144 1,598 159 39 35
100 22.3 0.2 5.7 62.7 6.2 1.5 1.4
Finland (mainland)
837/8 Housulanmäki 20 2 0 2 11 3 0 2
100 10 0 10 55 15 0 10
Eastern Europe
828/9 Uglich 1,114 912 1 17 148 11 25 0
831/2 Zagorod’ e 15 2 0 0 12 1 0 0
835 Viatka 6 0 0 0 5 1 0 0
837/8 Kohtla 500 24 0 12 374 69 6 15
837/8 Kislaia 674 12 1 111 367 53 14 111
837/8 Devitsa 323 9 0 22 120 78 5 89
841/2 Dobrino 527 0 0 2 425 71 17 12
841/2 Vyzhigsha 1,278 0 5 149 951 125 22 26
841/2 Lesogurt 137 19 0 12 86 13 3 4
843/4 Iagoshury c. 1,500 254 1 19 981 238 7 0
846/7 Staraia Ladoga 23 3 0 0 18 0 2 0
6,092 1,235 8 344 3,487 660 101 257
100 20.3 0.1 5.6 57.2 10.8 1.7 4.2
Sum total 9,655 1,952 22 619 5,682 907 158 315

100 20.2 0.2 6.4 58.9 9.4 1.6 3.3
Table 7.8 The regional composition of dirham hoards, t.p.q. 825–50 (Rispling, in prep.).29
ure is only 4% (Noonan 1986:138–40). How is this long they remained in circulation – i.e. were used in
difference to be explained? A reasonable answer is that area. One consequence of this is that even if there
that what we can see here is evidence of a new influx was an exchange of dirham silver between the Cali-
of dirham silver some time in the second half of the phate and the unmonetized areas outside in the peri-
9th century. This new supply included, proportion- od of low output, there is little chance of observing it
ately, a higher quantity of dirhams from the period of in coin-finds themselves. But the requirements for
low mint-output following 810. The proportion is following contacts and exchange between regions in
sufficiently high that it is clearly perceptible when Eastern Europe and Scandinavia have, however, been
compared with the dirham silver that was already in changed by the numismatic description of the Kha-
circulation. This may show that the quantity of zar imitations (Rispling 2005a). The identification of
coined silver that was carried to Scandinavia grew the existence of Khazar dirhams has fundamentally
markedly in the second half of the 9th century. I shall transformed the bases on which dirham hoards of the
discuss this conspicuous change in silver importation second quarter of the 9th century are assessed. The
in more detail in the next section, which concerns separate coin-production of the Khazars outside of
finds with t.p.q.’s from 860 to 890 (below, 7.6). the Caliphate coincided with the period of low out-
There is, meanwhile, one more important reason put in the second quarter of the 9th century.
why coins struck between 820 and 850 are sparsely It has long been disputed whether or not the
represented in the finds. These dirhams are of a much Khazars minted for themselves (e.g. Arne 1914; von
poorer standard (Noonan 1990:254). For this reason Zambauer 1968). The Khazar question was re-acti-
they are difficult to identify, which can exaggerate the vated in numismatic scholarship by the Russian nu-
impression of a reduction in minting. This is clear mismatist Alexei Bykov’s analysis of the coin-find
when we take an overview of the composition of the from Devitsa in the Northern Caucasus. Bykov (1971)
hoards with t.p.q.’s from c. 825–850 in the following classified the Abbasid imitations in this find as
table (Tab. 7.8). More than 20% of the dirhams are Khazar copies. Gert Rispling (1987:83, 2001:327,
unidentifiable. Altogether, we can confidently say 2005a) has used die-studies to connect a series of
that the monetary reduction immediately after the Abbasid imitations to the known Khazar coins and
reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid is a matter of fact, thus supported Bykov’s argument with empirical evi-
but that it was probably of shorter duration than has dence (Fig. 7.13). The earliest date given on a numis-
generally come to be believed. matically identifiable Khazar dirham is 837–8. In a
number of hoards these imitations now provide the
The Khazar imitations latest coin (Talvio 2002:42–3). The number of known
As the discussion shows, the dating of hoards dep- Khazar imitations is, however, still limited. They
osited during the first half of the 9th century is affect- occur especially in the larger dirham hoards (Tab.
ed by the low output of coin from the Caliphate. 7.8). But it is possible to trace the development of
Another fundamental problem is the low standard of contacts and exchange even in the period of low out-
minting in this period, which makes identification put. They occur in large quantities in a number of
difficult. This makes it difficult, in turn, to determine Eastern European finds of the 830s in particular (Fig.
numismatically when the dirhams reached a particu- 7.14). These probably reflect direct contacts with their
lar area of Northern or Eastern Europe and for how Khazar area of origin. This means that the first dem-

Figure 7.13 Khazar dirham with the inscription Moses, an 250
imitation of a dirham issued in Madinat al-Salam 766–7: Khazar imitations

Spillings IV, Gotland (t.p.q. 870/1), 2.08 g. Scale 3:1. Photo, Dirham hoards
Gabriel Hildebrand, Museum of National Antiquities, Western Europe
(1 ex / 1 hoard)
Stockholm. 200
Central Europe
(40 ex / 4 hoards)
Figure 7.14 Dirham hoards of the 9th century with the Finland
(2 ex / 1 hoard)
quantity of Khazar imitations recorded. Histogram based Eastern Scandinavia
(79 ex / 19 hoards)
on the numbers of the earliest Khazar imitations (ImKz_1) 150 Eastern Europe
in Rispling’s (2001) list of finds. (258 ex / 7 hoards)
100
50
onstrable occurrence of Khazar imitations is qualita-

tively and quantitatively a consistent phenomenon in
dirham hoards over wide geographical and cultural
areas. 0
800 810 820 830 840 850 860 870 880 890
Structural changes in the dirham hoards
Yet another feature that distinguishes phase III from
phase II is the striking reduction in the proportion of dirham silver and qualitative changes in the compo-
North African dirhams in the Russian hoards (Tab. sition of the finds. During the 830s and 840s the first
7.8). The North African coins are increasingly re- large hoards containing up to several hundred dir-
placed by dirhams from a series of other regions, hams appear in the Baltic area (Tab. 7.8–9): occasion-
such as the Southern Caucasus, Transoxania, and ally, as in the find from Ralswiek on the island of
Northern Iran (Noonan 1984a:160).30 Particularly
prominent in finds of the 830s are dirhams struck in
the Tahirid controlled provinces of Eastern Iran and 30 According to Noonan’s calculations (1986:151–2), two of the
Central Asia (Noonan 1981:70–1), alongside the most prolific and important North African mints, al-
Khazar imitations. Phase III can also be described on Abbasiyya and Ifriqiya, stopped producing dirhams at the
the basis of changes in the regional distribution of beginning of the 9th century.
Find Region T.p.q. Coins Spiral striated D-shaped

neckrings ingots
Hässelby Gotland 796/7 3 X X

Hammars Gotland 804/5 8 - X
Ramsowo Southern Baltic coast 828/9 336 - -
Wäsby Mainland Sweden 832/3 468 - -
Norrgårda-Norrbys II Gotland 833 62 X -
Stora Tollby II Gotland 833–842 155 - X
Kohtla Estonia 837/8 481 - -
Svedjelandet Åland 837/8 114 - -
Ocksarve Gotland 840/1 437 - -
Ralswiek Southern Baltic coast 841/2 2,211 X -
Norrgårda-Jakobssons Gotland 842/3 59 X -
Sønder Kirkeby Falster 846/7 97 X -
Table 7.9 Dirham hoards from the Baltic Sea region, some containing armrings of the Permian and Duesminde types, and
D-shaped ingots.
Figure 7.15 Basket containing hoard from Ralswiek, Rügen

(t.p.q. 841/2). The hoard was found during controlled exca-
vations, in a basket in a burnt house. Photo, Landesamt für
Kultur- und Denkmalpflege, Schwerin.
Figure 7.16 Distribution map of dirham hoards, t.p.q.

825–860. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann.
Rügen, up to several thousand (Fig. 7.15, c.f. Herr- 828/9). As I have already suggested, many of the
mann 1997:88, fig. 57). The Baltic islands, with Got- phase II small hoards found along the southern
land in the lead, stand out with a number of finds rich shores of the Baltic, should also be assigned to a later
in dirhams. In phase III we also have the first consis- phase of dirham importation than the latest coin date
tent coin dated evidence for the occurrence of spiral- would seem to indicate (above, 7.4, Fig. 7.9). If this
twisted silver rings and D-shaped ingots (Tab. 7.9). inference is right, the use of dirham silver in the
The spiral-twisted rings of the Permian type are coastal West Slav and Prussian areas was much more
apparently of Oriental origin (Hårdh 1996:138, see extensive than the distribution map for phase III
also Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:108–13; Gustin 2004c: (Fig. 7.16) reveals. The large numbers of small finds
292–3). D-shaped ingots and fragments of spiral- also suggest that the use of dirham silver – in what-
twisted neckrings are, however, also found as early as ever form – broke through widely amongst a large
in the first Gotlandic dirham hoards in phase II, in group of people. Neither Gotland nor the remainder
the first quarter of the 9th century (Fig. 7.11). of Scandinavia have any comparable concentration
There are several details that represent changes in of small dirham hoards.
the distribution of dirham silver in the second quar-
ter of the 9th century: the size of the hoards, their The re-use of dirham silver
composition, and the regional distribution of the Typical of dirhams in Northern European finds is
finds. The large hoards of this period show that large that they have small nicks in the edge of the coin
quantities of dirham silver were reaching the Baltic
Sea zone in a more organized way. In phase III, the
Baltic area as a whole, but also the individual regions 31 The dispersed hoard of Wäsby in Uppland has been given a late
in mainland Sweden, especially Central Sweden, be- date, in the 860s, in some publications (Gustin 2004b; Zachris-
came a common area of circulation of dirham silver, son 1998:285). The find spot of this hoard has been reinvestigat-
stretching from the Baltic Sea zone to Eastern Europe ed using metal-detectors. The results of this investigation have
(Fig. 7.16). To judge by the t.p.q.’s of the hoards, the not yet been published, but the later date suggested by Gustin
larger dirham hoards begin to appear in Scandinavia and Zachrisson has not been confirmed by the sample of coins
– other than on Gotland – only after c. 830 (Wäsby, newly found. The high proportion of nicked coins in this sam-
Uppland: t.p.q. 832/3).31 More consistent tendencies ple (18 out of 22 specimens), some 82%, also argues for an earli-
in the clustering of finds can first be detected in er date, in the first half of the 9th century.
regions of Sweden such as Uppland in the 850s 32 This has been checked for hoards that have been published in
(Helgö: t.p.q. 856/7), Gästrikeland (Häcklinge: t.p.q. the CNS-series (CNS): Hässelby (t.p.q.796/7); Hammars
857/8) and Västergötland (Kettilstorp: t.p.q. 850). We (t.p.q. 804/5); Norrgårda-Norrbys I (t.p.q. 818/9), Norrgårda-
can also include here one of the few 9th-century Norrbys II (t.p.q. 833/4), Norrgårda-Jakobsson (t.p.q. 842/3).
Danish dirham hoards, namely Sønder Kirkeby on 33 For instance Östris (t.p.q. 869/70) 36% – 109 out of 300 identi-
the island of Falster (t.p.q. 846/7). fied specimens in parcel C; Bölske (t.p.q. 876/7) 36% – 41 out
Taking a broad Baltic perspective, the growing of 113 specimen in parcel A (notched coins [nh] not included
number of Scandinavian hoards can also be linked to in the figures).
the West Slav and Prussian finds (Ralswiek: t.p.q. 34 The two dirhams that form the lump of melted coin are
841/2; Wieschendorf: t.p.q. 850/5; Ramsowo: t.p.q. excluded here.

Housulanmäki
Häcklinge
Svedjelandet
Wäsby Hammarudda Staraja Ladoga
Hon Kohtla
Kaupang Helgö
Viatka
Kettilstorp Pskov Uglich
Zagorodè Iagoshury Lesogurt
* Vyzhigsha
Akhremtsy
Simony
Kislaya
Sønder Kirkeby Pirciupiai Dobrino Kunakovo
Ralswiek Ramsowo
Wieschendorf Protasovo
Westerklief I
Devitsa
Leliani
Apeni
Dlivi
Barda
Nerkin Getashen
Martuni
* Gotland:
Norrgårda-Norrbys II
Stora Tollby II
Sandgårde
Norrkvie I
Ocksarve I 0 500 1000 km
Norrgårda-Jakobssons
Svenskens
Runne
metal (e.g. Figs. 7.10, 7.14; Rispling 2004b). Ulla Lin- Dirham silver was eventually accepted without need
der Welin (1956a:152) understood the nicks as prima- for further testing (pers. comm., Gert Rispling). The
rily a Scandinavian phenomenon. More recent re- presence or absence of nicks can also be used to date
search has suggested that they arise in Russia, and single finds of dirhams in settlement layers as at
more precisely in the Caucasus (Rispling 1998). A Kaupang. Examination of the Kaupang finds shows
study of Swedish hoards dated to the first half of the that nicks are not widely found. Of 90 coins record-
9th century reveals that nearly all of the coins have ed, 16 had signs of nicking: some 15%.34 Thus the
been nicked.32 It is only in hoards dated post-870 that Kaupang dirhams belong in all probability to a phase
the proportion of nicked coins reduces significant- of dirham importation that started off only in the
ly.33 Gert Rispling (2004b:33) has also noted a de- second half of the 9th century (see also Blackburn,
tectable reduction of frequency from 850. this vol. Ch.3.5.3).
That the proportion of coins with nicks in hoards
falls significantly during the second half of the 9th Conclusions
century may be due to the coins having come from The reduction of coin-output in the Caliphate has
different areas of circulation within the Caliphate. been identified as a crucial methodological issue af-
Another possible explanation is rather that the finds fecting the interpretation of finds from this period.
show changes in the testing practices in this period. The finds thus offer few secure bases for tracing the
development of those contacts that were rooted fun-

damentally in the exchange of dirham silver. But the Figure 7.17 Distribution map of dirham hoards, t.p.q.
conditions for studies of dirham finds from the sec- 860–890. Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem, Elise Naumann.
ond quarter of the 9th century have been changed in
a key way. This is primarily a result of the identifica-
tion of the so-called Khazar imitations as a separate
group of dirhams. It is of interest that the manifest
increase in finds in the area of Northern and Eastern
Europe in the 830s (Fig. 7.7, Tab. 7.3) can be associat-
ed with the concentration of Khazar imitations in a
number of hoards. This may reflect both a change in
and the intensification of contacts with the East.35
The analysis of secondary elements on the dir-
hams such as nicks offers another way of checking the
dating of dirham finds and of identifying an early
dirham phase in those regions in Scandinavia which
were the leading area for the circulation of silver in
the first half of the 9th century. The small proportion
of nicked coins indicates that the dirhams from
Kaupang probably belong to a pool of silver that only The stratigraphically based excavations at Kaup-
came later into circulation in Scandinavia, in the sec- ang provide us with a unique opportunity to com-
ond half of the century. pare and understand regional differences in the way
The hoards of the second quarter of the 9th cen- silver was used. A review of the 9th-century dirham
tury indicate the circulation of significant amounts of hoards shows at present that Southern Scandinavia
dirham silver outside of Eastern Europe. From phase formed a distinct region which did not follow the
III there are large dirham hoards in several areas same course of development as the Baltic area. The
around the Baltic (Fig. 7.16). Alongside these, we impression of Southern Scandinavia as an almost
must set the small dirham hoards of the West Slav dirham-free area is reinforced by the stratigraphical
and Prussian area which according to t.p.q. are to be evidence from Kaupang. The surviving layers dated
dated pre-825 but which can more realistically be between 800 and c. 840/50 were methodically sieved
regarded as the products of an inflow of dirham silver (Pilø 2007b: 156–8). Rather than dirhams there are
from Eastern Europe that got under way only in the some pieces of uncoined hacksilver in later stratified
830s and 840s (above, 7.4). This indicates that the contexts of site period II, which means the second
exchange relationships in which Russian dirham sil- quarter of the 9th century (Pedersen and Pilø
ver was a fundamental element gained an increasing- 2007:187–8, tab. 9.2). Apart from just one Carolingian
ly secure hold in the Baltic Sea zone in phase III, espe- denier (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:56, 58), the strati-
cially on Gotland and along the southern shores of fied deposits of Kaupang thus indicate that during
the Baltic. The many small finds also show that the the first half of the 9th century silver was used prima-
use of dirham silver was reaching a wider circle of the rily in uncoined form. But when, then, did coined sil-
population in the West Slav/Prussian coastal zone. ver such as dirhams start to circulate in greater quan-
On the other hand, there is no sign of the use of tities in Kaupang and Southern Scandinavia?
dirham silver reaching a more organized and regular
level in Southern Scandinavian during the first half of 7.6 The Abbasid find-horizon after AD 860
the 9th century. There are no dirham hoards like (Phase IVa, t.p.q. 860–890)
those of the Baltic Sea zone except that from Sønder The second half of the 9th century has been charac-
Kirkeby (t.p.q. 846) on Falster. Sønder Kirkeby is terized by some scholars as a period of recession in
thus the westernmost dirham hoard of phase III. The trading networks, leading to a change in the prevail-
scattered hoards in mainland Sweden and in the area ing economic system in Scandinavia and the Baltic
of Denmark thus follow the same pattern as we have Sea zone (e.g. Randsborg 1980; Callmer 1994:66–8). It
formerly seen in Russia and on Gotland. They can be has also been suggested that there was a break in con-
interpreted as individual activities in an early, pre- tacts with Eastern and Western Europe, and an all-
liminary stage in the use of dirham silver. round shortage of silver both in Scandinavia and in
Eastern Europe during this period. The silver-crisis
hypothesis has been built upon a variety of observa-
35 According to Talvio the increase in hoarding in the 830s indi- tions concerning the coin-finds linked together with
cates a shortage of silver in the Baltic region. This lack of sil- information from historical sources. The already
ver was probably a product of the monetary crisis in the sparse inflow of Frankish deniers and Anglo-Saxon
caliphate (Talvio 2002:90). pennies to Scandinavia came to an end as a result of,

Torgård
Bertby
Översävja
Kaupang Fittja
Långhalsen Novgorod Pankino
Hällestad parish Poterpel`tsy Kuznetskoe
Äskedal Lake Peipus Bol`shoe Timeorvo
Södra Gärdslösa * Libagi Shumilovo
Algutsrum
Skarpa Alby Toropets Moskva city
Broby
Rostovets Khitrovka
Porechè Lucesy Ostrogi Zheleznitsa
Rantrum Busdorf I Vitebsk province Beavo Gruchino Supruty
Pinnow Mishnevo Borki
Torksey Karnice Bobyli
Westerklief II
Drohiczyn Mioseevo
Czechòw Pogrebnoe ravine
Croydon
Muizen
Poltava
Novaia Lazarevka
Chersones
Sunzinskaia stanitsa
Chikaani Piccovani
* Gotland:
Lilla Vägome Bölske
Häffinds Kysings
Spillings III Dals
Ajmunds Slite
Alskute Kinner
Östris Sojvide
Hemmor Hägvide 0 500 1000 km
Spillings IV Larsarve
Vikare Lingsarve
Spillings II
inter alia, Viking raiding and the growing economic siderable amounts of dirham silver can be seen for
and political insecurity in the West. In this period the the first time in the monetized areas of North-
first phase of the early Southern Scandinavian coin- Western Europe.
age also came to an end (Malmer 1966:213–6). A sim- Phase IVa concerns hoards with t.p.q.’s from 860
ilar pattern of unrest and turmoil seems also to affect to 890 (Fig. 7.17). In the year 892 the Samanid emirs
the Eastern networks after c. 860 (Callmer 2000b: began their large-scale minting in Central Asia
74–6). The trade-routes in Russia were plagued with (Noonan 2001:153). The later boundary is defined in
troubles as well. As a direct consequence, it is terms of numismatic history and has no direct reflec-
thought, dirham silver went out of circulation in this tion in the hoards – not in Scandinavia, at least. The
period too, leading to a comprehensive silver role of phase IVa is to distinguish between hoards of
drought in Russia and the Baltic Sea zone (Noonan Abbasid dirhams and mixed hoards of both Abbasid
1985:42–8). In this section, however, I propose that and Samanid coins. The mixed hoards will be dis-
dirham finds from this period may show quite the cussed as phase IVb in the next section (below, 7.7).
opposite: namely the existence of the widespread cir- From phase IVa a total of 68 hoards (excluding
culation of dirham silver and even an increase in Western Europe) with around 45,000 dirhams has
access to silver both in Eastern Europe and around been recorded (Tab. 7.10). The Eastern European
the Baltic. Furthermore, the use of smaller but con- finds dominate the picture, followed by the Baltic
number of finds dirhams largest Figure 7.18 Hoard from Spillings II, Gotland (t.p.q.
dirham hoard 874–875). Photo, Raymond Hejdström, The County
Museum of Gotland.
Finland (mainland) - - -
Western Scandinavia 1 7 7 Torgård
Southern Scandinavia 2 17 13 Rantrum
Southern Baltic coast 2 394 251 Pinnow
The Caucasus 2 c. 808 c. 670 Chikaani
East-Central Europe 2 1,074 766 Czechów
Sweden (mainland) 6 2,711 2,049 Äskedal
Baltic islands 23 20,500 c. 9,100 Spillings IV
Eastern Europe 30 19,471 > 10,000 Vitebsk
Sum 68 44,982
Western Europe 3 99 95 Westerklief II
Table 7.10 The regional distribution of dirham hoards, phase IVa (t.p.q. 860–90).
islands, particularly Gotland. The Swedish mainland problematic supposition (above, 7.2).
also has a higher number of dirham hoards than The theory of an all-round shortage of silver in
from previous phases. There are isolated dirham the second half of the 9th century has had several far-
finds in both Southern and Western Scandinavia, the reaching consequences in studies concerned with the
Frankish empire, Frisia and England. importance of silver in Viking society. Both Malmer
The frequency of deposition shows a distinct in- and Randsborg used the silver crisis as a decisive
crease in the 860s, with 40 finds, and an equally mar- argument against Sture Bolin’s concept (1953) of
ked decrease post-c. 875 (Tab. 7.3, Fig. 7.7). The high Scandinavian-controlled transit trade between the
number of coins of phase IVa is also a product of two Caliphate and the Carolingian realm in the second
exceptionally large finds from Spillings, Gotland, half of the 9th century. Rather than a surplus of silver
with a total of 14,200 dirhams (Fig. 7.18). It should that Scandinavians carried westwards, this half-cen-
likewise be stressed that the high quantity of coins in tury is characterized in their view by the collapse of
Eastern Europe is primarily the product of a now dis- the network of exchange. It is precisely the lack of cal-
persed hoard from Vitebsk in Belorus. The number endrically dated individual finds of coins that is for
of coins has been calculated here on the basis of both of these a key argument against Bolin’s idea of
information on the total weight of coined silver. an economic and political upswing in the wake of
Scandinavian expansion. Scandinavia thus was not
The concept of a great silver crisis functioning as a transit area in the second half of the
A number of scholars have discussed whether or not 9th century (Malmer 1966:216–17; Randsborg 1980:
there was a general “silver crisis” that affected the 158–9). The silver-crisis hypothesis has also contrib-
exchange network in Scandinavia in the second half uted less directly to dating the beginning of large-
of the 9th century (e.g. Malmer 1966:212–18; Rands- scale silver jewellery production in Scandinavia to c.
borg 1980:152–3; Noonan 1985). A key factor behind 900 onwards. The necessary conditions for this out-
this hypothesis has been the interpretation of the put, in Southern Scandinavia at least, were not to be
coins from the graves at Birka. The large number of found until large quantities of dirham silver were in
coin-bearing graves there shows a clear fall in the
number of dirhams struck betweeen c. 850 and 890
(Arbman 1955:135).36 The lack of coins dated calen- 36 Kenneth Jonsson (2001:33) has recently referred to 133 coin
drically to the second half of the 9th century has been graves at Birka with a total of 227 specimens, both Western
interpreted both by Brita Malmer and Klaus Rands- and Eastern. Landgren’s database provides information on
borg as evidence of the general absence of coins and 158 dirhams in 111 graves. In place of the only four examples
consequently of a shortage of silver. This argument originally noted by Holger Arbman (1955:135) there are 9
depends upon a very precise reading of the year in dirhams struck between 850 and 883 from 7 graves: Birka
which coins were minted. Methodologically, it pre- grave nos. 307 (855); 513 (862); 709 (854); 737B (883); 840
sumes a close connexion in time between minting in (850); 1045 (c. 864); and 1057 (800; 869; 869; 880). Three
the Caliphate, the importation of coins to Scandi- graves with coins of this date also contained coins issued after
navia, and the dates at which these came into use at 890: 524 (860; 864; 909); 707 (726; 860; 899); and 968 (860;
Birka. As I explained by way of introduction, this is a 905; 906).

circulation, which coincided with the beginning of ing after 875, or that this is a reflection of a general
the importation of Samanid coins at the start of the shortage of silver. It is consequently far from certain
10th century and a rise in the number of coin dated that the short silver boom that Noonan has described
hoards (e.g. Hårdh 1996:65; above, 7.1). By contrast, lasted only some 15–20 years. It could perfectly well
the marked increase in dirham hoards in the 860s has have lasted much longer.
– with some exceptions (e.g. Herschend 1989:390; In my view, the drastic increase and decrease in
Callmer 2000b:75) – not been noted or discussed in finds should be explained another way. It was con-
the literature. In the next section, therefore, we need ceivably a consequence of a disruption of contacts in
to look more closely at this peculiar peak in frequen- one or more of the intermediary links to the mone-
cy of deposition and to discuss what it may represent. tized areas of the Caliphate. Since no – or just a few –
dirhams struck post-875 are found in these interme-
Silver crisis or silver glut? diary locations, the datings cluster, and imply an
Like Malmer and Randsborg, even Thomas Noonan increase in the frequency of deposition. In this case,
(1985) sees evidence of a general “silver crisis” in the the most recently struck coins that were circulating in
coin finds. In order to sustain this idea Noonan Eastern and Northern Europe affect the dating of the
anlayses the age structure of dirham hoards from this finds even if they were old when they came to be
period. The composition of Russian, Polish and buried. One consequence is that the impression given
Swedish hoards from the second half of the 9th cen- by finds assessed in terms of t.p.q. becomes intense in
tury provides evidence for changes in the importa- what appears to be a long stretch of the histogram.
tion of coins in the East between c. 850 and 875. But coins could have remained extensively in circula-
Hoards with t.p.q.’s post-850, but especially post- tion after 875 too. Here we face a general method-
860, contain higher and higher proportions of newly ological constraint on using the t.p.q.-histogram to
minted dirhams (Noonan 1985:44–5, charts II–IV). In identify either a shortage or the availability of silver
finds with t.p.q.’s post-875 this growing tendency coin.
reverses. Characteristic of these finds is that they con- But there is every reason to believe that Islamic
tain few recently minted coins (Noonan 1985:45–8, silver coin minted after c. 875 was still reaching some
charts V–VII). In contrast to the situation in the first areas of Eastern Europe and from there was trans-
half of the 9th century, the reducing frequency of ported further to the West. There are seven hoards on
recent coins post-875 was not the result of any mone- Gotland (Dals: t.p.q. 880/1; Slite: t.p.q. 881/2; Kinner:
tary and political crisis in the Caliphate (above 7.5). t.p.q. 883/4; Sojvide: t.p.q. 885/6; Hägvide t.p.q. 887/8;
Comparative studies of coin hoards in the Middle Larsarve: t.p.q. 890/1; Lingsarve: t.p.q. 896/7), two
East reveal continuity of production (Noonan 1985: hoards from the interior of Poland (Czechów: t.p.q.
47–8, chart IX). The aging and diminishing stratum 882/3; Drohiczyn: t.p.q 893/4) and two hoards from
of finds post-875 points, in the view of Noonan, to a the Ukraine (Poltava: t.p.q. 882/3; Novaia Lazarevka:
break in the established distributional network for t.p.q 893) that are dated to the 880s and 890s (Fig.
dirham silver beyond the Caliphate. In his view, how- 7.21). This may show that dirham silver minted in the
ever, this silver shortage affected both Russia and the Caliphate was transported to the island and to some
Baltic Sea zone only for a relatively short period. The other parts of Eastern Central Europe during the
Eastern silver crisis eased at the beginning of the 10th period of sparse finds. There were probably still some
century when the exchange of dirham silver and the distributional networks operating in Eastern Europe
contacts between the Caliphate and Eastern Europe obtaining silver directly from the Caliphate which
changed in character. It was then that newly coined were not affected even by the post-875 cessation (see
Samanid silver from Central Asia swiftly becomes Tab. 7.3). We shall look at Gotland further in this
evident in our finds (Noonan 1985:48–9). light in the final section.
There is an important methodological considera- The theory of a silver crisis is partially correct
tion concerning the evaluation of the frequency of insofar as it works to explain the reduction in the sup-
deposition that needs to be considered here but ply of dirhams struck post-875: i.e. there was a break
which was not discussed by Noonan. The increase in in contacts between the Caliphate and some net-
the deposition of finds need not immediately depend works through which dirhams were distributed in the
upon a greater deposition of dirhams in the 860s and East. But the theory is utterly misleading as an ac-
870s only. What we can be sure of is that the increase count of the access to silver and the actual quantity of
in finds was the result of intensive importation and dirham silver that remained in circulation in Scan-
deposition that cannot have begun until after 860. dinavia after 875. The massive rise in dirham hoards
Known hoards with Samanid dirhams from the dated post-860 represents a clear increase in the
beginning of the 10th century represent a secure quantity of dirhams which preceded the importation
lower limit for phase IVa (7.7). The same reasoning of Samanid coins of the beginning of the 10th centu-
applies to the reduction of finds post-875. This is not ry. It can therefore be regarded as a major surge in the
necessarily evidence that there was an end to hoard- importation of silver in its own right. The pre-Sama-

Find Region T.p.q. T.p.q. Total Islamic European Silver

Islamic European coins coins coins objects
Croydon England 842/3 872 c. 250 3 AS, C X

Torksey England (866/8) (x-875) 172 68 AS X
Busdorf I/Hedeby Schleswig-Holstein 867 c. 825 7 4 S -
Muizen Belgium 867 ? 73 1 C -
Westerklieff II Northern Frisia 871/2 875/7 134 95 C X
Rantrum Schleswig-Holstein 873–7 - 13 13 - X
Cuerdale37 England 895/6 905 c. 7,000 36 AS, C, S X
Table 7.11 Hoards containing dirhams in Southern Scandinavia and North-Western Europe, with t.p.q.’s post-860.
Including single finds from the “productive site” of Torksey: AS = Anglo-Saxon; C = Carolingian; S = Scandinavian.
nid wave of imports still included many older dir- types of complete armring and ingot. The hoard
hams struck in the 8th century and early in the 9th, weighed c. 1.6 kg in total. The later find, Westerklief
alongside, however, a higher proportion of later 9th- II, contained 95 dirhams, of which 54 were in frag-
century coins. The difficulty is, to determine when ments, 39 Carolingian deniers, 24 fragments of hack-
dirhams from this influx made an impact on the silver, and a complete ingot (Fig. 7.19). This hoard
exchange relationships in unmonetized regions of weighed much less than the earlier one, c. 450 g. The
Scandinavia. To try to answer this question, we need latest coin date for the later find is determined by a
to turn our attention further west, to the monetized large number of Islamic and Carolingian coins that
areas of the Frankish realm and to Anglo-Saxon Eng- lie very close in date. The t.p.q. of the dirhams is 871/2
land. and that of the Carolingian deniers 875–7 (Besteman
2004a:95–8; Coupland 2006:249).
Dirham finds from the North-West of Europe Torksey, in Lincolnshire, in the North-East Mid-
The use of metal-detectors has transformed the situa- lands of England, is a further find-place from which
tion in respect of dirham finds in North-Western metal-detecting has produced a large number of in-
Europe too. This is the case above all in Great Britain dividual finds of coins (Blackburn 2002). Documen-
(Blackburn 2003) and the West Frisian coastal terri- tary sources give Torksey as a campsite of the Viking
tories of the Netherlands (Besteman 2004a:93 and Great Army that invaded England in 865. This army
102, fig. 3). A number of finds can be associated with camped at Torksey for an extended period in 872 and
the presence of Scandinavians in the neighbourhood stayed there over winter (Blackburn 2002: 89). Al-
and with historically attested Viking expeditions in together at least 50 coins have been recorded from
Western Europe of the second half of the 9th century. three fields outside Torksey, including 11 dirhams.38
The Western European coins found either in, or Recently there have been recorded many more dir-
immediately adjacent to, the areas in which they were hams which makes now a total of 68 known speci-
originally valid. The Anglo-Saxon pennies and Caro- mens (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:49–50). As of yet,
lingian deniers, which as a rule had a shorter period this is the largest number of dirhams known from
of currency and use than dirhams, thus provide a any of the “productive sites” of Great Britain (Gra-
control on the dating of the dirhams that are includ- ham-Campbell 2004:41). The coins have been found
ed in find-complexes (Tab. 7.11). over a relatively wide area and thus cannot be the
At the farm of Westerklief on the island of Wie- remains of a plough-scattered hoard. The historical
ringen in the Netherlands, two hoards of Viking- dating of the Torksey camp to the year 872 matches
period character were discovered in various stages the dates of the coins from the site well. So far, five
between 1995 and 2001. These finds provide the first English pennies have been recorded that were minted
direct numismatic evidence of Scandinavian influ- and current in the period 862–873. No later 9th-cen-
ence in this area. They also corroborate the informa- tury, or 10th-century, coins have been found here.
tion in the historical sources indicating that West Earlier 8th-century pennies and sceattas may be evi-
Frisia was under the control of Danish Vikings in the dence of earlier activity at this place. Finds of Anglo-
second half of the 9th century (Besteman 2004a: Scandinavian metalwork, meanwhile, seem to indi-
94–5). The earlier hoard, Westerklief I, which is dated cate that this site continued to function in some way
to 850, contained 78 whole Carolingian deniers. With
these was found one dirham and two Sassanid
drachms. These had been reworked as coin-jewellery 37 McCormick 2001:821; Rispling 2001:no. 109.
(Besteman 1999). The find also contained various 38 Graham-Campbell refers to 13 specimens (2004:41).
or other during the 10th century (Blackburn 2002: Western dirham hoards are thus inter-related in a
90–3 and 99). It is of interest that the dirhams in the further archaeological way (Munksgaard 1963; Gra-
small dirham hoard from Croydon, south of Lon- ham-Campbell 2004:40–1; see Hårdh, this vol. Ch.
don, all date to the first half of the 9th century. 5:96, 111).
Westerklief II, by contrast, shows Islamic and West- Not only Croydon but also Sønder Kirkeby and
ern European coins with latest dates that are contem- Strøby seem to indicate a general tendency in the cir-
porary, dated to post-871/2 and 875/7 respectively. A culation of dirham silver. All of the coin-finds indi-
close chronological correlation in the range of the cate that down to the 860s relatively old dirhams
dates of issue of Western Europe pennies and the were in circulation. Westerklief II and Torksey, with
dirhams is also evident from the single coin finds more recent dirhams, thus appear to indicate that
from Torksey (Tab. 7.11). “newer” dirhams began to circulate in the North Sea
Croydon provides only a limited statistical basis area at the latest at the beginning of the 870s. The
in respect of the number of dirhams in the assem- changes in the composition of the westernmost
blages. But the chronological discrepancy in its dirham hoards should thus also be applicable to the
t.p.q.’s may show that relatively old dirhams, struck chronological evaluation of all of the dirham finds
before c. 850, remained in circulation down to c. 870 from Northern and Eastern Europe.
at the latest. Fragments of coins were in the posses-
sion of Danish Vikings who were members of the Conclusions
Great Army and had presumably obtained those dir- Both the individually found coins and the dirham
hams in the lands around the Baltic Sea area. The hoards have been cited as evidence of a shortage of
only larger dirham hoard from the territory of Den- silver during the second half of the 9th century. But
mark of the 9th century is that from Sønder Kirkeby the dirham hoards of this period in particular contra-
on Falster (t.p.q. 846/7), with 97 dirhams. In the same dict this. They can be interpreted in terms of either
area, although in the South-East of Sjælland, is the silver wealth or of a general silver crisis during the
detector-find site of Strøby, which has early dirhams. final quarter of the 9th century. According to my
This find-assemblage consists of thirteen coins which argument, the idea of a silver crisis is primarily a
may derive from a ploughed-out hoard. Strøby is product of the numismatic calendrical dating, which
dated to c. 850 (von Heijne 2004: 298). At Torksey, prioritizes the period of minting and not the period
Croydon, Sønder Kirkeby and Strøby, fragments of of the import and use of the dirham silver. A discus-
the Scandinavian imitations of spiral-twisted arm- sion of the period of use of dirham silver therefore
rings of Eastern type were also found. All of the early needs to be based to a considerable extent upon com-
dirham find-spots in Denmark and all of the early parative studies between hoards and individual coin-

be found over wide areas of Scandinavia and certain

Figure 7.19 Hoard from Westerklief II, island of Wieringen, parts of North-Western Europe after about AD 860;
The Netherlands (t.p.q. 875). post-870 at the latest. This was before the influx of
Photo, Besteman 2004a:97, fig. 2. Samanid coins that started at the beginning of the
10th century. The large quantity of Abbasid dirhams
from Kaupang fits this situation well. Instead of a sil-
ver crisis, we can assume, in all confidence, that use
was made of dirham silver to a greater extent than
had previously been thought. Through the large
number of individual finds of Abbasid dirhams in
Charlotte Blindheim’s excavations, activity in the set-
tlement area of Kaupang appeared to have been lim-
ited to the 9th century. However the archaeological
dating of the extensive cemetery material shows that
many of the burials in the grave-field around the set-
tlement were made in the 10th century too (Blind-
heim et al. 1981:183–4) The newly undertaken review
of the entire cemetery evidence from Kaupang con-
firms this and thus constitutes clear evidence of activ-
ity in the 10th century (Stylegar 2007:81). The investi-
finds from more closely datable settlement contexts. gations at Kaupang since 1998 have produced a small
Most 9th-century dirham hoards in Northern number of Samanid dirhams that show that activity
and Eastern Europe have a latest coin date between c. in the settlement area may have continued as late as c.
860 and 875. A prominent feature of these finds is that 960–980 (see Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:54). In this
they have a clearly distinctive chronological age- regard it is of great significance to establish how long
structure. They contain relatively large quantities of Abbasid silver coin continued to circulate at Kaup-
9th-century dirhams and a higher proportion of ang. Was the circulation of Abbasid coined silver
recently struck dirhams than earlier hoards. But their confined to the 9th century or is there evidence that it
composition is still dominated by coins struck in the was still used on a considerable scale in the 10th? To
8th century or at the beginning of the 9th. Rather answer these questions we have to take a closer look
than a silver crisis in the East, the hoards could really at the point at which Samanid silver coin made its
show quite the opposite. Basing oneself upon the appearance in Scandinavia.
individually found dirhams and the hoards one may
suspect a quantitative surge in the access to dirham The Samanid transitional phase
silver in phase IVa (below, 7.8). according to hoard-finds
On a regional level too, it is possible to trace In the year 892/3, the Samanid emirs began to strike
changes in this period. Dirhams were spreading from coins in Transoxania in Central Asia. The huge level
the silver-using core-areas of the Baltic Sea zone fur- of minting under the Samanids was apparently based
ther west to other parts of Scandinavia, and yet fur- upon the extraction of silver from the rich silver
ther westwards still to the border zones of the mines of Shash, now Tashkent, and Panjshir in Af-
Carolingian kingdom and Anglo-Saxon England. In ghanistan (Noonan 2001:153). Analyses of dirham
Southern Scandinavia, this is evident not in the form finds from the 10th century show that Samanid dir-
of dirham hoards but rather through large numbers hams came rapidly to dominate some hoards in
of individual coin-finds at trading sites such as Kaup- Central Europe. The early Samanid hoard of Kluko-
ang. The Western European coin-finds containing wice (t.p.q. 901/2) by the river Bug in the interior of
dirhams show that larger quantities of Islamic silver Poland, can be taken as an example. Both geographi-
were reaching parts of the Frisian coast and areas of cally and chronologically, the hoard is extremely
England, after c. 870 at least. In this way, the dirham compact in composition. There are few Abbasid
silver that came via Eastern Europe achieved its coins in the find. More than 90% of the coins are
widest geographical distribution beyond the borders newly struck Samanid dirhams from the mints of al-
of the Caliphate. The dirham finds of Western Shash and Samarkand in Transoxania. The chrono-
Europe and also from Kaupang can thus be incorpo- logical range is no more than 25 years and is concen-
rated into the end of a process that began in the trated in the 890s and 900s (Noonan 1985:48–9, chart
Southern Caucasus some hundred years previously. X; Brather 1997:99–100, figs. 8 and 9:1).
An early transition from Abbasid to Samanid
7.7 The Samanid find-period after AD 890 importation can also be traced in a number of Scan-
(Phase IVb, t.p.q. 890–920) dinavian hoards, such as, for instance, from Viken in
Large-scale recycling of Abbasid dirham silver was to Hälsingland (t.p.q. 906/7) with 78% Samanid dir-
9th-century contexts. I shall argue, however, that the

Find Region T.p.q. Total Samanid Samanid early Samanid hoards alone cannot be taken as proof
(%) that the great wave of Samanid coin came to domi-
nate the circulation of silver in Scandinavia almost
Lingsarve Gotland 896/7 244 2 0.8 immediately after its arrival, namely around the year
Lilla Hammars Gotland 903/4 281 58 20 900, as is generally supposed to have been the case.
Buters Gotland 906/7 30 14 47 The table below shows that the percentage of
Viken Hälsingland 907/8 195 152 78 Samanid dirhams in hoards from Sweden of phase
Lilla Veller Gotland 907/8 55 29 52 IVb varies from 4% to 100% (Tab. 7.12). This is not
Bote Gotland 912/3 99 69 70 least the case with hoards on Gotland. The early
Stora Velinge Gotland 910/1 2674 117 4 Samanid hoards in Sweden contain from 30 to 250
Ockes Gotland 911/2 261 64 25 coins and are smaller than the hoards of phase IVa.
Högby vicarage Öland 915/6 7 100 100 One exception is Stora Velinge, Gotland, with more
Kännungs Gotland 917/8 81 65 80 than 2,600 specimens. Only 4% of Stora Velinge con-
Ytternora Dalarna 918/9 25 3 12 sisted of Samanid coins and the hoard is reminiscent
Österlings Gotland 919/20 33 33 100 both in size and composition of the great hoards of
Säby Öland 920/1 17 15 88 phase IVa (Sawyer 1971:229, fig. 19; see also below, Ch.
Ingvards Gotland 922/3 92 79 86 7.8 and Fig. 7.21).
Norrvange Gotland 923/4 82 32 39 From the first decade of the 10th century it is
Lilla Bjärges Gotland 928/9 44 44 100 principally hoards in Gotland and Hälsingland to the
Lilla Bjärs Gotland 930/1 133 128 96 North of Central Sweden that contain high propor-
tions of Samanid dirhams (i.e. from 20 to 78%).
Table 7.12 Proportion of Samanid coins (including Volga Bulgar imitations) in There is, however, an exception to this regionally
Gotlandic and Eastern Scandinavian hoards with t.p.q.’s 896–930. Hoards of more limited distribution of early Samanid hoards in the
than five coins only (Landgren database).39 case of the find of Over Randlev I in East Jutland
(t.p.q. 910/11; Tab. 7.13, Fig. 7.20). Hoards with higher
proportions of Samanid coin do not appear else-
Find Region T.p.q. Total Samanid Sam. English where in Scandinavia before finds with t.p.q.’s post-
% 915 (Tab. 7.13). Several of the earliest dirham hoards
of Southern Scandinavia, especially those on the
Over Randlev I Jutland 910/1 234 112 48 1 Danish islands, Jutland and Skåne also contain a
Slemmestad Aust Agder 915 5 4 80 1 small number of 10th-century English pennies (Tab.
Sandvikstorp Bohuslän 916/7 26 21 81 - 7.13). Sigerslevøster, for instance (t.p.q. 921/2), is
Harka Uppland 917 27 25 93 - dated by one English and one Samanid coin (Risp-
Sigerslevøster Sealand 921 52 39 75 3 ling, in prep.). This means that the t.p.q. is reliable in
Grimestad Vestfold 921/2 77 70 91 - this case, as both the latest dated Western and
Bräcke Skåne 924/5 129 114 88 1 Oriental coins agree in date.
Oppmanna Skåne 924/5 34 33 97 - It is of interest that dirhams, including Samanid
Bunkeflo Skåne 928/9 52 41 79 - specimens, are also represented in the earliest Irish
hacksilver hoards of Viking-period character, such as
Table 7.13 Proportion of Samanid coins (including Volga Bulgar imitations) in Millockstown (t.p.q. 905) and Dysart Island (t.p.q.
selected hoards from the Swedish mainland and Southern Scandinavian, t.p.q. 907) (Ryan et al. 1984; Sheehan 1998:169, tab. 6.1). The
910–28. (Skaare 1976, 1982; Kromann 1990:185–6, tab. II–III; Rispling, in prep.). find from Dysart Island has a close agreement in the
latest coin dates of Islamic and Western European
types. The latest Samanid coin was struck in the year
hams, or Bote on Gotland (t.p.q. 912/13) with 70%. 902/3 and the newest Anglo-Scandinavian coin post-
Nearly all of the coins in the Viken hoard come from 905 (Kenny 1987:509). It is also of interest that the
mints in Transoxania. Like Klukowice, then, this find hoard from Cuerdale (t.p.q. 905), on the other side of
has a virtually homogeneous composition geograph- the Irish Sea in North-Western England, has nearly
ically (Landgren database). The inception of Sama- the same latest coin date as Dysart Island (Archibald
nid minting and the rapid transition to the find-hori- 1992; Fig 8.21). Here too there was a high number of
zon dominated by Samanid coin has also been taken dirhams and here too the chronological discrepancy
as a basis for distinguishing between dirham finds between the latest dated Islamic and Western Euro-
before and after c. 890, which has in turn been ap- pean coins was relatively narrow. The most recent
plied to a series of archaeological studies (e.g. Jansson Islamic coins were not Samanid dirhams but coins
1985:124; Gustin 2004b). The Samanid find-horizon struck in the years between 890 and 895 at Abbasid
dates archaeological contexts of the 10th century; the mints such as Arminiya in the Caucasus and Madinat
Abbasid-dominated phase generally coincides with al-Salam (McCormick 2001:821).

Figure 7.20. Early Samanid hoard from the

Viking-age village of Randlev on Jutland. The
hoard, which is now exhibited at the National
Museum in Copenhagen, was discovered in
1932. Later excavations conducted by Moesgård
museum revealed that the hoard was concealed
in a sunken hut that had been used as a smith’s
workshop. Photo, Moesgård Museum, Århus.
This means that Samanid dirhams – soon after This means that the inflow of Samanid coin was
they were struck – were carried at the beginning of at first sporadic in Scandinavia and Eastern Central
the 10th century direct to Gotland and from there to Europe, and confined to particular areas. My view is
regions lying around the Irish Sea. A possible link that the rapid transition in the importation of Sa-
between these two poles is the North and East of manid silver at the beginning of the 10th century, and
Jutland. The earliest Samanid hoard of Southern the conclusions we choose to draw from that, thus
Scandinavia has been found here: Over Randlev I depend upon which region we decide to study. To go
(t.p.q. 910/11) (Fig. 7.20) (von Hejne 2004:365). An by t.p.q.-figures, Samanid silver coin starts to be
even earlier dirham hoard with late Abbasid dirhams dominant in the Gotlandic hoards between c. 905
is from Koldemosen north of the Limfjord (t.p.q. and 910; in Hälsingland and Northern Jutland before
897) (Skovmand 1942:133, n.2; von Heijne 2004:353). c. 910; in Skåne, Bohuslän, Aust-Agder, Norway,
Gotland is thus the earliest region in the Baltic Sea maybe also Uppland in Sweden after c. 915 at the ear-
zone that was supplied with Samanid dirhams, and liest (Tab. 7.13). In the areas around Kaupang – in
subsequently passed the silver on westwards. This is Vestfold and the inner Oslofjord area – we have no
corroborated by the Irish hoard from Dysart Island evidence of Samanid hoards until after c. 920. This
which also included a fragment of a typically Got- outline of regional development in the pattern of
landic armring (Sheehan 1998:171, fig. 6.2). Gotland importation may, of course, be changed by further
was thus one of the few places in Northern Europe finds, but what is crucial is to distinguish the Got-
which succeeded in maintaining contacts eastwards landic hoards and to treat them as a separate group of
in the find-poor period. Deposition on the island of finds in evaluating the first phase of Samanid supply.
Gotland continued even after c. 875 (above, 7.6). The The earliest Samanid hoards on Gotland, in the inte-
latest coin in Gotlandic hoards of the 880s is either rior of Poland, in Ireland and in the west of Den-
from the Caucasus or from mints that subsequently
belonged to the Samanid state. Interestingly, the very
early Samanid hoard from Klukowice (t.p.q. 901/2) in 39 The percentage of Samanid coins differs in some hoards
the interior of Poland, already mentioned, also lies in according to the figures presented most recently by Noonan
the region in which we find hoards deposited after (2001:149–50, tab. B). This may be due to differences in the
875, in the find-poor period, such as Czechów (t.p.q. total number of dirhams in individual hoards, and to differ-
882/3) and Drohiczyn (t.p.q. 893/4) (Bartczak 1997: ences in counting. For instance Noonan has excluded imita-
233–4). Thus it would appear that the massive impor- tions from his figures.
tation of Samanid silver did not start immediately, as 40 The conspicuous concentration of late Abbasid and early
is often assumed, but was heralded by hoards in the Samanid hoards in Western and Southern Russia with t.p.q
same region with t.p.q.’s in the 880s and 890s (Fig. before 910 (Brather 1997:139–40) are not further discussed in
7.21). 40 this context.
N Figure 7.21 Map showing the distribution of late Abbasid

(red) and earliest Samanid (yellow) hoards in the Baltic Sea
and North Sea zone, Central and North-Western Europe
(t.p.q between 880 and 910). Map, Julie K. Øhre Askjem,
Elise Naumann.
Viken
Översävja
Kaupang
*
Koldemosen
**
Algutsrum
Over Randlev I Skarpa Alby
bour area. Archaeologically unambiguous 10th-cen-
Cuerdale
tury contexts, such as the hall on the upper terrace,
Millockstown
Dysart Island were dominated by earlier Abbasid dirhams struck
Drohiczyn
Klukowice before 890. If the structures were really of the 10th
Czechów century, one ought to see a much higher proportion
of Samanid coins (Jonsson 2001).
*Gotland, late Abbasid hoards: **Gotland, early Samanid hoards: That Samanid coin only began to circulate in the
Dals
Slite
Lingsarve settlement area well into the 10th century has been
Lilla Hammars
Kinner Buters shown clearly by the most recent excavations in the
Sojvide Lilla Veller
Hägvide Bote Black Earth. Ingrid Gustin (2004b) and Gert Rispling
Larsarve Stora Velinge
Lingsarve Ockes
0 250 500 km (2004a) have recently published the dirham finds
from the latest archaeological work in the settlement
area of Birka. Some 60–70 coins could be located
stratigraphically. According to the preliminary strati-
mark, give the impression of being the product of graphical study, only a few dirhams are from layers
direct connexions between the areas of origin and the pre-dating the 10th century. The quantity of coins
area of deposition of the coins. A further conclusion grows in later 10th-century layer, and their frequency
to be drawn is that the importation of Samanid dir- is greatest in the plough-layer. Samanid coins do not
hams was initially limited and not immediately ex- appear before phase 8, which is immediately below
panded over a greater area. The delayed influx of Sa- the plough-layer.41 Most of the dirhams were in fact
manid coin was therefore primarily the result of how recorded in the unstratified ploughsoil. This assem-
contacts and the exchange of dirham silver were or- blage is dominated by Samanid dirhams, although
ganized. It had less to do with geographical distance there are also a few Abbasid specimens (Rispling
and travelling time. 2004a:42–56).
There is now ample evidence that non-Samanid
The Samanid find-period in dirhams are the dominant types in many 10th-centu-
archaeological contexts ry contexts at Birka. The various stratigraphical con-
Ola Kyhlberg (1980a:54–6) has reached a similar contexts give us some clues as to when the inflow of
clusion – albeit from an archaeological perspective – Samanid dirhams had an effect on Birka. These con-
in relation to his stratigraphical study of the wharves texts have wide chronological margins. The stone-
that were examined in the harbour area of Birka in packing in the wharf-structure that was examined in
1969–71. The stone-packing of the wharf was dated by 1969–71 should, according to Kyhlberg, be dated
Kyhlberg to the period 920–40. This forms a strati- between 920 and 940. Phase 8 in the settlement area is
graphical dividing line between two separate dirham dated in Björn Ambrosiani’s preliminary scheme no
phases. The layers below the stone-packing contain earlier than c. 930. This can be interpreted in terms of
no Samanid dirhams, only Umayyad and earlier the first Samanid dirhams reaching Birka at the earli-
Abbasid coins. The layers above reveal a mixed phase est between c. 920 and 930. However we must bear in
with coins of the 8th to 10th centuries (Jansson 1985: mind that work on the phasing of the most recent
180). The excavators of buildings in the hillfort at investigations at Birka is not concluded yet, and the
Birka were faced with the same problem as in the har- time-frame may change. Finally, Blackburn takes a

different position on the interpretation of the settle- regional basis. It was these networks which estab-
ment finds from Birka. Even though the results from lished and maintained direct contacts with the terri-
the excavations in the Harbour and the Black Earth tory of the Volga Bulgars. The early Samanid hoards
could indicate that Abbasid dirhams dominated coin on Gotland probably show that the first contacts
circulation in early 10th-century Birka, he regards the established in Scandinavia were with that area. The
stratigraphical evidence as still too ambiguous, and late Samanid find-horizon in the stratified layers of
thus difficult to interpret (this vol, Ch. 3.2.7). Birka is evidence of non-involvement in this initial
phase and, rather, that contacts with the East were
The dirham network in the Samanid silver period first maintained via the River Volga at a later date.
In spite of Blackburn’s objections, there is still good There is clear regional variation in the occurrence of
reason to believe that the introduction of Samanid Samanid dirhams all round the Baltic area. This helps
silver to Birka did not begin around the year 900 but to strengthen the view that these networks were
significantly later. The question is, whether one can responsible for the peculiar situation in respect of
observe such a late transition at other sites too. Com- finds of Samanid silver. One example of regional
parable, well-documented, stratified contexts have variation in this phase is the remarkable situation in
not yet been found on Gotland, or in any of the other Åland. Here there are a number of dirham hoards
central trading sites of the Baltic Sea zone. But the sit- from both the 9th and the 10th centuries. Interest-
uation at Birka is similar to what we see at Kaupang ingly, there is a marked lack of dated finds from the
in many ways. The majority of the 10th-century 870s to the 950s. One exception is a small hoard of
graves form a contrast to the early Abbasid-dominat- four coins with a t.p.q. of 915/16 (Talvio 2002:45).
ed coin phase in the settlement area. The new re- We can also explain individual early Samanid
assessment of the cemetery evidence has indicated hoards such as, for instance, Viken in Hälsingland
that a large number of people were resident at Kaup- and Over Randlev in Jutland (Fig. 7.20) in this way.
ang during the first half of the 10th century (Stylegar In my view, these can be explained as the traces of
2007:81 and 86). What, then, is the explanation of the individual entrepreneurs who apparently participat-
later introduction of Samanid dirhams that appears ed personally in the early contacts along the River
to characterize both Kaupang and Birka? Volga. Another possibility is that people immediately
In order to answer this question we need to shift got hold of the Samanid silver coin via the networks
our attention far to the East, to the kingdom of the that were operating in the Volga Bulgar area. These
Volga Bulgars in Russia (see map, Fig. 7.3). Amongst regional differences are most evident in the phase of
the finds from Kaupang there is an imitation of a establishment but diminish bit-by-bit as Samanid sil-
Samanid coin struck in Volga Bulgaria (see Rispling ver begins to be used outside of the Volga Bulgar net-
et al., this vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 86–7). Through both docu- works too. I believe, therefore, that we ought to dis-
mentary and numismatic sources we know that tinguish the early Samanid hoards as a separate
Samanid dirhams passed through a central, inter- group of finds. From this interpretative angle, Kaup-
mediary area on their way from the Caliphate to ang – like Birka – was also outside of these networks
Scandinavia, namely the Volga Bulgar kingdom in in the establishment phase. Consequently, the domi-
the lower Volga Crook (Noonan 2001). The Volga nance of Abbasid dirhams at Kaupang can no longer
Bulgars produced their own dirhams on a consider- be used as a basis for limiting the main activity in the
able scale, copying Samanid coins (Rispling 1990). settlement area to the 9th century. It quite certainly
Numismatic studies have shown that the importa- continued well into the 10th. In Southern Scan-
tion of Samanid coin was more homogeneous and dinavia and in mainland Sweden the importation of
consistent than that of Abbasid coin in the 9th centu- Samanid silver did not begin – according to the evi-
ry. In several mint-places, coin-production can be dence of t.p.q.’s – until after c. 915/920. The Samanid
studied in detail with the aid of die-studies on Swed- hoard from Grimestad in Vestfold (t.p.q. 921/2)
ish dirham finds in a way that is not feasible with the shows that Samanid silver reached the area around
Abbasid mints (Rispling 2005b). This means that Kaupang at the earliest in the 920s. This is the same
Samanid coins were carried more directly to Scan- period as that in which Samanid coin importation
dinavia from their places of production and use. The appears at Birka. But that is where the similarities
typically compact composition of the Samanid-dom- end. Kaupang did not subsequently follow the same
inated dirham hoards thus provides us with further course of development as Birka. The absence of sig-
indications of how the contacts with Eastern Europe nificant quantities of Samanid silver that we should
concerning dirhams were structured in the 10th cen- otherwise expect shows that Kaupang remained out-
tury. As I understand it, this is a key piece of the jig-
saw to help us understand the distinctive find-situa-
tions of Birka and Kaupang. 41 The stratigraphical chronology from the most recent work at
The homogeneous Samanid hoards provide evi- Birka is still being worked on. Björn Ambrosiani has dated
dence of dirham networks that were organized on a the beginning of Phase 8 no earlier than c. 930 (pers. comm.).
side of the super-regional dirham-network systems

of the 920s and later. Its importance as a major place Hoards Dirhams % Dirhams
of exchange of dirham silver in the Oslofjord area per hoard
had probably come to an end. The late Samanid coins
– four specimens struck from 945 to 951 – make no phase I 9 376 0.6 42
difference to this view. They cannot be taken as evi- phase II 59 7,250 11 123
dence of continuous and extensive activity in Kaup- phase III 43 13,125 20 305
ang after c. 920/30. phase IVa 68 44,982 68.4 662
Conclusions 179 65,733

A series of studies have treated the Samanid silver as a
key criterion for distinguishing 10th-century from Table 7.14 All hoards containing dirhams from phases
9th-century contexts, while at the same time the I–IVa. Mean number of dirhams per phase calculated.
Samanid dirhams mark the establishment of com- Western European hoards containing dirhams omitted.
prehensive contacts with the lower Volga region and
the Islamic world of Central Asia. However, studies
of the composition of coin hoards and stratified Number Number of
archaeological contexts may indicate that the impor- of hoards dirhams
tation of Samanid dirhams did not start at a single
time across Scandinavia; rather, they show different phase I - -
regional histories. phase II 143 1,700
The analysis of the composition of the hoards phase III 444 6,103
provides good evidence which suggests that Samanid phase IVa 945 35,352
dirhams were found in circulation on Gotland from
the beginning of the 10th century, but only later at 14 43,155
Birka and in Southern Scandinavia. Stratified con-
texts at Birka strongly imply that the use of Samanid Table 7.15 The largest dirham hoards, containing more
silver began there at the earliest around 920 or even than a thousand specimens.
later. It is in fact old 8th- and 9th-century dirhams
that predominate in the various archaeological con-
texts of the first quarter of the 10th century in Birka. 7.8 The quantitative jump after c. 860
This indicates continuity of circulation and use of The aim of this section is to assess the quantitative dif-
Abbasid and even to some extent also earlier ferences in the finds of the 9th century before the
Umayyad silver coin for some time into the 10th cen- arrival of the Samanid dirhams. Consequently I have
tury. The dirham finds from Kaupang are clearly very not included hoards of phase IVb, i.e. hoards with
similar to Birka in this respect. t.p.q.’s between 890 and 930. There was a massive
The regional variation in the Samanid horizon is inflow of dirham silver in Eastern and Northern
primarily the product of an exchange network that Europe at the earliest post-860. This is shown by the
established direct contacts with the Volga Bulgar area composition of all the hoards of the whole Abbasid-
at the beginning of the 10th century. It was via the dominated period of importation. Hoards of phase
Volga Bulgars that Samanid silver was channelled IVa, i.e. hoards with t.p.q.’s between 860 and 890,
directly from Central Asia to Scandinavia. This has contain 68.4% of all the dirhams that have been
far-reaching implications for dating archaeological recorded as part of this study (Tab. 7.14). It is also of
contexts by means of Islamic coins, at least outside of interest to compare the finds of phase IVa with the
Gotland. The Samanid coins thus cannot be used as a hoards of phase II, i.e. with t.p.q.’s between 790 and
numismatic “leading type” for distinguishing the 825. The hoards of phase II constitute the first concen-
Early Viking Age from the Middle Viking Age at sites tration of finds of the 9th century (Fig. 7.7). Table 7.14
like Birka and probably also at Kaupang: i.e. between shows that the average number of dirhams per hoard
the period before and that after 890/900 (Jansson increases fivefold by phase IVa. Here, however, I have
1985:124; Gustin 2004b:100). The significance of not taken account of the many small hoards along the
Kaupang as a site at which dirham silver was handled southern shore of the Baltic dated to phase II. These
apparently disappeared just as the wave of Samanid were in all probability imported and deposited no
silver broke on Southern Scandinavia. The use of earlier than c. 830/40 or even later (above, 7.4).
dirhams and probably that of silver in general then There are several hoards of phase IVa with a large
reached other parts of the population beyond these number of dirhams that affect the whole picture.
sites. This is particularly the case with exceptionally large
finds such as the two newly discovered Spillings
hoards from Gotland (Fig. 7.18) or the now scattered

50000
Total number of dirhams
45000
Size of hoards indicated
40000
35000
25000 phase IVa > 5000 ex (3 hoards)

phase IVa > 2000 ex (4 hoards)
20000 phase IVa > 1000 ex (2 hoards)
phase IVa < 999 ex (59 hoards)
15000 phase III > 2000 ex (1 hoard)
phase III > 1000 ex (3 hoards)
10000
phase III < 999 ex (40 hoards)
phase II > 1000 ex (1 hoard)
5000
phase II < 999 ex (59 hoards)
0 phase I < 900 ex (9 hoards)
t.p.q. 770-790 t.p.q. 790-825 t.p.q. 825-860 t.p.q. 860-890
hoard from the province of Vitebsk in Belorus.

An overview of the entire period of study shows Figure 7.22 Total number of dirhams in hoards in phases
that large hoards which contained more than a thou- I–IVa respectively. Size of hoards indicated.
sand dirhams account for only 7% of the total num-
ber of individual finds, but contain two-thirds of the
total collection of coins (Tab. 7.15).42 It is therefore of only a small number of stops or collection points. On
interest to take a closer look at when the large dirham Gotland, dirham silver is concentrated in large
hoards begin to appear in the 9th century. In phase II hoards together with unminted ring and ingot silver.
there is only one single known hoard containing over The finds from, for instance, Spillings weigh up to
a thousand dirhams. This is a find from Russia. In the several tens of kilograms. Along the southern shore
Baltic Sea area hoards with large numbers of dirhams of the Baltic the dirham silver appears, by contrast, to
start to become familiar in phase III. Here, these have had a wider distribution as early as the second
appear post-c. 840 (above, 7.5). But it is only finds quarter of the 9th century. This is shown by the large
with t.p.q.’s post-860 that include several containing number of small hoards, but also by comparison with
more than 2,000 dirhams. The number of large finds other find-regions that lack the same density of finds
rises from four in phase III to nine in phase IVa, but in the 9th century as we have in the West Slav and
the number coins increases more than fivefold (Tab. Prussian area. It is striking that the small West Slav
7.15). Phase IVa thus marks a quantitative jump in the and Prussian hoards do not, as a rule, contain any
quantity of Abbasid silver that was in circulation in unminted silver.46 This is also the case with all of the
Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. This quantitative
shift within the Abbasid-dominated inflow seems to
me to have a clear effect on the use of silver coin as 42 No account has been taken here of the growing corpus of
late as the beginning of the 10th century. The circula- individual finds of coins and of small hoards of fewer than
tion of primarily Abbasid silver is superseded only by five coins.
the massive influx of Samanid dirhams. This makes 43 Belorussia: Orsha (t.p.q. 814/5), 1,700 ex.
its quantitative breakthrough first of all on Gotland, 44 Russia: Uglich (t.p.q. 828/33), 1,114 ex.; Vyzhigsha (t.p.q.
from c. 905, and subsequently in all parts of Scan- 841/2), 1,278 ex.; Iagoshury (t.p.q. 843/4), c. 1,500 ex.;
dinavia after around 920. Southern Baltic shore: Ralswiek (t.p.q. 841/2), 2,211 ex.
The following histogram (Fig. 7.22) portrays the 45 Belorussia: Baevo (t.p.q. 862?), 2,000 ex.?; Vitebsk (t.p.q.
quantitative differences between the phases that have 866?), >10,000 ex.; Russia: Bol’ soe Timerevo (t.p.q. 864/5),
been discussed above. Hoards with more than a 2,751 ex.; Shumilovo (t.p.q. 870/1), 1,326 ex.; Khitrovka (t.p.q.
thousand dirhams are presented and calculated sepa- 872/3), 1,007 ex.; Mainland Sweden: Äskedal (t.p.q. 864/5),
rately in the columns. 2,049 ex.; Gotland: Spillings III (t.p.q. 867), c. 5,100 ex.;
The quantitative shift that can be traced in phase Spillings IV (t.p.q. 870/1), c. 9,100 ex.. I have also included the
IVa depends first and foremost on a number of huge, hoard from Skarpa Alby, Öland (t.p.q. 894/5), 2,022 ex.,
coin-rich hoards. This can be interpreted as showing which has two Samanid coins (Landgren database).
that the use of dirham silver in the 9th century was 46 Exceptions that I have been able to record are the large
nurtured and controlled by a small number of play- dirham hoards from Prerow Darss (t.p.q. 802/3) and Ralswiek
ers. It may also show that the dirhams passed through (t.p.q. 841/2).
9th-century dirham hoards grouped around Birka in agents who spoke different languages and were of dif-
mainland Sweden.47 There are neither ring nor ingot ferent cultural backgrounds. In this context, I have
hoards in this area that can be dated to that century. attempted to shift the perception of archaeological
This may show that silver was used in Birka only in and historical studies of transit trade using dirham
small portions. That would be congruent with the silver in the Early Viking Period by using a different
earliest archaeological evidence of Oriental cubo- perspective (e.g. Jankuhn 1952; Bolin 1953; Noonan
octahedrical weights in Birka, which also are dated at 1980; Hodges and Whitehouse 1983).
the latest to the 860s (Gustin 2004c:310–14). These My alternative argument is for the establishment
types of weight were probably used for the fine- of the use of dirham silver as an accepted token of
weighing of silver in portions below c. 4 g (Steuer value within any region in which dirhams are found.
1997:283–4; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8.5). Thus, the dirham hoards do not just reveal contacts
The earliest dirham and hacksilver hoards of between various regions during the Viking Period
Southern Scandinavia show that silver coins reached but, rather and above all, the exchange of silver. This
several users and thus a larger part of the population process is the result of the fact that a silver object such
there. This coincided with the breakthrough of the as a coin or silver ring no longer retains and con-
tide of Samanid coin in the second quarter of the 10th strains the giver’s personal qualities but can rather be
century. The dominant 10th century that I have in- disposed of as an impersonal trade good between two
troduced was therefore not only a reflex of the parties to an exchange. In this case, coins are no
amount of silver that was in circulation (above, 7.1). longer meaningful artefacts but simply silver that can
The handling of dirham silver was in equal measure a be measured and valued according to weight and
result of the changes in the exchange networks that purity (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8.5). They are broken up
organized the distribution of the dirhams, and also of and tested. The dirhams themselves are often in frag-
the way in which silver was handled and valued: ments in the hoards. This amorphous silver, i.e. not of
sometimes as fragmented hacksilver (Kilger, this vol. any fixed shape, was handled and measured with the
Ch. 8.5), or in the form of whole, ingots or silver rings help of standardized precise weighing equipment
(Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8.4). such as spherical and cubo-octahedric weights. This
Calculations based on the number of coins can is the apparatus that characterizes the Eastern Ge-
only give us an approximate view of the size of the wichtsgeldwirtschaft (Steuer 1987, 1997). The use of
dirham hoards; not of the total weight of silver in the scales and weights as conventional exchange equip-
hoards. The uncoined silver has not been included in ment is itself the result of an extended and to a very
the reckonings. This understanding of the use of sil- high degree culturally governed process of assimila-
ver in the 9th century is one-sided, as a result, and tion (e.g Gustin 2004c).
needs to be filled out with comparative studies be- The following diagrammatic representation is a
tween silver coin and unminted silver. The phasing of summary of the regional development of how dir-
the dirham finds that I have presented in this chapter ham silver was treated in the 9th and 10th centuries in
may, in the concluding section which follows, serve Northern and Eastern Europe (Fig. 7.23). The picture
as a starting point for locating the Kaupang finds and shows both the regional development of the pattern
the numerous but coinless Southern and Western of deposition and the phasing described above. One
Scandinavian ring and ingot hoards of the 9th and significant result is that this study has been able to
10th centuries in a wider chronological, geographical show that the use of Abbasid dirham silver in Europe
and culture historical context (Skovmand 1942: spread in stages. Something that emerged clearly in
28–43; Hårdh 1996:78–83; above, 7.1). the review of the phases was that dirham hoards do
not appear at the same date over a wider geographical
7.9 Final Conclusions area. There is a manifest discrepancy in date in the
The dirhams from Kaupang can be associated with a regional pattern of deposition from East to West. The
larger set of finds that can be traced back in time to use of dirham silver – as weighed silver – began after
the last quarter of the 8th century. The geographical about AD 770 in the Southern Caucasus, and had
distribution of the dirham hoards reveals not only reached the monetized regions of North-Western
direct or indirect contacts with the Caliphate but Europe some hundred years later, after 870. Depo-
above all how dirham silver was used in the area in sition in each region is often heralded by isolated
which they were found. The dirham hoards can thus
also be understood as a material expression of regular
patterns of trade and trust-enhancing conventions 47 This applies to all silver hoards north of Småland and Öland.
that were developed from the growing long-distance Gästrikland: Häcklinge (t.p.q. 857/8); Uppland: Birka 1991
trade of the Early Viking Period, but which also influ- (small) (t.p.q. 810/1); Wäsby (t.p.q. 832/3); Helgö (t.p.q.
enced and changed that trade over the longer term 856/7); Fittja (t.p.q. 866/7); Översävja (t.p.q. 892/3); Söder-
(Sindbæk 2005). Exchange networks were created as manland: Långhalsen (t.p.q. 865/6); and Östergötland:
a product of dynamic interaction between different Hällestad parish (t.p.q. 862/3).

Phase I II III IVa IVb
775 800 825 850 875 900 925 950 975
Caucasus
Gandza
(771)
Eastern Europe
Staraja Ladoga
(786)
Eastern Scandinavia-
Gotland Hammars
(804)
Eastern Scandinavia-
Sweden mainland Wäsby
(832)
Sønder Kirkeby
(846)
Kaupang
Western Scandinavia
Torgård
(862)
Figure 7.23 The regional pattern of dirham hoarding in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, related to different
phases of importation from the East (dirham hoards from East Central Europe and North-Western Europe not included).
The established use of dirham silver indicated regionally (black line); an inconsistent pattern of hoarding, marked by the ear-
liest hoards (dotted black line); the possible extension in time of the circulation of dirhams at Kaupang (dotted red line).
hoards that are earlier in character both in terms of Europe, while at the same time it reflects the conven-
dating and composition. The diagram shows these as tions within the various regions concerning how pre-
black dotted lines. The black lines mark the continu- cious metal such as silver is valued and how it is sup-
ous use of dirham silver in the region concerned. The posed to be handled.
beginning of the black line indicates when the hoards
appear in a more concentrated form in the region, as The dirham finds from Kaupang revisited
indicated by t.p.q., composition and size. We must Although most of the dirhams from Kaupang were
note, however, that the t.p.q. value does not, as a rule, struck in the 8th century or early in the 9th, they
show the date of importation or deposition itself (see apparently did not reach the settlement area until
the methodological principles, above, 7.2). The pre- post-c. 850 at the earliest. This is implied by their
liminary phase may therefore be shorter than is sug- stratigraphical situation, and by the test-marks on
gested in this diagram. the coins. Nicked coins are much more common in
A further conclusion is that neither concentra- Scandinavian finds of phases II and III: i.e. in finds
tions of finds nor the absence of dirham finds in with t.p.q.’s between 790 and 860. Here the marks are
Eastern and Northern Europe can validly be used as a found on nearly all the coins. Nicking diminishes
basis for assessing the character of economic devel- markedly in phase IVa, i.e. in finds with t.p.q.’s
opment within a region, or for postulating silver between 860 and 890. At Kaupang, the proportion of
crises. The occurrence of hoards has sometimes been nicked coins is very low, at 15%. This indicates that
interpreted in terms of passive or primitive capital most of the coins came into circulation at Kaupang
that is not used in transactions and thus has no eco- only in the second half of the 9th century. In phase
nomic implications (e.g. Callmer 1980; Malmer and IVa there was also a sharp increase in the frequency of
Rispling 1981; Holm Sørensen 1989; Brather 1997:81). deposition and the number of dirham hoards in
To classify areas as find-rich and find-poor according Northern and Eastern Europe (Fig. 7.7). Hoards with
to a scale of values based upon wealth and economic t.p.q.’s between 860 and 875 are more common than
development does not, as I see things, lead us on to any others of the 9th century (above, 7.6). Similarly,
any understanding of why dirham hoards start to be the volume of coin in these hoards reveals a very clear
found. The distribution of finds that we can observe quantitative increase in the amount of dirhams and
is primarily the result of the establishment of a series thus in the accessibility of silver (above, 7.8). But the
of exchange networks in Eastern and Northern t.p.q.-figures do not provide direct evidence of the
date of importation or deposition in the area in the proportion never exceeds 9%.50 On the premiss
which the finds are made. Consequently I disagree that we can use the Swedish hoards as comparative
with Thomas Noonan’s idea of a short-lived silver material, we have two conceivable options for ex-
boom following 860 that was followed by a silver plaining the chronological composition of the dir-
drought after c. 875. hams at Kaupang: either the influx of dirham silver to
But is it possible for us to identify this silver rush the settlement site came to an end already within the
in the Kaupang finds too? Here we are faced with a second half of the 9th century, and was never supple-
methodological problem concerning whether it is mented with Abbasid coins struck post-873, or the
possible to compare diverse classes of find such as coins came from a region other than Gotland. I would
hoards and individual finds of coins from a settle- suggest that there are several considerations that sup-
ment site. Individually found coins represent ran- port the latter alternative.
dom loss from the original coin-stock that was in cir- Mainland Sweden appears here to be a plausible
culation in the settlement area. Whether or not candidate for an area that functioned as the immedi-
hoards are comparably representative of the use of ate point of contact that provided Kaupang with dir-
silver coin in the area of deposition is, however, a hams. Mark Blackburn has made use of the find from
matter of debate. Johan Callmer (1980) has proposed Äskedal-Loftahammer in Småland (t.p.q. 864/5) to
the concept of two different spheres of circulation, demonstrate the similarities in chronological com-
within and outside of the early Viking-period trading position between the settlement finds from Kaupang
sites in the Baltic Sea zone; the purpose of this is to and this hoard (Blackburn 2005c, this vol., fig. 3.14a).
explain the difference between the coin-assemblages There are also several pieces of evidence indicating
of the hoards and at the trading sites (above, 7.1). In that the coin-stock we have at Kaupang finds paral-
the case of Kaupang, there is no immediate compara- lels in finds along the coastline of mainland Sweden
tive material in Southern Scandinavia. The dirham but not on Gotland. Another characteristic feature of
hoards of the 9th century are here conspicuous for the Gotlandic hoards of phase IVa is that many of
their absence. The closest area of hoards in geograph- them have Caucasian mints represented amongst the
ical terms is in Eastern Scandinavia, in what is now most recent coins.51 In both of the huge Spillings
Sweden and on the find-rich islands of Gotland and hoards all of the latest coins are from the northern-
Öland. But is there a correspondence there between most mints of the Caliphate, indicating that the silver
the composition of the settlement finds from came directly via Armenia and the Caucasus to
Kaupang and the dirham hoards of Sweden? I shall Gotland (Rispling 2004c:123–4). Caucasian dirhams
confine myself here to a simplified comparison of the struck after 860, however, are absent both from
chronological composition of the Kaupang dirhams Kaupang and from nearly all the mainland Swedish
and selected Swedish hoards. hoards.52 Also, there are only two Caucasian dirhams
We now know that the Kaupang dirhams, ac- amongst the large number of individual finds from
cording to their stratigraphical position, began to cir- Birka, one in the hillfort and one from the harbour
culate at that settlement site from around the year area (Landgren database).
850 at the earliest. These coins ought therefore to This suggests the existence of separate exchange
have their closest matches both geographically and networks that lay behind the regional variation in the
chronologically in Swedish hoards of phase IVa, with composition of coin-finds. As we have seen in respect
t.p.q.’s from 860 to 890. The proportion of dirhams
at Kaupang that can be securely dated to the period
corresponding to hoard phase IVa is not easy to 48 This has been calculated for coins which can be dated to a specif-
establish precisely. In addition to five specimens ic year of issue: Lilla Vägome (t.p.q. 866/7) 9%; Östris (t.p.q.
struck between 860 and 873/884, there are eleven 869/70) 14%; Hemmor (t.p.q. 870/1) 17%; Vikare (t.p.q. 870/1)
coins that can only be dated in calendrical terms ap- 17%; Spillings II (t.p.q. 874/5) 22% (Landgren database).
proximately between 833 and 892. These dirhams 49 Kinner (t.p.q. 883/4) 32%; Sojvide (t.p.q. 885/6) 24 %; Larsarve
must therefore be omitted from the comparision. If (t.p.q. 890/1) 35% (Landgren database).
we also leave out later dirhams such as Samanid 50 Äskedal, Småland (t.p.q. 864/5) 5%; Långhalsen, Södermanland
coins, imitations, and unidentifiable dirhams, we (t.p.q. 865/6) 2%; Broby, Småland (t.p.q. 867) 9%; Fittja,
have 51 coins that were certainly struck before 833 and Södermanland (t.p.q. 866/7) 2% (Landgren database).
five definitely post-860. (Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 51 Calculated for the ten latest coins in the hoards: Lilla Vägome
4:Nos. 12–78). This means that about 9% of the (t.p.q. 866/7), 2 ex.; Östris (t.p.q. 869/70), 1 ex.; Vikare (t.p.q.
Kaupang dirhams can confidently be assigned to 872/3), 2 ex.; Spillings II (t.p.q. 874), 2 ex.; Bölske (t.p.q. 876/7), 1
phase IVa or later. A typical Gotlandic dirham hoard ex.; Dals (t.p.q. 880/1), 1 ex.; Kinner (t.p.q. 883), 1 ex.; Sojvide
with a t.p.q. between 866 and 874 has from 9% to 22% (t.p.q. 885), 4 ex.; Larsarve (t.p.q. 890/1), 8 ex. (Landgren data-
of its coins struck post-860.48 In the few Gotlandic base).
finds dated post-880, the proportion rises to 35%.49 52 With the exception of Broby (t.p.q. 867), 1 ex. (Landgren data-
In the hoards from mainland Sweden of phase IVa base).

of the importation of Samanid coin, Gotland was the also influenced the regional distribution of dirham
first region of all in Scandinavia to establish contacts finds. In this respect, we need to look more closely at
with the Volga Bulgar kingdom no later than the the way in which dirham silver came to be used in
beginning of the 10th century (above, 7.7). This may Northern and Eastern Europe, away from its original
also explain why different phases of coin, in this case area of monetary use: in other words, how silver coin
the Samanids, were introduced at different rates in was handled in secondary contexts (Kilger 2006a).
various regions of Scandinavia. According to Call- Here, we have two conceivable situations. One is that
mer’s model, we can assume distinct spheres of circu- it provided raw material for the production of a
lation for dirham silver, but these spheres are not range of silver artefacts, including ingots and rings
represented by distinct classes of archaeological de- (Arrhenius et al. 1973; Kruse and Tate 1992). In the
posits such as hoards and settlement finds. Nor are Early Viking Period these objects commonly observe
they the product, apparently, of the economic and a standard range of weights in which major units
social use of silver. It was primarily the agents of these around 50, 100 and 200 g are clearly in evidence
networks who determined and controlled where, (Hårdh 2006:144–6, this vol. Ch. 5:103–7, 111–13). The
when, how, and in what circumstances, dirham silver other is that it was used as weighable and divisible
came to be used. It is above all the development of precious metal with people making use of balances
these networks that is expressed in the regional distri- and weights to weigh the material precisely, and so to
bution of finds and the chronological composition of calculate a specific quantity of silver according to
the finds. To understand the differences in composi- both weight and purity.
tion between the grave and settlement finds and the The dirham silver that was used as goods in
hoards the regional variations in the importation of Kaupang provides evidence for the existence of both
coins have also to be taken into account. forms of use in the settlement area. The lump of sil-
In Figure 7.23 I have given a maximum period of ver containing dirhams shows that silver coin was
use of dirhams at Kaupang that extends from c. 850 to melted down (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Fig. 3.1),
920/930. We do not have preserved stratified deposits probably in order for it to be re-formed into various
of the second half of the 9th century, so in conse- types of silver object. This agrees too with the pres-
quence it is impossible to be more precise as to when ence of several ingots of standardized weight and
the dirhams were introduced and began to circulate ingot-moulds recorded at Kaupang (Hårdh, this vol.
in Kaupang. The dirham finds from Kaupang seem to Ch. 5:103–8). The occurrence of fragmented silver,
be a reflection of a quantitative jump in the importa- both dirhams and uncoined items, may show that sil-
tion of Abbasid coin that apparently was in evidence ver was weighed in precise quantities in the settle-
after c. 860. But we cannot exclude the possibility ment. One piece of evidence that supports this view is
that dirhams were already circulating in the settle- the presence of a large quantity of diverse types of
ment before then. The activities that were based weight, mostly of lead, but also the standardized
upon the exchange and use of Abbasid dirhams at Oriental weights (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.1.1). Frag-
Kaupang came to an end before Samanid silver was mented silver may have been used at a site like
beginning to dominate the networks of exchange, Kaupang as a currency of value in day-to-day, recur-
likewise in mainland Sweden. The importation of rent, and small-scale exchange.
Samanid coin on a large scale in these regions proba- From the stratified contexts it is possible for us to
bly began no earlier than the 920s. The Samanid sil- distinguish two distinct phases in the treatment of
ver boom obviously had no impact upon Kaupang, fragmented silver at Kaupang. During the second
which gives us a fairly good indication of when the quarter of the 9th century we have the earliest archae-
handling of silver and presumably other activities too ologically certain evidence for the use of silver at
seem to have ceased in the settlement (above, 7.7). Kaupang. In this phase hacksilver was used only in
Thus it seems reasonable to suggest that Kaupang lost uncoined form. Here we also have a small number of
its importance as a central trading site in the Viken lead weights (Pedersen and Pilø 2007:187–8, tab. 9.2).
area around 930 at the latest. The few late Samanid In the second half of the 9th century, no earlier than
dirhams point to some short episode of activity in the c. 850, this uncoined silver was supplemented with
950s, and possibly later too. But the importance of fragmented dirham silver. But what is the explana-
Kaupang as a major place of exchange of silver in the tion of this marked chronological division in the use
Viken area was long past by then. of uncoined and minted hacksilver? One possible
reason why we do not see any silver coin in the early
Kaupang as a site for the handling phase – apart from a few West European deniers and
and melting down of silver denars – is that it had been melted down into ingots
As has already been discussed, we can take as given and rings at earlier stages of its distribution, before it
the existence of cultural codes and socially defined reached Kaupang.
routines that structured the exchange of silver from This chapter has shown that there is a large num-
region to region in the Viking Period. Such practices ber of dirham hoards from as early as the second
quarter of the 9th century in Eastern Europe and the The handling of silver in both larger portions such as
Baltic Sea area (above, 7.4). Thus we meet the precon- ingots and in the smaller portions of hacksilver were
ditions for the use of dirhams as raw material for the probably to be found side-by-side at Kaupang. These
production of ingots and rings in this area. A possible two different ways of using silver are not mutually
staging post in the distribution and melting down of incompatible in the social and cultural environment
dirhams in the first half of the 9th century is Gotland. we can postulate for the settlement (Kilger, this vol.
The earliest dirham hoards of Gotland also have a Ch. 8.5). The local treatment and transformation of
high proportion by weight of uncoined silver. The dirham silver into various forms of silver object at
dirhams are only a small part of these (Figs. 7.10–11). Kaupang and at other similar sites is probably the
Very recently it has been possible to identify traces of reason for the clear regional differences in the pattern
large-scale silvercasting outside the trading site of of deposition in the 9th century between the Baltic
Fröjel. The remains of moulds also show that typically Sea zone on the one hand and Southern Scandinavia
Gotlandic silver bracelets were produced here (Gus- on the other.
tafsson and Söderberg 2005, 2006). It is a matter of Southern and Western Scandinavia stand out be-
interest that the few 9th-century hoards containing cause they do not conform to the pattern of regional
dirhams in Southern Scandinavia are of the same establishment in the dirham hoards of the rest of
character as the early Gotlandic hoards. An example Scandinavia. The quantitative jump in the influx of
is Rantrum, Schleswig-Holstein (t.p.q. 873–7), which Abbasid dirham silver in the second half of the 9th
contained only 13 dirhams. Besides the dirhams, the century left no mark here in the form of dirham
hoard contained a few fragments of rings, and 34 hoards (Fig. 7.17). Rather, the use of dirham silver
complete silver ingots. The total weight of silver in the was restricted to central nodes of long-distance trade
find is 1.906 kg (Wiechmann 1996: 423). Like the other such as Kaupang (Sindbæk 2005:70–98). It is also first
large ingot hoard of Schleswig-Holstein, Witzwort – and foremost in the super-regional nodes that one
which has no coins (Wiechmann 1996:527) – Ran- can find evidence of the craft of casting jewellery
trum lies within the same area as Hedeby. This may (Sindbæk 2005:94–5). The situation in respect of
perhaps show that Hedeby functioned as a central finds of dirhams and hacksilver in Southern Scan-
place for melting down silver and the distribution of dinavia may show that the practice of fine weighing
silver ingots in Danish territory. gained an early local foothold at the classic Viking-
Dirhams began to reach Kaupang in the second period trading sites such as Kaupang, and also at the
half of the 9th century. The coins were, with just a few earlier central places of Tissø and Uppåkra which,
exceptions, extensively fragmented (Blackburn, this likewise, developed a function as places of exchange
vol. Ch. 3.5.1). This dirham-rich phase is elusive in of weighed and fragmented silver in the 9th century.
the archaeological contexts as the relevant original Outside these settlement sites silver would only be
layers containing dirhams have been ploughed out. handled in the form of larger units, primarily in the
Consequently it is not possible to compare the silver- shape of rings and ingots. It is only in the 920s – if we
bearing layers with one another quantitatively. It is follow the t.p.q. dates – that we can see a clear hori-
highly likely that Kaupang played a central role in the zon of dirham hoards outside of Kaupang too. The
redistribution of silver beyond the settlement to practice of fine-weighing was then beginning to
other parts of Norway. The almost complete absence spread beyond the trading sites and central places
of dirham hoards in Norway in the 9th century shows through a larger circle of practitioners, and this left
that dirham silver left Kaupang in a changed form, its visible mark in the form of hacksilver and dirham
probably as silver ingots of standard weights in large hoards. At this stage Kaupang apparently lost its role
units. Ingot silver could then be used directly to pro- as the super-regional node for long-distance trace in
duce various forms of ring that were used as standard the Oslofjord area and the rest of Norway.
currency in Southern and Western Scandinavia. Du-
ring the dirham-rich phase, Kaupang fulfilled three Acknowledgements
different functions at once: I wish to thank Bjarne Gaut, Roman Kovalev, Svein
Gullbekk, Julie Lund, Unn Pedersen, Lars Pilø, Gert
• as a place at which fragmented silver, both mint- Rispling and Dagfinn Skre for their many valuable
ed and unminted, was used, making use of bal- criticisms. Sincere thanks also to Mateusz Bogucki,
ances and various kinds of weight; Lutz Ilisch, Houshang Khazaei, Johan Landgren,
• as a place at which silver was melted down and re- Gert Rispling and Ralf Wiechmann for allowing ac-
cast in large portions as ingots; cess to as yet unpublished material and discussions.
• as a staging post in the distribution of uncoined
silver to the surrounding area, and probably
more widely within Western Scandinavia too.

7.10 Check list of dirham hoards found in Europe and the Caucasus region (t.p.q. 771–892)
(> = 5 coins)
gravefinds not included hoards from Eastern Europe not specified according to region
including hoards from Southern Caucasus, part of the Caliphate
tsc (total source critical comment) # probably more coins but not recorded
c estimated number ## probably many more coins but not recorded
Western Europe – Continent
T.p.q. Hoard Country Total Tsc Dirham Reference
793 Ilanz Switzerland 133 2 Mc Cormick 2001:825; Ilisch 2005

795 Biebrich Germany 4000 c 1 Mc Cormick 2001:817–18
799/800 Steckborn Switzerland 30 # 29 Mc Cormick 2001:831–2; Ilisch 2005
850 Westerklief I Netherlands 81 1 Besteman 1999, 2002
867 Muizen Belgium 73 1 Mc Cormick 2001:827
875 Westerklief II Netherlands 134 95 Besteman 2002, 2004a
Western Europe – British Isles
872 Croydon England 250 c 3 Mc Cormick 2001:820
Northern Europe – Southern Scandinavia
? (780s) Ribe Denmark ? 0 ? Feveile and Jensen 2000:24, note 10

808–809 Østerhalne Enge Denmark 8 0 8 Heijne 2004:no. 8.41; Rispling 2001:no. 12
846–847 Sønder Kirkeby Denmark 97 0 97 Heijne 2004:no. 6.6; Rispling 2001:no. 51
867 Busdorf I/Hedeby Germany 7 0 4 Wiechmann 1996:no. 4
852 Hoen Norway 20 9 1 Rispling 2001:no. 52; Skaare 1976:no. 33
873–877 Rantrum Germany 13 0 13 Rispling 2001:no. 93; Wiechmann 1996:no. 33
Northern Europe – Western Scandinavia
862–863 Torgård Norway 7 7 Skaare 1976:no. 142; Khazaei 2001:no. 50;

Rispling 2001:no. 68
Northern Europe – Eastern Scandinavia – Swedish Mainland
810–811 Birka 1991 (small) Sweden 5 5 Rispling 2004a, no. 44–8

832–833 Wäsby Sweden 468 468 Rispling 2001:no. 32; Zachrisson 1998:no. 26;
Jonsson in. prep:no. 1527; unpubl. report NFG
850–851 Kettilstorp-
Storegården Sweden 38 30 Rispling 2001:no. 53; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1703
856–857 Helgö Sweden 23 23 Zachrisson 1998:no. 16; Rispling 2001:no. 61;

Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1501;
857–858 Häcklinge Sweden 408 408 Zachrisson 1998:no. 62; Rispling 2001:no. 59;
Jonsson, in prep.:no. 861
862–864 Hällestad parish Sweden 50 50 Rispling 2001:no. 69; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1750
864–865 Äskedal Sweden 2049 2046 Rispling 2001:no. 71; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1117
865–866 Långhalsen Sweden 244 243 Rispling 2001:no. 72; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1184
866–867 Fittja Sweden 136 133 Zachrisson 1998:no. 20; Rispling 2001:no. 74;
Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1511; pers. comm., Rispling
867–868 Broby Sweden 82 82 Rispling 2001:no. 77; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1129
892–893 Översävja Sweden 157 157 Zachrisson 1998:no. 14; Rispling 2001:no. 106;
Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1477
Northern Europe – Eastern Scandinavia – Baltic Islands – Öland
863–864 Södra Gärdslösa Sweden 34 34 Brather 1997:no. 110; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1811
881–882 Algutsrum Sweden 13 13 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1773; Rispling 2001:no. 100
894–895 Skarpa Alby Sweden 2022 2022 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 1914; Rispling 2001:no. 108
Northern Europe – Eastern Scandinavia – Baltic Islands – Gotland
796–797 Hässelby Sweden 3 3 CNS 1.3.3; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 204;

Stenberger 1947:no. 90
804–805 Hammars Sweden 8 8 CNS 1.4.6; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 297;
Rispling 2001:no. 7;
Stenberger 1947:no. 175; pers. comm., Rispling
812–813 Ockes I Sweden 11 11 Jonsson, in prep.:no.837; Rispling 2001:no. 16;
816–817 Visby (outside) Sweden 21 16 Jonsson 1993, in prep.:no. 679,5;
818–819 Norrgårda-Norrbys I Sweden 27 23 CNS 1.2.9; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 74;
Rispling 2001:no. 27; Stenberger 1947:no. 38
824–825 Hejde-Prästgården Sweden 67 63 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 389; Rispling 2001:no. 30;
Stenberger 1947:no. 265, 267
833 Norrgårda-Norrbys II Sweden 62 62 CNS 1.2.10; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 75;
Rispling 2001:no. 28;
834–842 Stora Tollby II Sweden 155 140 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 274; Rispling 2001:no.37;
unpubl. report NFG; pers. comm., Rispling
834–835 Sandgårde Sweden 12 12 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 565; Rispling 2001:no. 33
835 Norrkvie I Sweden 30 30 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 321; Rispling 2001:no. 35
840–841 Ocksarve I Sweden 437 409 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 429; Rispling 2001:no. 44;
842–843 Norrgårda-
Jakobssons Sweden 59 59 CNS 1.2.8; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 72;
856–857 Svenskens Sweden 277 277 CNS 1.3.19; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 236;

859–860 Runne Sweden 894 894 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 563; Rispling 2001:no. 62;
866–867 Lilla Vägome Sweden 233 233 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 497; Rispling 2001:no.75;
867 Häffinds Sweden 13 13 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 185,5; Rispling 2001:no.78
867 Spillings III Sweden 5100 c 5100 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 535,1; Rispling 2001:no.81;
pers. comm., Rispling
867 Ajmunds Sweden 16 16 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 507; Rispling 2001:no.76
868 Alskute (Hallbåter) Sweden 132 132 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 454; Rispling 2001:no. 85;
869–870 Östris Sweden 494 # 494 CNS 1.1.13,15; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 63;
870–871 Hemmor Sweden 316 316 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 518; Rispling 2001:no.88;
870–871 Spillings IV Sweden 9100 c 9100 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 535,2; Rispling 2001:no. 82
872–873 Vikare Sweden 129 129 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 670; Rispling 2001:no. 91;
874–875 Spillings II Sweden 394 394 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 534; Rispling 2001:no. 94;
876–877 Bölske Sweden 178 # 178 CNS 1.3.7; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 208;
Rispling 2001:no. 96; Stenberger 1947:no. 96;
876–877 Kysings Sweden 119 119 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 652; Rispling 2001:no. 97;
880–881 Dals Sweden 47 47 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 314; Rispling 2001:no. 99;
881–882 Slite Sweden 12 11 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 531; Rispling 2001:no. 98;
883–884 Kinner Sweden 301 301 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 481; Rispling 2001:no. 102;
885–886 Sojvide Sweden 130 130 CNS 1.3.30; Jonsson, in prep.:no. 244;
887–888 Hägvide Sweden 25 25 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 491; Rispling 2001:no. 104
890–891 Larsarve Sweden 567 567 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 538; Rispling 2001:no. 105;
Stenberger 1947:no. 421, 422
896–897 Lingsarve Sweden 244 244 Jonsson, in prep.:no. 523; Rispling 2001:no. 110;
Northern Europe – Eastern Scandinavia – Baltic Islands – Åland
835–836 Svedjelandet Finland 107 107 Rispling 2001:no. 40; Talvio 2002:no. 104
857–858 Hammarudda Finland 180 179 Rispling 2001:no. 60; Talvio 2002:no. 106
875–876 Bertby Finland 882 882 Rispling 2001:no. 95; Talvio 2002:no. 108
Finland – Finnish Mainland
837–838 Housulanmäki Finland 20 20 Rispling 2001:no. 42; Talvio 2002:no. 145
Central Eastern Europe
805–806 Răducăneni-Iaşi Romania 7 7 Teodor 1980

882–883 Czechów Poland 766 766 Brather 1997:no. 19; Bartzcak 1997:no. 27;
893–894 Drohiczyn Poland 308 308 Brather 1997:no. 21; Bartczak 1997:no. 28;
Central Europe – Southern Baltic Shore
798 ? Penzlin Germany 4 # 4 Bartczak 1997:no. 1; Brather 1997:no. 1;

Kiersnowski 1964:no. 132
802–803 Prerow-Darss Germany 72 70 Bartczak 1997:no. 2; Brather 1997:no. 5;
808–809 Kretomino Poland 18 18 Bartczak 1997:no. 9; Brather 1997:no. 4
811–812 Stegna Poland 17 17 Bartczak 1997:no. 14; Brather 1997:no. 3
811–812 Zalewo Poland 40 40 Bartczak 1997:no. 15; Bogucki, in prep.:no. 23;
Brather 1997:no. 2
813 ? Dl-ugobór Poland 3 # 3 Bartczak 1997:no. 17; Bogucki, in prep.:no. 5;
Brather 1997:no. 6
813–814 Krasnol-a̧ka Poland 10 10 Bartczak 1997:no. 18; Bogucki, in prep.:no. 8;
Brather 1997:no. 7
815–816 Grzybowo Poland 18 # 17 Bartczak 1997:no. 10; Brather 1997:no. 8
815–816 Bergen/Rugard Germany 12 12 Bartczak 1997:no. 3; Brather 1997:no. 9;
815–816 Braniewo Poland 47 # 47 Bartczak 1997:no. 12; Bogucki, in prep.:no. 3;
Brather 1997:no. 10
817–818 Mokajmy-Sójki Poland 124 124 Bartczak 1997:no. 13; Brather 1997:no. 11
818–819 Neubrandenburg
(vicinity) Germany 7 7 Bartczak 1997:no. 4; Kiersnowski 1964:no. 119
828–829 Ramsowo Poland 336 336 Bartczak 1997:no. 19; Bogucki, in prep.:no. 16;
Brather 1997:no. 13
841–842 Ralswiek Germany 2211 2211 Bartczak 1997:no. 23; Brather 1997:no. 14;
Herrmann 1997; Rispling 2001:no. 49
850–855 Wieschendorf Germany 156 156 Bartczak 1997:no. 26; Brather 1997:no. 20;
Rispling 2001:no. 56; pers. comm., Rispling
853–854 Pirciupiai Lithuania 6 # 6 Brather 1997:no. 392; Rispling 2001:no. 57
862–863 Pinnow Germany 251 251 Bartczak 1997:no. 24; Brather 1997:no. 16;
867 Karnice Poland 143 143 Bartczak 1997:no. 25; Brather 1997:no. 18;
Eastern Europe
784 ? Glazov Russia 3 # 3 Brather 1997:no. 343

786–787 Staraia Ladoga Russia 31 31 Brather 1997:no. 344; Noonan 1981:no. 2;
Rispling 2001:no. 3
792–793 Ungeni Latvia 2 # 2 Brather 1997:no. 345
795 ? Novye Mliny
(Paristovka) Ukraine 800 c 800 Brather 1997:no. 346; Noonan 1981:no. 3

797 ? Pokot’ Belorussia 5 5 Brather 1997:no. 347

799–807 Tsimliansk Russia 48 48 Brather 1997:no. 351; Noonan 1981:no. 4
803–804 Peterhof Russia 83 83 Brather 1997:no. 348; Rispling 2001:no. 9
804–804 Svetlograd
(Petrovskoe) Russia 34 # 34 Brather 1997:no. 349; Noonan 1980:no. 12
805–806 Kholopii Gorodok Russia 24 24 Brather 1997:no. 358
805–806 Krivianskaia stanitsa Russia 82 82 Brather 1997:no. 350; Noonan 1981:no. 6
807–808 Vylegi Russia 7 # 7 Brather 1997:no. 353; Noonan 1981:no. 8
808–809 Kniashchino Russia 400 c 400 Brather 1997:no. 354; Noonan 1981:no. 9
809–810 Zavalishino Belorussia 52 51 Brather 1997:no. 355; Noonan 1981:no. 10
810–811 Semenov Gorodok Russia 16 16 Brather 1997:no. 357; Noonan 1981:no. 12
810–811 Khitrovka Russia 12 # 12 Brather 1997:no. 356; Noonan 1981:no. 11
811–812 Nizhnie Novoselki Russia 124 # 124 Brather 1997:no. 359; Noonan 1981:no. 13
812–813 Kremlevskoe Russia 190 c 190 Brather 1997:no. 360; Noonan 1981:no. 15
812–813 Nizhniaia Syrovatka Ukraine 206 206 Brather 362; Noonan 1981:no. 14
812–813 Ugodichi Russia 148 148 Brather 361; Noonan 1981:no. 16
814–815 Orsha? Belorussia 1700 # 1700 Brather 364; Noonan 1981:no. 17
814–815 Sarskoe gorodishche Russia 11 11 Brather 363; Noonan 1981:no. 18
815–816 Nabatovo Russia 2 # 2 Brather 366; Noonan 1981:no. 20
815–816 Minsk province Belorussia 350 # 350 Brather 365; Noonan 1981:no. 19
816–817 Lapotkovo Russia 62 # 62 Brather 1997:no. 367; Noonan 1981:no. 21
817 ? Borki Russia 120 120 Brather 1997:no. 368; Noonan 1981:no. 22
818–819 Novotroiskoe Ukraine 10 10 Brather 1997:no. 369; Noonan 1981:no. 23
820/29? Sarskoe gorodishche Russia 60 # 60 Brather 1997:no. 390; Noonan 1981:no. 31
820–821 Iarylovichi Ukraine 285 285 Brather 1997:no. 370; Noonan 1981:no. 25
820–821 Elmed Russia 147 147 Brather 1997:no. 371; Noonan 1981:no. 26
823–824 Litvinovichi Belorussia 100 # 100 Brather 1997:no. 372; Noonan 1981:no. 28
824–825 Demiansk Russia 35 35 Brather 1997:no. 373; Noonan 1981:no. 30
828–833 Uglich Russia 1114 1114 Brather 1997:no. 374; Noonan 1981:no. 32
831–832 Zagorod’ e Russia 15 # 15 Brather 1997:no. 375; Noonan 1981:no. 33
835 Viatka Russia 6 6 Brather 1997:no. 379; Noonan 1981:no. 35
837–838 Kohtla Estonia 481 481 Brather 1997:no. 378; Rispling 2001:no. 39
837–838 Kislaia Russia 670 669 Brather 1997:no. 377; Noonan 1981:no. 34;
837–838 Devitsa Russia 323 # 323 Brather 1997:no. 376; Noonan 1981:no. 36;
841–842 Dobrino Belorussia 527 527 Brather 1997:no. 382; Noonan 1981:no. 38;
841–842 Protasovo Russia 200 ## 200 Brather 1997:no. 383; Noonan 1981:no. 37
841–842 Vyzhigsha Russia 1278 1278 Brather 1997:no. 380; Rispling 2001:no. 48
841–842 Lesogurt Russia 137 137 Brather 1997:no. 381; Noonan 1981:no. 39;
843–844 Iagoshury Russia 1500 c 1500 Brather 1997:no. 384; Noonan 1981:no. 40
845–846 Simony Belorussia 125 # 125 Brather 1997:no. 385; Noonan 1981:no. 41
846–847 Staraja Ladoga Russia 23 23 Brather 1997:no. 386; Noonan 1981:no. 42
847–848 Pskov Russia 3 # 3 Brather 1997:no. 387; Noonan 1981:no. 73
851 ? Kunakovo Russia 2 # 2 Brather 1997:no. 388; Noonan 1981:no. 43
852–853 Akhremtsy Belorussia 24 24 Brather 1997:no. 389; Noonan 1981:no. 44
860 ? Gruchino Russia 3 # 3 Brather 1997:no. 393; Noonan 1981:no. 46
861–862 Lake Peipus Estonia 60 60 Brather 1997:no. 394; Rispling 2001:no. 64
862 ? Lucesy Belorussia 2 # 2 Brather 1997:no. 396; Noonan 1981:no. 48
862 ? Baevo Belorussia 2000 # 2000 Brather 1997:no. 395; Noonan 1981:no. 47
863 ? Libagi Lithuania 57 57 Brather 1997:no. 397; Rispling 2001:no. 70
863 ? Pankino Russia 26 26 Brather 1997:no. 398; Noonan 1981:no. 50
864–865 Novgorod (Kirillovskii

monastery) Russia 203 203 Brather 1997:no. 400; Noonan 1981:no. 51
864–865 Rostovets (vicinity) Russia 9 9 Brather 1997:no. 401; Noonan 1981:no. 49
864–865 Bol’ shoe Timerevo Russia 2751 2751 Brather 1997:no. 399; Noonan 1981:no. 53
865–866 Poterpel’ tsy Russia 60 60 Brather 1997:no. 402; Noonan 1981:no. 54
865–866 Moskva city Russia 7 7 Brather 1997:no. 403; Noonan 1981:no. 52
866 ? Vitebsk province Belorussia 10000 ## 10000 Brather 1997:no. 404; Noonan 1981:no. 56
866 Supruty Russia 19 19 Brather 1997:no. 405; Noonan 1981:no. 55
867 Sunzinskaia stanitsa Russia 200 200 Brather 1997:no. 406
867 Porech’ e Belorussia 45 45 Brather 1997:no. 391; Noonan 1981:no. 45;
867 Toropets Russia 73 73 Brather 1997:no. 407; Noonan 1981:no. 58
867 ? Borki Russia 50 c 50 Brather 1997:no. 408; Noonan 1981:no. 57
868 ? Moiseevo Russia 30 c 30 Brather 1997:no. 410; Noonan 1981:no. 60
868 Mishnevo Russia 101 101 Brather 1997:no. 409; Noonan 1981:no. 59
869 ? Chersones Ukraine 82 ? 82 Brather 1997:no. 412; Noonan 1981:62
869–870 Kuznetskoe Russia 162 162 Brather 1997:no. 411; Noonan 1981:no. 61
869 ? Ostrogi Russia 9 # 9 Brather 1997:no. 413; Noonan 1981:no. 63
870–871 Shumilovo Russia 1326 1326 Brather 1997:no. 414; Noonan 1981:no. 64
872–873 Khitrovka Russia 1007 1007 Brather 1997:no. 416; Noonan 1981:no. 65
875 ? Borki Russia 100 c 100 Brather 1997:no. 417; Noonan 1981:no. 66
875–876 Pogrebnoe ravine Russia 295 295 Brather 1997:no. 418; Noonan 1981:no. 67
875–876 Bobyli Russia 346 346 Brather 1997:no. 419; Noonan 1981:no. 68
877–878 Zheleznitsa Russia 272 ? 272 Brather 1997:no. 420; Noonan 1981:no. 69
882–883 Poltava Ukraine 100 100 Brather 1997:no. 421; Noonan 1981:no. 70
893 Novaia Lazarevka Ukraine 76 76 Brather 1997:no. 423; Noonan 1981:no. 71
Caucasus
771–772 Ganja (Kirovabad) Azerbajdzan 187 187 Brather 1997:no. 535; Noonan 1980:no. 4
778–779 Gora Bachtrioni Georgia 13 13 Brather 1997:no. 536
782–783 Kariagino Azerbajdzan 93 93 Brather 1997:no. 538; Noonan 1980:no. 5
786–787 Tauz Azerbajdzan 10 10 Brather 1997:no. 541; Noonan 1980:no. 6
786–787 Verkhnii Adiaman Armenia 10 10 Brather 1997:no. 540; Noonan 1980:no. 10
787 –788 Sepnekeran Azerbajdzan 22 ## 22 Brather 1997:no. 542; Noonan 1980:no. 15
792–793 Savane Georgia 68 68 Brather 1997:no. 543
803–804 Agdam Azerbajdzan 60 60 Brather 1997:no. 544; Noonan 1980:no. 7
803–804 Karchag Russia 19 19 Brather 1997:no. 545; Noonan 1980:no. 2
804–805 Agdam Azerbajdzan 79 79 Brather 1997:no. 546; Noonan 1980:no. 9
807–808 Pshaveli Georgia 127 127 Brather 1997:no. 547; Noonan 1980:no. 8
810–813 Stisdzir Georgia 610 610 Brather 1997:no. 549
811–812 Arkhava (vicinity) Turkey 300 c 300 Brather 1997:no. 548; Noonan 1980:no. 3
819–820 Mtisdziri Georgia 305 305 Brather 1997:no. 550
822–823 Bash-garni Armenia 55 55 Brather 1997:no. 551
828–829 Leliani Georgia 167 167 Brather 1997:no. 552
829–830 Barda Azerbajdzan 52 52 Brather 1997:no. 553
833–834 Dlivi Georgia 33 33 Brather 1997:no. 555
833–834 Nerk’in Getashen Armenia 40 40 Brather 1997:no. 556
833–834 Apeni Georgia 394 394 Brather 1997:no. 554
850–851 Martuni Armenia 86 86 Brather 1997:no. 557
861 ? Chikaani Georgia 690 c 690 Brather 1997:no. 559
892–902 Piccovani Georgia 118 690 Brather 1997:no. 560

Wholeness and Holiness: 8

Counting, Weighing and Valuing Silver
in the Early Viking Period
ch r i stoph kilger
This chapter examines the use of silver as a medium of payment in the Early Viking Period. Kaupang
has yielded comprehensive evidence of craft activity and long-distance trade crossing economic, political
and ethnic boundaries. The working hypothesis of this chapter is that exchange across such borders was
undertaken outside a socially binding “sphere”, a situation that was made possible by the existence of dif-
ferent forms of market trade. It is argued that there had existed standardised media of value, or
“cash/money” in Kaupang, which made calculations and payment for goods possible. Such were the cir-
cumstances from when Kaupang was founded at the beginning of the 9th century to the abandonment of
the town sometime in the middle of the 10th.
The use of “money” at Kaupang is approached from two angles. For “money” to be acceptable as an item
of value depends on the one hand upon unshakable reference points that are rooted in an imaginary con-
ceptual world. The value of “money” was guaranteed in terms of inalienable possessions which stabilized
and at the same time initiated exchange relationships. On the other hand, money as a medium of exchange
relates to a scale of calculation which legitimates and defines its exchange-value. This scale makes it possible
to compare goods and put a price upon them. In this study, it is argued that in the Viking Period there were
three different principles of value and payment that were materially embodied in the outer form and weight
of the silver object. These were coins, rings/ingots, and fragmented silver respectively. Both coins and
rings/ingots were used and valued as complete objects. The wholeness of the object was essential for the
concepts of value to exist. The meaning of the coin as an object of value was rooted in a world of Antique-
Christian concepts, and its status as a unit of reckoning was guaranteed through seedcorn calculation. The
value of the rings and ingots was rooted in the concept of the god Odin’s eternal and stable gold ring, and
their character as calculable objects guaranteed through aurar-calculation: i.e. a given number of coins per
eyrir (Norw.: øre; “ounce”). Hacksilver, by contrast, has no body, and its meaning as a form of currency was
indissolubly dependent upon the use of standardized weights which sanctioned the economic value of this
amorphous silver. The status of hacksilver as a calculable substance of value was guaranteed through ertog-
calculation.
It is argued here that aurar-objects were the fundamental media of payment and valuation at Kaupang.
Coins were not accepted as items of value because they referred to Christian values and ideas which held
sway in the monetized Frankish realm. Coins were used simply as units of reckoning that made aurar-
objects calculable. The transition all over Scandinavia to an economy based upon hacksilver in the 10th cen-
tury is described in this chapter as a revolutionary process that brought into question the existing conven-
tions of value that were based upon the concept of the eyrir and upon objects which preserved their bodily
wholeness. The use of hacksilver apparently obtained a foothold at Kaupang as early as the 9th century.
When the use of standardized weights and the practice of fragmentation was accepted in the 10th century,
outside of the boundaries of the town as well, Kaupang’s position as an aurar-site and the central trading
place in Viken was challenged, which contributed to the demise of the town.
8. kilger: wholeness and holiness 253

8.1 Introduction accumulation of coins, weights and hacksilver. What

When Ohthere from Hålogaland tied up at the whar- we find at this site is evidence of exchange activity in
ves of Kaupang in Skiringssal and disembarked, his the form of silver and weights: namely the medium of
voyage there had been a long one. Of all the North- payment and the appropriate equipment; but rarely
men, Ohthere lived furthest north. He had sailed, do we find the goods themselves that were the objects
without a stop, from his harbour in the vicinity of of trade. Any organic material has long since disap-
modern Tromsø southwards along the coast of Nor- peared. On a few plots we also have clear evidence of
way all the way to Skiringssal. There he intended to metalcasting, in the form of crucibles, moulds and
make a short stay in order to rest before continuing lumps of melted lead (Pilø 2007d:207–8; Pedersen, in
across Viken down to the town of Hedeby. From the prep.). Traces of silver and gold metal in crucibles
account he gave, this was probably not the first time show that precious-metalworking was practised (Pe-
that he had made this voyage and visited Kaupang. dersen, in prep.). A lump of semi-melted dirhams
The presentation of the distances and the stages, geo- may reveal that coins were melted down in order to
graphical and topographical descriptions of the areas make larger units such as the silver ingots of stan-
of land he was passing, and the account of the wind dardized weight (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.1.2, Fig.
conditions and the anchorages, show that he had 3.1). The archaeological finds from Kaupang thus
along experience of the sea and the sailing routes he reveal a considerable variety of ways of using silver.
was recording. We also know from his earlier ac- The aim of the present chapter is to study the multi-
count of an expedition into the White Sea that he was faceted exchange relationships of the Early Viking
engaged in exchange trade involving pelts and walrus Period that made use of silver and of which evidence
ivory. As the powerful chieftain in Hålogaland he is found at Kaupang.
was, Ohthere collected the tax from the Saami. This
tax was paid in hides, whalebone, down, furs, leather The northern route, and three different
clothing and leather ropes in fixed and specific quan- concepts of silver as currency
tities (Lund 1983:20–4). His travelogue is found inter- The route from Northern Norway to Hedeby was
polated into one of the standard reference works of also a journey across the wide spectrum of practices
Early-medieval geography, the world history of the in respect of payment and standards of value that we
Spaniard Paulus Orosius from the 5th century which know of in the Viking and early post-Viking Periods.
was translated into an Old English version at the If we look more closely at the Early Viking-period sil-
court of King Alfred the Great of Wessex in the 890s ver finds from along Ohthere’s route, several clear
(Lund 1983:7–10). regional differences emerge. In Northern Norway
The text does not say whether or not Ohthere and all the way down the coast of Norway to Kaup-
engaged in any exchange trade in Kaupang or ang there is a large number of silver hoards. As a rule,
Hedeby, or whether he was able to find a market for these do not contain coins, but usually ring-jew-
his sought-after wares from the north of Norway. For ellery, normally neckrings (Hårdh 1996:47–8 and
the English compiler who added Ohthere’s account 192–6). But there are also hoards consisting primarily
to the text of Orosius, that was of no great interest. of armrings (e.g. Grieg 1929:nos. 15 and 92; Sheehan
One obvious aim was to fill a gap with geographical 1998:177–8; Spangen 2005:nos. 16, 18 and 20). The
information on a region that was not discussed in Norwegian neckrings are amongst the largest that
Orosius’ original text. It was a matter of real impor- were made in Scandinavia (Hårdh 1996:fig. 16). Both
tance to have information on the land of the North- the neckrings and the armrings seem to have been
men since only a few years before Scandinavians had standardized in both form and weight (Hårdh 1996:
been attacking all around England and they were 60–1 and 64–5; Sheehan 1998:178–9; see also below,
now settled there in large numbers (Sindbæk 2005: 8.4). After Kaupang, the voyage continued across the
16–17). Ohthere’s travelogue unfortunately gives no wide Vik sea-lane and then along the western coast of
information on how he traded his goods, and what Sweden down to Jutland and Sjælland. These areas
customs and conventions were in force in the sites he were of great prominence in the 10th century, for the
visited. earliest hacksilver hoards in Scandinavia appear here
That Kaupang in Skiringssal was not only an (Hårdh 1996:91–2, fig. 21). In contrast to the jewellery
important resting place and anchorage on the sea- hoards, the silver objects in these hoards had been
route leading to and from the end of the known broken up into tiny fragments. This hacksilver was
world, but also an important exchange and produc- probably measured with the aid of standardized
tion site, is not stated in any written source. The sig- weighing equipment which came west with the dir-
nificance of Kaupang becomes evident when we look hams (Steuer 1987:479–80, 2002:137–40, fig. 5). The
at the archaeological remains (Skre 2007b:22). Right journey then came to an end at Hedeby. Here, the
across the settlement area, large quantities of silver traveller from the North encountered yet another
were used in dealing. Through the most recent inves- way of defining value, namely in the form of coinage.
tigations there, it has been possible to reveal a large Minting at Hedeby – and possibly also at Ribe –

gained pace from c. AD 825 onwards and continued Coins have been principally treated by numismatists
with occasional interruptions to the second half of and historians as quasi-textual sources (Kilger 2005).
the 10th century (Malmer 2002b). It has been first and foremost institutional mecha-
On the basis of the above sketch, I propose that nisms such as royal power that have stood at the cen-
there were three fundamental but distinctive ways of tre of descriptions and explanations of the use of
valuing the medium of silver along Ohthere’s route: coins in state-organized societies. The ring, on the
other hand, has been regarded by archaeologists, his-
• silver in the form of rings and ingots of torians of religion, philologists, etc., as a “prehis-
standardized weight; toric” object. It is suggested that the ring as a symbol
• silver in the form of fragmented hacksilver; of status, power and law played an important role in a
• silver in the form of coinage. chieftain- and clan-based society in which social rela-
tionships were predominant (e.g. Steinsland 1991;
Ohthere probably had no choice but to familiarize Brink 1996; Spangen 2005). In this way, the ring is
himself with and to respect the conventions of pay- considered to be a symbol of the mental and social
ment and valuation that were in force at the sites he universe of the Scandinavian Iron Age, while coins
came to. Likewise all other travellers who passed are, by contrast, the expressions of a medieval and at
along the northern way and stopped at Kaupang the same time an economically motivated worldview.
would have had to be familiar with these three ways Coins that are found in prehistoric contexts, for
of valuing silver. instance in settlement layers or graves, are interpret-
Although there had been extensive contact along ed as jewellery or as pieces of precious metal. Or they
this route, these three modes of valuation and pay- indicate contact between the area of minting and the
ment remained independent from one another for a find-spot itself. Thus they are rarely regarded as
considerable time, and appear indeed as stable prac- value-laden objects with a monetary character (for
tices in their own regional and local contexts. A num- further discussion on this topic, see Horsnæs 2005;
ber of hacksilver hoards begin to appear in Northern Kilger 2005:43; Myrberg 2005:7–8). Coin-specialists
Norway only around the middle of the 10th century have for their part rarely paid attention to the ring as
(Skaare 1976:173). But hoards with whole objects are a standardized object of value, despite the fact that
found in this region as late as the end of the Viking there are many conceptual parallels between rings
Period (Spangen 2005:19–20). In the Early Viking and coins. Many forms of ring known from the 9th
Period it was only at Hedeby and possibly also at Ribe century are both standardized in terms of weight and
in the far south of Scandinavia that coins were in cir- of stereotyped form and design, just like coins. Thus
culation as a means of payment (Malmer 2007, the regionally distinctive distribution of the spiral-
Wiechmann 2007). It was not before the beginning of twisted neckrings of the Permian and Duesminde I
the 11th century that minting began at other sites in types in the Baltic Sea zone (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.7),
Scandinavia, under royal authority at towns such as or of the armrings of Hiberno-Norse type in the
Lund and Sigtuna (Malmer 1997). In Norway, coins North Sea area (Sheehan 1998), are strongly reminis-
were introduced as a form of currency under King cent of the geographically defined areas of circulation
Harald Hardrule in the mid-11th century (Skaare of coins within the Carolingian realm (Metcalf 1981).
1976:68–74 and 112–13). Here it was towns such as In contrast to the coins, however, it is unlikely that
Trondheim that were the centres of innovation in we can explain this by postulating a “Lord of the
respect of the use of coinage and which constituted Rings” who was in control of the production and use
isolated monetized oases in relation to their hinter- of the rings within the area of his own authority (for a
lands (Risvaag and Christophersen 2004). At Kaup- different view, see Skre this vol. Ch. 10:350). Weights,
ang we have plentiful evidence of the handling of however, fall into a position intermediary between
hacksilver, ingots, ring silver and silver coin, along numismatics and archaeology. Metrological analyses
with the use of weights in one and the same place have shown that the weight-standards that are
(Blackburn, Hårdh, and Pedersen, this vol. Chs. 3, 5 embodied in the weights originated in state-organ-
and 6). Both the composition and this quantity of ized societies (Brøgger 1921; Kyhlberg 1980b, 1986b;
finds from an Early Viking-period settlement site Sperber 1996). However we rarely find weights in
north of the Skagerrak are as yet without parallel. these primary monetized contexts; they are found in
graves, on settlements, and sometimes also in hoards
Bridging disciplinary clefts in secondary non-monetized contexts.
Hacksilver, ingots and ring silver, coins and weights, The purpose of the present study is to try to link
have rarely been considered together in an integrated up the different groups of categories of artefact that
interpretative view. The divided treatment of these we find at the settlement area, namely coins, weights,
finds is the result of distinct disciplines in Viking ingots and rings, through the characteristic of stan-
Period research following different sets of questions dardization by weight. The initial hypothesis is that
and being based upon separate research traditions. they served the function of money in economic

transactions. What inter-associates these categories point of view of the classic “national economic” the-
of find is the fact that they all represent some way of ories. These hold that economic structures are inde-
handling silver. The silver had been weighed, and its pendent of time and always function according to the
quantity calculated by means of balances and same principles irrespective of the period or the soci-
weights. Objects of silver were probably broken into ety in question. The substantivists are critical of the
fragments in order to yield portions in small units or fundamental idea of the formalists, that economic
melted down for the purpose of producing larger relationships are governed in all societies by the
units such as rings or ingots. Through these transfor- notion of profit – the principle of “supply and de-
mations objects of value of the desired weight, con- mand” – and that individuals are always concerned
tents and form were produced. Silver as a substance to increase their personal profit. Substantivist theory
was thus probably used both as whole objects and as also asserts that economic relationships in prehis-
fragments. The two modes of value which preserved toric and primitive societies must be entirely socially
their bodily wholeness were the coins on the one controlled, in contrast to the capitalist system in
hand and the rings and ingots on the other. To break which those relationships are largely depersonalized.
up and weigh silver in smaller amorphous units ap- The idea that economic structures within premodern
pears therefore to have been a different way of calcu- societies were interwoven with the social structure is
lating and expressing value. In that case, the basic promoted as the alternative. This situation, in which
question is, which conventions and concepts of value the economic is inseparably part of the social, is
governed the use of silver, either as whole silver coin called “embeddedness”. Substantivism also argues
and as ring silver, or as amorphous hacksilver, in the that in premodern socieities there was no unlimited
economic transactions that took place at Kaupang? circulation of goods which could be bought or sold as
This study is an attempt to build bridges across the if in an open market. Economic transactions were
disciplinary clefts between archaeology, numismatics either based upon hierarchical gift-exchange systems,
and history. The aim is the show the close conceptual in which the distribution of prestigious objects of
relationship between coins, rings and weights, and exchange was channelled through a political centre
that all of these were standardized items. (redistribution), or the exchange of goods took place
on a horizontal plane between two parties by way of
8.2 Exchange, money, and value simple bartering (reciprocity). Finally, substantivism
A study such as this, the purpose of which is to discuss assumes the existence of a system of “spheres” of
the economic importance of the urban settlement of transaction in premodern society. In this system, a
Kaupang and its economic relationships with the rest distinction is drawn between impersonal commodity
of the world, and above all to clarify the use of forms goods and personal gifts. Commodities and gifts each
of currency in the Viking Period, has to take the an- circulate in their own spheres of exchange, without
thropological approach into account. Since the 1970s, intersecting.
an anthropological perspective has dominated our Substantivist concepts have been highly influen-
ideas of economic practices in Iron-age and medieval tial in many studies of economic relationships within
Scandinavia (Norseng 2000b:23–5). More than any- the Iron Age and early Christian Middle Ages. The
thing else, models and a set of concepts developed by “prehistoric” economy was in all respects different
the “substantivist” school of economic anthropology from that of modern society governed by the market
have been massively influential (Polanyi 1957, 1968, economy. In several studies, this prehistoric “other-
1998; Dalton 1975; see also Skre this vol. Ch. 9:333–5). ness” has become the very antithesis of our modern
Over the years, substantivism has been introduced society and values. But the substantivist perspective
and discussed in many works of archaeological schol- which has been so eagerly embraced offers a rather
arship dealing with relations in the Viking Period and simplistic picture of the character of exchange of
early Christian Middle Ages (e.g. Thurborg 1988, goods in primitive societies. As later anthropological
1989, Christophersen 1989a, Gaimster 1991, Carelli research has shown, the societies of the Southern Seas
1998, Gustin 1999). The substantivist position has also have been extensively idealized by, for instance,
left its mark in historical studies (e.g. Lunden 1972, Bronisl-aw Malinowski (1922), who with his fieldwork
Monclair 2002) and numismatics (e.g. Klackenberg at the beginning of the 20th century formulated the
1992, Grinder-Hansen 2000, Gullbekk 2003). It can be essential views of substantivism. Even though an-
summarized as follows. thropologists like Malinowski were living among the
Substantivism posits an essential difference in people they were studying, the societies concerned
how economic relations are structured between were still represented and shaped according to the
primitive, i.e. aboriginal, societies and in the modern, predilections of the scholars and their own intellectu-
market-oriented economy respectively. This idea has al frames of reference (Thomas 1991:9–14, Weiner
been further developed over a more extended histor- 1992:23–8). They were turned into romanticized but
ical range to apply also to pre-modern societies. at the same time polemical projections of industrial-
What substantivism stands against is the formalist ized society’s and the Western world’s social, envi-

ronmental, and ethical decline. Behind substan- In any attempt to pick up the codes, conventions
tivism’s concept of embeddedness one can detect a and symbolism that governed economic relations at
belief in an un-modern goodness and innocence that time, one is obliged to abandon a distanced and
which has not been corrupted by the knowledge of concurrently distancing perspective upon prehistory.
profit. The market economy and modern society An overarching objective in the study of economic
appear as a form of piratical capitalism. This takes on relations in prehistory should, in my view, be the
the role of an immoral and thus negatively charged identification of the gaps or zones that provided
alter ego. opportunities for non-binding and impersonal
Consequently, it is essentially the same point of forms of exchange. Another objective has to be to
view that is emphasized in the archaeological studies, address the challenge of looking at the material
whose authors seek to distance themselves from a media as directed and empowered, basic require-
concept of reality and plane of understanding which ments for commodification: namely the determina-
embody capitalist values (e.g. Johansen 1997:11–15). tion of price and the comparison of goods in terms of
But this approach goes hand in hand with a particu- a scale of value. The attempt to understand the phe-
lar line of argument concerning the relationship nomenon of commodification in prehistory also
between prehistory and our own times. The “soul- opens up the possibility of observing the social con-
less” and “uncaring” market economy fulfils a neces- stellations and alignments that attempted to monop-
sary function as the frame of reference for our own olize value and to define the concepts of value and
evaluations, and for our modern, secular, world- price. This is the dimension of prehistoric “econo-
view. It is only through this frame of reference that it my” I shall try to discuss in this chapter, with refer-
is possible to perceive and understand prehistory as ence to Kaupang.
different. At the same time, though, one becomes
locked into a dichotomous interpretative template A singular world of chieftains and gifts
involving the “otherness” of prehistory and the The highly dynamic application of substantivist the-
“sameness” of the present day (Moreland 2000b:1–5). ory in Scandinavian Viking Age scholarship has led
Thus it is not entirely unreasonable to posit that the to a large number of stimulating propositions but has
“other” reality that is represented in prehistory is still at the same time had a great deal of influence over
a reflection of our own times. Prehistory becomes a how the archaeological evidence is angled. Although
projection of the scholar’s own desires. its application in the archaeology of the Scandinavian
The starting point for this study is not to return to Iron Age has led to the deconstruction of a prehistory
a national economic viewpoint such as was uncriti- that is similar to our own age, a concomitant has
cally accepted in Viking Period scholarship in the been the construction of an economic world that was
first half of the 20th century (see discussion Gustin “singular”, or monodimensional. At the centre of
2001). Trading sites such as Birka were described as this singular world dominated by socio-economic
populated by merchants striking bargains (e.g. relationships stood an elite-controlled prestige-
Schück 1926). Trade was described from a macro- goods system that governed the circulation of exclu-
perspective. It was influenced by international flows sive gifts and day-to-day subsistence needs side-by-
of coinage and goods between Eastern and Western side in various spheres (e.g. Christophersen 1989:
Europe, and the prices of silver determined the prof- 120–8; Hedeager 1993:45–49, 64–7). Particularly over
itability of the long-distance trade network (e.g. long distances in geographical terms, exchange in the
Bolin 1953). In this view, the economic relations of Viking Period was controlled by a class of chieftains,
the Viking Period were very similar to those of our and in the following couple of centuries by kings by
own times, with a market system that determined means of administered exchange trade (e.g. Lindkvist
prices, commercial trade relations that were driven 1989). The class of chieftains controlled both the pro-
purely by a profit motive, and a macro-economy duction of luxury items and their redistribution via
with international flows of currency. It is this “ana- the network of exchange. Through these redistribu-
chronistic” picture of the Iron Age that many oppose tive control mechanisms the chieftains also main-
and seek to replace (e.g. Zachrisson 1998: 12–25; tained their own social and political power (e.g.
Spangen 2005:21–35). There is no doubt that Iron-age Hedeager 1992:90–1, 2001; Saunders 1995). The same
societies were different from industrialized ones. conceptual model has also been applied in Scan-
This was a social situation in which notions of social dinavian scholarship in an attempt to explain the
prestige were dominant, along with personal ties, a emergence of the first medieval towns at the end of
different world-view, and conceptual frames of refer- the 10th century. Towns such as Lund, Trondheim
ence that seem very strange, even terrifying to the and Sigtuna were founded on royal initiative (e.g.
modern mind (Price 2002:25–47). I concur with that Andrén 1985; Tesch 1989, 1990; Christophersen and
representation. However it does not mean that Iron- Walaker Nordeide 1994). The Christian national
age societies are unapproachable, virtually incom- kings channelled trade and exchange to these sites
prehensible to the present day. and so monopolized both access to and the con-

sumption of the goods. With control over both pres- hungry, and aggressive chieftains (e.g. Samson 1991).
tige goods and raw materials it was possible to con- In early Viking Period archaeology the Frisians were
struct alliances or to establish new power relations. seen as key agents who could be linked to long-dis-
Thus those who had power simultaneously managed tance trade and the development of urbanism in
and governed social capital by means of which they Scandinavia from the 7th century to the 9th (e.g.
could gather political power into their own hands Arbman 1937a:13–15; Jankuhn 1956:5–39, fig. 3). This
(for further discussion and criticism on “substan- horizontal problem concerning exchange relations is
tivist” towns, see Skre this vol. Ch. 9). highly relevant to the picture we form of the econom-
Most recently, John Moreland (2000b:18–22), ic significance of Kaupang, and to how we are to
basing himself on English scholarship, has argued understand the Continental contacts that are so
that the elite prestige-goods model over-emphasizes clearly evident in the finds from Kaupang. Taken to
the exchange relationships that are based upon valu- the limit, we could ask ourselves how exchange could
able items at the expense of the production and ex- function at all in a Kaupang that was a meeting point
change of “simple” goods. Moreland critically points between contrasting notions of value and views of
out that trade in prestige goods becomes automati- life, Christian and non-Christian, or was a landing
cally a purely aristocratic option. This model is based place both for Frankish-Frisian merchants who came
upon the fact that in the Anglo-Saxon Period trade is from a monetized, state-organized society and for
concentrated in the 7th and 8th centuries in the wics chieftains such as Ohthere.
and later, from the 9th century, in the burhs that were
under the eyes of the kings. The distribution and pro- Means of exchange in non-monetized contexts
duction of non-high-status goods remained apart What most archaeological applications of the con-
from the exchange of prestige goods. They belonged ceptual model of economic spheres have in common
to different spheres. The perception of prestige- is a fundamental scepticism with regard to the exis-
goods’ trade, such as it has come to be applied in tence of monetary mechanisms in premodern soci-
medieval archaeology, however, does not in More- eties. By monetary mechanisms, I mean in this case a
land’s view serve to explain the multiplicity of differ- form of neutral measure of value, standard of value,
ent forms of transaction that were found in Early- or “cash” with which one can evaluate and put a price
medieval England: on objects that become involved in transactions.
Monetary mechanisms in the form of cash should,
I suggest here that the appropriation of the concept of under such conditions, render the walls of the various
ranked spheres of exchange further enhances the separa- spheres permeable, and thus challenge the redistribu-
tion of production and exchange (and the lack of consid- tive gift-system and so the social and political order in
eration given to the former) within this vision of early turn. Here may lie the basic idea that everything has a
medieval economics. Here the fruits of agrarian produc- price. The use of money leads irresistably to things
tion are generally held to circulate at the lowest levels of being comparable and capable of valuation according
exchange, totally divorced of prestige exchange which to a single scale. In buying and selling, the personal
move at the higher, and more determining levels. (More- and social ties originally attached to the objects are
land 2000b:19–20). neutralized. This is also the reason why those works
that have discussed the appearance of media of pay-
The concept that Moreland has described as “ranked ment in prehistoric contexts have generally referred
spheres of exchange” creates watertight bulkheads to the interpretative model comprising special and
along a vertical axis within society. High-status goods all-purpose money that has been strongly advocated
such as swords, brooches, glass, and objects of pre- by substantivism. Märit Thurborg has formulated the
cious metal such as rings and coins, circulated as gifts archaeological position in the following terms:
and prestige items amongst men of equal rank.
Bread, cooking vessels, iron nails and more mundane Here there is a fundamental difference between all-pur-
objects were used and exchanged below this high-sta- pose money and special money that expresses, in itself,
tus sphere. something essential to the structure of the society and the
In the same way, I believe, an economic system role of the economy … Put simply, one may say that all-
divided into spheres – in the way that has been done purpose money represents our modern society, in which,
in the archaeology of the Scandinavian Iron Age – in principle, one single medium serves the exchange of
also creates separation on a horizontal, geographical goods and services and in which all such circulation is
plane. In this case a division is enforced between a economic in character. Special money, conversely, repre-
gift-economy in Scandinavia and a monetized econ- sents a society in which there are many different media,
omy in Christian medieval Europe. Telling is the dis- with distinct and definite functions, and in which the eco-
appearance of the growth-driving Frisian merchant nomic aspect does not always play a leading role.
in the reconstructions based on the theory of spheres, (Thurborg 1989:89, translated)
their place being taken by the gift-offering, power-

In this way, coins, for example, that appear in Vi- mechanism for calculation and pricing which pro-
king-period contexts are not understood as a curren- mote the personal wealth of individuals (Appadurai
cy in the full sense but rather described as a medium 1986:18–20; Godelier 1999:85–93). Anthropological
that had a primarily political and social function (e.g. studies within traditional societies show that objects
Christophersen 1989:134–7; Hedeager 1993:60–2; of value can assume two quite different functions
Varenius 1994). Another example is the Viking-peri- both as objects of gift and as cash to pay for services
od lead weights that several scholars believe were not or goods:
purely economic in function, and so could also have
been used in other situations besides payment The same type of object can take two distinct functions
(Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.4.3). Alternatively, then, the because it enters into two distinct fields of social relations.
significance of the weights in production is stressed. For, and this is a crucial point, in all of these societies,
They were used by silversmiths to produce metal commodity exchanges and gift-exchanges exist and coex-
alloys (e.g. Feveile 1994:58; Gustin 1999:246–8; Gra- ist as two modes of exchange and two areas of social prac-
ham-Campbell 2002:56). Rings are generally identi- tice which are consciously and purposely kept distinct and
fied as gifts, tribute or fines, with a limited role in separate, even though the same type of objects circulate in
payment (e.g. Gaimster 1991:116–18). On the other the one and the other, and between the one and the other.
hand, hacksilver indicates a use of silver distinctly (Godelier 1999:165).
more economic in character than the social use of
ring-silver (e.g. Besteman 2002:450, 2004a:98). By The use of objects of value as both gifts and as cash
stressing the social dimension of the object and thus maintains and defines the social relationships within
automatically excluding economically motivated use a society. Other studies have shown that commodi-
in the widest sense of that concept, artificial lines of ties exist in one form or another in all societies which
division are created. The understanding of means of engage in exchange (Kopytoff 1986). The commodifi-
payment such as coins, weights and hacksilver in par- cation of objects is a universal phenomenon and not
ticular, but also of the rings, has been analysed from a one restricted to the capitalist system. Where, and
stereotyping perspective and related to all-embracing under what circumstances, commodification can
socio-economic institutions such as gift-craving take place varies from culture to culture. Commo-
chieftainly and kingly power, and the principles of dification can primarily be understood as a cultural
exchange of redistribution and reciprocity. process that is accompanied by rituals which attempt
In my judgment, this is one reason why no one to alleviate its disturbing effect. It always requires an
has gone further in analysing the significance of the attitude. The interpretative view I apply in this study
coins or “cash” in general as a form of currency. is that objects of value that are brought into exchange
“Cash” establishes a form of continuity to monetized are regarded as living – that they can be attributed
societies with their values and so on to market-eco- with a complex of ideas and concepts of value. It is
nomic mechanisms and ways of thinking. It neutral- this conceptual capacity that influences and shapes
izes the social constellations that characterize the the economic value of the object in its social and cul-
closed socio-economic cosmos of the Iron Age; it dis- tural context.
solves embeddedness and in the end encourages a pos-
itive comparison between prehistory and our own The exchange of values
age. The presence of coins, coin-like or standardized Neither the earlier research school that interpreted
items such as rings and weights in prehistoric con- prehistory from a national economic perspective nor
texts that may have been of significance as a means of the representation of the Scandinavian Iron Age
evaluation and payment have consequently not been shaped by substantivism has discussed in detail why
investigated more fully but rather described schema- objects that were involved in exchange were regarded
tically as special money serving an entirely social or as valuable. Prestigious gifts are described here as
political role. In this chapter I shall propose an alter- valuable because they were made of precious metals
native line of approach to currency to that which such as gold and silver or, in the form of jewellery, are
peeps out from the functionalist division between the product of a complicated and time-consuming
special and all-purpose money. A fundamental pre- process of manufacture. Subsistence goods of the
miss of my position is that it is not possible to deter- Viking Period, lacking prestige, such as utilitarian
mine that cash had either a social or an entirely eco- iron, soapstone vessels, schist whetstones and quern-
nomic function since neither of those can be separat- stones, can be marketed at a foreign market-place
ed from the other. Several of the key tenets of sub- because they constitute scarce goods in demand there
stantivism have also been modified in more recent (e.g. Christophersen 1989:128). A fundamental logic
anthropological studies. behind both the market-economic model and the
In ceremonial and strongly ritualized exchange- prestige-goods model derives from the principle of
systems without money or markets, it has been ob- supply and demand. In these interpretations, in fact,
served that there are nonetheless various forms of both the profit-motivated trader and the chieftain

seeking honour are remarkably alike. Trade over of us. Objects are considered valuable because they
greater distances was generated by some material manage to resist our desires to own them. They
need, and the function of exchange was to redress the become economic objects because of our desires
balance and level out a shortage or surplus of goods (Simmel 1990:66–7). In order to satisfy our desires we
or social prestige. A chieftain’s wealth was based are obliged to bridge the gap or distance between our
upon the extent to which he could control the redis- wishes and their satisfaction through various forms
tribution of prestige goods. It was in his interest to of exchange. But we can only achieve satisfaction by
create a shortage of prestigious items which would concurrently giving up some object that is the object
increase his standing and at the same time underpin of someone else’s desire. This sacrificial procedure is,
his power over others. The real driving force for an according to Simmel, at the root of all forms of what
engagement in gift-exchange or in market-type are called economic logic. In practice, exchange
transactions thus remains essentially unproblematic involves the making explicit of the value-content of
and is taken for granted. But what was the stimulus the object itself.
for people to engage in economic relationships? Simmel’s view of what constitutes value can be
In his work on the theory of money, Die Philo- used to understand the intrinsic motivation of ex-
sophie des Gelds (English trans. 1990), first published change of economic objects. This is the case irrespec-
at the beginning of the 20th century, the German tive of whether one is in the capitalist present or was
sociologist Georg Simmel discussed why objects that an agent in an Early-medieval exchange system, such
are involved in a transaction are regarded as valuable, as, for instance, a Frisian merchant of the 9th centu-
and what is the essential nature of economic transac- ry. As I read Simmel, value is a relative concept, and
tions. According to Simmel, value is not a natural connotations of value which determine the nature of
endowment in itself. The value of objects is defined economic relationships do not have to be universal.
and redefined in negotiation between different indi- From Simmel’s concept of value the market and gift
viduals, or “subjects”. But it is, at the same time, im- systems do not necessarily have to stand as irrecon-
possible to draw a categorical boundary line between cilable opposites in the way that substantivism as-
the world of the subjects and that of the objects. They serts. If we accept that all economic relations are
stand in a many-sided relationship and “infect” one formed by social relationships, irrespective of time
another: and place, during the Iron Age and equally today, and
that the process of exchange itself produces and de-
In whatever empirical or transcendental sense the differ- fines value, Simmels (1990:80) goes on to give the fol-
ence between objects and subjects is conceived, value is lowing paradoxical formulation a deeper meaning.
never a “quality” of the objects, but a judgement upon Economy is based upon an exchange of value but at
them which remains inherent in the subject. And yet, nei- the same time economy deals in an exchange of value.
ther the deeper meaning and content of value, nor its sig- This brings us into a key interpretative issue for
nificance for the mental life of the individual, nor the this chapter, namely the relationship between the
practical social events and arrangements based upon it, sphere of value and the economic objects that were
can be sufficiently understood by referring value to the exchanged. Exchange does not represent solely an
“subject”. The way to a comprehension lies in a region in exchange of a substance or goods but also the trading
which that subjectivity is only provisional and actually not of immaterial values that are associated with the
very essential. (Simmel 1990:63) objects. The motivation for Early-medieval merca-
tores such as the Frisians to set sail towards the hori-
The objects that are exchanged thus undergo a con- zon thus did not necessarily rest upon an idea that
stant process of valuation. And even the individuals goods were cheaper along foreign shores. It thus also
who participate in exchange are affected by the need not depend immediately upon the commercial
objects that are being exchanged. Objects can thus value of the goods or upon a shortage of them in the
assume an active and identity-determining role sim- homeland, but also upon a conceptual character they
ply by being exchanged. In no way are they silent or had which initiated exchange. The goods may have
lifeless. Connotations of value develop and function had an attraction and irresistability simply because
in a border zone between the subject and the object. they were produced beyond the horizon (Helms
Value is thus no absolute entity that is already there 1993:192; Moreland 2004:147–8). This motivation for
and which exists purely in itself. Value is initially cre- engaging in long-distance trade may, inter alia, pro-
ated by the subjects who participate in exchange. vide a new perspective upon the trade in Frisian
Simmel also argues against the usual ideas of cloth, pallia fresonica, in the North Sea zone during
what constitutes value, namely that economic objects the Early Middle Ages which written sources refer to
are valuable because they are difficult to obtain. (Pirenne 1909; Geijer 1938, 1965).
Instead he completely inverts the conventional logic Preconceptions about what is valuable are imput-
behind economic profit. There is a form of economic ed to the objects themselves. The objects are not neu-
motivation found above all in what the object makes tral, or metaphorically lifeless, dead. They do not

stand as empty shells, but rather are filled with ideas, locally rooted in the formerly Roman towns. The
connotations, and narratives from earlier lives, uses saints had both a religious and a decisive economic
and significance (e.g. Hoskins 1998). This makes it importance to the daily lives of the people. Both
possible to regard valuable items, i.e. objects that long-distance trade and the regional exchange of
either make exchange possible or are the objects of goods and services were organized during a few days
exchange in some form or other, as historical objects. at the local market which was under the protection of
Exchanges are therefore crossing points, at which the the saint. As the best known example Theuws cites
historical contents of the object become the objects the annual wine market at St-Denis outside Paris. It
of investigation and redefinition that can also go on was on these market days that the coins were struck
to colour the relationship between the giver and the and used. It was by the presence of the saint that the
receiver. Exchange always involves the negotiation of value of the gold coin was sanctioned. Through their
values and ideas which with the object is imbued. linkage with a sacred sphere, the gold tremisses
This theoretical perspective holds above all for our became a holy principle of value in the eyes of the
comprehension of the central objects of exchange in coin-users.
the Viking Period: the coins, rings, ingots, hacksilver This immaterial source of strength that sanctions
and weights that came to be used in Kaupang. the value of the coins has been thoroughly discussed
by the anthropologist Maurice Godelier (1999). What
Material and non-material aspects makes the coins valuable in the eyes of their users
of monetary value rests first and foremost upon a belief in a transcen-
Why were coins treated as of value by medieval soci- dent principle or power in which the value of those
eties? A usual answer is that the king guaranteed the coins can be rooted:
value of the coin by being represented on it by his
portrait and his name. The king’s political and secu- In order for a precious object to circulate as money, its
lar power were the essential prerequisites for him to “imaginary” value must be accepted and shared by the
be able to establish and maintain a system of pay- members of the societies trading with each other. A cur-
ment based upon coinage (e.g. Malmer 1996; Gull- rency cannot exist, cannot circulate as “legal” tender with-
bekk 2003; Kilger 2004). Another common answer is out having “force of law”. And laws are not made by indi-
that minting gives a piece of silver a value beyond its viduals. A money must harbour the presence of the gods,
metal contents. It was only through the impression of be stamped with their symbols or with the seal of the state
the coin-die that a monetary value was manifested or the effigy of the king. Even today, on the dollar, the
(e.g. Malmer et al. 1991:42–3). But is this enough for only money known and accepted worldwide, is printed
us to understand why coins were used as coins, and the reference to God, the god of the Bible. (Godelier
why they were accepted as such? It is my belief that 1999:166)
these typical answers only provide a superficial un-
derstanding of the use of coin and cannot explain According to Godelier (1999:33 and 161–7), objects of
how and why monetary values emerge. There is a fur- value that come to be used as forms of currency
ther relevant factor: namely a mental readiness depend upon imaginary and impalpable points of ref-
amongst coin-users to accept the value of coin. There erence. It is those points of reference that have the
was something in the coin itself beyond its size and authority necessary to legitimate the value of the cur-
purity: an idea and a concept which could persuade rency. These are found in all societies that use any sort
and reassure the coin-users that coins were objects of of objects of value as media for exchange. In tradi-
value. tional societies this imaginary and impalpable power
Frans Theuws (2004) has provided an interesting is made material in holy items that belong to the gods,
point of view on how coins may be transformed into the ancestors, or to heroes. The objects are untouch-
monetary objects in the Early-medieval, monetized able, and for that reason are kept out of circulation.
societies of the Continent. Theuws takes as his start- Even the most prestigious medium of currency in
ing point the minting of gold coins, those known as modern times, money, was sanctioned by an imagi-
tremisses in the 7th century, in the Merovingian nary but at the same time concrete reference point. In
realm. He argues that an economic value is not based the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th cen-
solely upon the object’s material properties but also tury it was gold, kept under lock and key in the banks’
in equal measure upon those ideas and assumptions vaults, that represented the lasting reference point of
with which the object can be associated. He bases his the monetary system. The gold reserve was the imagi-
line of argument upon the fact that the Merovingian nary and mythical capital of industrialism and early
gold coins do not name a king but only moneyers and capitalism (Godelier 1999:27–9). From its elevated
the mint-place. Thus the coins were not immediately but at the same time separated position, this point of
linked to the world of power politics. Theuws alter- reference constitutes a continuously radiating source
natively stresses the cult of saints that was found of energy which infuses the actual media of payment
throughout the Merovingian world and which was with the authenticity they need. Through its perdur-

ing and untouchable position this sort of fixed refer- Inalienable possessions thus fulfil an elementary
ence point can be likened to an unmoving and eternal function in imparting nobility and life to objects of
axle about which all the economic activities, relation- value, which then circulate in exchange with the
ships and concepts of a given society turn (Godelier authenticity and originality they need. This applies
1999:166–9). In the same way as gold deep down in the not only to gifts but also to objects that have achieved
bank vaults gave media of payment above ground in the position of being of value and as being media of
the form of coins, notes and cheques the credibility value in the economic sphere:
they required, so the Merovingian saint assumed the
roles of a sort of imaginary capital and of the neces- Gift objects and valuables are caught ... between two prin-
sary point of validation. Theuws emphasizes the ciples: between the inalienability of sacred objects and the
sacred significance in the gold-coin economy of the alienability of commercial objects. Like the former, they
Merovingian realm (2004:128). The saint was per- are inalienable, and at the same time, like the latter, alien-
ceived both as an imagined gaurantee and as a vivify- able. This ... is because they function both as substitutes
ing force that animated the coins in production and for sacred objects and as substitutes for human beings.
endowed them with a monetary power. Consequent- They are both powerful objects, like the former, and
ly the coins could fulfil their function as a medium of wealth, like the latter. ... In reality what is present in the
payment on market days. As holy capital, this point, object, along with the owner, is the entire imaginary of
principle, power or object could never itself be the ob- society, of his society. It is all of the imaginary duplicates
ject of economic reckoning and profit, and was kept of the human beings to whom have been attributed ... the
out of circulation. To use an anthropological term, it powers to reproduce life, to grant health and prosperity,
was inalienable. The saint, in other words, was the or the opposite, to cause death, famine, the extinction of
society’s inalienable possession. the group. (Godelier 1999:94–5).
The basic idea behind inalienable possession was
originally developed by the anthropologist Annette The idea of inalienable possessions does not immedi-
B. Weiner (1992) through her fieldwork in Oceania. ately appear applicable in an explanation of why
Weiner (1992:28–33) attacked the established under- money was both regarded as valuable and could be
standing that is to be found within both the national given away at the same time. Cash is thoroughly
economic and the substantivist theories, that eco- alienable, and is the most blatant material symbol of
nomic relations in all societies rest upon the princi- commodification, i.e. saleability. Money is really the
ples of reciprocity and consensus. The purpose of all very opposite of everything inalienability stands for.
forms of economic transaction ought, according to But it is always a material substitute or replacement
this view, to be to create political and social stability. for the unsaleable possessions of the society. It is in
But exchange, in Weiner’s view, is not only a matter and through money that these absolute possessions
of a supply of goods being balanced between different are duplicated and so split. Money represents a soci-
dealers but also above a matter of power: specifically ety’s own untouchable perception of value at one and
the power to determine and control the most presti- the same time as it brings that into the market place.
gious objects for society. Inalienable possessions are The conversion of objects of value into money in
the actual driving force behind exchanges and the the sense of anonymous and impersonal values and
relationships of power which control those exchan- currency, however, is not an automatic matter but
ges. According to Weiner, inalienability is an essen- must rather be understood to be the result of an
tial quality of the material goods, and because of this extended process of cultural transformation (Gode-
essential character it is never itself negotiable. What lier 1999:166). Godelier draws a clear distinction be-
makes a possession inalienable and, ultimately, ex- tween objects of value that come to be used in ex-
clusive is that it accumulates a history and thus, over change and money. The idea behind money is for-
time, presents its own, impalpable, identity. Weiner med in the context of organized exchanges of goods
(1992:33) compares this untouchable object with in quantities that exceed the scope of simple barter-
treasures that are authentic in the popular view ing. Here money fulfils an elementary function in
because they reflect both fictive and real genealogies, allowing the calculation and determination of the
origin myths, the sacred ancestors, and the gods. It is exchange-value of the goods. The use of money,
these immaterial and transcendental ideas that form unlike the exchange of gifts, created no social debt
the very core of the actual exchanges. To own or pass between two parties (Godelier 1999:42–3). There are
on an inalienable, sacred object gives a person access no obligations between the giver and the receiver
to his or her own group’s identity and self-under- after a deal has been done. This means that goods or
tanding. Thus this also provides power over others. services that are bought and sold are absolutely alien-
Weiner stresses the point that there is a categorical able. It is therefore only under certain preconditions
difference between possessions that are alienable, in that a need for money appears to fulfil requisite func-
other words exchangeable, and inalienable posses- tions outside any socially binding sphere. We can, as
sions, which must be kept for ever. a result, expect money to appear and price-determin-

ing mechanisms to be developed only in association action of the long term, which reproduces the cosmic
with emergence of long-distance contacts, the ex- and thus also the social order of society. According to
change of large quantities of goods, specialized agents John Moreland (2004:145–6) Theuws’s model cannot
who participate in and organize this exchange, and explain in what way coins as the sacred objects of
specific sites at which the goods can be marketed. In value of the saint communicated with other types of
my view, Kaupang and other Viking-period sites for transaction which, for instance, made it possible to
long-distance trade and the exchange of goods meet sell and pay for day-to-day commodities such as wine
all of these criteria. or grain, as are frequently documented in the histori-
The second fundamental aspect of the use of cal sources, or how one could pay craftsmen or for
money that Theuws has taken up in his article is the their products at market sites or in trading places.
social arena and the rituals that are required in order In order to be able to make the links between
to put coins into circulation. Here again the market money and different types or spheres of transaction,
days of the saints served a legitimating function. On there is one further consideration which neither
those days it was possible for the coins to cross be- Theuws or Moreland has discussed. This is the possi-
tween different spheres of transaction. The precondi- bility that money and other objects of exchange are
tion was that this transgression of boundaries was regarded as calculable and quantifiable: in other
accompanied by rituals and festivals such as the mar- words that they can be compared according to a sin-
ket days of the saints which could mask the transgres- gle scale. This makes it possible to examine the signif-
sive power of the coin. Theuws compares these festi- icance of Kaupang as a site at which exchange was
vals with the tournaments of value, a concept that was practised from a monetized perspective. To illumi-
introduced by the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai nate this, I shall analyse the concept of “money” in
(1986:21–2). Characteristic of tournaments of value is the following sections of this chapter on the basis of
that they are held at specific times of the year and at two different questions and perspectives:
selected sites. They represent something beyond the
usual, and participation gives those in power status • What mechanisms allow forms of currency such
and the opportunity to contest their positions as coins, rings and ingots, hacksilver, and even
amongst themselves. But it is not status, social posi- equipment for payment such as weights, to be
tion or renown that is the driving force behind these calculable? Against what scale was their exchange
“tournaments” but rather the opportunity to influ- and reckoning value defined? These questions
ence and redefine the role of the crucial and most thus involve metrological issues to a very large
prestigious objects of value that are in circulation extent.
within that society. This, then, influences the whole • What immaterial connotations of value made
economic system. In other words the nominal value media of payment valuable? What inalienable
of coins is defined and stabilized through “tourna- characteristic was represented in the object in
ments of value”. This can only happen when the pop- order for it to assume the authenticity necessary
ulation is assembled at the market in order to trade as money?
amongst themselves. Comparable “tournaments”
which defined the nominal status of the critical ob- I have divided this chapter up according to the three
jects of value would also, in my view, have been ways in which silver was handled and valued during
found in Iron-age Scandinavia. It was at the thing, for the Viking Period. In section 8.3 I analyse how coin-
example, that the nominal reckoning of the eyrir-unit age was sanctioned as a standard of payment and
was declared and confirmed. That was also the occa- value in the Early Middle Ages of Western Europe, in
sion on which the quality of the silver that was in- areas which had direct contacts with Kaupang in the
cluded in the eyrir-ring was determined. The Ice- 9th century. In the same way, in section 8.4, I take a
landic reckoning of rings Baugatal is a good example. closer look at the meaning of the ring as an object of
Baugatal is discussed more fully below (see p. 282–3) value and how aurar-reckoning came to be estab-
Theuws’s interpretative approach may provide us lished as a standard of value in Iron-age society. In
with a framework for understanding coins as both section 8.5 the connexion between the fragmentation
valuable and simultaneously exchangeable objects. of silver and the introduction of the standardized
The monetary power of coinage was rooted in a tran- Oriental weight-system in the form of cubo-octahe-
scendental and unattainable principle, and the dral and spheroid weights in the second half of the
exchange-value of money, its nominal function, was 9th and at the beginning of the 10th centuries is
defined in a social area between various agents. But explored.
this does not show us how in practice coins func-
tioned as objects of value throughout the series of 8.3 Coins and coinage around the North Sea
transactions. The use and significance of coins Travellers who took the same route as Ohthere down
remains a solemn and religious affair. In Theuws’s the west coast of Norway to Hedeby were presumably
view the gold coins belong to what he calls the trans- thoroughly familiar with the use of coin. Those who

visited Hedeby may have seen how the residents of brought to Kaupang to be traded but rather for prac-
that town dealt with coins along the harbour area, tical personal use (Pilø, in prep.). Another category
and in other parts of the town too.1 Ohthere also vis- of finds that implies that individuals from the West
ited the court of Alfred the Great in Wessex, England. Frankish territories had been in residence in the set-
Many Scandinavians who lived in England at the tlement area of Kaupang are the run-of-the-mill
time when Ohthere’s report was written down will items and personal dress-accessories. The concen-
very probably have seen how people used coins to trated distribution of these objects may show that
make payments all over the kingdom. It is not impos- people from the Frankish realm lived in their own
sible that people of Scandinavian origin themselves quarter in Kaupang (Wamers, in prep.). Sherds of
made use of coinage when they were staying there. At Frankish glassware are another important evidence
the end of the 9th century the Vikings initiated their for good contacts with the Carolingian world (Gaut,
own minting, following English prototypes, in the in prep.).
town of York in Northern England (Grierson and The Franks and Frisians who discharged their
Blackburn 1986:316–25). But as soon as one sailed cargo at Kaupang were probably quite familiar with
back to Scandinavia one left all of this behind. In the use of coin as a form of currency and as a general-
Ohthere’s own homeland it is likely that people had a ly recognized standard of value in their homelands.
quite different perception of minted silver. That Had coins been adopted as cash in Kaupang they
coins were not accepted and used as a means of pay- ought to have been circulated in larger quantities and
ment is implied by a variety of archaeological find- presumably have left clearer traces behind them in
contexts. the form of single finds in the settlement area (for a
Western European coins of the 9th century and different view, see Skre this vol. Ch. 10). However,
the very early 10th are very rare in Scandinavia. The coins evidently had no monetary value, either in
few Anglo-Saxon pennies and Carolingian deniers Kaupang or beyond the town (for a different view,
that are known from Norwegian finds appear almost see Skre this vol. Ch. 10:347–8) and the question is
without exception in female graves where they were “why?”. Why did the use of coin fail to establish itself
used as pendants (Garipzanov 2005:47–50). The in Kaupang as it did in the other contemporary
small number of Western European coins known Southern Scandinavian towns of Ribe and Hedeby? Is
from Early Viking-period settlement contexts are it a question of whether or not coins were rejected
from Kaupang, amongst other sites. Altogether six because they themselves were regarded as tokens of
9th-century coins have been found, including three value? Or could the method of calculation and with
Carolingian deniers struck under Louis the Pious that the scale of value that Western European coins
(814–40), two Anglo-Saxon pennies of King Cœn- represented, not have been accepted beyond the
wulf of Wessex (796–821), and a putatively Scandi- monetized area in which they originally were meant
navian coin of the Wodan-Monster type, possibly for use? Were people at Kaupang rejecting in this way
struck in Ribe after c. AD 825 (Blackburn, this vol. both the concept and the notion of value that they
Ch. 3.3.2, Fig. 3.17.a–c; Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. represented?
4:Nos. 6–11). The Western European silver coins I believe that the answer to these questions lies in
from Kaupang were struck before c. 840 and thus understanding the monetary context that regulated
long before Ohthere’s day. There is also the remark- the use of coin in the Carolingian Empire. In the fol-
able find of a Frisian gold coin, the type known as a lowing section I shall, therefore, take a closer look at
tremissis, struck in Dorestad in the middle of the 7th how monetary value was legitimized and how people
century (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.3.3, Fig. 3.18.b; handled coin as a means of making payments in the
Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:No. 5). This gold tremis- monetized societies of Western Europe. By way of
sis is hitherto the only specimen of its kind in both introduction I shall examine the character of the coin
Norway and Sweden. In comparison with the coin as a measure of value and a means of standardized
finds from Dorestad, one of the largest trading sites calculation. The question I shall consider first is: why,
in the Frankish realm, the finds from Kaupang are and in what way, coins could be used in calculation.
distinctly meagre. A series of archaeological investi-
gations have recovered more than 200 separately Counting seeds and coins
found Frankish deniers. Besides these single finds – an Antique and medieval way of reckoning
there are also three coin-hoards with a total of over a The ideological and conceptual ancestry of all of the
hundred coins (van Gelder 1980:222, tab. 13).2 monetary systems of medieval Europe, Byzantium
From other categories of archaeological finds and the Caliphate can be traced back to the Roman
from Kaupang we can conclude that the contacts coinage. In order to understand the use of coins in
with the Frankish world were good. As an example the Carolingian realm we need to look in more detail
we can take the sherds of pottery manufactured in the at its structure: the theoretical rules of play and the
Badorf region of the Rhine Valley down to the end of practical conventions that governed the minting of
the 9th century, and which was in all probability not coins and their use both in the Late Roman Empire

and in its Merovingian successor. How was the coinage, the principle of value applied was the grain.
weight and purity of gold coin defined? But the weight-standard of Frankish and Anglo-
The Emperor Constantine the Great introduced a Saxon gold coins was changed at the end of the 6th
new standard gold coin early in the 4th century with century. In place of the carat or siliqua, the coin-
the solidus aureus. He reformed the Late-Roman weight was adapted to the type of seed that was used
monetary system which, since the beginning of the as grain in the Germanic areas, i.e. barley. The coin-
3rd century, had been afflicted with continuous de- weight of the new Frankish tremisses was then 20
basement. Alongside the solidus smaller coins such grains.6 This reduced the average weight of the trem-
as a half-solidus, called a semissis, and a third of a issis from c. 1.5 to 1.3 g (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:
solidus, the tremissis or triens were introduced. What 92; Grierson 1991:17). We can trace this reform in the
made this reform so progressive in the Late Roman Frankish monetary system in the gold coins them-
Empire was that its official gold coin standard was, as selves. In contrast to the Frankish heartlands, there
the word supposed, solid. Constantine’s gold coin was a reaction against this Germanic change to the
was of reliable average weight and was made of pure basic coin-standard in the Romanized Provence and
gold (Spufford 1988:7). It was the practice with An- Southern Gaul. In towns such as Marseilles, Arles
tique coinage that the basic coin that a monetary sys- and Mâcon this change could be seen in the coins.
tem rested upon could be reconstructed and adjusted Provençal tremisses were marked VII to show the
precisely with the help of seeds and grains (Ridgeway
1892:181). It was known that the weight of these was
constant.3 A certain amount of gold could thus be 1 Coin hoards in Hedeby containing Scandinavian deniers of
calculated to a high degree of accuracy. Chosen as the the 9th century: Wiechmann 1996:225–30, Nos. 4–5, Busdorf
cornerstone of the solidus system was the seed of the I–II.
carob tree, which was found growing in Western Asia 2 According to Simon Coupland (1988:9–10) Enno van Gelder’s
and the Eastern Mediterranean area. The seed of this survey does not provide a complete conspectus of all the coin
tree was called κεράτιον (carat) in Greek and siliqua finds from Dorestad. A considerable number of finds made in
in Latin. According to Constantine’s reform, a soli- the 19th century are not included in the table.
dus of pure gold should weigh 24 carats (Grierson 3 Royal decrees from 13th- and 14th-century England require
1960:251–2).4 A semissis therefore weighed 12 carats that the wheat grain that was used for calibration should be
and a tremissis 8.5 round, dry, and always picked from the centre of the row of
The seed was not only the foundation stone of the grains (Ridgeway 1892:180).
Antique monetary system; at the same time it defined 4 In Latin, the carat was termed ceratonia siliqua. A Roman sili-
both the weight- and the counting-units employed in qua, in the metric system, weighed 0.189 g, giving us a solidus
trade and exchange. The stable reference point of the of 4.54 g (Grierson 1991:1). In Ethiopia carob seeds are still
Roman weight system was the gold solidus. A Roman used as a unit of weight for calibrating gold weights. Here
pound (libra) was, after Constantine’s reform, 72 they are also a little heavier than the Roman siliqua weighing
solidi. Transposed into the modern metric system around 0.2 g (Thingstad 2007:40–1).
this corresponds to about 327 g (Witthöft 1985:402; 5 We must point out here that the Roman and the later
Grierson and Blackburn 1986:14). It should be noted Byzantine and Arabic monetary units followed a base-12 or
from the beginning that in the Ancient World and duodecimal system (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:14). Under
later in the Middle Ages people thought and counted such a system the units were divisible by several factors such
using seeds and coins. Relationships of quantity were as 2, 4 and 6. This differed from the simpler vigesimal system
expressed in specific units which corresponded to a of calculation based upon the units of 10 or 20 (Stenroth, in
given number of coins. Weights and numbers of prep.). Both ways of counting re-appear in the Viking Period.
coins were thus conceptually synonymous. The met- In the earlier eyrir-system, counting was apparently done in
ric system – using grams – that we are used to think in units of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and so on (below, 8.4). In the late
nowadays was only introduced in the 19th century eyrir- and ertog-system counting was done with duodecimal
(Sperber 1996:11–12). With the metric system the units such as 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16, 18, 24 etc. (below, 8.5).
physical and mental connexion with the coins and so 6 This grain (Troy grain) weighed, according to Grierson, 0.065
back to the seedcorn was broken. The grains were the g. The Troy grain that is referred to as the grain-unit in the
smallest, indivisible building blocks, and thus were written sources is probably to be identified with the barley
the atoms of many premodern weight and counting grain (Ridgeway 1892:180–2). William Ridgeway (1892:194)
systems all over the world (Ridgeway 1892:169–94). assigns a nominal weight of 0.064 g to the barley and Troy
The minting of gold coins continued after the fall grain. The difference in weights seems minimal, but the dis-
of the Roman Empire. In the areas under Germanic crepancy in the third decimal place makes a bigger difference
control barbarian kings from the 5th century on- to the size of the coins. A Frankish tremisses should in princi-
wards struck a number of solidi, but mostly smaller ple weigh 1.28 g, according to Ridgeway’s figures (20 x 0.064
coins that corresponded to the standard of the g), and a solidus 3.84 g (60 x 0.064). If we apply Grierson’s fig-
Roman tremisses (Grierson 1991:4–5). As in Antique ures a tremissis weighs 1.3 g and a solidus 3.9 g.

reduction of weight which meant they weighed only 7 Byzantine era is also demonstrated by metrological
rather than 8 siliquae (Fig. 8.1). The reduced-weight studies of sets of weights from Egypt.10 Similar bal-
solidus was marked either XX or XXI (Grierson and ance-sets as that from Gilton also appear in Norway
Blackburn 1986:107, pl. 20; Grierson 1991:fig. 43). As I in this period, as, for instance, in the grave finds from
shall show in the next section, this change in the Bråten and Evebø (Kyhlberg 1980b:167–71). The set of
numerical value of coins in the Merovingian realms weights that we have from Bråten was probably cali-
came to have major consequences for the weighing of brated by the coin-changers themselves with the aid
gold and silver in Scandinavia (Kilger, this vol, Ch. of gold coins whose exact weight in siliquae or grains
8.4). It was the lighter Merovingian tremissis that was was known.
the basic unit for the Scandinavian eyrir-system The Frankish grain-standard was also the proto-
(Steinnes 1927:15–16). type for the massive coinage in sceattas that bur-
The need for distinguishing and calculating geoned from the late 7th century in the North Sea
weight according to different regional gold coin- region. Silver sceattas were used as coins for payment
standards can also be seen in the development of a on both sides of the English Channel (Grierson and
precise-weighing tradition in Europe involving Blackburn 1986:164–89). The earliest Frisian and
exceptionally sensitive balances. Byzantine balances Anglo-Saxon sceattas were very carefully weighed,
in particular could discriminate at levels of a hun- and like the Merovingian gold tremisses maintained
dredth of a gram (Steuer 1987:435). Consequently it practically the exact weight of 20 grains (Grierson
was possible to work with the weight-units that cor- and Blackburn 1986:14). This may mean that in mint-
responded to a Roman siliqua.7 It was particularly in ing sceattas too, the grain itself was used to check the
the 6th and in the early 7th century that regional gold weight of the silver coinage in the same way as had
coin-standards were introduced into the Frankish previously been done with gold coins. Indications of
and Anglo-Saxon lands as scales and balances be- this practice, namely the checking of the weight of the
came part of regular grave furnishings (Werner coins, are provided sporadically by hoards of sceat-
1962). The rich grave from Gilton in Kent, England, tas.11 People were highly conscious of the weight of
shows that alongside sensitive balances, various kinds each single silver coin, and that it was supposed to
of weight of lead and bronze were used, plus Roman observe a precise weight-standard. But there is no
bronze coins (Fig. 8.2). This grave is dated to the first direct evidence from the written sources that con-
half of the 7th century (Kyhlberg 1980b:164). firms this practice in North-Western Europe during
Scales and weights were presumably owned by the Merovingian and Viking Periods.
some professional coin-changer, a nummularius. The The grains were the building blocks of the An-
set of weights from Gilton makes possible a large tique and Early-medieval monetary systems. The
number of combinations with which one could value of the coins – or rather their soul and spirit –
measure the weight of gold coins as fragments of a was rooted in the type of life-producing seed that
solidus.8 With the help of the additive and subtrac- grew in the fields and was renewed each year. The
tive method of weighing it was possible to calculate gold coins also established a metaphorical relation-
the number of siliquae or grains and thus the exact ship with the warming sun that enabled the corn to
weight of gold in the balance-pan.9 The extraordi- grow and ripen. Here, I believe, lies a crucial element
nary precision of balances in the Late Roman and for our understanding of coinage. The seedcorns were

Figure 8.1 Merovingian tremissis, Mâcon, post-c. 580. 1.25

g. Size 3:1. Photo, Jonathan Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum,
2006.
Figure 8.2 The set of weights from Gilton, Kent, England

(Kyhlberg 1980b:165).
regarded as natural constants, as the undivisible,

smallest elements – the atoms, by the monetized soci-
eties of the Antique and medieval worlds. At the same
time these seedcorns were also a symbol of fertility
and of the gods’, later of God’s, blessing, which guar-
anteed the continuation of human society. The aspect
of calculation that resides in all use of coin was legiti-
mated by reckoning in grains. From such a perspec-
tive, one is obliged to argue that it was through the
potential of the seedcorn as the bringer of life that the
populations of monetized areas sanctioned the con-
nexion of weight with value. Specific intervals of a
certain number of grains created a usable scale of
reckoning, as was manifested and applied in the offi-
cial gold coin standards of the Roman and Mero-
vingian Empires. As we shall see in the next section, it
was equally by means of this scale of reckoning based
upon the grain that it was possible to undertake meas-
urements and counts in day-to-day exchange rela-
tionships even in areas where gold coin was not in use.
The use of silver coins in the Frankish realm 7 I.e. intervals of weight of 0.189 g.
Sometime after the middle of the 7th century, the 8 A metrological analysis has shown that there were two differ-
striking of tremisses in silver began in Western Eu- ent sets of weights represented in the grave, of which one was
rope, and by the end of the century now very pale calibrated against the Roman-Byzantine solidus and the other
gold coins had been replaced by a proper silver series against the lighter Merovingian solidus (Kyhlberg
coinage (Grierson 1991:19–28). The various types of 1980:164–7). The set of weights also included a touchstone
silver coin that we refer to as denars, deniers and pen- (marked B on Fig. 8.2).
nies remained the current coin over much of Europe 9 Despite corrosion and wear, the margins of error between the
right through to the High Middle Ages. The silver weights were less than 1 per cent (Kyhlberg 1980:167).
penny was the only and the fundamental coin-unit in 10 It has been discovered that one could calibrate the weights in
the medieval monetized economy until the 12th cen- relation to each other with very great precision. The margins
tury. The individuals from the Frankish realm who of error between the weights corresponded to the weight of
resided in Kaupang, apparently in the first half of the 2.4 grains, i.e. 0.156 g (Steuer 1987:435).
9th century, came from a monetized society in which 11 In the hoard of Frisian sceattas from Barthe, 28 coins that had
the Carolingian silver denier was the central element been struck from the same dies, weighed between c. 18 and 21
of reckoning and payment. They were undoubtedly grains (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:14). The grain-unit
familiar with the conventions operative within a (Troy) corresponds to 0.065 g. This means that the coins
monetary system and with the principles that defined weighed between 1.17 and 1.36 g.

the exchange-value of the denier. We shall now take a The heavier new deniers struck, which were minted in
closer look at those conventions and principles, and every part of the Empire after the reform, are also dif-
at how silver coin was used in practice in the Caro- ferent in respect of the design of the die, the location
lingian realm. of Charles’s monogram and the cross, and the form
Soon after the first of the Carolingian kings, Pip- and position of the legends from earlier silver coins
pin III, had been crowned in AD 751, he raised the (Fig. 8.4, c.f. Grierson and Blackburn 1986:pl. 33). But
standard weight of the silver denier from 1.1 to 1.3 g. what was it that stimulated the Carolingian coin-
The diameter of the coin flan was increased and it reforms, and what was the idea behind them?
became a thinner coin (Fig. 8.3, c.f. Grierson 1991:pl. Many believe it is possible to see the growing
76). Pippin’s decree, which was promulgated in Ver- economization of the Early-medieval societies of
non in the year 754/5, stipulated that no more than 22 Western Europe in the coin-reforms and the intro-
solidi should be struck from 1 libra, i.e. the Roman duction of a system of payment based upon silver
pound (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:108).12 coin by the first Carolingian rulers. Pippin’s adjust-
Pippin’s son, Charles the Great, in his great re- ment of the weight of the coin has been interpreted as
form of measures and weights of the year 793/4, sub- an attempt to centralize coin-production in the
sequently increased the weight of the denier to c. 1.7 g. Frankish realm (e.g. Hodges 1982:41–2). Charle-
The weight of the silver coins was raised without magne’s reforms have also been cited as an indication
change to its nominal value. A denier was still a denier of increasing use of coin within the Carolingian
although it contained a great deal more silver than Empire. Silver coin came to be used as a common
before the reform. The old Roman weight-unit of the way of making payments in towns and markets (e.g.
libra was also superseded by the Carolingian pound.13 Steuer 2003:162–3). Amongst other things, Charle-

supply that continually balanced the surplus or

Figure 8.3 Pippin III’s deniers of post-754/5. Dorestad? Size deficit in trade between East and West. The silver
3:1. Photo, Jonathan Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, 2006. denier was, just like the gold coins before it, linked to
the crucial role of the grain in exchange relations in
Figure 8.4 Charlemagne’s “denarius novus” after the the Frankish realm (Witthöft 1985:416–20). Counting
reform of 793/4. Bourges. 1.76 g. Size 3:1. Photo, Jonathan in quantities of grains per unit thus equally constitut-
Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, 2006. ed the essential matrix of reckoning in the Caro-
lingian coin- and weight-systems.
The connexion between coin-weights and grain-
weights has been most influential in the works of the
numismatist Philip Grierson (1960, 1965). According
to Grierson, the reform was primarily an administra-
tive instrument intended to coordinate the various
weight-standards of different regions into a common
system (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:206). The rais-
ing of the mean weight of the denier after 793/4 was,
in his view, probably the result of the introduction of
the smallest and lightest of all types of seed, the wheat
grain, as the basic unit of reckoning (Grierson 1991:
magne’s coin-reform has been described as a stroke 34). The wheat grain has the lowest specific weight of
of genius that virtually pushed into life an econo- all forms of seed.14 This replaced the earlier Mero-
mization that went hand-in-hand with the increasing vingian grain-standard. Witthöft’s further metrolog-
monetization of Frankish society (Hodges and ical studies have shown that the heavier denier could
Whitehouse 1983: 110). I believe, however, that these also be correlated with the grain-weights of other
ideas are based on a far too stereotypical conceptual current but regionally specific grain-types in the
model which has been borrowed from substantivism Frankish Empire such as the “Netherlandish as” and
namely that the use of coinage had only a limited, “Paris grain”, as well as with the Arab carat, which
social function in pre-state or only embryonically was the smallest unit of reckoning in the Islamic
state-organized societies. It was only under the cen- coin-system (Witthöft 1985:416–17).15 The introduc-
trally governed Carolingian state that coins became a tion of Charlemagne’s new weight-unit, pondus
fully functioning currency as all-purpose money.
With the adoption of a silver coinage, then, accord-
ing to this view there must have been a spread of 12 In terms of silver coins, 22 solidi of 12 coins means a maxi-
coin-use so that coinage was no longer confined as mum of 264 pence. If the minting was done according to the
special-purpose money to an elite, but now involved al pondo rule, i.e. to produce a specific number of coins per
all social classes. However the coin-reform may, as I pound, the coins could vary in weight by some tenths of a
shall show, have had a quite different basis. gram (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:164; Morrison
According to Harald Witthöft (1985), who has 1964:414–22).
compared and combined the written and numismat- 13 At this juncture the weight of the pound was raised from c.
ic evidence with metrological studies, the monetary 327 to c. 408 g (Witthöft 1985:410). It is assumed that two dif-
system in the Frankish realm was regionally based. ferent official pound-weights existed as standards in the
The apparently unmotivated raising of the denier Carolingian realm. The weighing pound was probably that of
weight cannot be a direct result of the changing price c. 408 g following Charles’s reform and the coin pound c. 435
differentials between gold and silver in the Caliphate g. This gave 240 Carolingian deniers or 20 solidi to a weighing
and the Frankish realm as, for instance, the Swedish pound or 264 deniers and 22 solidi to a coin pound. The coin
historian Sture Bolin (1953) proposed. Witthöft, by pound was probably a product of the taxation of minting
contrast, stands firmly against the national-econom- itself in the Frankish realm (Morrison 1963:417).
ic point of view implicit in Bolin’s theory. Even 14 The nominal weight of the denier of 1.7 g corresponds to 32
though the Frankish denier was, in economic terms, wheat grains at 0.053 g (Paris grain) instead of the earlier
a fully functioning currency, the prices were not nec- Pepinid denier of 1.3 g, based on 20 grains of 0.065 g (Troy
essarily determined by market forces which reflected grain) (Grierson 1991:34).
the purchasing power of silver in an internationally 15 The heavier Carolingian denier could also be correlated with
based trading system (Witthöft 1985:414–15). One of a reckoning in carats as was practised in the Caliphate. The
Witthöft’s counter-arguments is that the silver penny coin weight of 1.7 g is almost exactly 8 Syrian-Arabic qı̄rāt. of
was the only official coin-type in Europe for 500 0.212 g. Witthöft also believes that Charlemagne’s reform
years. The circumstances in which the standard used the Islamic gold dinar as the basis for defining the pound
weight of the Frankish denier was reduced or in- (1985:410). There were 96 dinars to the Carolingian counting
creased were not the result of an international silver pound: 96 x 4.25 g = 408 g.

Caroli, should not be viewed solely as a monetary

reform but also as the assimilation of various region- Figure 8.5 The coin-changing scene in the Utrecht Psalter.
al weights and measures standards. None of the three First half of the 9th century. Photo, University Library
components – coinage, measure and weight – can Utrecht, Netherlands.
really be distinguished in the Carolingian view, but
are rather interwoven also with one another.
The Frankish commodity-money economy

Silver coins represented the central yardstick of value
in the Frankish kingdom, but in mundane transac-
tions constituted only one of several current ways of
making payments – or forms of “money”, to put it
simply. The Frankfurt Capitulary of AD 794 provides
a good example of this. The capitularies were juridi-
cal decrees that were written down on the king’s
authority and directed how the Frankish realm was
supposed to be governed. In the Frankfurt Capitu-
lary, Charlemagne’s denarius novus is equated with a
measure of volume, the scapilus or modius (trans.
King 1987:225). The various types of grain have both In the capitulary of 797 which made juridical orders
different specific weights and different volumes. for the Saxon area, it is stipulated how much a solidus
There were more wheat grains in a modius than, for should count for in relation to other goods (trans.
example, grains of oats (Witthöft 1985:419). People King 1987:232). A solidus was used as a larger unit of
were highly conscious of this, as the capitulary shows. reckoning which is described in the capitulary of hav-
Wheat was regarded by the capitulary as more valuing the value of 12 deniers. One-year-old cattle of ei-
able than the barley grain that was the earlier stan- ther sex are valued at a solidus in both autumn and
dard of the Merovingian and early Carolingian Pe- spring. After that the value rises with age. But the
riods. A modius of wheat was worth 4 new deniers, capitulary also gives directions as to how a solidus is
but a modius of barley grain only 2 (Tab. 8.1). to be reckoned in terms of oats, barley and honey
(Tab. 8.3). Neither wheat nor barley are used as units
of value. In this context, the capitulary distinguished
1 denarius novus = 1 modius publicus (oats) between Bortrini and Septentrionales, presumably two
2 denarii novi = 1 modius (barley) primary regional units or population divisions
3 denarii novi = 1 modius (rye) amongst the Saxons.
4 denarii novi = 1 modius (wheat)
Table 8.1 Official exchange rates between coinage and types 1 solidus = 1 cow
of grain in the Frankfurt Capitulary (trans. King 1987:225).
Bortrini
1 solidus = 40 scapili oats =
The capitulary also prescribes prices should one 20 scapili rye = 1½ scapili honey
make use of bread as a means of payment. Here too
the coins could be correlated with grains, albeit Septentrionales
transformed into bread. A new denier should be of 1 solidus = 30 scapili oats =
the same value as 12 loaves weighing 2 lb (pounds 15 scapili rye = 2 scapili honey
weight) each (Tab. 8.2). Coins and food are described
as two synonymous and interchangeable ways of Table 8.3 Relative values between the solidus as a unit of
making payments. reckoning and various foodstuffs in the Second Saxon
Capitulary (trans. King 1987:232).
1 denarius novus = 12 wheaten loaves of 2 lb

= 15 rye loaves ” The impression is given that the prices of grain and
= 20 barley loaves ” thus the use of and valuation of deniers were not pri-
= 25 oaten loaves ” marily governed by the price-setting mechanics of
the open market economy. The capitularies thus pro-
Table 8.2 Relative values of 1 new denier and various types vide us with evidence of a mixed economy, in which
of bread in the Frankfurt Capitulary (trans. King 1987:225). both coin and food were used as forms of currency.
Although the Frankfurt Capitulary specified penal-

ties for those who were not willing to accept the Dorestad – a hub for coin silver
king’s new coin in towns or any market places, they in the North Sea region
also left space for traditional forms of transaction. More than anywhere else, it was in areas where eco-
Natural produce such as grain and other foodstuffs nomic relations were densest, as in the towns or mar-
were defined in fixed units such as, for instance, vol- kets and significant trading sites, that silver coin
ume measures by the scapilus, and were thus inter- came to be used in greater quantity. That large num-
convertible. They could be reckoned as currency and bers of silver coins were dealt with in the Frankish
converted into coin. A denier can thus be understood realm using balances is shown by a weighing scene
both as a true coin and as a unit of reckoning. This involving a coin-changer in the Utrecht Psalter, from
double mode of reckoning was produced out of reck- what are now the Netherlands (Steuer 1997:257–9, fig.
oning in grain. The silver denier was not just a mint- 178; Fig. 8.5). That coins were circulating in large
ed piece of silver in the Carolingian realm; as the quantities in Dorestad, one of the most important
“grain denier” it was also a symbol of food. As an offi- trading sides of the Carolingian Empire, is indicated
cial standard of value and reckoning, coinage was by finds of heavy lead weights with coin stamps on
thus only one of many different media of exchange in them. Four specimens with impressions of Louis the
the Carolingian realm. The fixed prices for goods Pious’s and Charles the Bald’s deniers are known
given in the capitularies had always to be convertible from the emporium. Karl Morrison has attempted to
into the ruling coin-values. In the Frankish realm correlate them metrologically with the Frankish
there was thus a monetary and commodity-money pound. With certain margins of error they may fit
economy in action at one and the same time. various coin- or counting pounds (Morrison 1963:

423–4 and 431). The weights from Dorestad were

made of lead. Lead is easy to shape and is also invul- Figure 8.6 Louis the Pious portrayed as a Christian lord.
nerable to damage and corrosion. The unusual From the work of Hrabanus Maurus, De laudibus s. crucis,
weights should therefore, in my view, be understood fol. 4v. Manuscript dated c. 840. Reg. Lat. 124 f. 4v, Photo,
as the personal equipment of the coin-changers who Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
were active in Dorestad and who needed to weigh
and reckon in coined silver in larger quantities.
It was particularly in Dorestad – one of the great
places of exchange of silver coins in the Carolingian
realm (Coupland 1988) – that there was also a need to
be able to correlate and calculate weights of silver in
non-Carolingian silver coins and perhaps also in sil-
ver ingots against the current pound-weight or frac-
tions thereof. It may be such a scene of coin-changing
in which two individuals are making use of both bal-
ances and coins that is shown in the Utrecht Psalter.
This psalter is dated to the first half of the 9th century
and thus belongs to the same period in which a
Frankish presence at Kaupang can be demonstrated
(Wamers, in prep.). value of coinage in a Christian context? What eternal
There is manifestly a connexion between the re- point of reference gave spiritual being to the value of
gional use of coinage in the formerly Roman prov- the coins? In this regard, we need to look in more
inces of the Frankish Empire and the existence of detail at the role the silver coins played in the world-
coins that were based upon a tradition of reckoning view and self-perception of medieval Man.
that is based upon Antique models. The penny-based
conventions of payment that were found in Dorestad “Give us this day our daily bread…”
involved massive exchanges of silver on a daily basis, The Carolingian, and later the Ottonian, emperors
taken care of by professional coin-changers. Dore- developed the right to strike coins into an exclusively
stad guaranteed access to the North Sea region for the royal right. In the Roman Empire, the right to mint
Frankish Empire. The contrasts between Dorestad, a was restricted to the emperor. It is, correspondingly,
major exchange site for silver coins, and Kaupang, the secular-political aspect of the royal authority as
with its few finds of Western European pennies, are coiner that is generally emphasized in numismatic
thus stark.16 In this case, the situation strengthens the history (e.g. Jonsson 1987:188–9). It was in the
impression that there was a quite different view of strength of the king’s political authority and his
coinage in Kaupang in spite of the close contacts with power that he was able to introduce coins and practi-
the Frankish territories. The conventions for making cally force the population to adopt their use (e.g.
payments comprising silver coin did not establish Kilger 2000:93–4, 2004). But the emperors and kings
themselves here. In this respect, we might suggest did not represent political power alone; they were
that the lack of a strong political authority provides at also the personification and representative of divine
least part of the explanation. It was in the Frankish power. They were, in addition, religious leaders of
realm, and in towns such as Ribe and Hedeby, that the highest status. The Carolingian ruler guaranteed
the conditions were present for the establishment of a the value of the coin not only in his capacity of head
monopoly of coinage. Such a monopoly always in- of state but also in his capacity as God’s representa-
volves some form of taxation of goods and services, tive on Earth (Steinsland 2000:92–6). It was first in
which consequently provided the royal authority the middle of the 7th century that the Merovingian
with the chance to gain an income. In my view, how- kings were crowned as Christian rulers. The Frankish
ever, political power is only one aspect of a practical ruler no longer derived his character as a charismatic
monetary economy. Another aspect, perhaps even leader from the pagan gods but rather, via the sacra-
more important, is the credibility of the coins and ment, directly from the Christian God. He became
thus their value in the eyes of those who use them: rex et sacerdos, “king and leading pastor” (Duby 1987:
this is essential for them to be accepted. The question 25). In the 9th century, Emperor Louis the Pious was
is, then, what mechanisms and ideas sanction the represented as a shepherd with a crossed stave and
simultaneously as Christ’s soldier, miles Christi. His
sacrosanct holiness is shown in the halo around his
16 As of yet, the finds from Kaupang offer no direct evidence of head and the inscription that goes with the picture
contacts with Dorestad — one of the principal trading sites of (Fig. 8.6). The inscription on the halo declares
Western Europe — itself, but it is reasonable to presuppose “Thou, O Christ, crownest Louis” (Mütheric and
that this was the case. Gaehde 1977:55).

The capitularies also state that it was the king’s king answered for the equity of the prices for the
duty to create a just society and to protect the poor necessities of life, such as grain of a fixed price, and
from exploitation. The king personally sold his own that he guaranteed that all had food for the day (King
grain at half price in the market (King 1987:225). In 1987:225). It was only the emperor and the king who
this way the king accepted his responsibility as the had the right to strike coins and it was the king, in his
highest protective lord appointed by God over the capacity as Christian leader, who could sanctify the
people. As the representative of God and Christ on coin and sanction its value. Coins, in the Carolingian
Earth, the kings were responsible for the distribution realm, thus cannot be regarded as a solely political
of the annual harvest. The capitularies state that the manifestation, but should also be seen as religious

expressions of food, the daily bread. In its standard ulation. Landbooks from the monasteries provide
character, the coin was a symbol of the king’s divine evidence of the widespread use of coin as form of
and juridical power. cash. It was first and foremost the monasteries, that
On the deniers of Charlemagne, the cross as the in their capacity as landowners could demand their
symbol of Christianity is very conspicuous. His final dues and tithes in the form of coin. But it was also
issue shows him as the diademed Roman Emperor on possible for the farmers to pay their dues in natural
one face, while on the other face we see a temple produce. The small monastery of Prüm was a major
building with a cross surrounded by the legend adap- landowner. Of its 1,700 farms, 63% paid their taxes in
ting Greek lettering XPISTIANA RELIGIO (Wamers coin. At the end of the 9th century Prüm could count
2005:155–8). Charlemagne’s son Louis the Pious sub- on an annual income of over 80 pounds in coin, cor-
sequently separated off the Christian statement in the responding to about 19,400 pennies (Hess 1990:113).
markedly uniform and – for coin-users in the Caro- It was above all at local and regional markets and in
lingian territories – readily recognizable XPISTIANA towns which were under not only the saint’s and the
RELIGIO issue (Fig. 8.7, c.f. Grierson and Blackburn Church’s blessing, but also the king’s protection, that
1986:pl. 36). It is also the deniers of Louis that are the year’s harvest could be sold (Doehaerd 1978:
most commonly represented in finds from Scan- 152–6). It was the monasteries that were the driving
dinavia (Moesgaard 2004:13; Garipzanov 2005:56, participants in the trade of foodstuffs such as grain
tab. 1). and wine in the markets, and it was also the monas-
As I argued above, in the Antique conceptual teries that regularly handled coin in large quantities
world and even on into that of the Middle Ages, coins both during and after the Carolingian Period. Va-
stood in a metaphorical relationship with the harvest rious levies that the Church and landowners could
and so with food (see p. 266–7). The nominal value of exact from, for instance, merchants and farmers,
the coins was related to a specific quantity of grain, have also been described as a primary motor for the
which guaranteed its metal contents and weight. In establishment of the use of coinage amongst a wide
German, we have the expression that bread is of good segment of the population (Kilger 2000:96–7, 2004:
“Schrot und Korn”. Schrot refers here to the grade of 222–4).
ground grain that is used to bake bread. This expres- But the compulsory element of monetization in
sion is also found in a monetary context, when the the form of taxation provides us with only a superfi-
reliability of the coin is referred to at the same time as cial explanation and does not really get to the heart of
establishing a connexion between coin and bread. coinage. What we also see is that ecclesiastical institu-
Coins must be of good and pure metal, “Schrot”, and tions and lords were able to root and legitimate coin-
weight, “Korn”. The written sources also note that age in a sacred sphere of value: in the Christian
grain was one of the most important traded goods in world-view. The connexion between coins, grain and
the Frankish realm. Quantities of grain were counted bread is made prominent in the edicts on prices of
in barrels, within which it was also transported the Frankish Empire (Tabs. 8.1–2). Wine too was a
(Doehaerd 1978:153–7). crucial element in the liturgy and so a traded com-
It was the Church in particular which, starting in modity of the same importance as grain in Early-
the Carolingian Period, initiated the use of coins as a medieval Europe (Doehaerd 1978:153–7). Wine was
method of making payments more widely in the pop- bought by Frisian and Anglo-Saxon traders, every

was then that the face-value of the coin, with the por-
Figure 8.7 Louis the Pious’s XPISTIANA RELIGIO denier. trait of the king or the saint and the town or temple
1.69 g. 822–840. Size 3:1. Photo, Jonathan Jarrett, Fitz- on the one face and the cross on the other became of
william Museum, 2006. value, but at the same time became alienable: in other
words, exchangeable. Through the process of ex-
change of coin at the market place the nominal rela-
tionship both between one coin and others and
against other exchange goods was defined. It was only
at these festivals where large numbers of people were
assembled that the elite could deal with and redefine
the status of the crucial objects of value (Theuws
2004:125–6). Through the metaphorical relationship
of the coin with food such as grain and bread, a very
wide range of different forms of transaction were
covered.
In my view, the Frankish silver coins were both
materially and immaterially rooted in a world of
Christian concepts. From such a viewpoint, coins
were not only objects of value in both political and
year at the same time in central wine markets such as economic terms, but also woven into a Christian
that at St-Denis outside Paris (Doehaerd 1978:186; reality and the self-perception of the faithful. As we
Theuws 2004:126). Bread is the foodstuff that is shall see in the next section, however, coins were also
referred to in the Creed and the Paternoster. Bread struck and used in Scandinavia: in other words, in a
and wine represent the body and blood of Jesus in the non-Christian context. A fragment of such a non-
Eucharist. In my view, one can thus argue that there Christian coin, probably struck in Ribe after c. A.D.
was a metaphorical association of the immaterial 825, was found in the settlement area of Kaupang
value of the coin with Christian values. What could (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:58, Fig. 3.17.c; Rispling et
not be obtained but was at the same time desired by al., this vol. Ch. 4:No. 5). Does this find face us with a
all – and that which sanctioned the monetary power concept in which immaterial and sacred concepts of
of the Carolingian silver coinage – was the promise of value were integrated with features that symbolized a
the forgiveness of sins and the hope for daily bread. nominal unit of reckoning, just as with the Caro-
The value of the coinage can thus be linked also to the lingian coins?
Christian understanding of salvation and eternal life.
It was in this way that the silver coin gained its in- The snake, the long-haired man, and the monster:
alienable point of reference, one inhering in the the use of coin outside the Romano-Christian orbit
Christian world-view. The coin derived its monetary As we have already seen, Carolingian coin was en-
power from an unreachable kingdom in Heaven. dowed with value from an Antique-Christian ideo-
This impalpable heavenly fixed point rendered the logical tradition by being linked to the potency of the
coin a value exceeding its weight and contents. It was seedcorn as life-giver and normative building block.
through the coin’s connexion in the mundane con- The Christian symbolism centring on the cross is
texts of payment for bread, grain and wine that most evident with the Frankish issues of the 9th cen-
coined silver gained its credibility in the eyes of the tury. On one group of the Southern Scandinavian
Christian community. coins contemporary with the XPISTIANA RELIGIO
The metaphorical relationship between harvest, deniers, and which are possibly to be attributed to
coinage and profit was also celebrated annually in the Hedeby, alternative motifs to the cross appear, such
autumn at Michaelmas when the coins came to be as the ship, house, fish, animal/stag, snakes, cocks/
used in the market and the year’s harvest was ex- grouse, or a man with a horn (Malmer 1966:47–8, 58-
changed. On this occasion the coin-lord was also able 63 pl. 1–2). Although the motifs may in some cases
to introduce a new type of coin and compel the old allude to Christian symbolism, such as, for instance,
type to be exchanged for it (Spufford 1988:383). The with the fish, and to motifs that are also found on
market days have commonly been regarded as a Frankish coins, such as the ship, these are nonethe-
political and institutional arena for the power politics less in respect of specific details very different from
of the coin-lord, as a practical situation in which the contemporary Carolingian deniers (Malmer
coins came to be used and circulated amongst a con- 2002a, 2002b). On the other connected group of
siderable proportion of the population. But the Southern Scandinavian coins there is a stylized
annual marketing of the harvest was also a religious human mask, small human masks with a moustache,
ritual, the participants in which could cross bound- snakes and a zoomorphic body (Fig. 8.8) (Malmer
aries and redefine the value of objects of exchange. It 1966:48, 63–7, pl. 2–3). The group with the “radiate

mask” and “stag” or “animal” is clearly modelled body with the head turned backwards. Below the
upon earlier sceattas with what is known as the Wo- body there is a coiled snake and a three-pointed sym-
dan-Monster motif, which in all probability reflects bol (Fig. 8.8). This typical representation of a human
no Christian concepts. It is a matter of contention mask is found on many other objects besides coins.
whether or not the minting of these sceattas took The same elements – animal, snakes and human
place in Frisia or in Ribe in the 8th century (Metcalf masks with long parted hair – recur in pictorial art in
1984, 1985; Malmer 2002b:118–20). Scandinavia from the Iron Age to the Christian
The pictorially rich early Nordic issues are found Middle Ages (Johansen 1997:75–107). The scene is
primarily in the cemeteries of Birka, and are consis- also portrayed on female jewellery such as brooches
tently from rich female graves. Here they were re- and buckles such as the Scandinavian oval (“tor-
used as pendants and associated with other pendants toise”) brooches (Jansson 1985). The composition is
as part of sets of jewellery (Malmer 1966:184–5). But also found on brooches from the Merovingian
in their original places of use, at Hedeby and Ribe, Period. It is found, for instance, on the famous splen-
they were used as a standardized form of currency did buckle from the Åker find in Norway (Nybruget
which was directly linked to the Carolingian mone- 1992:24; Solberg 2003). On the Åker buckle the man
tary system. This is indicated by both the technical becomes part of the fabulous animal. His body is
production and the weight, which was almost exactly scaly like a snake and his feet transformed into two
half that of Charlemagne’s heavier denarii novi (Mal- shining dragons’ heads. The scene on the buckle, on
mer 2002b: 120–1). However this was probably not coins, and on other artefacts, is probably the same
sufficient for the coins to have been accepted as cur- one, presumably representing a known mythological
rency in Hedeby and Ribe without also being linked, motif of the North. It is a scene with some ecstatic
as the Carolingian deniers, to an overordinate con- content in which a man is wrestling along with one or
cept or religious belief that could endow them with more animals and snakes in various permutations.
credit. In this context, we need to look more closely Investigation of the different iconographic com-
at the motif that was displayed upon the coins and ponents of the Nordic animal style indicates that the
whether that could contain the associations necessary scene represents Odin’s battle with the wolf Fenrir
for the coins to be regarded as of value. How are we to and Midgard-serpent (Neiss 2004). This motif,
understand the Wodan-Monster motif in this which starts to appear first on Migration-period
respect? bracteates and is subsequently found represented in
What Brita Malmer describes as the “radiate both Vendel- and Viking-period animal styles, con-
mask” on the 9th-century Scandinavian coins is as far sists of a man with one or more snakes which are bat-
as I can see really a highly stylized human mask. The tling with two animals. Those consist of a ribbon-
lines that radiate out from the eyes and nose in two shaped animal and an h-shaped animal which are
symmetrically opposed fields resemble a human interlocked. Starting from the cosmological outline
mask with long hair and a parting. The curved lines given by Snorri in Gylfaginning, Michael Neiss (2004:
below the nose represent a moustache and beard. 20–1) interprets one of the figures as the Midgard-
This central motif is surrounded by small, bearded serpent which surrounds Midgard and bites on to his
masks along with coiled snakes and figure-of-eight own tail. The other figure is Fenrir, who is fettered
motifs. On the obverse we see a hatched, zoomorphic with a strap and is then chained fast, deep in the

god Odin, and this gives a deeper sense to the mone-

Figure 8.8 Scandinavian coin with a radiate mask and ani- tary angle that I wish to impart to the Scandinavian
mal. Malmer KG 5 (Malmer 1966). Ribe? c. 825–850/77. coins.
Björkö, Adelsö parish, Uppland. Birka grave no. 508. SHM, The first Scandinavian coins may, in my opinion,
no accession number. Scale 3:1. Photo, Frédéric Elfver, show that there were other systems of thought and
Stockholm University. understanding – possibly in direct competition with
the Christian ideology of lordship – which, in the
eyes of the coin-user, make the struck metal “valu-
able”. But in contrast to the Christian conceptual ele-
ments embedded in the Carolingian deniers the
Scandinavian coins derived their monetary power
from a different religious universe. It was the ser-
pents, the monster-stag, the three-pointed object and
above all the shape-changing long-haired man with
his parting as a mythological projection which
formed the basis for associations of value. Like the
cross in the Christian context, the human mask pre-
sumably had a legitimating character – as did the
snake. The Danish leader who introduced the mint-
ground. The snakes that are biting the two animals or ing of coin, apparently at Ribe, using the famous
are coiled around the man’s hands represent the Wodan-Monster motif, may himself have assumed
powers of order. These are interpreted as the gods’ the role of the powerful individual in the myth who
retinues and auxiliaries in the battle against Loki’s suppressed the wolf Fenrir and who had the power to
offspring. In a shamanistic perspective, both the change shape. The myth had the power to create
snake and the gripping beast can be viewed as a vessel value. Odin subdues the forces of chaos and thus
for Odin’s soul which borrows that body for the jour- guarantees the maintenance of balance and so of
ney to another world where, together with the snakes, order in the world. Projecting the familiar myth on to
it will do battle with the menacing wolf which threat- himself, the leader was also capable of breathing life
ens the cosmic balance. In order to carry out this per- into the coin and guaranteeing its nominal value
ilous journey the shaman was dependent upon within the area of his own power. It was Odin who
helpers in the form of animals whose duty it was to guaranteed the continuation of the world and who
protect his soul (Hedeager 2003:131–2). It was the provided coinage with a cosmological authenticity
gods Odin and Loki more than any others who could and religious aura, and with that made it of value in
change shape (Jennbert 2004:205). In Skáldskapar- the eyes of the coin-user.
mál, we read how Odin first changed himself into the From the iconographical perspective, the first,
shape of a serpent and then into that of an eagle in pictorially rich, coinage of Southern Scandinavia
order to steal the giant Suttung’s mead (Byock 2005: represents nothing new, but in its selection of motifs
85–6). The three-pointed triangular shaped object was rather a continuation of the extensive applica-
that is shown on the obverse of the coin is apparently tion of symbolism in the sceatt coinage of the North
interpretable as a representation of the world tree Sea area. The same composition of pictorial elements
Yggdrasil (Andrén 2004), and the zoomorphic body and symbols is also found in the Northumbrian
as the dragon Nidhögg who lived in the nether region coinage of Northern England in the 8th and 9th cen-
of Niflheim and chewed at the roots of the tree turies (Pirie 2006:pls. 6–7). The use of sceattas
(Grimnismál 35). Odin also had two by-names, Ofnir reached its zenith during the first half of the 8th cen-
and Svafnir, which are also the names of the two tury in the emporia and productive sites of England
snakes that are coiled around and bite the roots of as well as around the North Sea (Blackburn 2003).
Yggdrasil (Grimnismál 34 and 54). The animal is also Neither sceattas nor Scandinavian coins came to be
shown on some coins as a stag, which may reflect the used in any monetary way outside of Ribe and
four stags who dwelt beneath the shady canopy of the Hedeby in Southern Scandinavia. It is evident that
ash tree Yggdrasil (Malmer 1966:pl. 2; Byock the use of coinage was only established in Scandi-
2005:27). The design on the coin is polysemous, and navia at sites which were in direct contact with other
has space for further plausible interpretations (e.g. coin-using areas on the Continent and Britain during
Malmer 2002a). To read the mask as a representation the 8th and 9th centuries. When the Viking-period
of Odin seems attractive, but there are also bronze production of coinage got under way in the second
figurines from Uppåkra amongst other sites which quarter of the 9th century, written sources testify to
represent the god with only one eye (Bergkvist the close political contacts between the Danish elite
1999:119–21). However I consider it most credible to and the Carolingian royal house (Varenius 1994).
regard the human mask as a representation of the Outside of these early monetary zones in Southern

Scandinavia, meanwhile, the monetary character of they were melted down before they could pass into
the Scandinavian coins as a form of a currency fell circulation. Coined silver was re-worked into un-
away. They were used in the same way as other coins coined metal in the form, for instance, of ingots,
such as dirhams, Carolingian deniers and Anglo-Sax- before being re-distributed within Scandinavia. This
on pennies as pendants in richly furnished women’s may have been done in Frisia itself. In Dorestad, for
graves or outstanding mixed hoards (Garipzanov example, soapstone moulds for ingots of the com-
2006; Kilger 2008). In these hoards, such as that from mon Scandinavian type have been found (Besteman
Hoen, the largest Viking-period gold treasure from 2004b:28–9 and 33). People were familiar with the
Norway, the coins were re-used as pendent orna- practice in Scandinavia of handling and valuing silver
ments (Skaare 1988:54–7). Here they probably carried in larger quantities rather than in the form of coin sil-
a different set of value-associations than in their orig- ver. The lump of semi-melted dirhams that was
inal monetary context. I shall now attempt to sum- found in Kaupang during the most recent excava-
marize this section of the chapter and to answer the tions and which appears to have been standardized in
question I posed to begin with. Why was the use of terms of weight may also bear witness to this practice
coinage able to establish itself in the Frankish realm (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.1.2, Fig. 3.1).
and in certain parts of the North Sea area but not in All the same, the use of coin in exchange relation-
others? And why were coins not used as a form of ships during the Viking Period did not rely solely
currency in Kaupang? upon an acceptance of the principles of reckoning to
be found in a conventional monetary system. A fur-
Conclusions ther precondition was a group of people with a com-
In order to be able to understand the distinctive situ- mon world-view and shared values. Monetary ideas,
ation regarding coin-finds over most of Scandinavia in my opinion, were only traded in a community that
and at Kaupang in the 9th century, I presented, by accepted and shared the sacred principles that re-
way of introduction, the way in which monetary sys- sided in coin, not only as a medium of valuation, but
tems were defined and conventions of payment put above all as an object that had a value in itself. The
into effect in the Frankish realm. In that territory, Frankish denier represented the Christian world-
gold and later silver coins were filled with meaning view and the social and political order of the Frankish
and associations of value so that they could be inte- realm sanctioned by God. The same identity-forming
grated into various economic constellations. Decisive mechanisms were probably also in effect in the earli-
for the understanding of monetary methods of pay- est Scandinavian coin-production of the 9th century.
ment in the Carolingian Empire and previously in The Odin cult presumably provided the spiritual
Late Roman and Merovingian contexts was the exis- matrix for the infusion of the coin with the credibility
tence of fixed relations of count that the system of needed. The earliest Scandinavian coinage probably
coinage was based upon. By using grain in the reck- did not derive all of its diverse symbolic elements
oning of coinage, a holy unity was created between directly from Carolingian contexts but also from the
coins as a medium of value and coins as counters sceatt culture that flourished in the North Sea region
with which to make calculations. Grain was not only from the late 7th century onwards. This monetary
the indivisible base unit of the monetary system but culture had its foundations in the large number of
also the fundamental constant used in the weight- wics found along the North Sea coasts and was prob-
system. The use of coin in the Frankish realm reflects ably in the hands of the local traders that we know of
conventions of valuation and payment that stretch from the written sources (Lebecq 2005:646–53).
back to Antique models. Although the minting of coins at Hedeby and Ribe
As a result of the archaeological studies, we now alluded to a pagan symbolism, the coin-standard of
have good evidence that there were contacts with the the Carolingian realm was respected: the coin-weight
Frankish realm from Kaupang in the first half of the of Charlemagne’s reformed denier was used, and the
9th century. The gold tremissis struck in the 7th cen- new Carolingian reckoning pound was the point of
tury by the moneyer Madelinus in Dorestad may reference. As Scandinavian coins weighed nearly half
have been brought by a merchant from that Frisian what Carolingian coins weighed, this probably meant
emporium to Kaupang in the Viking Period. Finds of that in and around Hedeby and Ribe the Carolingian
brooches, shoe-buckles and other ordinary dress- coins were counted as of double the value of the
accessories show that individuals from the western Scandinavian ones.17
areas of the Frankish realm resided in Kaupang Silver coins probably never came to be used as
(Wamers, in prep.). These people were undoubtedly “money” at Kaupang. We do not see any evidence of
familiar with the use of silver coin as a form of cur- a powerful lord who succeeded in introducing, con-
rency but they evidently did not take coins with them trolling and bringing a monetized system to life. And
on their trading journeys to the North. The reason there was probably also no community of coin-users,
why there are so few Carolingian deniers in Southern a commonality of value, who shared a set of cultural
Scandinavia in the Viking Period is probably that norms and who had common religious frames of ref-

erence. The use of coin was accompanied by a system standardization by weight of finds from the Iron Age
of calculation for reckoning goods in trade and was first systematically described by the Norwegian
exchange. The monetary system produced a matrix archaeologist Anton W. Brøgger (1921), in his disser-
for different systems of measuring and reckoning tation on the Scandinavian eyrir. Brøgger made a me-
which formed both a consciousness and also a know- ticulous attempt to link information on a Scandi-
ledge of how one could relate different goods to one navian weight-system as it was described in Nor-
another. Although the knowledge of such a monetary wegian law-codes from the High Middle Ages with
matrix was in all probability shared by Scandinavians concrete archaeological finds: weights, gold rings and
in the 9th century, they did not bring coins back with coins. In the introduction to Ertog og Øre, he wrote:
them. Nor did anyone try to introduce a monetary
habitus that observed the same rules of play and ideas The sources for the study of the history of the earliest
as on the Continent or in Britain. There was evident- Norwegian weights are first and foremost archaeological.
ly an invisible threshold that no one was prepared to In the old Norwegian laws we find a fully developed and
cross. Looked at in a monetary perspective, Kaupang firmly fixed theory of weight, the origins of which reach
was a site which had neither the political nor the ide- back long before the time at which the laws came to be
ological or mental conditions for the use of coinage written down. The prehistory of this system has to be
to have been able to take root gradually in the same sought in the corpus of weights unearthed from the
way as it did at Hedeby, Ribe and Dorestad. (For a ground, and then in the gold and silver finds that have
different view, see Skre, this vol. Ch. 10:347–51.) been made in great quantities in Norwegian soil (1921:1,
But how were economic relations in Kaupang trans.).
governed if coin was not brought into use there? Was
there some other form of “money” in Kaupang, At the heart of Brøgger’s work was a comparative
which allowed exchange across ethnic, cultural, reli- metrological analysis of Norwegian weight-sets from
gious and economic boundaries? It was such a situa- the Early Iron Age and the Viking Period. The
tion which men like Ohthere, who were engaged in weights in the sets were very precisely calibrated – in
long-distance trade and who travelled between other words, they conformed to a single standard.
important trading sites in Scandinavia, had to deal That the individuals who produced these sets
with. This is the issue that we shall examine in more thought in terms of a weight-standard is manifested
detail in the following section. In so doing, we shall in two different ways. In the first case, the weights in
move our viewpoint from the use of coin in medieval each set were so finely adjusted that they varied from
Western Europe to the unmonetized Iron-age soci- one another only by as little as a tenth of a gram. In
eties of Scandinavia. the second case, Brøgger was able to demonstrate
quite unambiguously that all weight-sets – looked at
8.4 Traces of the eyrir-standard at Kaupang in terms of the modern metric system – are calibrated
The most recent archaeological investigations have to a basic unit of c. 26.3–26.8 g. Brøgger then connect-
shown that Kaupang was a central place for exchange ed this archaeological weight-unit with written and
and production in Viken from the beginning of the numismatic evidence from the Middle Ages. Accord-
9th century (Pilø 2007c:175–8, 2007d:195; Pedersen
and Pilø 2007:187–90). In one form or another it had
exchange relations with areas of Western Europe 17 The mean weight of the pictorially rich Scandinavian coins
where monetary rules and concepts were in force. As was placed by Brita Malmer at 0.8 g (2002b:121). If one started
I have already discussed, people from the Frankish with the Carolingian reckoning pound of c. 408 g, one would
lands who were resident in Kaupang were undoubt- get c. 480 Hedeby coins to the pound. Counted against the
edly thoroughly familiar with the significance of the grain standard, the weight of a Scandinavian coin comes to 15
Carolingian denier, both as a form of currency and as wheat grains by the Paris standard (i.e. 15 x 0.0053 = 0.795 g);
a standard. Although coins were not accepted as cur- against the lighter Frisian as standard 17 wheat grains (i.e. 17 x
rency in Kaupang, was there nevertheless some stan- 0.048 g = 0.816 g) (Witthöft 1985:416). In order to deal with
dard or scale of value that those who came to the site silver in smaller units than the pound, the moneyer at Hedeby
could use to reckon with and think in, and to com- could also make use of the weight-unit lod. The lod was intro-
pare diverse goods with one another? Was there any duced as a practical unit of reckoning with Charlemagne’s
other form of “money” at Kaupang that permitted reform. There were 30 lod in a Carolingian reckoning pound:
exchange across ethnic, cultural and economic i.e. 408 g/30 = 13.6 g (Witthöft 1985:409). The lod correspond-
boundaries? ed to 8 Carolingian deniers or 16 Scandinavian coins in
I believe that some part of the answer lies in the weight. We do not know which grain-standard was used in
evident standardization by weight of precious-metal Hedeby and Ribe. But with the large-scale exportation of
objects such as gold rings (Bakka 1978; Munksgaard basalt quernstones from the Rhine valley to Hedeby we can
1980; Graham-Campbell 1999) and silver rings and probably assume that Frisian and Frankish wheat also fol-
ingots (Hårdh 2006, this vol. Ch. 5.6.1 and 5.7). This lowed that trade (Schön 1995).

ing to those sources, the Norwegian mark defined by stipulated for priests in the Danish areas who do not
royal authority in the year 1286 could in modern fulfil their duties in providing the sacrament of bap-
terms – according to the metric system – be reckoned tism (Attenborough 1922:105). In clause 7, trading on
to a value of 211.3 g, and correspondingly the eyrir to a Sunday, sunnandæges cypinge, is punished. Besides
about 26.4 g (Brøgger 1921:95). As a result, Brøgger the loss of one’s goods, there is a fixed fine of 12 øre in
could argue that the eyrir-unit had existed for several the Danish territories and 30 shillings in the English
centuries and that the same weight-standard was (Attenborough 1922:107).
already in use in the Early Iron Age (1921:5–8). It was The other early textual evidence of the øre is the
this basic unit that Brøgger called the early Scandi- runic inscription on the Forsa ring, from Hälsingland
navian eyrir (Norw. øre). In my view, thinking in in Sweden. Aslak Liestøl (1982) has dated this inscrip-
terms of the eyrir, pl. aurar (also øre), was a reality for tion to the late 9th century. The majority of scholars
those who had to deal with precious metal in larger who have worked on the Forsa ring, however, argue
and properly compared quantities. for a later dating, to the 12th century (Engeler 1991:
From Scandinavian written sources we know that 128). Liestøl’s suggestion has nevertheless recently
alongside the øre in the medieval weight-system been corroborated by Stefan Brink’s studies. Brink
there were two other units of reckoning. The system (1996:36–9) interprets the inscription as an order to
comprised the mark, the øre and the ertog. There was maintain a pre-Christian cult place in an orderly
an unvarying set of relations whereby 1 mark = 8 øre manner. The inscription on the ring specifies a fine
= 24 ertogs. One øre was therefore the equivalent of 3 that is to be paid both in livestock and øre, and which
ertogs (Brøgger 1921:9; Rasmussen 1955:421). How- is doubled on repeated contraventions. One ox and 2
ever, none of the finely calibrated early øre weight- øre are to be paid on the first occasion, 2 oxen and 4
sets that Brøgger had examined could be made to øre on the second occasion, and 4 oxen and 8 øre on
conform to this system of relationships. None of the the third. Based upon the few contemporary docu-
weights in the set was adjusted to represent the ertog. mentary sources of the Viking Period, the øre ap-
This means that none of the weights could be multi- pears to have been a familiar unit of reckoning that
plied by three to match the weight of the øre in the set was used in paying fines. In the English law-codes
(Brøgger 1921:9). It is not before weight-sets of the and on the Forsa ring the øre appears as a quantifi-
10th and 11th century that the division of 1 øre into 3 able unit of value which came to be used in the juridi-
ertogs becomes apparent. This is the case in particu- cial sphere. But was the øre also significant as a nor-
lar with those sets that contain the Oriental weights mative value in the economic sphere? We shall exam-
of oblate spheroid type (Brøgger 1921:82–5). What ine this question carefully here, in connexion with
Brøgger was also able to observe was that the øre in Brøgger’s early Scandinavian øre. The later Scandi-
these weight-sets displays a clear reduction in mean navian øre, or ertog-system, will then be discussed in
value. Instead of an average of 26.4 g it weighs around the following section.
24 g. Brøgger called this lighter unit the later Scandi- What makes Brøgger’s discovery less applicable
navian øre or the ertog-system. For the ertog, he to an understanding of the significance of the øre in
could identify a metric weight of about 8 g from the the system of exchange within the Iron Age is the fact
weights. Reckoning in ertogs thus seems to be an that he was absolutely convinced that it had a Roman
innovation of the weight- and reckoning systems of origin. This confidence was systematically expressed
the Viking Period which became established at a later in his works, in which several of his reckonings look
date. However this did not drive the early Scandi- artificial and arbitrary. He consistently relates all of
navian øre out of use. As a result, there appear to his calculations to Antique coin- and weight-units. It
have been two parallel weight-systems in the later Vi- is Brøgger’s theory of a Roman source that I shall
king Period which are also still evident in the coinage modify from both archaeological and numismatic
and weight-systems of the Christian Middle Ages. angles. I propose instead that the øre was established
There is a big gap between the archaeological øre as the standard in Scandinavia, not during the Ro-
represented in the weight-sets and anything that can man Iron Age or the Migration Period but rather in
be identified in the documentary evidence. The ora is the Merovingian Period. A second set of problems I
referred to as a unit of reckoning for the first time in discuss in this section is how to relate the øre-stan-
the treaty between Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, dard methodically to the use of silver as a medium of
and the Danish leader Guthrum (Attenborough 1922: payment and valuation. To do that, I must take a
103–8). The dating of Edward’s law is uncertain, but it detailed look at the mutual relationships between
is thought to have been written down at the latest in coins, weights and rings.
the reign of either Edward or his son Æthelstan, in
the first half of the 10th century (Attenborough 1922: Gold coins and the concept of aurar
97). Edward’s overlordship was then recognized in There is generally agreement that the Old Norse term
those areas of the Danelaw south of the Humber eyrir is a loanword derived originally from the Latin
(Keynes 1999:69). In clause 2, a fine of 12 øre (oran) is adjective aureus, “golden” (Engeler 1991:128). aureus

is itself an abbreviation of aureus nummus, the term lands (Brøgger 1921:44 and 96–7, 1936:80). Bishop
for the normative basic gold coin of the Roman Gregory of Tours (ob. AD 594) refers to both the
Empire before the coin-reform of Constantine the aureus and the triens – a one-third gold coin – as the
Great (see above, p. 265). It seems likely that this coin units in the Frankish territory (Grierson and
appeared as a loanword in the North Germanic lan- Blackburn 1986:102). Another Germanic word for
guage of Scandinavia as early as the Roman Iron Age. gold coin was skilling. The shilling is first referred to
If so, this must have taken place before the introduc- in Ostrogothic texts from the 6th century, and in the
tion of the solidus as the new gold standard in the Ostrogothic territory the term was used of Byzantine
early 4th century. Early Roman aurei are rare, but do gold coins (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:15; Engeler
occur in Scandinavia, particularly in Denmark.18 The 1991:167). In the 7th century, scilling was the term for
solidus, the “solid gold coin”, became very familiar as gold tremisses struck in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
a coin in currency in the Roman Empire, as is noted (Grierson 1991:18 and 24–6).
in the ancient written records (Brøgger 1921:64; A credible explanation of the diversity of termi-
Engeler 1991:128). The great influx of gold coin into nology for gold coins in the Germanic kingdoms is
Scandinavia, however, did not begin until the Migra- that autonomous minting of gold coins was begin-
tion Period. The earliest solidi known in Scandinavia ning. This process accelerated in the 6th century with
were struck under the Western Emperor Honorius attempts to mark political and economic independ-
(395– 425). A high proportion of solidi are also from ence from the powerful Byzantine Emperor in Con-
the Eastern Empire. The importation of solidi from stantinople (Blackburn 2005d). But it was particular-
the Roman Empire lasted some 150 years and came to ly the reduction of the standard gold coin in the
an end in the mid-6th century.19 If we look at the Merovingian kingdoms after around AD 580 that
finds of gold coin from Scandinavia altogether, it is made it necessary to distinguish between the heavier
probable that the word eyrir refers first and foremost Roman-Byzantine gold coins and the lighter Frank-
to the solidus. ish issues (see above, pp. 265–6). Eyrir could, then, be
There is a range of evidence that solidi in this a loanword from the Frankish aureus which found its
period were used as raw material in the production of way into the North Germanic through contacts with
solid gold objects. According to Kyhlberg (1980b: the Merovingian kingdoms following the collapse of
26–9), analyses of both the metal contents and the Western Empire. However we have very few finds
weights show that the snake-headed rings of the Late of gold coins from the Merovingian Period in
Roman Iron Age (c. AD 200–400) and the Migra- Scandinavia (Hatz 1981). How could aureus as a coin-
tion-period Kolben-armrings (c. AD 400–550) were term with primary reference to a Frankish gold coin
in all probability made from gold from solidi. It was have become so significant that it came to denote a
in the Scandinavian Age of Gold in particular, the weight-unit in the Scandinavian languages? In this
Migration Period, that gold coins such as solidi may respect, there is another critical piece of the jigsaw to
have become generally familiar in Scandinavia. This put in place in order to understand what eyrir seems
is also the period for which we can conceive that the to have meant.
preconditions for a Latin word for gold coin being A significant clue is the fact that the øre-unit
adopted in the local vocabulary were met. But why, never corresponds to the weight of Roman gold
then, do we not find the word solidus rather than coins, be that the earlier aureus or the Constantinian
eyrir/aureus as the loanword in North Germanic? solidus. Rather, the Scandinavian øre is clearly relat-
And how, then, can eyrir refer to earlier Roman gold ed by weight to the Roman ounce (uncia) (Engeler
coins that are scarcely represented as coin finds in 1991:130). But what was a Roman ounce? This ounce
Scandinavia? There are both philological and numis- was used as a small, practical weight in the Roman
matic grounds for concluding that eyrir need not and Frankish territories in order to measure substan-
necessarily refer to a type of Roman gold coin but tial collections of gold coin in an easy way. Uncia lit-
rather to a Frankish one. Let us look at these grounds
in more detail.
The Germanic kingdoms that emerged in the for- 18 A perforated aureus struck in the year AD 141 under Faustina
merly Roman provinces such as those of the Franks the Elder is known from the Danish weapon hoard in the bog
in Gaul, the Visigoths in Spain, and the Ostrogoths at Ejsbøl, Southern Jutland (Horsnæs 2003:337, fig. 3). This
and the Langobards in Italy, continued minting coins coin was found together with four fragmented gold neck-
in the 6th and 7th centuries (Grierson 1991:9–28). Hi- rings. The assemblage in this bog is dated to the second half of
storical evidence shows that gold coins were known the 3rd century (Andersen 2003:250–1, fig. 7). In the gold
by several names in the new kingdoms. In the famous hoard from Brangstrup on Fyn 27 aurei and three forgeries
encyclopedia written by the Visigothic Father of the were found (Jørgensen et al. 2003:425, pl. 7.3).
Church Isidore of Seville in the 620s, it is recorded 19 The latest coins known in hoards in Scandinavia were struck
that aurei was the current term for gold coins that for the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527–65) and the
were formerly known as solidi in the Gallo-Germanic Frankish King Theodebert (534–48) (Kyhlberg 1980:39).

erally means a twelfth of some unit, in this case a Reckoning aurar according to
twelfth of the Roman pound-weight, the libra. The the Early Scandinavian law-codes
Roman ounce could be produced by 6 gold solidi and That aurar as the units of weight and reckoning were
the Frankish ounce by 20 gold tremisses.20 There is composed of several coins is also stated in Norse law-
evidence that the ounce as a weight-unit remained in texts of the 12th century. It is in the famous counting
use even later, in the 9th century, on the fringes of of rings, Baugatal, which was incorporated in the
Western Europe. This is the case, for instance, in Icelandic law-code Grágás, that coins are linked to
areas such as Ireland, which did not yet then have its the øre as the basic unit of account (Karlsson et al.
own coinage. Examples are the prices given in the 1992:455–6). Baugatal is one of the earliest written
Book of Armagh. These are cited in the unit of the accounts from Scandinavia on how one should meas-
unga, a loanword that derives from Latin uncia (Wal- ure an øre and is therefore a crucial source in the
lace 1987:213–14). According to Patrick Wallace, unga present context. The text describes a complex system
may refer to a standard weight that has been recog- of compensation for manslaughter which is to be
nized in the corpus of weights from Dublin. The paid by one kindred to another in the form of rings.
same standard is also found in the large collection of In the last section of Baugatal it is stipulated what the
ingots and armrings from Ireland (see p. 286, Fig. criteria for a compensation ring of silver being re-
8.11).21 This Irish weight-standard seems to have the garded as an acceptable object of value at the thing:
same modular value as the Scandinavian øre identi-
fied by Brøgger (1936:79). The øre, in turn, probably Pad er silfur sakgilt í baugum, og svo í pökum og pveitum,
relates to the practice of producing substantial, well- er eigi sé verra heldur en var lögsilfur hid forna, pad er tíu
proportioned modular units of precious metal with penningar ger eyri, og meiri sé silfurs á en messingar og
the aid of a set number of coins. A linguistic analysis poli skor og sé jafnt utan sem innan. (Konungsbók 113).
of the term points the same way. Philologists point
out that eyrir has an archaic plural form in the texts. The silver valid as atonement in rings, and in supplements
In the Old Norse area we find aurar rather than and bits, is such as is no worse than the ancient legal silver
*eyrar (Engeler 1991:128–9).22 The preservation of was with ten pennies making an eyrir (author’s transla-
this plural form may have a very particular meaning. tion), looking more like silver than brass, standing up to
In the spoken language, it may have represented how the test of a cut and of one quality inside and out. (Trans.
people sought to express the practice of producing Dennis et al. 1980:183).
large units of reckoning with the aid of a certain
number of coins. The reliability of Baugatal, which was written down
My conclusion, then, is that in the North Ger- in the 12th century in order to represent the current
manic area eyrir/aurar did not denote a coin as an legal organization of Iceland, is disputed. The pay-
object but rather objects of standardized weight that ment of rings extends to the fourth generation be-
could be calibrated with the help of gold coins. In this tween kindreds. A number of historians have conse-
way, aurar become units of reckoning at the same quently rejected the value of Baugatal as a credible
time as referring to an abstract unit of weight and source (Sawyer 1982:44–5; Miller 1990:144–5). Al-
value. Aurar was in all probability a Scandinavian though the complicated arrangements for compen-
word for the Merovingian ounces. Using the term sation that Baugatal expresses can be questioned over
aurar, people probably referred to gold coins that in matters of detail, there is sound archaeological evi-
the Merovingian realm were called aurei and trientes. dence for the same practices for the valuation and
I believe, therefore, that aurar had several concurrent checking of the silver content of rings, and also coin
meanings. It may originally have denoted objects that and hacksilver. The purity and consistency of silver
were made of Frankish gold coin or of gold coins gen- were tested by cutting into the metal with a knife
erally. In a more specific sense, it may have referred (Kilger 2006b). There are examples of silver rings
to gold objects, standardized by weight, which were having been forged by putting a thin coat of silver
manufactured with the aid of Merovingian gold coin over a copper core (e.g. Stenberger 1958:233–4). And
that served as a means of calibration. It is in this spe- there are several examples of silver in rings and ingots
cific sense that I use the term aurar henceforward in having been alloyed with other metals (e.g. Arrhenius
this chapter. I suggest that aurar represent something et al. 1973; Kruse and Tate 1992). This section of
like a monetary concept amongst non-monetized Baugatal on lögsilfur hie forna, “the ancient legal sil-
societies. In monetized societies, coins are used as ver”, therefore in all probability describes a current
money. There, counting coins creates the scale re- practice for assessing the weight, purity and consis-
quired. In Scandinavia, aurar probably had a com- tency of the old legal silver (Hatz 1974:100). In my
parative sense, as a measure both of payment and of view, this section is most unlikely to be a fiction of the
value. Reckoning in aurar referred to a single scale 12th century, but rather reflects a detailed knowledge
which was thus calculable. of the use of silver in the Viking Period. This may
change our view of the whole of Baugatal and put its

compensation arrangements in a more credible light. we can see directly reflected in the Bråten weight-set.
However, let us take a closer look at the øre that There is another piece of evidence supporting this.
are referred to in the text. For the øre to gain legal The Frankish and Visigothic coins issued after c. AD
force, it had to consist of a specified number of pen- 580 made very deliberate use of a new range of sym-
nies. This is stated in the formulaic expression “pen- bolism. The Roman goddess Victory was replaced by
ninar ger eyri” (Engeler 1991:152). The aurar-conven- a free-standing cross (Fig. 8.1; Grierson and Black-
tion as it is described in Baugatal differs in one funda- burn 1986:92; Grierson 1991:14–15).25 All of the
mental way from the Roman and Merovingian uncia- weights from Bråten that have a punched wheel-cross
unit. Instead of 6 or 20 gold coins it is to consist of 10 are correlated by weight with the Frankish tremissis
silver pennies. Here we have yet another calibration (Fig. 8.9). It is likely that a tremissis marked with the
rule for the production of an øre. According to cross was the original reference point for the calibra-
Brøgger, the earlier Scandinavian øre of the Early and tion of the heavier weights in this set at intervals of
Late Iron Age weighed between c. 26 and 27 g, and the 20, 40 and 60 units (Nos. 7–9).26 The remaining
later øre around 24 g. This means that these pennies weights in the Bråten set respect with minor discrep-
should weigh some 2.4–2.7 g each. No silver coins that ancies the carat-unit of Roman-Byzantine gold coins
heavy were ever struck in Western Europe between (Nos. 1–4) and the grain-unit of Frankish gold coins
the 8th century and the beginning of the 13th century. (Nos. 5–6). The heavier weights from Bråten were
The pennies that Baugatal was able to refer to, howev- used to measure larger quantities of gold in terms of
er, which match this weight per coin, were in all likeli- ounces. The much lighter weights were probably
hood Islamic dirhams, silver coins from the Islamic
Caliphate, which began to circulate in large quantities
in Scandinavia at the end of the 9th century (Hatz
1974:90; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.8). This is yet further
evidence that the compensation arrangements in 20 The Roman uncia should weigh 27.24 g (6 x 4.54 g). A solidus
Baugatal may go back to the Early Viking Period. of 4.54 g is defined by siliquae or carats (24 x 0.189 g). The
In order to be able to trace the way in which the lighter Frankish uncia that was standardized in the
aurar measure was established in Scandinavia, and Merovingian kingdom had a nominal weight of 26 g (20 x 1.3
when, we need to go back to the archaeological evi- g). The smaller Merovingian tremissis of 1.3 g is defined by
dence in the form of weight-sets and rings, and the barley-grain standard (20 x 0.065 g) (Witthöft 1985:402).
numismatic evidence of coins. In the following sec- 21 The familiar armrings of Hiberno-Norse type seem to respect
tions I examine how aurar were manifested as the a modular unit of 26.15 g (Sheehan 1998:178–9). These arm-
standard in the corpus of weights from Southern rings are dated from the middle of the 9th century to c.
Scandinavia and the North Atlantic in the Norwegian 930/940 (Fig. 8.11). The large assemblage of weights from the
Merovingian Period and Viking Age. I shall apply the excavations in Dublin has produced a broadly similar module
aurar principle to a Viking-period ring hoard from of 26.6 g (Wallace 1987:206–7). These Irish weight-units corre-
Trøndelag. This metrological survey is an essential spond to the module of 26.4 g that Brøgger has identified as
basis for approaching the conventions concerning the early Scandinavian øre (1936:79).
payment which I believe may have been present in 22 Attempts have been made to explain this feature of the Old
Kaupang. West Norse linguistic zone — which is, however, also evi-
denced in Old East Norse — by postulating that when the
Evidence of weighing practices word was borrowed into Proto-Old Norse there may have
in the Norwegian Merovingian Period been a desire to distinguish between the singular and a distinct
The few weight-sets of the Early Iron Age known plural form (Kock 1911–1916:151). The singular form eyrir
from Norway show that gold was weighed according evolved from a Proto-Old Norse *auriaR, which in turn
to units that followed the Merovingian ounce-stan- derives from Latin aurius/aureus. The plural form found in
dard of the Continent. The well-preserved set of our sources, however, aurar, preserves an original Proto-Old
weights from Bråten in Ringerike may show us how Norse *auroR (Engeler 1991:128–9).
gold was reckoned in larger and smaller units.23 The 23 C525.
set consists of ten copper-alloy weights. Detailed ex- 24 Rather than 8 siliquae, a Frankish tremissis weighed 7 siliquae
amination has shown that all of the heavier weights or 20 grains (barley grains) according to the new measure of
relate to a basic unit of 1.32 g (Tab. 8.4). This unit cor- coin-weight (Grierson 1991:26).
responds approximately to the weight of the refor- 25 Anglo-Saxon gold shillings also make use of the cross-motif
med Frankish gold tremissis (Steinnes 1927:15). At the when the independent minting of those commences in the
end of the 6th century the monetary system of the second quarter of the 7th century (Grierson 1991:26).
Merovingian kingdoms was changed with a shift 26 In the Anglo-Saxon weight-set from Gilton referred to above,
from the Roman siliqua to the Frankish grain-stan- there is one weight that is close to the Merovingian tremissis-
dard (see above, pp. 265–6).24 It was this monetary standard marked with a punched cross (marked A on Fig. 8.2).
development in the Merovingian coin-system that This weight weighs 1.27 g (Kyhlberg 1980:164 and 167).

Figure 8.9 The set of weights from Bråten.

After Brøgger 1921:fig. 3.
Figure 8.10 Lead and pewter weights from the set from
Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Scotland. Photo, The Trustees of the
National Museum of Scotland.
a b c
d e f
used to calculate and compare the weight of different
gold coins with one another.27
If we accept Bråten as a representative find, sever-
al conclusions follow. To begin with, aurar as units of
reckoning cannot have been introduced before the
end of the 6th century. The introduction of this
weight-unit in Scandinavia may perhaps be linked to
g h i k
the custom of precise weighing that is so clearly evi-
dent in the grave finds of the Eastern Frankish and
Anglo-Saxon lands of the 6th and 7th centuries
(Werner 1962:327, fig. 15; Scull 1993). Secondly, the
aurar-modules correspond to 20 Frankish tremisses
(Steinnes 1927:15–16). This vigesimal system is also
referred to in several written sources from the early
Carat/siliqua (á 0.189 g) 7th century which describe the exchange rates be-
Roman-Byzantine solidus tween coin-units and weight-units.28 Finally, the
1 0.985 g 0.196 g x 5 dots aurar-module was not based upon Roman denarii as
2 2.926 g 0.195 g x 15 ” Brøgger (1921:17–23) assumed, but was rather cali-
3 3.654 g 0.183 g x 20 circles brated against the lighter, cross-marked gold coins
4 5.481 g 0.183 g x 30 dots that were struck in the Germanic kingdoms.
It may be more than mere coincidence that the
Barleycorn (á 0.065 g) only gold coin that has been found in Kaupang is a
merovingian tremissis Frisian tremissis struck in Dorestad around the year
5 1.327 g 0.067 g x 20 cross 650 (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.3.3, Fig. 3.18.b; Rispling
6 2.626 g 0.066 g x 40 ” et al., this vol. Ch. 4:No. 5). This coin weighs 1.25 g,
but since it has a little damage on the edge the origi-
Merovingian uncia cross nal weight may have been a bit more, possibly as
7 26.319 g 1.315 g x 20 ” 1 eyrir much as 1.3 g. The Madelinus coin is unworn, and
8 53.095 g 1.327 g x 40 ” 2 aurar was probably never in circulation. Up to now, eight
9 79.319 g 1.322 g x 60 ” 3 aurar examples of Merovingian gold tremisses have been
recorded in Southern Scandinavia, seven of which
Unit ? are from Jutland alone (Hatz 1981). The distribution
10 2.227 g of the finds follows the North Sea coast from the
island of Föhr northwards to the Limfjord.The gold
Table 8.4 The set of weights from Bråten, Norway. The tremissis from Kaupang is the only specimen outside
metric weight-measurements are as given in the first publi- of Jutland, and the northernmost found hitherto. In
cation from 1832 (Kyhlberg 1980b:168). the same way as gold tremisses may represent con-
tacts between Southern Scandinavia and the Mero-

vingian kingdoms in the 6th and 7th centuries according to a simple scheme of reckoning that cor-
(Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.3.3, Fig. 3.19), we cannot responds to approximately 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and
reject the possibility that they also came to be used as 100 units of a coin module between c. 1.24 and 1.31 g
prototypes for calibration in the production of Vi- (Tab. 8.5). The brooch-knob that is the smallest
king-period weight-sets. Knowledge of the fact that weight, weighs 12.94 g, which may mean that a coin
people used gold coins marked with the cross to pro- weighing c. 1.29 g was used as the minimum building
duce weight-sets according to the aurar-standard block (Kyhlberg 1980b:154).29 This set, very probably,
may have lived on in Kaupang in the 9th century. So does not display the original precision that was aimed
it is to the 9th century that we now turn. How were at when weight-sets were produced.30 My point here,
weight-sets of the Early Viking Period calibrated? however, is that a coin was used in the production of
these weight-sets, for which reason it was impossible
Weights with mounts and armrings with a cross to produce absolutely equal weight-sets. All sets of
In order to demonstrate the function of coins as cali-
bration models, let us take a closer look at the weight-
set from a richly furnished male grave at Kiloran Bay 27 Only weight no. 10 cannot be related to reckoning in terms of
on the island of Colonsay, Western Scotland (Fig. gold coin.
8.10; Grieg 1940:46–60). This contained both lead 28 The earliest Anglo-Saxon law-code which was formulated
and tin weights with metal mounts that are very com- under King Æthelberht of Kent in the year 603 specifies that
mon in Norwegian Viking-period finds and in the the gold-unit – the shilling – consists of 20 sceattas (Grierson
areas of Scandinavian settlement around the North and Blackburn 1986:15). The Visigothic bishop Isidore of
Sea. The weight-types from Colonsay show the typi- Seville states in his Encyclopedia, probably written in the 620s,
cal application of metal mounts on the surface of the that the exchange rate amongst the Gauls between the ounce
object. Similar weights have been found at Kaupang and the denar was supposed to be 1:20 (Brøgger 1921:96–7;
(Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.4.4). At Kiloran Bay there Kyhlberg 1980:153).
were also two weights with imitation writing remind- 29 The weights had been produced at regular intervals based
ing one of Arabic lettering, while the smallest weight upon a module of c. 12.94–12.96 g (Kyhlberg 1980:173). The
is a knob from a penannular brooch of Finnish type brooch-knob was probably used to calibrate the remaining
(Kyhlberg 1980b:173). The grave also contained three weights. Kyhlberg has suggested that the brooch-knob exactly
Northumbrian styccas, one of which was struck in represents the weight of 200 grains at the Merovingian grain-
York under Archbishop Wigmund, who held this standard.
office from 831–854 (Brøgger 1921:79; Grieg 1940: 30 The deviations from the basic module of 12.94 g in weight
58–9). The grave is therefore to be dated to the second nos. 3 and 4, 1.7 and 2.2 g respectively, amount to c. 4.5%. This
half of the 9th century, which is consistent with the margin of error was presumably acceptable in the Viking
other artefacts it contained. Period when larger quantities of silver were being weighed
The weights from Colonsay seem to be calibrated (Sperber 1996:115–17, fig. 3.5; Steuer 1997:116).

weights are individual. The specific aurar-module in pennies was not as finely maintained as that of the
each weight-set could fluctuate by a tenth of a gram Merovingian gold coins (see above, p. 269). Two
depending on how much the coin weighed, and what pennies marked with the cross struck for Coenwulf of
sort of coin had been used: in other words, what con- Mercia in the early 9th century have been found in
ventions were in force when the set of weights was Kaupang (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3.1.1 and 3.3.2, Fig.
produced. 3.17.a; Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 9–10).
The same types of weights with gilt metal ap- Rather than pennies, it was first and foremost gold
pliqués as those from Colonsay are found all around coins carrying the cross, such as the Merovingian tre-
the North Sea in the Viking Period, from Norway in misses, that maintained a very consistent weight.
the East to Ireland in the West. The principal area of People were presumably still aware of this in the early
distribution in Norway is along the western coast Viking Period when weight-sets had to be made. The
where such items are primarily found as grave goods 7th-century Frisian gold tremissis from Kaupang
(Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.4.4, Fig. 6.41). In this con- could therefore be interpreted as a calibration coin
nexion we should also note that silver armrings, for a silversmith whose workshop was in the town.
which first appear during the 9th century in the Only one coin was needed to produce a complete set
North Sea zone, seem to have been adjusted by of weights.
weight to the aurar-unit. Amongst the most typical
Viking-period armrings in Norway are what are Looking for aurar in ring hoards
known as decorated Hiberno-Norse broadband arm- Metrological analysis of the weight-set from Kiloran
rings (Sheehan 1998: 177–81), which usually have Bay, Colonsay, shows that precious metals were han-
punched transverse strips and a cross (Fig. 8.11). The dled in larger quantities in accordance with the au-
distribution of these is largely limited to Ireland, the rar-reckoning. The heaviest weight in the set weighed
Viken area, and the North Sea coast of Norway. John around 129 g, which corresponds to about 5 øre reck-
Sheehan (1998:178) dates the active period of produc- oned by a module of 25.8 g. But there is evidence for
tion and use of broadband armrings to c. 850–930/40. even heavier weights, such as one well-preserved
As Patrick Wallace has pointed out, this type of ring specimen with an Insular mount from Berg, Hurum,
and the weights from Dublin respect approximately South-Eastern Norway.32 This weighs 294.8 g, corre-
the same weight-standard. The usual Hiberno-Norse sponding to 11 øre at a module of 26.8 g (Pedersen
armrings follow a weight module of around 26.15 g 2000:76–7, this vol. Ch. 6.4.4, Fig. 6.41.a). In her study
(Sheehan 1998:178–9), and the weights centre around of the Kaupang finds, Unn Pedersen argues that the
26.6 g (Wallace 1987:206–7 and 212). These corre- Viking-period weights with gold inlays or gilt
spond to multiples of twenty of a coin-weight at 1.3 appliqués may have been used in weighing gold (this
and 1.33 g respectively. That is slightly heavier than vol. Ch. 6.4.4). This is highly plausible, although the
the coin-unit that was found in the weight-set from association with gold may also allude to a higher level
Kiloran Bay, Colonsay. and more abstract level, namely that the gold-moun-
On the Hiberno-Norse armrings the cross sym- ted weights establish an association with the coined
bol is conspicuous (Fig. 8.11). The cross need not be gold-based aurar-standard. More than anything else
understood exclusively as a Christian symbol but it is the Viking-period gold neckrings that seem to
may also indicate that the rings were standardized by have been calibrated to that standard (Brøgger 1921:
weight in relation to a coin marked with a cross. It is 40; Skovmand 1942:72; Hårdh 1996: 160–1). As an
possible that Anglo-Saxon pennies carrying the cross example we can take the gold neckrings from the
from the first half of the 9th century will have been Hoen hoard (Graham-Campbell 1999:64) or the lar-
used as the calibration prototypes.31 But the weight of gest Viking-period gold hoard that was found in
Sweden on the island of Grönsö near Birka. The
Grönsö hoard consisted of two massive gold arm-
coin-weight aurar rings linked together by a gold peg (Zachrisson 1998:
238–9). Altogether the hoard weighed 528.7 g, corre-
1 12.94 g 1.29 x 10 ½ sponding to exactly 20 øre at a module of 26.4 g
2 25.11 g 1.25 x 20 1 (Kyhlberg 1980b:156). It thus seems reasonable to
3 37.11 g 1.24 x 30 1½ infer that the large lead weights may have been used
4 49.56 g 1.24 x 40 2 for weighing gold rings.
5 65.73 g 1.31 x 50 2½ But the question arises whether or not the aurar-
6 77.32 g 1.28 x 60 3 standard was also used for weighing and calculating
7 129.30 g 1.29 x 100 5 silver rings? In the case of the armrings of the Hiber-
no-Norse type, referred to above, or the Oriental spi-
Table 8.5 The set of weights from Kildoran Bay, ral-twisted Permian neckrings, there seems to be a
Colonsay, Scotland (Kyhlberg 1980b:173). consensus that these were standardized by weight
(Munksgaard 1963:101–4; Lundström 1973:76–7;

Figure 8.11 Armring of Hiberno-Norse type. Slemmedal,

Aust-Agder C36000 (t.p.q. 914). (Blindheim 1982:18, fig. 12).
Sheehan 1998:178–9). In the case of other groups of been weighed in terms of two different aurar-mod-
Viking-period neckrings, however, any such stan- ules. The heaviest rings may have been weighed in
dardization is less easy to detect in comparative me- terms of a module of c. 25.69 g at 11 and 22 øre. In this
trological studies, and thus less probable. However it case a set of weights that were calibrated against a
is not proper to exclude the possibility that different coin of 1.28 g may have been used. The other four sil-
regional scales of calibration may have existed, as ver rings were weighed almost exactly, but had been
Hårdh has indicated (1996:59–65). We shall now take calibrated according to a slightly heavier aurar-mod-
a closer look at the so-called plaited and multi-rod ule between c. 26.23 and 26.47 g (Tab. 8.6). Beyond
neckrings that start to turn up in hoards at the end of this there seems also to have been reckoning in half-
the 9th century and are amongst the largest types of øre. The occurrence of half-øre weights can also be
silver ring of the Viking Period (Fig. 8.12; Graham- observed in the weight-sets from Bråten and Colon-
Campbell 1999).33 This type of neckring is very com- say (Tabs. 8.4–5).
mon in Norwegian hoards where it is usually deposit- The hoard from Vulu is but one, as yet, of a few
ed with no associated coins. It is only in hacksilver cases of ring hoards in which the aurar-module can
finds that coins and rings appear together. The plait- be so clearly found. A survey of Birgitta Hårdh’s cata-
ed neckrings are also represented all around the Bal- logue of other Norwegian hoards containing silver
tic Sea zone and in most regions of Scandinavia neckrings does not produce the same results in terms
(Hårdh 1996:42–3, fig. 2).34 Fragments of rods for of calibration (Hårdh 1996:192–6). This may indicate
plaited arm- or neckrings have also been found that the rings circulated through several different
amongst the material from Kaupang (Hårdh, this stages and were mixed together before ending up in a
vol. Ch. 5.8, Fig. 5.14). Analyses of the finds indicate particular hoard. In such circumstances a common
that the multi-rod neckrings may have been manu- aurar-module becomes harder to distinguish. A clear
factured in the same region they were deposited in pattern of calibration seems to emerge only when the
(Hårdh 1996:76). Birgitta Hårdh argues that the rings ring hoards contain several specimens that had been
may have had a short period of use in Norway, from
the end of the 9th century into the 10th (1996:67–8).
Further east this type of ring may be considerably 31 The weight-standard of Anglo-Saxon pennies apparently
later; as in Finland and the Baltic states, where it is observed the Troy grain-unit. The weight of the penny rose
dated to the 12th and 13th centuries (Hårdh 1996: successively from 18 to 21 grains in the period from c. 760/70
80–1; Spangen 2005:41). to 880; i.e. from 1.17 to 1.36 g (Grierson and Blackburn
In contrast to the spiral-twisted neckrings of 1986:270, cat. nos. 584–8, pls. 53–4).
Oriental type such as those known as Permian rings, 32 Copenhagen CM XXX–XXXII.
the multi-rod neckrings do not really constitute an 33 Typical of this type of ring is that it consists of at least two or
equivalent corpus of carefully weighed items. There more rods which are twisted together or plaited. The ring
are indications, however, that even these may have could be fastened with the help of hooks and eyes. The fasten-
been calibrated according to specific units of weight. ing mechanisms show great variation in form but appear to
As Hårdh (1996:59–60) points out, several rings from be standardized (Hårdh 1996:45, fig. 4). The fastening mecha-
single hoards seem to have been weighed to an ap- nisms have been used to create a regional subclassification of
proximately common module. To be able to detect this otherwise highly uniform type (Hårdh 1996:45–53, 78–83,
this, we need to convert weights in grams to coin- fig. 19).
units. I shall demonstrate this using the neckrings 34 Concentrations of this type of ring in hoards are found par-
from Vulu, Malvik, near Trondheim (Fig. 8.12; ticularly in Vestfold, Agder, South-Western Norway,
Hårdh 1996:195–6). These neckrings appear to have Trøndelag and North Norway (Hårdh 1996:figs. 2 and 16).

manufactured in one workshop using the same sources the silver ring is described in its character as
weighing equipment. What Vulu may also be an the payment ring at the thing as a “public” object
example of is that the absolute value of the aurar- (Grágás, trans. Dennis et al. 1980:175). The weight of
module in grams was governed by the weight of the the ring could be increased by attaching further silver
coin that was used to calibrate the set of weights. The rings to it, or it could be divided into smaller portions
standardization of rings by weight is consequently after it had publicly been handed over to the party to
difficult to confirm if one only uses the modern met- the case (below, pp. 315–16). But the great variation in
ric scale in studying them. In other words, metrologi- weight amongst the Scandinavian silver rings may
cal analyses of both weight-sets and rings need a have yet another cause, namely the existence of yet
methodology that is able to reveal the pattern of cali- another tradition of calibration using coin, which
bration at the foundations of coin-based aurar reck- was apparently found alongside the aurar standard.
oning. Nonetheless it emerges clearly that the silver This is what we shall examine in the following sec-
rings do not represent the same clear pattern of cali- tion.
bration as the gold rings. On the other hand it is inap-
propriate to exclude the possibility that the silver Dirhams as weights, and grivnas
rings were also regarded, in their original circum- At the end of the 9th century a new group of silver
stances, as being of standard weights. As I shall show coins began to dominate the circulation of silver
later, the weight of any particular ring could be delib- throughout Scandinavia. These were the Islamic dir-
erately changed after it left the workshop. In written hams, which had the same impact in terms of estab-
lishing confidence in the weighing and valuing of sil-
ver as the Western coins marked with the cross. The
silver neckrings aurar-module coin-unit aurar dirham formed part of a system of reckoning that fol-
lowed a different tradition of calibration than that of
1. 158.34 g 26.39 x6 1.32 x 120 6 the Merovingian gold tremisses and Anglo-Saxon sil-
2. 211.8 g 26.47 x8 1.32 x 160 8 ver pennies. Like the gold tremisses these were very
3. 236.64 g 26.29 x9 1.31 x 180 9 consistent in weight, and in the Caliphate state coin-
4. 327.99 g 26.23 x 12.5 1.31 x 250 12½ weights made of glass were used to check the weights
5. 282.43 g 25.69 x 11 1.28 x 220 11 of the dirhams (Fig. 8.15; Balog 1976, 1980). In the
6. 566 g 25.69 x 22 1.28 x 420 22 Icelandic Baugatal already referred to, it is stated that
10 pennies make up 1 eyrir (see above, p. 283). This
Table 8.6 Plaited silver neckrings, Vulu, Malvik, Trøndelag really can only refer to the heavier silver dirhams
(Hårdh 1996:195–6). which may have been used as coins for calibration.
But was there really another system of reckoning

lost together by the wharf on a particular occasion

Figure 8.12. Silver neckrings: plaited with triangular termi- (Steuer 2002:158).36 I believe that this circumstance
nals. Vulu, Malvik, Sør-Trøndelag. Hårdh type 3. Photo, offers a fine opportunity to see how silver was han-
Birgitta Hårdh. dled in the Viking Period. Rather than nine different
forged coins there could have been a complete set of
weights which originally consisted of ten pieces. In
that case the set would fulfil the requirements of
Baugatal, in which 10 pennies would make 1 eyrir (see
above, pp. 282–3). Just like the gold tremissis, so too
the dirham could, in the Viking Period, have been re-
garded as a guarantee of value when weighing. The
early Abbasid dirhams down to the reign of Harun
al-Rashid are very consistent in weight.37 But the
trust enjoyed by dirhams as markers of quality was
abused in this case. The average weight of the Hedeby
copies is much lighter than genuine dirhams, 2.29 g
rather than the current norm in the Caliphate be-
tween c. 2.7 and 2.9 g (Welin 1958). Altogether, the
copies weigh 20.57 g. But what has become of the
alongside the aurar-system for weighing silver in tenth coin?
larger and well-proportioned units during the Viking It is difficult to decide whether or not the genuine
Period? Can we find archaeological evidence of this and complete coins such as the early Abbasid dirham
possibly Eastern coin-based method of reckoning or one of the Samanid specimens was part of the set
and valuation? In my opinion there are several pieces originally. The Abbasid dirham was not found in its
of evidence for this. original stratigraphical context but only later during
In the harbour basin at Hedeby, immediately ad- sieving. Interestingly enough, this coin too, like the
jacent to the wharves, 9 die-identical Abbasid dir- copies, is much lighter, weighing only 2.26 g, which is
hams struck in the year 807/8 in Baghdad under Ca- very unusual. If this coin was part of the original
liph Harun al-Rashid were found in 1980. These were assemblage the whole set would only have weighted
not made of pure silver but were rather made in a tin- 22.83 g. The Samanid dirham that is the other possi-
lead alloy. Traces of a casting sprue around the end – ble candidate was struck in the year 894/5 in Shash.
in the same place on five of these coins – show that a According to the preliminary publication of the find
single coin had been used as the model. These, then, it was found together with a fragment in approxi-
are copies of a single Abbasid dirham (Steuer 2002: mately the same area as the copies (Wiechmann, in
155–7). That all these copies are identical and come prep.). This coin, which weighs 4.0 g, belongs to a
from the same stratigraphical context also shows that later phase in coin-production in the Caliphate,
they were made, and perhaps also used, in Hedeby. A when the average weight of the dirham was heavier
number of scholars have considered these copies to and less consistent than with earlier Abbasid issues.38
be forgeries (Steuer 2002:158–9; Gustin 2004c:172–3). If we add this coin to the copies the whole set comes
There are several cases of coin-forgery in other Vi- to weigh 24.57 g. If, then, the pseudo-coins from
king-period finds (Gustin 2004c:173). The purpose of Hedeby are an example of deceit, the nature of the
the Hedeby copies was doubtless fraudulent, to pre-
tend that these were genuine dirhams. But in my
view, pseudo-dirhams are not forged coins in a mon- 35 My thanks to Dr Ralf Wiechmann who has kindly supplied
etary sense. The pewter dirhams were probably not me with a list of coins, with information on weight and con-
used as currency in Hedeby. The attempt to deceive text, for my use. This list of finds will be included in his forth-
may have been enacted in a quite different way. coming publication discussing the use of coin in Hedeby
During the same excavations that uncovered (Wiechmann, in prep.).
these copies, five genuine dirhams were found.35 36 However even the copies do not appear to have lain in a single
These included an early, complete Abbasid dirham group but rather were spread through more than one layer
struck in the year 803/4 under Harun al-Rashid in (layers III–IV) and grid-unit (G42–44 and D26–28:
Baghdad, three Samanid dirhams struck at the begin- Wiechmann, in prep.). Coins which may originally have lain
ning of the 10th century, two of which were in frag- together, for instance in a purse, can later be dispersed over a
ments, and one unidentified coin-fragment. It is not wider area. Supporting this is the fact that the objects had lain
immediately apparent from the preliminary account both in water and silt for a long period of time, and were sub-
of the finds how close these coins lay to one another ject to wave-movement.
in their stratigraphical contexts. It is, however, en- 37 See below, note 39.
tirely reasonable to assume that the nine copies were 38 See below, note 39.

Figure 8.13 Abbasid dirham. Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

786–809. Madinat al-Salam 193 (808/9). 2.8 g. From Stora
Velinge I (1936), Gotland. Private ownership. Scale 3:1.
Photo, Kenneth Jonsson, Stockholm University.
fraud lay rather in pretending there was a larger coin-weights were made of glass, and later also of
quantity of silver on the scales than was actually brass (Balog 1976). The average weight of dirhams
there. The quantity of silver that the other party changed a little in the course of the Viking Period
would have expected should have weighed some- while at the same time different regional weight-stan-
thing between 27 and 29 g, which would correspond dards were employed within the Caliphate.39
to the weight of ten complete dirhams if we work It is possible that the monetary situation within
from the earlier Abbasid dirham standard. the Caliphate is also reflected in the use of dirhams as
That it apparently was the practice at larger trad- coin-weights in Hedeby and Kaupang. It is only dir-
ing sites to use the dirhams themselves as weights in hams that maintain a consistent weight and which
weighing silver in larger quantities is also shown by respect Caliph Abd al-Malik’s original weight-stan-
the latest coin finds from Kaupang. The majority of dard that were certainly used in this way. Obviously
the 92 dirhams from Kaupang are cut or broken people could not read the texts on the coins, but the
coins. Amongst these, however, there are eight early early Abbasid dirhams, down to the end of Harun al-
Abbasid dirhams that are whole (Rispling et al., this Rashid’s issues, were easily recognized. All of them
vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 23, 26, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 44). Four have ring symbols or annulets in the outer ring on the
of these were apparently perforated or folded and so coin-face (Fig. 8.13). These annulets can still be traced
are excluded (Tab. 8.7). early in the reign of Caliph al-Mamun (813-833).
As in the set from Hedeby, the coins from Kaup- They are depicted on dirhams which were minted
ang were struck under the early Abbasid caliphs, until the Hijrah date 204, which means the years
principally in the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786–809) 819/820. After that they disappear as an element of
in Madinat al-Salam and al-Muhammadiyya, nowa- decoration (e.g. Leimus 2007:pls. 21-23).
days Baghdad and Tehran. Like the Merovingian The reason why it was specifically Harun al-
gold tremisses, the dirhams derive from a strictly reg- Rashid’s dirhams from Baghdad and Tehran that
ulated monetary system, and the weight of the coins were selected as coin-weights is also that they are
was of immense importance in the economic system amongst the most common 9th-century dirhams in
of the Caliphate. The weight of both the gold dinars Scandinavian finds. Other than the Hedeby copies,
and the dirhams was checked by means of exagia: and texts such as Baugatal, we have no concrete evi-
state control weights (see below, pp. 302–3; Fig. 8.15). dence of this method of valuation. Dirhams were
It was possible to check the weight of individual coins probably not used to calibrate the Western, Viking-
to a very fine degree (Steuer 1978:257). The Arabic period weights of lead or pewter with appliqués. This
23. al-Mahdi Madinat al-Salam 779/780 2.33 g corroded

38. Harun al-Rashid Madinat al-Salam 804/05 2.30 g damaged
39. Harun al-Rashid al-Muhammadiyya 804/05 2.83 g
40. Harun al-Rashid al-Muhammadiyya 804/05 2.49 g corroded
Table 8.7 Whole dirhams from Kaupang (Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4).

obviously cannot be entirely ruled out until a greater Examination of the weight-sets from Bråten and
number of such weights have been examined in light Colonsay, the dirham finds from Hedeby and Kaup-
of this question. Patrick Wallace’s investigations ang, and the ring hoard from Vulu, has yielded indi-
(1987:212) of the finds from Dublin show at least that cations of the existence of two forms of calibration in
the Western weights remain on the whole approxi- Scandinavia during the Viking Period in which coins
mately centred on the earlier aurar-module of c. 26.6 were used as the calibration prototypes: on one side
g. The same basic unit was also observed by Brøgger the aurar-standard and on the other the Eastern,
(1921:80) in his study of the lead weights with metal dirham-based, grivna-standard. The aurar-standard
mounts in Norwegian finds. had apparently been employed since the Norwegian
When dirhams start to predominate in the silver Merovingian Period to weigh gold in exactly equal
in circulation in the last quarter of the 9th century, as portions; later, in the Viking Period, for weighing sil-
was the case at Kaupang (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.9), yet ver too. I have also argued for the conceptual and
one further practice for reckoning and valuing a metrological linkage of objects of standardized
quantity of silver besides the Western aurar weight- weights, such as rings, weights and coins. The han-
sets apparently came into use. The coins themselves dling of precious metals was thus calculable and sub-
were used as the means of valuation. The dirhams ject to reckoning in the same way as coins were in
were then the smallest unit for the production of sil- monetized societies. Thus aurar-objects fulfilled the
ver rings to standardized weights. Here we may see an same essential requirement that is definitive of the
Eastern European tradition of calibration according position of money as a standardized form of curren-
to which silver was reckoned in bigger units (Hårdh cy. But why were aurar-objects regarded as of value?
2007). This is probably reflected in the Arab envoy Why were they accepted as media of value and valua-
Ibn Fadlan’s account of his meeting with Russian tion in societies that had no strong central authority?
merchants in the 920s at the Volga Bulgars’ capital of In order to be able to answer these questions, we need
Bulgar. The Russian traders earned large sums in to look more closely at the gold ring and how it has
dirhams which they converted into neckrings and been described in Old Norse mythology.
gave as gifts to their wives.40 A neckring was pro-
duced every time the merchant had earned a sum of 39 Exagia, which were introduced with every change of ruler,
10,000 dirhams; two rings from a sum of 20,000 reflect both these changes and the regional variation in the
coins; etc (Montgomery 2000:6–7). However no in- weight of the dirham. Up to around the 830s, when the earlier
formation is provided on how many dirhams were Abbasid period of minting ends, the dirham weighed on aver-
included in each ring. What is interesting is that the age 2.7–2.9 g. An analysis of Umayyad and early Abbasid glass
multiple of 10 appears here as a fixed unit of quantity weights has yielded a value between 2.72 and 2.82 g (Welin
in terms of which people counted the number of dir- 1958:510; Fig. 8.15). After c. 833 a new phase of Abbasid coining
hams they had made. began. The quality of minting deteriorated visibly and the
This Eastern ring tradition was probably the basis weight of the dirhams became less consistent (Miles 1965:319).
of the Russian weight-unit grivna, which etymologi- In the 10th century dirhams can weigh up to about 3 g. This is
cally has its roots in the Slavonic languages and can also consistent with the weight of Fatimid glass exagia from
be translated as “ring” (Hårdh 2007:141–2). The griv- Egypt of this period (Welin 1958:510).
na is an Eastern European counterpart to the Scandi- 40 James E. Montgomery’s translation, which attempts to keep
navian ring baugr (Pritsak 1998:41).41 The grivna, like as close as possible to the expressions of the original text,
the baugr, was a symbol of personal wealth and emi- refers to necklaces rather than neckrings.
nence, characterizing its possessor. With the Eastern 41 The word grivna was subsequently used in 12th-century
tradition in which the dirhams themselves were used Russia for ingots of normalized weight, e.g. the Kiev grivna
as calibration prototypes and in which people appar- and Novgorod grivna (Melnikova 1996:68–72).
ently began to calculate the øre in terms of ten coins, 42 I have not discussed the manifest standardization by weight
the aurar weight-unit was raised from c. 26.5 g to a of the Oriental spiral-twisted neckrings of the Permian and
value between 27 and 29 g. In certain cases, such as Duesminde types. The basic module for these rings of 25–26 g
the clump of melted dirhams from Kaupang (Black- is a little lighter than the aurar-module. It is possible that
burn, this vol. Ch. 3.1.2, Fig. 3.1), we cannot entirely North African dirhams struck in the 8th century served as the
exclude a value around 30 g. The clump of coins that calibration prototypes for this type of ring (Kilger, this vol.
was found in Kaupang consisted of dirham-frag- Ch. 7.3). In Egypt, a lower standard weight was employed for
ments and weighed 29.81 g (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3; dirhams than in the rest of the Caliphate (Miles 1965:319–20).
Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:No. 102). Taking dir- A grivna-unit of c. 25 g could be produced using 10 North
hams not only as prototypes for calibration but as African dirhams. North African dirhams are very common in
representing, at the same time, an Eastern calibration Russian finds from the first quarter of the 9th century (Kilger,
tradition, we establish a way of understanding the this vol. Ch. 7.4, Tab. 7.6). This matches the period in which
variation in weights in the corpus of Scandinavian the spiral-twisted neckrings began to circulate in the Baltic
rings.42 area (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.4, Fig. 7.11).

Odin’s inalienable property: these general and immaterial associations of value –

the stable and eternal gold ring justice and predictability – that hover over the aurar-
Just like coins in Christian kingdoms, the ring, the ring and invest it with an aura of inalienability and so
most prominent of the aurar-objects, was imbued of value. It is also the gold ring that is generally
with transcendental and sacred associations so that it referred to in skaldic poetry, as the kings’ most valu-
became a symbol of standards and value. The con- able possession that could only be given as a gift to
cept of value can only be made concrete by being others. However even this invaluable quality had a
embodied within an object that can be laden with price put upon it in the Viking Period. The weight of
stories and ideas. In Snorri’s Edda the gold ring is gold rings is often given in the texts in marks (Engeler
referred to as a sacred symbol of Norse mythology. 1991:125–6). This is also implied by the fact that in
Snorri here may provide us with a key that enables us Anglo-Saxon documentary sources concerning the
to understand the ring as an object of value in the Danelaw, such as the treaty of Alfred and Guthrum,
Northern world of ideas. In Skáldskaparmál, Snorri marks are given in gold (Engeler 1991:115).
wrote that the dwarf Brokk made a gold ring called By means of the gold ring, Odin introduced an
Draupnir which he gave as a gift to Odin (trans. order of justice. The gold ring was sacred in character
Byock 2005:92–3). Draupnir has a special characteris- to the highest degree, and could not be sold under
tic. Every ninth night the ring increases to a total of any circumstances. It belonged to the gods, not to
eight rings, all of the same weight.This uniformity of men. This is reflected in the fact that gold was often
weight is expressed by the word iafnhöfgir, which ap- interred in wetlands and close to water (Hårdh 1996:
pears both in the eddic poem Skírnismál and in 134; Zachrisson 1998:117–18). Gold rings are practi-
Skáldskaparmál as a poetic way of stating that the cally never found in normal silver hoards except in
rings which dripped off Draupnir were absolutely special assemblages with outstanding artefacts that
equal. The number of eight, which is also recorded in relate to the feminine sphere. A very typical example
another context, is of interest from the viewpoint of of these “female hoards” is the gold treasure from
the history of weights. This was the relationship be- Hoen, about two days’ journey from Kaupang (Kil-
tween øre and the Scandinavian mark. A mark was ger 2008). This also contained other objects of un-
always reckoned as 8 øre. This canonical relationship ambiguously feminine character, such as glass beads,
is recorded as early as the agreement between Guth- pendants, and a gold trefoil brooch (Fuglesang 2005:
rum and Alfred that established the Danelaw in the 174–6). The gold rings were not meant for this world
late 9th century (Attenborough 1922:103–9). Draup- and were kept out of circulation. It was through its
nir ought, then, to be regarded as a mythological rep- association with the god Odin that the aurar-ring was
resentation of the mark as a weight-unit made up of invested with mythical capital. The divine and care-
eight parts of equal weight. fully proportioned gold ring was the absolute and
Draupnir is a symbol of the power of creation and essential point of reference for the system of value
rejuvenation. It has the quality of reproducing itself at and payment of the Viking Period. It thus imbued
the same weight. In Odin’s hands it embodies an eter- aurar-objects in silver such as rings and ingots with
nal status quo, an inexhaustible power of reproduc- the necessary associations of value so that they could
tion which always produces the same result. The same assume a function as “money”. The significance of
idea is also at the root of the weighing of precious the ring as a calculable object of value was thus root-
metal: namely the ability to create exactly equal por- ed in the world of the gods. The gold ring was the
tions. In addition to the fertility symbolism latent in Viking Period’s supreme inalienable possession.
the ring’s rejuvenating power that a number of schol- That Draupnir produced eight further rings of
ars have identified (Steinsland 1991:149–51), I believe equal weights every ninth night was probably no ran-
that this “eternal” gold ring also represents the idea of dom detail. Eight was regarded as a sacred number in
predictability. The carefully weighed gold ring re- the Norse conceptual world. It was probably the Old
specting the aurar-standard can thus also be seen as a Norse átt that is at the root of the number eight. Átt is
symbol of rectitude. At the same time, aurar-objects the term for the eighth part of the horizon that the
such as rings can be quantified and so, just like coins, sun passes in the course of three hours. Thus the
can be dealt with according to an abstract scale of horizon was considered to be constituted of eight
reckoning. The quantifiability of the ring is further- equal parts or subdivisions, áttir, each of which had
more an essential prerequisite for the maintenance of its own name (Cleasby et al. 1874:47). The older futh-
social order in the community. Both documentary ark also consisted of three ættir, with eight runes in
sources and archaeological evidence reveal the ring to each (Antonsen 2002:43). But the number eight is
have been a legal object that oaths were sworn upon also used as a relative quantity to define the value of
and compensation paid in (Brink 1996). It was the all- pure silver according to Icelandic law codes (Nau-
embracing idea of a divinely sanctioned justice that mann 1987:377) (below, p. 297).
delivered the sense of security and confidence which The number eight refers to absolute and un-
is at the bottom of all forms of exchange trade. It was changing phenomena in nature such as the course of

the sun in the sky, and to the sacred order in the the North Sea region and the urban settlements
rune-row, which itself embodied secret knowledge. known as wics were founded all around the North
As an eternal and mythical figure, eight also fulfilled Sea coasts under the control of petty kings (Hodges
an essential function in the economic sphere. Using 2000:77). Initially, it was Frankish, Byzantine and
this as an absolute number of account, the division of Anglo-Saxon gold coins that first circulated around
wholeness into eight equal parts created a divinely this trading network; then, at the end of the 7th and
rooted matrix of counting with which one could in the 8th centuries, the silver coins known as sceattas
reckon the value of various goods in relation to one (Grierson and Blackburn 1986:155–89). The question
another. It was Odin’s gold ring as the inalienable is, then, whether or not the same period saw the
possession of Viking society that guarded and guar- introduction of a uniform standard of reckoning in
anteed this economic order. The absolute complete- those areas that were manifestly participants in this
ness consisting of eight parts was employed to define system of exchange but were unwilling to accept
the value of pure and good silver, and thus the funda- coins as a standard form of payment. The burgeoning
mental significance of silver as “money” in the circu- North Sea trading network may have provided the
lation of goods. However one important question requisite conditions for the establishment of com-
remains to be answered in this section: if it developed mon conventions and rules for the comparison and
in the Early Iron Age in Scandinavia, how could the valuation of goods being exchanged. With the idea of
aurar-system have been passed on to the Viking øre, we may see the outlines of a system of valuation
Period and so into Kaupang? To answer that, we have that made it possible to buy and sell goods at seasonal
to examine what factors may have led to the estab- sites which also produce evidence of craft and trade,
lishment of reckoning in aurar in Scandinavia. To do particularly in Southern Scandinavia.
so, we need to turn back to Brøgger’s øre theory and Such a site may have been Gudme/Lundeborg on
his conclusions. the island of Fyn. At the coastal settlement site of
Lundeborg, which was established sometime in the
“Aurar-sites” in Southern Scandinavia 3rd century AD, a complete set of seven bronze
Bråten was one of the few sets of weights of the Early weights has been found on which the cross-symbol is
Iron Age that Brøgger was able to refer to in his case as conspicuous as in the find from Bråten (Fig. 8.9;
for the øre-standard having an ancient origin and Thomsen 1993:96–7). Detailed metrological studies
thus to be datable to the Roman Iron Age (Brøgger of the weight-set have yet to be undertaken, but it is
1921:12–16). He assumed that denarii of the Roman reasonable to assume that this find belongs to the
Republic had been used to calibrate the weights (1921: Norwegian Merovingian Period, and to the 7th cen-
17–23). The earlier Scandinavia øre had, according to tury. The Gudme/Lundeborg complex is also well
Brøgger, its immediate prototype in the Roman known for its finds of gold rings of standardized
ounce of about 27 g. However it was the Norwegian weights from the same period. At the farm of Bro-
historian Asgaut Steinnes (1927) who, on metrologi- holm in the immediate neighbourhood of Gudme
cal grounds, was able conclusively to refute Brøgger’s one of the largest gold hoards from Denmark was
theory. Steinnes (1927:15–17) showed, using the evi- found. The Broholm treasure consisted of various
dence of Bråten amongst others, that it was not the kinds of gold ring and gold bracteate, together with
Early Roman but the Merovingian ounce that had silver ingots containing some gold (Fig. 8.14). Ac-
been the model for the øre-weight. Brøgger (1936:77 cording to Brøgger (1921:31), who undertook a me-
and 81) was acquainted with Steinnes’s work but did trological study of Broholm, the gold rings respect
not change his view. Brøgger’s longer Roman chron- the øre-weight within a range between c. 26 and 27.2
ology for the øre-weight remained unchallenged in g. The ring-weights fall at intervals of 50, 30, 20 and 2
later scholarship (e.g. Bakka 1978). In analyses of gold øre. There is also a gold capsule which Brøgger inter-
finds such as the rings, the Roman ounce has been preted as a weight at 26.1 g. The case I made above
automatically associated with the Scandinavian øre implies that the method of reckoning in øre was not
(e.g. Munksgaard 1980). introduced before the Norwegian Merovingian Pe-
By locating the introduction of aurar-reckoning riod (see above, pp. 280–2). The Broholm hoard con-
in the Norwegian Merovingian Period, however, we tains gold objects weighed according the øre-unit
also change the basis for understanding why stan- and should therefore be dated no earlier than the 7th
dardized sets of weights such as that from Bråten are century, despite the fact that the hoard also contains
found in Southern Scandinavia. With a shorter Migration-period gold bracteates.
chronology, the phenomenon is placed in a different Although the seasonal activities at Lundeborg
archaeological and cultural context. With a redating apparently diminished in the 5th century after the fall
to the Merovingian Period, we find ourselves in the of the Roman Empire, they carried on to the begin-
post-Roman world and at the beginning of a new ning of the 8th century (Thomsen et al. 1993:97;
epoch, with new economic constellations (Lebecq Thrane 1993:17–20). Further continuity in settlement
2005). This is the period in which trade expanded in in the area into the Viking Period is evident at

Figure 8.14 The Broholm treasure, Gudme. Photo, Kit

Weiss, National Museum of Denmark.
Gudme. It is shown by remains of buildings and finds existence of the aurar-system at Kaupang in Skirings-
of weights, neckrings, sceattas and dirhams (Thrane sal are the copper-alloy and lead weights (Pedersen,
1993:26–44, figs. 28–9, 33 and 39). Unlike Kaupang, this vol. Ch. 6). Lead and copper-alloy weights are
which was not founded until the beginning of the 9th found at all significant sites with evidence of trade
century, the Gudme/Lundeborg complex displays an and craft in Scandinavia. Such weights have been
unbroken history over a long period of time (for a found, for example, at Helgö (Kyhlberg 1980b:
more thorough discussion of Gudme/Lundeborg, see 177–97) and Birka (Gustin 2004a:18–18 and 21), Up-
Skre 2007j:446–8). But Kaupang/Skiringssal and påkra in Skåne (Gustin 1999:258–9) and Lunde-
Gudme/ Lundeborg can be compared in one respect. borg/Gudme on Fyn (Thomsen 1993:80). In the set-
Evidence of bronze-, silver- and goldsmithing has tlement area at Kaupang a total of 338 lead weights
been found at Lundeborg and Gudme in the same has been found – the largest single group here
way as at Kaupang (Thrane 1993:51, fig. 34; Jørgensen (Pedersen, this vol., Ch. 6.1.1:Tab. 6.3 and 6.4). Ac-
2003:177). Both complexes were sites for the collec- cording to Unn Pedersen, lead weights may have
tion, exchange and possibly also remelting of pre- been used to weigh silver. Her contextual analyses
cious metals. A conceivable scenario is, therefore, show that in one case the use of these weights and the
that it was at sites such as Lundeborg, and later occurrence of silver can be related to a single plot in
Gudme, that the idea of aurar was put into practice Kaupang (this vol., Ch. 6.4.1, Fig. 6:29). In the most
and so passed on from the 7th century to the Viking recent excavations 1990–1995 in the old town area of
Period. Other sites in Southern Scandinavia showing Birka of, some 200 weights were recorded on a plot
continuity from the Early Iron Age to the Late, and with copious evidence of bronzecasting (Gustin
with evidence of metalworking, such as Uppåkra in 2004a:21). As of yet at Birka, however, these lack any
Skåne (Kresten et al. 2001), may have functioned as clear connexion with the production of objects of
aurar-sites too. Boeslunde on Sjælland and Sten- gold or silver. In Kaupang, on the other hand, there is
tinget in North Jutland display a higher level of craft- archaeological evidence that silver may have been
specialization in the 6th and 7th centuries. These sites handled alongside casting waste (Pedersen, this vol.,
are particularly rich in metal finds when compared Ch. 6:162–4; Pedersen, in prep.).
with ordinary agrarian settlements. Here we have, The finding of lead weights in association with
amongst other things, evidence of the reworking of archaeological contexts with evidence of metalcast-
metals and the use of weights, balances, and bronze ing is thus not intrinsically inconsistent with the idea
and lead ingots (Jørgensen 2003:178–9). It was at sites that these weights may have had some function in
such as these that the concept of aurar may have economic transactions. Without being able yet to
gained an early foothold and become part of the rou- demonstrate this directly through archaeological
tine practices of payment and valuation that are also finds, the weights may have been used in the craft
reflected at Kaupang. The emergence of the “aurar- zones in producing aurar-objects of precious metals.
sites” in Scandinavia seems to coincide with the It is valid to argue that it was in the silver- and bron-
development of a tradition of precise weighing that is zesmiths’ workshops that aurar-objects such as in-
also richly reflected in grave finds from the territory gots and rings were produced and the quantities of
of Eastern Frankia (Werner 1962). silver and gold were also – perhaps – like those of
The most conspicuous material reflexes of the bronze and lead, calculated using weights. The pre-


cise weighing of metals in workshops may, then, have transactions in which the øre-standard had to be
followed the same practices and procedures as in the materialized. This standard could probably also be
trading site. The weights in øre were thus part of the embodied in non-metal objects. In the same way as
equipment of the metalworker as much as of the the denier in the Carolingian realm was both a mate-
merchant (Pedersen 2001:24–6). The use of weights rial coin and an immaterial unit of reckoning (see
in both production and exchange was by no means above, pp. 270–1), so too the øre comprised simulta-
mutually exclusive. neously a material and an abstract principle of reck-
The Kaupang/Skiringssal central-place complex oning and payment that may have been in use in Late
(Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch.2:Fig. 1.2), which I inter- Iron-age Scandinavia. Just as the denier, aurar could
pret as an aurar-site, could have had the economic, be expressed and counted in the goods one was deal-
political and indeed legal preconditions for a system ing in and of which we only find traces in later writ-
of payment and valuation based upon the øre to be ten sources. In relatively early law-codes of the 12th
put into practice (Skre 2007j:446–8 and 450–5). The century such as the Icelandic Grágás, the Norwegian
central place comprised the urban settlement of Gulathing Law, and the earlier Swedish Västgöta
Kaupang with its evidence of trade and craft (Pilø Law, there are references to a system of commodity-
2007c:175–8, 2007d:195; Pedersen and Pilø 2007: cash in the North in respect of which reckonings were
187–90), the chieftainly seat at Skiringssal with the made in vereaurar (Engeler 1991:132–3). Etymologic-
hall at Huseby (Skre 2007e), and the thing-site at ally, vere can be translated with the words “price” and
Tjølling (Skre 2007g). The assembly place, which “value”, although also with “purchase” and “pay-
seems to have functioned from the Early Iron Age to ment” (Naumann 1987:374–6). In a transferred sense,
the early Christian Middle Ages (Skre 2007g:403–6), I believe that we can see here a separation from the
was simultaneously a juridical and a social arena. The bodily rooting of aurar in gold and silver objects. The
thing, I believe, may have fulfilled a major function in concept of vereaurar can then also be applied to other
legitimating the nominal function and convertability objects which correspond to a value of a certain
of the means of payment and the øre-unit. As the number of øre.
Icelandic Baugatal shows, it was at the thing that the A further medium in which relationships of price
øre-weight was defined and it was likewise there that and value could be expressed in øre was textiles: wad-
the payment value of the compensation rings was mal of a certain length, which was measured in ells.
determined. The thing may thus have been a central The term wadmal (Old Norse vaemál) is a com-
juridical authority and a social area legitimating aurar pound of vae, “woven cloth”, and mál, meaning
as a principle of value. The annual assembly at the “measure” or “unit” (Finnur Jónsson 1936:155 n.6).
thing may, then, have been similar to the market days This term can be translated as “measure of cloth” or
of the town saints in the Merovingian realm that in a further monetary sense as “cloth-money” (Enge-
Frans Theuws has discussed using the anthropologi- ler 1991:80–1). Unlike “metal-øre”, the unit of wad-
cal concept of tournaments of value (see above, p. 263). mal was not calculated in terms of weight of silver but
It was at the thing that the chieftains and the leading rather in terms of the quantity of cloth in length and
farmers met regularly in order to settle legal prob- breadth and the quality of the cloth in respect of
lems, undertake exchange, make alliances, and con- material, colour and technical quality. In the same
firm their position within the community. It was way as silver, textiles could be the subjects of eco-
here, too, that the weight and value of aurar-objects nomic calculation and even themselves be used as a
such as the rings was legitimated in a public place, be- way of making payments or valuations in transac-
fore people’s eyes. At the thing, the purity and weight tions separate from the socially binding sphere.
of the legal silver was determined, together with how According to documentary sources from Iceland,
many pennies would count as an eyrir (see above, pp. there was a firmly fixed rate of exchange between
282–3). In this way the central-place complex Kaup- wadmal, i.e. textile of a certain length, width and
ang/Skiringssal was similar to an economically sanc- quality, and a weighed øre of silver (Ebel 1985:117–8).
tioned space in which several stages in the life-cycle of Wadmal was consequently counted in terms of the
aurar-objects were brought together. Aurar-objects nominal and legal units lögaurar. One lögeyrir was
were produced in the workshops of the silversmiths; the equivalent to an unused woollen cloth of lower
they circulated at the thing and in the trading site and quality that was 6 ells in length and 2 ells wide (En-
changed hands; they came back and were broken up geler 1991:80–1). These relative values are document-
in the workshops only to be re-made once again. ed from the 12th and 13th centuries in the law-codes
Grágás and Jónsbók (Finnur Jónsson 1936:155). Grágás
Vergaurar and vagmál – Commodity-money also contains the information that around the year
in Late Iron-age Scandinavia 1000 a distinction was drawn between silver of two
There is yet one more facet to economic practice in different qualities. Four lögaurar of wadmal were
the Late Iron Age. Objects of precious metal such as then the equivalent of an øre by weight of bleikr silfr –
ingots and rings were not utterly essential as media of “pale” or, in other words, impure silver – but 8 lögau-

rar of wadmal were the equivalent of an øre of pure logical and numismatic evidence such as coins,
silver, which was referred to in the sources as brent weights and rings, along with historical evidence. The
(“burnt”) silfr (Naumann 1987:377). examples come from a period stretching from the
It may be more than mere coincidence that evi- end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 10th,
dence of organized textile-production coincides with and illustrate the practices of weighing and valuing
the period in which aurar were introduced as a prin- both gold and silver according to a common conven-
ciple of reckoning and value in Scandinavia. In Den- tion in non-monetized societies. The ability to reck-
mark there is archaeological evidence of specialized on and think in terms of aurar through coins may
and large-scale production of textiles which may go give us an insight into and understanding of how
back to the 7th century. At Bejsebakken in North Jut- standards could be employed and transmitted in
land a settlement consisting of five longhouses and societies that lacked a strong central authority. Al-
more than 350 sunken huts has been recorded which though coins were not accepted as a form of currency
produced a large number of spindle-whorls and in Scandinavia during the Late Iron Age because they
loomweights. At Næs on Sjælland it was not only themselves were not regarded as having value, the
remains of sunken huts with weaving equipment that idea of value, and of countability, was made material
were found but also structures that indicate that flax in other objects. The aurar-system did not depend
was retted on a large scale for the manufacture of upon a royal authority to guarantee its value. As stan-
linen. This complex is dated to between the late 7th dard units of reckoning, aurar were rather given
and early 9th centuries (Jørgensen 2003:179). In the legitimacy by the carefully weighed gold ring. This
same way as with aurar, the growing North Sea trad- gold ring, made from gold coin, can also be under-
ing network of the 7th century may have fulfilled the stood to have been a transcendental principle, a
necessary preconditions for cloth being both dealt divine and proper order of which we find reflexes in
with as trade goods and at the same time serving a the story of Odin’s eternal ring Draupnir. The gold
function as “money”. ring belonged to the world of the gods, and as an
Both silver øre and cloth-money were counted in inalienable possession it gave the aurar-units their
the abstract units of lögaurar and could thus be corre- permanent and untouchable stability. It imbued
lated with other goods. From the end of the 12th cen- aurar-objects of silver with the authenticity they
tury we have data on prices that were proclaimed at needed to be accepted as media of value. Gold was
the Icelandic Althing. Thus six arctic fox skins were deposited in marginal zones between water and land.
worth 1 lögeyrir (Naumann 1987:387–9). If we follow The carefully secreted gold ring was an imaginary but
the information from Iceland, 48 arctic fox skins at the same time a firm axle around which notions of
would be worth 8 lögaurar. This is the same as 1 eyrir value and price in the human world could develop. In
of pure silver, i.e. a silver ingot between about 26 and the concept of aurar, I believe, lies the idea of the co-
29 g. Although some scholars warn against projecting herency of an order sanctioned by the gods.
information on commodity-money and prices from It may have been the expanding North Sea trad-
later medieval texts back into the Iron Age (e.g. Hatz ing network of the 7th and 8th centuries that provid-
1974:93), few, if any, attempts to reconcile written, ed the necessary preconditions for the establishment
archaeological and numismatic evidence on the same of the aurar-system. Reckoning in øre may have de-
terms have ever been made. Although there must be veloped as a method of making payments and valu-
doubt as to whether relative prices from the 12th and ing in craft and trading sites in Scandinavia that were
13th centuries in Iceland were also valid in Kaupang in in contact with this network. The underlying unit of
the 9th and 10th centuries, this need not count as an reckoning for the aurar-system was the Merovingian
argument against a system of commodity-money du- ounce. The use of øre in Scandinavia should there-
ring the Late Iron Age (for a similar approach to com- fore – in the same way as counting in coins in mone-
modity-money, see Skre this vol. Chs. 9:324, 327–8, tized societies – be understood as the practice for
10:340–8). The archaeological and metrological evi- valuing precious metals according to their weight
dence seem to be in support of this. If Ohthere offered and purity in carefully proportioned quantities. At
his goods from the far north for sale in Kaupang he sites whose economic activities were based on the øre
presumably thought in terms of øre both as a weighed there was a close connexion between metalworking
silver unit and as the units of reckoning, lögaurar. He and the use of weights.
need not, however, have had access to silver to be able Aurar-rings are like coins in being nominal units
to participate in exchange. All that was necessary was of value and reckoning. This is shown in Norse law-
for the other party to the deal to accept øre as a basic codes. In Baugatal and the Frostathing Law the
unit of value. weight of compensation rings is defined as, for in-
stance, baugr tólf-eyringar – i.e. a ring worth 12 øre –
Conclusions or tvítug auri: a ring worth 20 øre (Engeler 1991:131).
In the present section I have discussed the principles In contrast to coins, the rings had always to be
behind the aurar-standard on the basis of archaeo- weighed, in order that their weight in øre could be

established. They were checked for weight and tested wire and ingots of silver alloyed with gold (Fig. 8.14).
in public. We are told so in the Icelandic Baugatal, Broholm ought therefore to be interpreted as a
which gives the rules on how manslaughter may be smith’s hoard at Gudme, which, unlike Hoen, there-
paid for in the form of silver rings. The suits and the fore still belonged to the human world.
payment had to be made at the thing in the presence Finally, the øre as a basis of reckoning could be
of witnesses. After the payment of the sum in com- transferred to other items which became the objects
pensation the security of the man who had commit- of economic transactions. Since vereaurar and lögau-
ted the offence and of his kin was guaranteed (Dennis rar as a scale of reckoning were based upon metal-
et al. 1980:182–3). It was also on this occasion that øre, implicitly of gold or silver, or also of valuable
payment in rings was sanctioned and the nominal cloth, a system of exchange could take shape that was
value of the rings in terms of øre and marks was able to function separately from the sphere of gift or
determined (see Ch. 8.5, Tab. 8.10). I believe, howev- simple barter. There is no doubt that there was a
er, that the ring of silver was not the same as coin in scheme of things that was based upon the distribu-
that coins could also be used in economic transac- tional principle of a gift-economy, but gifts and luxu-
tions outside of any socially binding sphere. The sig- ries could be commodified too: in other words they
nificance of the ring as a medium of value was linked could be bought and sold in appropriate circum-
to the sphere of jurisdiction and the code of honour stances. This could perhaps take place at sites such as
of the kin-based society. In this way, the silver rings Kaupang, where the conditions allowed for reckon-
presumably served first and foremost as blood- ing in vereaurar. Perhaps only there was it possible to
money in the case of a killing. buy a prestigious Frankish Ulfbert sword, which oth-
In economic relations, the authenticity of the erwise only chieftains could obtain as a gift. That
gold ring was transposed instead to other items such could be facilitated by weighed silver, cloth or other
as the silver ingots which were used as silver currency quantifiable goods which people both traded and
in Kaupang (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.6). It was these produced in Kaupang – such as schist whetstones,
ingots that were the media of value of the Early soapstone vessels, beads and the like. At aurar-sites
Viking Period, and which served as currency. Large such as Kaupang, it was possible to negotiate or hag-
ingots were weighed in øre-units just like the rings gle over a price using øre as a stable and unalterable
(Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.6). Ingots could be bought and point of reference.
sold, they could be counted, and they could be relat- But the whole aurar-system that was constructed
ed to other goods and so define the exchange-value of in Scandinavia during the late Merovingian Period
those items. Finds of moulds for ingots at Kaupang came under pressure when different conventions of
(Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.6.3), as at Hedeby, for instance payment became established outside of the aurar-
(Gjøstein Resi 1979), or Dorestad (Besteman 2004b: sites towards the end of the 9th century. This process
28–9 and 33), indicate that the melting down of pre- of transformation seems to coincide with the intro-
cious metals to produce larger units was practised at duction of normalized weighing equipment from the
the major trading sites of Northern and Western monetized areas of the Middle East and Central Asia
Europe. This is probably one reason why so few via Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea area. This was
Western pennies found their way to Scandinavia in the age of fragmentation and of the ertog, which we
the 9th century. shall examine more closely in the following, final sec-
The recasting of coined metal, which may have tion of this chapter.
been done on the Continent itself, may also explain
why Merovingian gold coins of the 7th century and 8.5 Ertogs, sveiti and fragments
silver sceattas of the 8th are almost entirely absent This section attempts to put in place the final pieces
from Scandinavia. One illuminating exception is the of the jigsaw that will adumbrate the full picture of
largest gold hoard of the Early Viking Period, from how silver was dealt with and valued as a form of cur-
Hoen near Kaupang, with its unique combination of rency at Kaupang. When Ohthere visited Kaupang in
rare gold coins re-used as pendants (Skaare 1988) Skiringssal some time in the last quarter of the 9th
including one Merovingian solidus or aureus. Hoen century, the exportation of Islamic silver coins, dir-
demonstrates that gold coins like silver coins, did not hams, from the Baltic Sea area to the West on a
circulate freely in Southern Scandinavia during the greater scale had begun. He must surely have seen
Early Viking Age but were melted down. Coined such coins with his own eyes. Analyses of dirham
metal was transformed into valuable aurar-objects. finds show that this stream of silver from the East was
In the same hoard there were also massive gold rings not evenly spread over the whole of Southern Scan-
which appear to have been weighed to the øre-stan- dinavia, but rather was channelled and re-distributed
dard (Graham-Campbell 1999). In contrast to the through urban settlements such as Kaupang (Kilger,
exceptional character of the Hoen hoard, the this vol. Ch. 7.9). The dirhams came in with new
Broholm treasure at Gudme contained not only ideas about how precious metals should be weighed
bracteates and aurar-rings of gold but also cut gold and valued. The silver was divided into smaller por-

tions and weighed using normalized weight-sets a substance that has lost its body and thus also its
(Steuer 1987:474–9; Gustin 2004c:97–107). Widely- intrinsic connotations of value I shall call amorphous
travelled individuals such as Ohthere will, in all prob- silver. This is the perspective from which I shall dis-
ability, have been aware of the growing access to sil- cuss the influence of hacksilver on exchange rela-
ver over Scandinavia as a whole, and of the new pro- tions. I shall make a suggestion concerning what the
cedures for payment with different weighing equip- spheroid weights of the Viking Period may have been
ment. known as.
The process by which the Oriental weights were
introduced has itself most recently been discussed in Two models of Early-medieval silver economy
Ingrid Gustin’s dissertation (2004c). She focussed Our understanding of the connexion between the
primarily on the smaller, so-called cubo-octahedral hacksilver economy and the use of what is known as
weights, also known as polyhedric weights. Her prin- Oriental weighing equipment depends to a large
cipal topic for investigation was how ideas of a stan- extent on Heiko Steuer’s many works (e.g. 1984, 1987,
dard could achieve a foothold even in non-state soci- 1997, 2002). Steuer has employed an interpretative
eties. As Gustin stresses (2004c:123–51), the notion of model which enables him to describe the introduc-
a standard is expressed by the standardized weight tion of the hacksilver economy in a wide, European
and stereotypical design of the cubo-octahedral perspective. It is appropriate, therefore, briefly to re-
weights (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:Fig. 6.21.b). The capitulate this. Steuer distinguishes between two dif-
polyhedric form was copied as a meaningful element ferent economic systems of the Viking Period: the
in several items of Scandinavian jewellery and tools Gewichtsgeldwirtschaft, which was based upon weigh-
(2004c:269–308). This was already familiar, as a for- ed silver, and the Münzgeldwirtschaft, in which coins
mal element, from the Merovingian Period, and per- were the standard means of payment. The Gewichts-
haps earlier still. The acceptance of the cubo-octahe- geldwirtschaft established itself in Scandinavia and
dral weights in Scandinavia during the 9th century is, the Slavic areas of Eastern and Central Europe at the
in Gustin’s view, a result of this unvarying form hav- end of the 9th century with the introduction of sensi-
ing already long been known. It provided confidence tive weighing equipment of Oriental character based
in exchange situations where the parties did not upon Islamic prototypes (Fig. 8.15). This was preci-
know one another but had to come to an agreement sion equipment such as folding balances which made
(2004c:174–81). In her work, Gustin attaches particu- it possible to weigh silver very finely. But it was more
lar importance to the cultural codes that led to the than anything else two characteristic types of weight
acceptance of the standardized weights in contexts that were the essential components of the Gewichts-
where organized exchange over long distances was geldwirtschaft. These were the smaller cubo-octahe-
emerging. Here there was an urgent need to ensure dral and the heavier spheroid weights with flattened
dependable modes of transaction (2004c:203–5). poles (= “oblate”) (Figs. 8.18 and 8.20; Pedersen, this
There were several congruent factors which led to Vol. Ch. 6:Fig. 6.21.b). Both types respect the same
these special weights becoming an accepted item of system of weights. They are also highly uniform in
weighing equipment. This was when large quantities terms of form. Steuer therefore describes them as
of dirham silver from the East began to circulate in “normalized” (Germ. genormt). With their un-
the Baltic Sea area, and the exchange of goods was varying design these weights are essentially different
growing. The decisive factor, however, was the emer- from the very common but formally very diverse lead
gence of a group of individuals who were engaged in weights of Scandinavia. Under the Gewichtsgeldwirt-
long-distance trade and who developed a common schaft, according to Steuer, silver was valued accord-
identity and similar values that were reflected, inter ing to its purity and weight. Silver could be dealt with
alia, in material culture. It was at this point that the in any form, such as ingots, jewellery or coin, as well
cubo-octahedral form became a prominent and as in the form of hacksilver. Measuring the quantity
meaningful element of costume; on ring-brooches, and quality of the silver was the responsibility of the
for instance (2004c:205–34). It was likewise at this individual merchant, and not checked by any state
point that the cubo-octahedral weights were devel- institution. Areas where the Münzgeldwirtschaft was
oped into a common standard amongst the individu- in practice counted coins by quantity. According to
als of this group. Steuer, this economy ran according to a quantitative
In this section, I shall examine this process from a principle of reckoning, while the Gewichtsgeldwirt-
different perspective, and take a closer look at what schaft ran according to a qualitative principle (1987:
was placed in the other half of the pair of scales, 406).
namely the hacksilver. It is the relationship between Here, however, lies one of the fundamental prob-
the normalized weights and the fragmented silver I lems with Steuer’s model. The opposition between
wish to investigate. As a synonym to the terms hack- quantitative and qualitative principles of reckoning
silver, or fragmented silver, I shall here use a term was not the essential difference between these econ-
that refers to the shapeless state of the silver. Silver as omies. Both qualitative and quantitative features of

3 4 6

words an economy based upon the weighing of metal

Figure 8.15 Weighing equipment: folding balance (1); bal- and thus weight (Germ. Gewicht); or as an economy
ance case (2); spheroid weights with flattened poles (3–4 and using balance-weights as money, and thus focussing
6); cubo-octahedral weight (5) (Jansson 1988:fig. 4). upon those weights, attributing them with some sort
of monetary function (e.g. Kyhlberg 1980b:196–7,
1986:160–2).43 In some interpretations, Steuer’s Ge-
wichtsgeldwirtschaft has been understood in the first
sense: namely the use of silver according to weight
(e.g. Malmer 1996:90; Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.4). This
suggests to me that Steuer’s quantitative and qualita-
tive principles of reckoning may have created the
impression that silver was not weighed under the
Münzgeldwirtschaft; just that coins were counted. But
we have to remember that balances and weights were
in common use in monetized areas too. Weighing
equipment, as Steuer himself was able to show, was
brought into use alongside coins in a various mone-
tized situations. It was particularly in periods of tran-
sition, or in situations of crisis that put the monetary
reckoning and valuation were present in both the system under pressure, or in areas where coins of dif-
coin- and the weight-economies. What is essential to ferent weights and purity were in circulation, that
economies based upon coinage, in my view, is that weighing equipment was essential.44 Scales were also
the coin as an object was dealt with and valued as an used for checking the weight of coins. Scales and
indivisible nominal unit. It was the coin itself that was weights may have also been used at larger trading
the smallest object of reckoning and of value. sites in handling large quantities of coin in terms of
Nominal principles were present in just this way also larger weight-units such as the Carolingian pound-
in the Scandinavian aurar-reckoning. The basic idea weight (see above, pp. 271–2). There is also ample evi-
of aurar-reckoning was that a calculable number of dence in written sources from Norway of the 12th–
coins made up the eyrir (see above, pp. 282–3). As a 14th centuries for the practice of weighing coins
result aurar-objects could also assume a nominal (Gullbekk 2003:215–39). Thus coins were both count-
function. In the same way as coins in monetized ed and weighed in the Münzgeldwirtschaft. What
areas, aurar-objects such as rings or ingots were nom- constituted the most typical trait of the Gewichtsgeld-
inal, and in principle indivisible, items. The value of wirtschaft was not the practice of weighing alone but
the coin, like that of the ring/ingot, was manifested in rather the acceptance of the normalized weights in
the completeness of the object. In this sense, both the connexion with payment in hacksilver. These weights
coin and the ring as an object of reckoning was whole; symbolized a monetary concept, albeit at a quite dif-
and, as an object of value, holy. I believe that this ferent level of abstraction from either coins or aurar-
insight emphasizes a different aspect; one that is objects. It is this process of abstraction that we shall
more fundamental than Steuer’s principle of quanti- consider more closely in the following section, lead-
ty. What, however, of the qualitative principle of ing on to the fragmentation of whole and holy silver
reckoning which in Steuer’s view was characteristic objects such as coins and rings.
of the weight-economy? Steuer stresses, quite rightly,
that silver alone was regarded as an equivalent for Commerce and fragmentation in the Caliphate
payment. The qualitative principle of reckoning was There are two fundamental considerations helping to
concerned with the quantity and purity of the silver. explain how weight-standards such as, for example,
I, however, would rather emphasize a different aspect the øre gained a foothold in Scandinavia during the
of the Gewichtsgeldwirtschaft, namely the formless-
ness of the silver; in other words, its amorphous and
thus non-nominal character. The external form of 43 Steuer has hinted (1987:448) at an interpretation consistent
the silver no longer mattered. Rather it was handled with the second meaning, namely that the normalized
as broken up silver, irrespective of whether it had weights themselves assumed a function like cheques or bills of
previously been coined, or in the form of jewellery or exchange.
ingots. Fragmentation negated the nominal meaning 44 Steuer’s best known and most quoted work (1987) investigat-
of the silver object. ed the relationship between the use of coin and the employ-
One may ask whether Steuer’s term Gewichtsgeld- ment of weighing equipment. This study examines, amongst
wirtschaft has not created a certain amount of confu- other things, the use of the weighing equipment in the Late La
sion rather than clarity. The German term could be Tène Period, in the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine,
translated as “weight-money economy”: in other Merovingian and Viking Periods.

Iron Age. One of these is that the øre-weight that is was constantly changing. The basic gold coin-unit,
represented in the weight-sets and the finds of rings the mitqāl, remained a constant, but the prices of sil-
from the Norwegian Merovingian Period and Viking ver in relation to gold were altered several times
Period was originally defined in states with an estab- (Bolin 1953:16–17). The cost of silver and gold thus
lished monetary system. The other is that the øre- had to be under constant review when payments
weight came to be used in exchange relationships in were being made. As a result, silver was dealt with in
unmonetized societies in a very concrete form. In two different ways. One was in the form of the coin,
other words, relations of value and reckoning were the dirham, which was of standardized weight in
given material form. The concept of øre was pre- relation to the coin-base mitqāl. According to in-
served and transmitted in the form of coins, rings scriptions on weights the weight of the dirham was
and weights. The same fundamental considerations presumably counted as two-thirds of a mitqāl (Balog
can also be used, I believe, to explain the establish- 1976:25–6; Welin 1958:510). The other way in which
ment of the Gewichtsgeldwirtschaft in the Viking silver was used was in the form of heavier, so-called
Period. There must surely have been a consciousness “market weights”. In this case, the dirham was prob-
and a knowledge of the original monetary function ably regarded as an abstract unit of reckoning and
and significance of the normalized weight-sets, even weight, also called the dirham al-kail (Hinz 1955: 2–3;
in Northern and Eastern Europe. This holds at least Welin 1958:508). Both the coin-dirham and the
for the phase of introduction when these first came to weight-dirham were probably reckoned to a certain
be used. But what weight-standard was it that was number of harrūba or qı̄rāţ, which was the Arabic
made material in these normalized weights? To start carat (Hinz 1955:1–2; Welin 1958:509). Controls were
with, we need to take a brief look at the monetary sit- maintained by means of state-sanctioned coin-
uation in the Caliphate. weights of glass which were apparently recalled or
There is considerable agreement in metrological destroyed when the ruler changed (Balog 1976: 10–11,
studies that the Islamic unit of reckoning, the mitqāl 1980:55; Steuer 1978:257) (Fig. 8.16).
is represented by the normalized weights (Sperber Other factors also promoted the use of weighing
1996:110; Steuer 1997:281–5). mitqāl actually means equipment in the Caliphate. In the Islamic empire
“weight” and thus, in the same way as the Greek the monetary system was not under the absolute con-
stater and Latin pondus, stands for the ideal weight trol of the central government, i.e. the caliph, who
that pieces of precious metal should have (Grierson was both its political and its religious leader. The
1960:255). Just like the solidus of the Late Roman Islamic coin-scale was introduced at the beginning of
Empire, the mitqāl was the basic unit of reckoning of the 8th century when the new basic gold coin, the
the Caliphate. It was also, in metrological terms, i- dinar, was defined against the mitqāl (Grierson 1960;
dentical with the Islamic gold dinar (Grierson 1960: Bates 1986). However already in the same century
255). The mitqāl was used to define the weights of several regional coin-standards were established in
both the gold coin, the dinar, and the silver coin, the which the dirham had subtly different weights, as, for
dirham (Welin 1958:510). There is disagreement over example, in North Africa and in the Middle East.
the value of the mitqāl in the modern metric system Another typical feature of the Islamic coin-system is
(Witthöft 1985:400–1; Steuer 1997:287).45 In the that there were no coin-recalls such as there were in
Caliphate the exchange rate between gold and silver medieval Europe. Both gold and silver coins circulat-

fragments known as yet is Sinaw in the Middle East

Figure 8.16. Egyptian coin-weight made of black, opaque (t.p.q. 840/1). The historical evidence tells us that the
glass issued under the governor and finance director Abd al- fragmentation of coins was a very controversial mat-
Malik. B. Yazid (A.D. 751–3 and 755–8) during the rule of ter in the Caliphate. The legal implications of break-
Caliph Al-Mansur (A.D. 754–75). The inscription declares ing coins up were discussed in the 9th and 10th cen-
that the coin-weight is of the weight of a dirham of full turies by the four juridicial schools of Islam (Ilisch
weight. Scale 2:1. Weight 2.78g. (Balog 1976:129, no. 357). 1990:122–3). As Ilisch emphasizes, the dirham always
retained its nominal and thus its monetary nature as
minted silver. The coin-fragments were used, in his
opinion, rather to adjust the weight of the whole
dirhams that were placed in the balance-pan. This
very probably unofficial practice of breaking coins up
was probably a reaction to a clear weakening of the
monetary system after the death of Caliph Harun al-
Rashid in the first half of the 9th century. After that,
coin-production was of a lower standard both in
respect of weight and the striking of the dirhams (Kil-
ger, this vol. Ch. 7.5). When dirham hoards appear in
the Baltic Sea area in the 9th century, we encounter
ed freely all around the Caliphate so that issues from the first signs of the fragmentation of silver. In some
different centuries and regions came to be mixed hoards the dirhams are very highly fragmented.46 It
(Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.4). In order to be able to calcu- is conceivable that the monetary crisis in the Cali-
late the value of coins of different exact weights phate gave rise to the practice of fragmentation that
coined metal was primarily reckoned in terms of was further developed and modified in the Baltic
weight. This means that people would think initially zone. If the fragmentation of coin was an exceptional
in units such as the mitqāl and the qı̄rāţ rather than in practice in the Caliphate to allow coins to be weighed
numbers of coins. Gold and silver coins were used as according to a particular standard weight, it devel-
currency but also as trade goods in themselves. This oped into an accepted convention outside the bor-
is shown by documentary sources of the 11th and 12th ders of the Caliphate.
centuries from the Caliphate (Goitein 1967:230–3). In
a monetary system of this kind, then, scales and
weights that were calibrated by the mitqāl and qı̄rāţ,
were absolutely essential. The Islamic monetary sys-
tem was created using the Roman-Byzantine coin- 45 Walther Hinz (1955:1–2) has reconstructed the mitqāl at 4.23 g
system as its model (Hinz 1955:1). The same duodeci- using the coin-weights known as exagia that were employed
mal counting system was employed. This is the mon- in the Caliphate. Other scholars, for instance Philip Grierson
etary background against which, I suggest, we need to (1960:253–4) assume a higher theoretical weight of 4.25 g.
consider the normalized weights. Using the expres- Grierson based his view on G. C. Miles’s metrological studies
sions I employed before, I consider that the normal- of both dinars and glass weights. However it has also been
ized weights materialized the Islamic mitqāl-system suggested that mitqāl may not necessarily refer to the basic
and so also the practice by which coined metal was Arabic gold coin, but that in the eastern parts of the Caliphate
calculated. in the 8th and 9th centuries it could also have been the earlier
However the weighing and valuing of coined and lighter Persian-Sassanid basic silver coin of 3.9 g (Welin
metal in the Caliphate was different from the use of 1958:510). Grierson (1960:255–6) believes that the mitqāl,
dirham silver in Eastern and Northern Europe in a which Arab sources reckon as being 20 qı̄rāt., was an earlier
crucial way. In those areas it was apparently accept- metric unit which may originally have been based upon the
able to break up the original form or the nominal Attic drachma of 4.37 g. Drachmas circulated in great quanti-
unit that was represented by the actual body of the ties in the Arabian peninsula in pre-Islamic times.
coin. This practice was most definitely not the norm 46 All of the dirhams in one of the earliest of the Gotlandic
within the Caliphate. In the Caliphate’s monetary hoards, Norrgårda-Norrbys II (t.p.q. 833), for instance, are
system the coin retained its bodily wholeness and fragmentary. Most of these fragments are no larger than a
thus its fundamental significance as a nominally de- quarter of a coin (CNS:1.2.10). The uncoined silver objects
fined object. There are, however, exceptions. Lutz such as the rings, however, were not broken up. That this
Ilisch (1990) has drawn attention to the occurrence of fragmentation of the silver took place outside the Caliphate is
small quantities of dirham-fragments in a number of shown by the small cut marks, “nicks”, found on even the
hoards from the monetarily re-organized Caliphate. smallest fragments. This testing of the coins was very proba-
These fragmentary dirhams are usually broken up bly undertaken beyond the borders of the Caliphate (Kilger,
rather than clipped. The earliest hoard containing this vol. Ch. 7.5).

Cordoba
Constantinople
Damascus
0 500 1000 km
Muslim Silver Coinage Barbarian Silver Coinage Byzantine Gold Coinage Muslim Gold Coinage
Reflexes of the Islamic weight-system cubo-octahedral weights, here too we see punch-
in Northern Europe marks on the weights, with values up to 12 punch-
The Islamic mitqāl-system may be represented physi- marks and double that (Steuer 1997:285–6).
cally by the cubo-octahedral and oblate spheroid As many have noted, the punchmarks do not
weights. The cubo-octahedral weights may embody a reflect absolute weights. They are thought rather to
system of weighing in fractions of the mitqāl. The indicate the position of the weight in a set of weights
smallest specimen found weighs 0.35 g. This might (Kyhlberg 1980b:270–1; Sperber 1996:66; Steuer 1997:
correspond to one-twelfth of the mitqāl. The largest 281). This is unquestionably correct, although at the
weigh up to 4.25 g, which would be approximately same time it is a fact to be modified. I believe that the
one full mitqāl (Steuer 1997:112). Another indication punchmarks show that a weight-unit was being refer-
of the mitqāl having been the unit of reference is the red to which everyone who used the weights was
punched markings typical of these weights (see also familiar with. This was equally the case with those
Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:3.4). The punchmarks are weights with the same number of punchmarks from
placed symmetrically in two rows on the square faces. different find-places which may vary in weight –
The positioning of the punchmarks is very like what often quite considerably – if we measure them in
we are familiar with on dice. The multifaceted grams. The variation between the weights with the
weights have from 1 to a maximum of 6 punchmarks same number of punchmarks may be the result of
on each side. Adding together the punchmarks on corrosion, or of post-depositional damage. The dif-
two opposite sides, one cubo-octahedral weight can ferences may also derive from the process of manu-
carry up to 12 punchmarks, or possibly 12 units facture. It was the weight of the calibration-weights
(Steuer 1997:281–3). What is striking is that units of 5 that the various workshops referred to that deter-
or 10 are absent, indicating that these weights fol- mined the absolute value of the basic unit which was
lowed a duodecimal system of reckoning (Steuer represented by the set of weights. It may have been
1997:284). This is yet another link to the Roman-By- the cubo-octahedral weights themselves that were
zantine counting system. In contrast to the cubo- used for calibration. Small changes in absolute
octahedral weights, the spheroid weights were cali- weight were copied and reproduced in this way via a
brated to intervals of a basic unit of c. 4.0–4.25 g large number of workshops over a considerable geo-
(Steuer 1997:285–9). These may represent multiples graphical area and a long period of time.47 The varia-
of a mitqāl (Steuer 1997:fig. 205). The heaviest can tions could also be explained as a result of the fact
weigh as much as 200 g (Steuer 1997:46). As on the that local grain-standards with different specific

is ethnographic evidence of weights of cubo-octahe-

Figure 8.17 Distribution map showing the medieval states dral and cylindrical shape being used as weighing
of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East using equipment by merchants participating in the gold
silver or gold coins. Re-drawn by Elise Naumann, based on trade in Western Ethiopia as recently as the 1930s
Spufford 1988:map 3. (Sandvik 1935:70; Thingstad 2007). From a metrolog-
ical viewpoint, it is conceivable that cubo-octahedral
weights were used in the fine weighing of gold coins
in their area of original use. This may be implied by
the calibration of the basic gold coin in terms of
grains.49 It was particularly in the Eastern Medi-
terranean lands that gold coin was in use in the 7th
and 8th centuries (Spufford 1988:37–9). The territo-
ries of the Caliphate which bordered directly upon
the Byzantine Empire, namely Palestine, Syria and
the northern parts of what are now Iran and Iraq,
belong in this area, while Egypt and the Arabian
peninsula are also credible candidates (fig. 8.17).
The spheroid weights were derived from Roman
prototypes (e.g. Kisch 1965:97, fig. 51). Down to the
6th century spheroid weights were made of solid
weights were used in calibration (Stenroth, in prep.). bronze or brass in the Byzantine territories (Steuer
Thus there were no essential reasons why weights 1987:427 and 432). Then the trail disappears, and, just
with the same number of punchmarks should weigh as with the cubo-octahedral weights, use of this type
exactly the same.48 The spheroid weights from main- in the area subject to Islamic cultural dominance
land Sweden, for instance, observe a lighter mitqāl cannot, as of yet, be demonstrated from archaeologi-
module than the weights on Gotland (Sperber 1996: cal evidence. Spheroid weights were familiar in the
55, 70, 83–5 and 110). This, however, is probably not a area of what is known as the Saltowo-Majazkoi
question of two different weight-systems, as Erik Culture between the Rivers Don and Donec in the
Sperber has suggested, but rather, perhaps, the result ancient area of Khazar settlement (Steuer 1997:46).
of the use of different grains (Swedish kornsorter) in However the Roman, Byzantine and Khazar weights
calibrating the weights. This will be more thoroughly
discussed in a following section (below, p. 314).
Despite these inconsistencies in weight, it was 47 Unfinished finds from Gotland show that the small weights
always possible to check individual weights by apply- were manufactured in Scandinavia (Östergren 1989:171–2, fig.
ing the principle of double-weighing. There are re- 156).
cent ethnographic analogues that describe double- 48 The metric system of weights and a decimal counting system
weighing as a complex process between two parties to which we use for our metrological studies seem to me para-
a trade, by which each checks the weights of each doxically to create an expectation of absolute precision in
other’s set of weights, and the quantity of precious terms of our modern measures.
metal that is paid, in two separate procedures. This 49 According to Steuer, the smallest cubo-octahedral weights
means that one can establish that the quantity of sil- weigh around 0.35 g. No carat-units that heavy are known in
ver or gold that is transferred in the transaction is states that used gold coin. This module should rather refer to
absolutely the same from both the seller’s and the a doubled unit of 0.175 g. In that case, the Roman-Byzantine
buyer’s standpoint (Steuer 1987:500). Through dou- carat of 0.189 g (2 x 0.189 g = 0.378 g) is the closest, rather than
ble-weighing it was possible to exclude individual the heavier Egyptian qı̄rāt. of 0.212 g (2 x 0.212 g = 0.424 g)
weights that diverged too far from the calibration (Grierson 1960:252–4). A different and more credible expla-
model, be they in the seller’s or the buyer’s set of nation is that the cubo-octahedral weights were based upon
weights. Although double-weighing did not guaran- the smaller Arab grain-unit the habba rather than the qı̄rāt..
tee that weights with the same punchmarks were Documentary evidence shows that three habba were counted
exactly the same weight – if we measure them by the to the qı̄rāt. (Hinz 1955:2; Ridgeway 1892:179). Hinz has calcu-
modern metric system – but this practice was able to lated a theoretical weight of the so-called Iraqi gold habba of
confirm that one was close to the ideal theoretical 0.0706 g which would be in accordance with a mitqāl weight
weight represented by the punchmarks. of c. 4.23 g (60 x 0.0706 = 4.236 g). The smallest unit amongst
At present we do not know in which monetized the cubo-octahedral weights could then be produced from 5
areas the cubo-octahedral weights were first pro- habba grain-units, if we assume a slightly higher value for the
duced and used (Gustin 2004c:318–21). There are latter than Hinz came to (5 x 0.0708 g = 0.354 g). The heaviest
finds from the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire cubo-octahedral weights of around 4.25 g were equivalent to
(Kisch 1965:97 and 101, fig. 53; Steuer 1997:46). There the weight of 60 Iraqi habba.

of the spheroid type are different from those from die-like weights first appear in stratified layers after c.
Scandinavia and Russia in one decisive way. They 860 (Gustin 2004c:312–14).50 She is cautious, how-
were solid, and do not show the typical shell of cop- ever, and unwilling to make too much of this conclu-
per alloy around an iron core that is highly typical of sion before the settlement contexts have been exam-
the majority of spheroid weights from Northern and ined in more detail. There are, however, other con-
Eastern Europe (Steuer 1997:47). textualized finds that corroborate her suggestion. At
There is some evidence that the spheroid weights the detector-site of Torksey, England, a large number
with copper-alloy shells were introduced into Scan- of die-shaped weights and dirhams, and uncoined
dinavia later than the smaller, cubo-octahedral hacksilver, have been found, but no spheroid weights
weights. As Gustin points out (2004c:314), both types (Blackburn 2002). The find-context at Torksey can
of weight are frequently considered together without very reasonably be identified as the camp of the Great
this point being properly discussed. According to Viking Army that settled here in the years 872 and 873
Gustin, the most recent excavations at Birka place the (Blackburn 2002; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.6). I believe,
spheroid weights in a later find-horizon than their then, that these normalized weights may pertain to
cubo-octahedral counterparts. At Birka, the small, two different waves of introduction seen in the Baltic
Sea region. The cubo-octahedral weights were circu-
lating by the 860s and 870s at the latest in urban set-
mitqāl? Punch- ertogs tlements such as Birka and amongst the Danish Vi-
marks kings who were campaigning in England. The in-
troduction of the spheroid weights started probably
1 3.99 g 1 x 3.99 1? ½ later, not before the end of the 9th century.
2 8.22 g 2 x 4.11 1+1 1 We shall now take a closer look at the weight-set
3 22.92 g 6 x 3.82 3+3 3 from Norelund, Gästrikland, Sweden, which exem-
4 31.37 g 8 x 3.92 4+4 4 plifies the principles of weighing using the heavier
5 39.32 g 10 x 3.93 5+5 5 spheroid weights (Fig. 8.18, c.f. Jansson 1936:13). No-
relund demonstrates the situation that began to
Table 8.8 The set of spheroid weights from Norelund, Valbo establish itself over the whole of Scandinavian in the
parish, Gästrikland, which respect a module of c. 4 g. Before 10th century (Hatz 1974:119). The markings on the
conservation (Hatz 1974:119; Kyhlberg 1980b:245–6). weights show, as already noted, their relative position
within the set, and thus the value of the weight (Kyhl-

1 2 3 4 5
Figure 8.18 Set of oblate spheroid weights from Norelund,

Valbo parish, Gästrikland, Sweden. Photo, H. Andersson,
Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet, Stockholm.
Figure 8.19 The stages of manufacture of spheroid weights.

Photo, Anders Söderberg.
berg 1980b:245). This set was calibrated at regular Just like the aurar, there are no references to the ertog
intervals of 1, 2, 6, 8 and 10 units of a module of outside Scandinavia. The use of the ertog as it is ex-
around 4.0 g (Tab. 8.8).51 Minor discrepancies were pressed by the law-codes was centred in Eastern Scan-
apparently tolerated by those who used sets of sphe- dinavia (Engeler 1991:144). The origin and meaning of
roid weights. However weights that were considered the term “ertog” is unclear. It appears only in legal
too heavy or too light could be excluded by double- texts and is never referred to in skaldic or eddic poet-
weighing (see above, p. 305). ry. “Ertog” appears most commonly in Swedish, less
It has long been realized that the spheroid weights so in Norwegian, and very rarely in Danish or Ice-
and the weight-system they represent are congruent landic law-codes. The ertog was also used as a coin-
with the duodecimal ertog-system we are familiar unit only in the Baltic Sea area, from the beginning of
with from medieval documents from Scandinavia the 14th century (Engeler 1991:145).
(Arne 1914; Jansson 1936:12–13; Lundström 1973:39– Hitherto, two etymological hypotheses concern-
40; Hatz 1974:119). In this, the ertog is related both to ing the origin of the term have been proposed. It is
the mark and to øre in the ratio of 1 mark: 8 øre: 24 assumed that ertaug, recorded in Old Gutnish (=
ertogs (see above, p. 280). Thus 1 øre was 3 ertogs Gotlandic) is the most original form (Engeler 1991:
(Hatz 1974:118). Brøgger (1921:81–5), in his metrologi- 141–2). ertaug is a compound of two distinct concepts.
cal analyses of Norwegian Viking-period graves with According to one hypothesis, its meaning derives
spheroid weights, was able to identify weight-units
grouping around 2, 4–5, 6–8, 11–13 and 23–24 g. Mini-
mum modules of approximately 2 and 4 g seem to fit 50 Cubo-octahedral weights were found in the Black Earth with-
the Scandinavian ertog-system best (see also Peder- in the settlement area in the course of the most recent excava-
sen, this vol. Ch. 6.4.1). But what did “ertog” actually tions. A larger number appeared in Phase 6, dated by the
mean, and how was this medieval unit of weight and bead-chronology c. 860–885. Gustin emphasizes that the
reckoning related to the spheroid weights? We shall weights appear already within the earliest layers (A 50) of this
examine this in more detail in the following section. phase (2004c:314).
51 Before conservation, the variance around this module lies in
Weights with a copper-alloy shell the range of 3.92–4.11 g. There is a discrepancy within the set
and pseudo-Arabic characters of 0.29 g between weight no. 4 and weight no. 2. If we ignore
The smallest unit of weight and reckoning recorded no. 2, which is considerably heavier than the other specimens,
in Scandinavian documentary sources is the ertog. the discrepancy falls to 0.17 g.

Figure 8.20 Oblate spheroid weight with pseudo-Arabic

inscription. Hedeby. Scale 1:1. 85.23 g. From Steuer 1997:295,
fig. 212–1.
from a common Germanic compound *aruti-taugo, these distinctive melt bowls, believes that they repre-
which can be translated as “metal wire”.52 The other sent the production of spheroid weights (Fig. 8.19).
suggestion is that ertaug is a loanword of an originally In the production process, the iron core was covered
Latin compound argentum-pondus, which developed with thin sheet copper-alloy strips, and then were all
in Germanic to *argentiaR-wagu and so to *erta-vág wrapped in a piece of cloth to hold them together
and ertog, which would then have meant “silver (Fig. 8.19.1–2). The wrapped bundle was then invest-
weight”. Sigrid Engeler (1991:142–3) did not regard ed in clay (Fig. 8.19.3). The dried clay ball was then
this hypothesis as convincing since philologically it heated up to 1100ºC. During this part of the process
presupposes a very early use of the word. The inter- the sheet copper-alloy melted and ran around the
pretations that assume that the term has a very long iron core. The textile pouch, which was carbonized in
history base themselves upon the concrete appear- this process, prevented the copper alloy coming into
ance of the form of currency and its primitive role in contact with the clay. The weight was then polished,
payment, conceivably as “metal wire” or “bits of filed and adjusted to the desired weight (Fig. 8.19.5).
metal” by weight. That ertaug is used virtually un- Melt bowls are, then, the remains of the original clay
changed and undergoes no sound-changes either in ball with the carbonized traces of the pieces of cloth
West or East Scandinavian also argues, in Engeler’s and the metals (Fig. 8.19.4).
judgment, against a very great age. It is also notewor- The metrological connexion between the ertog as
thy that the Anglo-Saxon texts of the 9th century that a weight-unit and the spheroid weights has, as al-
refer to the units of mark and øre make no reference ready noted, been recognized since Ture Arne and
to the ertog (see above, p. 280). The linguistic evi- Anton Brøgger’s studies. But no one has ever
dence and the written records may indicate that this attempted to go further, and thus explain why the
term first came into use in the 10th or 11th century. I spheroid weights were associated with this unit. Here
believe that the archaeological evidence supports this. I return to the idea I have already introduced, namely
There is new archaeological evidence of how that weight-standards like the aurar-reckoning, for
spheroid weights were made which I consider to shed instance, were conceptualised by being made materi-
new light on what “ertog” might mean. Spheroid al. It was precisely the spheroid weights themselves
weights usually consist of an iron core enveloped in a that, in my view, were considered to be the standard.
thin metal shell of copper alloy. The copper-alloy The weights themselves represent, then, their own
shell prevented anyone from manipulating the reckoning system for weighing silver. As a result they
weight at the same time as protecting the iron core needed their own name, which was presumably pro-
from corrosion which would itself affect the weight. vided by “ertog”, referring to the typical appearance
There is now unambiguous archaeological evidence of the weights.
of the complex production process for spheroid The Old Gutnish ertaug that is first recorded pre-
weights. Burnt clay fragments known as “melt bowls” sumably referred to the very distinctive appearance of
with textile impressions have been found in several
Viking-period urban contexts, including Hedeby,
Birka and Sigtuna (Drescher 1983; Söderberg and 52 *aruti is identified as an ancestral form of German Erz,
Holmquist Olausson 1997). Anders Söderberg (2006: “metal”, also found as Old Saxon arut and Old High German
66–8, fig. 1), who has undertaken a careful study of aruzzi.

the spheroid weights, and possibly to the technique of signalled to others an ability to gain silver on trading
coating itself. The philological suggestion that places expeditions. Pedersen’s hypothesis may explain why
the compound ert-taug at the root is presumably cor- the spheroid weights are generally over-represented
rect, but as yet lacks a satisfactory explanation. Ger- in burial contexts and may often be found on their
man Erz, which can also be translated “bronze”, own rather than in complete sets of weights in both
refers, in my view, to the characteristic metal shell of graves and hoards.
the weight. taug, which in Old Norse means “rope”, What is clear is that the normalized Oriental
“fibre” or “thread”, may refer to the textile or the weights introduced a different principle for reckon-
pouch that made it possible to improve the iron core ing the quantity of silver from the use of aurar-
as a weight. It was through the process of refinement weights. When the dirham hoards start to appear in
in itself that a lump of iron was transformed into a greater numbers in the North Sea region from the
trustworthy weight with the aid of bronze and textile. beginning of the 10th century (Kilger, this vol. Ch.
This process can in turn be interpreted as an act of 7.1, Fig. 7.1), we see that both the coined and, to a cer-
creation, in which the spheroid weights were animat- tain extent, the uncoined silver is starting to be bro-
ed and turned into living objects. ken up. Coins and silver rings in these hoards are
There is one further argument against the inter- manifestly reduced to the substance itself, silver, to
pretation of “ertog” as “metal wire”. The latter is too be weighed and therefore no longer themselves to be
unspecific to constitute a term for a unit of measure- counted in terms of nominal units. Thus the silver
ment and weight. The ertog as “a weight with a metal object lost both its physical and its nominal basis. As I
casing” is materially highly specific. It is because it have already argued, silver in Southern Scandinavia
could be perceived as an animated and thus a power- in the 9th century, in the physical form of rings and
ful object that the ertog legitimated the destruction of ingots, was bound within morphologically recogniz-
silver artefacts. In its property of being a standardized able and therefore acceptable forms. But this mor-
object, it made it possible to quantify silver in specific phological identity and the immaterial associations
portions. In my view, this more specific interpreta- intrinsic to the physical form of the ring were neu-
tion reconciles the significance of the spheroid tralized by fragmentation. The object of trust was
weights as pieces of weighing equipment, their pro- moved from one side of the pair of scales to the other:
duction, the metrological facts, and the etymology of in other words, from the silver items of standardized
the word “ertog”. But there is further evidence that weight such as coins and rings to the ertog. It was by
this type of weight was regarded as a norm in its orig- means of the ertog that silver could leave its morpho-
inal period of use. logically fixed and significant form and turn into
Several spheroid weights weighing between 100 hacksilver. It was through the ertog that “hacksilver
and 150 g also have inscriptions on the flat upper face in itself” became a medium of exchange. An econom-
that are reminiscent of Arabic writing (Fig. 8.20). ic value was thereby defined in a completely different
This is not true Arabic but rather imitations of Arabic way from aurar-reckoning. The silver fragments had
phrases that are also found on dirhams. One phrase is no soul or spirit and so were not objects of value any
reminiscent of rasul Allah, “Allah’s prophet”, and more. The connotations of value and calculability
another of the Arabic bakh, which can be translated that were previously linked to physical objects such
as “of good quality”. The models for bakh are found as coins, rings and ingots had been abstracted and
on Abbasid dirhams struck from AD 766–75 (Sperber transferred to another object that replaced them, the
1996: 96–7). Here we find an opportunity for a direct weight. This replacement, I believe, may have trig-
connexion between coins and weights. The qualita- gered off a revolutionary process of change in the
tive properties of the dirham, in terms of purity and conceptual and cognitive worlds by which the value
weight, were transferred to the weight. The inscrip- of the metal became inseparably linked to a concep-
tion thus legitimated the weighing of silver coins. In tual understanding of the normalized weight. We
Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, the spheroid shall now look at another source of evidence that has
weights were integrated into exchange relations at been associated with the process of fragmentation,
the end of the 9th century. Here, these distinctive namely the so-called hacksilver hoards that first
weights may have been associated with notions of appear during the first half of the 10th century all
good quality and with reliability when metal was over Scandinavia.
weighed. In that case they had a coin-like, confi-
dence-raising character, and thus assumed a sort of A new time of threat:
monetary function. the fragmentation of silver objects
Another suggestion that has been made by Birgitta Hårdh (1996:93) has studied fragmentation
Pedersen (2001:26–8) in this regard is that the Arabic within Viking-period silver hoards and the regional
writing was imitated with a view to symbolizing development of the phenomenon of hacksilver. Very
access to Islamic silver. Dealing with an object of this recently she has also examined the fragmentation of
kind in public could give its owner social prestige as it silver in settlement contexts such as Kaupang and

Uppåkra (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.5.1). According to

her definition, in a hacksilver hoard at least 50% of Figure 8.21 The hacksilver hoard from Cuerdale,
the uncoined objects weigh less than 5 g and at least Lancashire, NW. England (t.p.q. 905). Photo, The Trustees
50% of the objects have to be fragmented. This allows of the British Museum.
her both to quantify and to date the development of
fragmentation within the mixed hoards of the Baltic
Sea region and in Scandinavia. Hacksilver hoards
meeting Hårdh’s definition first appear in South-
Western Scandinavia, in Jutland and the Viken area,
at the beginning of the 10th century (Lundström 1973:
21, tab. 3.1; Hårdh 1996:92–3, fig. 21, tab. 12 and 94–
130, fig. 27).53 A methodological premiss of Hårdh’s
studies (1996:84) is the development of a diagnostic
means of studying the regional development of the
process of fragmentation and thus also of the use of
silver as a form of currency. Fragmentation repre-
sents a higher level of use of silver over a range of
transactions than with silver which is bound up in
larger, complete objects such as, for instance, rings or
coin. Hårdh sees the changing use of silver in differ- navian, Anglo-Saxon and German coins, and dir-
ent hoard-areas as evidence of different economic hams. A coin-fragment should, then, have the mone-
systems. tary function as a piece of minted silver. If we accept
Hårdh also brings out a number of essential Wiechmann’s train of thought, the hacksilver regions
points about how one may interpret fragmentation. would be practising an earlier and more advanced
Fragmentation gives us an insight into the circulation system of reckoning and payment than the mone-
of silver and with that an idea about the extent of eco- tized territories themselves. This seems implausible.
nomically motivated transactions in a given region. It is also unclear how, in such circumstances, one was
Another line of thought is that the degree of frag- supposed to be able to distinguish between, for in-
mentation is an indirect indication of access to silver stance, a third and a quarter of a coin in the actual sit-
in an area. Put differently, fragmentation is intensi- uation of payment, or which fragments observed the
fied in an area when the price of silver rises. As a third Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon or German coin-stand-
perspective, the practice of fragmentation can be ards respectively; and, how far the nominal use of
regarded as a stage in a process that leads to the use of hacksilver could be reconciled with the effective rules
coins as currency. Hacksilver may show us that access of a weight-economy (Kilger 2000:120–1). Something
to coin was insufficient and unable to satisfy the need that on further reflection also argues against a quasi-
for currency. Hårdh thus allows us to consider the monetary use of hacksilver is the fact that the parti-
pieces of hacksilver as nominal and monetary units in tion of coins with a view to creating smaller nominal
a situation of general shortage. Hacksilver can there- entities is not evidenced in Western Europe before
fore be seen as an intermediary stage between barter the end of the 10th century. At the end of the 9th cen-
trade and a monetized economy. This is the case even tury and in the first half of the 10th the striking of
though coins were de-nominalized and could simul- obols, or half-coins, corresponding to half a penny,
taneously be used as weighed silver (Hårdh 1996:86; began in England.54 In the German realm, half-
Kilger 2000:117–18). The explanation of exactly why
the hacksilver tradition emerged in Southern Scandi-
navia at the beginning of the 10th century is, in 53 The West Slavonic lands and the South-East of mainland
Hårdh’s view, the proximity of the monetized and Sweden followed suit in the middle of the 10th century. The
economically highly developed Carolingian realms. regions north of Mälaren, in Southern Norrland, have typical
Contacts with the monetized site of Hedeby will also, hacksilver hoards first at the end of the 10th century. On
in her model, have promoted payment in very small Gotland, a tendency to fragment uncoined silver appears
quantities of silver (Hårdh 2004:215–16). As a result it from about AD 940, but really breaks through only at the
should also have become possible to trade mundane, beginning of the 11th century.
day-to-day products (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5.4). 54 There is evidence of struck halfpennies for, inter alios,
A similar set of ideas has been propounded by Coenwulf II of Mercia (874–80), but such half-coins were
Ralf Wiechmann (1996:173–8). Wiechmann, howev- struck first and foremost under Viking rule in York at the end
er, goes a step further than Hårdh. According to him, of the 9th century. It was only after Edgar’s coin reform of 973
coin-fragments may themselves be adjusted to vari- that the official clipping of pennies to produce halves and
ous basic monetary-units and to the average weights quarters (halfpennies and farthings) began (Jonsson
of Continental issues such as Carolingian, Scandi- 2004:2–3, fig. 6).


denars and obols were regularly struck during the in these hoards clearly denotes a change in the han-
10th century and later, as in the Dukedom of Ober- dling of silver and may indicate that much greater
lothringen. However here too, as in England, in cer- amounts of hacksilver were being passed through the
tain circumstances the practice of clipping coins scales than before. An area of innovation in Scandi-
began in the late 10th century (Jonsson 2004:3 and navia with respect to the use of spheroid weights may
8–10, fig. 7, tab. 2). be detectable in Jutland in the first quarter of the 10th
It is clear that the partition of coins practised was century, where the earliest Scandinavian hacksilver
not an accepted procedure in the monetized areas of hoards are found (Hårdh 1996:95–6). But before I
Western Europe any more than it was in the Cali- proceed further with a sketch of the breakthrough of
phate, be that in official circles or amongst those who the concept of hacksilver in Viking society and its
had to use the coins (see above, p. 303). I conclude, possible social consequences, I shall take a closer look
therefore, that when the clipping of coin began in at the practice of weighing that was present before –
Western Europe it was on the basis of a change in and chronologically alongside – the use of the nor-
attitude towards coined silver and in the principles malized weights. This is the lead-weight tradition,
that defined a monetary value. The inspiration for which may run back to the Early Iron Age in Scan-
this change in attitude may rather have come from dinavia (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.2.2). The question I
Scandinavia to the West, not the other way around as shall examine in the next section is how lead weights
Wiechmann and Hårdh have proposed. The clipping may also have been used as weighing equipment in
of coin in England and Germany seems, indeed, to the calculation of fragmented silver.
coincide with the importation of German and Anglo-
Saxon coins to Scandinavia in the second half of the One set and two systems of weights
10th century (Jonsson 1990). There may be a link here The archaeological work at Kaupang has more than
too. The fragmentation of silver in Scandinavia in the doubled the number of Viking-period weights
Viking Period first affects the dirhams and later known from Norway. From both the settlement area
spreads over to other, uncoined objects (see above, and the cemeteries around Kaupang we now have a
note 46). When the fragmentation of whole objects total of 420 objects that have been identified as
such as ring silver began, hacksilver finds appear. weights (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.1.1, Tabs. 6.3–4).
This is the process that Hårdh has been able to expli- Other than at Kaupang, about two hundred weights
cate in her studies. from the Viking Period have been recorded. In the
In my view, the beginning of the hacksilver phase settlement area lead weights predominate at more
implies a period of revolutionary changes all over than 82% (338 specimens) compared with 16% for the
Scandinavia. During this period of transition certain copper alloy weights (72 specimens). In the cemeter-
groups who were engaged in long-distance trade may ies around Kaupang, by contrast, only 10 weights
have been prepared to abandon the trusted aurar- have been found, all of which are of the normalized
objects for a different principle of reckoning and val- type of copper alloy or with a copper-alloy shell
uation which went with the normalized weights. The (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.1.1, Tab. 6.3, Fig. 6.13). The
use of those weights was not evenly spread geograph- transitional phase in which the lead weights went out
ically, but rather seems originally to have been re- of use in the regions of Norway is difficult to identify
gionally concentrated. In the same way, we can sup- as we have largely to refer to poorly dated burial con-
pose that the use of hacksilver as of equivalent value texts (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.2.2–3). But the large
was originally very narrowly restricted to the trading number of lead weights in the settlement area may
sites. The tendencies towards this Orientally derived indicate that these were still in use at Kaupang in the
ideology of fragmentation can perhaps be observed early 10th century when the normalized weights were
in the middle of the 9th century when cubo-octahe- beginning to become established as trading equip-
dral weights came into use at Birka, but it first really ment in several parts of Scandinavia. A minority of
broke through right across Scandinavia with the the lead weights which are similar in shape to the
spheroid weights in the course of the 10th century. It normalized weights indicate that both types of weight
was with the spheroid weights that one could weigh were used side-by-side in the town (Pedersen, this
large quantities of hacksilver. One of the earliest vol. Ch. 6.2.3, Fig. 6.16). It has formerly been argued,
examples of the use of spheroid weights may come that the lead weights with metal appliqués were cali-
from the beginning of the 10th century in the lands brated in øre (see pp. 285–6); but how are we to inter-
around the Irish Sea in the large hacksilver hoards pret the large number of weights that weigh less than
from Cuerdale in the North-West of England (Fig. an øre? What system of weights was observed by the
8.21) and Dysart Island, Ireland. These contained a lead weights that weigh less than one whole, or half,
larger numbers of dirhams, but also uncoined silver an øre: less than 26 or 13 g respectively?
that was fragmented to some extent (Graham-Camp- Metrological analysis of the lead weights from
bell 1992a:10–11, 1992b:112–13; Keynes 1999:63; Shee- Kaupang reveals that many of the weights seem to be
han 1998:169–70). The quantity of fragmented objects calibrated around units of 4 and 8 g (Pedersen, this

Figure 8.22. Weight-set from Jåtten, Jæren, Southern

Norway dating to the 10th century, with lead weights and a
tin-plated balance (B4772). Photo, Svein Skare, Bergen
Museum.
vol. Ch. 6.3.3, Figs. 6.18–19). These amounts are sup-

posed to agree with the Islamic mitqāl and the Scan-
dinavian ertog respectively. It is also possible to iden-
tify clusters around 2, 12 and 24 g, which could be fit-
ted to Brøgger’s later øre-system. According to
Brøgger, the original øre underwent a slight reduc-
tion in weight from c. 26 to c. 24 g in the course of the
Viking Period (1936:78–9). He distinguished, as a
result, between an earlier and a later øre. The later øre
was divisible into 3 ertogs, which was not possible
with the earlier øre-system. At first sight, it would
appear possible, therefore, to argue that the lead
weights from Kaupang are similar to the normalized Scandinavia (Steuer 1987:462, fig. 6a, 1996: 23–4, fig.
weights in many respects. They were used to weigh 3). The distinctive type of balance dates the Jåtten find
and to value hacksilver and they seem to respect to the 10th century. Jåtten should therefore be useful
Brøgger’s later øre-system. as a possible model to shed light on the lead weights
Since all of the weights from Kaupang are individ- found at Kaupang. Let us take a closer look at the
ual finds, it is not possible to study the original cali- structure of this complete set of weights (Tab. 8.9).
bration code that the weights followed within their Three weights from the Jåtten seem to have been
original sets. As has been shown above using the finds calibrated to the earlier øre-standard using a coin of
from Bråten and Kiloran Bay, the analysis of com- 1.34 g to 1 and ½ øre (nos. 2–3). However four of the
plete weight-sets makes it possible to study the mini- lighter weights are calibrated to a basic module of
mum common factor within a set. It is also possible to approximately 2 g (nos. 4–7). There is no known
obtain information on the intervals of calibration standard coin that corresponds to this weight. A dif-
that determine the relative positions of the weights ferent object may then have been used which was
within the set. The find from Jåtten (Fig. 8.22, Tab. considered to have a consistent weight. One possible
8.9) in Jæren in South-West Norway – a hoard, to candidate would be the cubo-octahedral weights.
judge by the records of the find – contained a com- Comparative studies of a large corpus of these show
plete set of eight lead weights.55 In this well-preserved that those specimens with 3 punchmarks cluster from
and whole find all of the contextual information is 2.47 to 2.17 g (Steuer 1997:284, fig. 204). Cubo-octahe-
available that is needed to determine what system of dral weights with this marking would be closest to a
weights any single weight may relate to. Together unit of around 2 g.
with the weights, which were wrapped up in a small However there is an alternative and perhaps more
textile pouch, there was also a very well-preserved, plausible explanation that would also correlate all of
tin-plated balance with its own case richly decorated the weights in the set metrologically to a common
with patterns of the Celtic style. This type of tin-plat-
ed balance with chains is only known from the North
Sea area, with a particular concentration in Western 55 B4772.

the heaviest weight is calibrated to fit both systems.

coin? aurar grain This weighs 1½ øre or 600 grains according to the
(à 0.067 g) older Scandinavian øre-standard. This unit was
directly compatible with the Islamic mitqāl- and the
1. 2.68 g 1.34 x2 40 Scandinavian ertog-systems, at 10 mitqāl and 5 er-
2. 13.45 g 1.34 x 10 ½ 200.7 togs. Using the set of weights from Jåtten, it was thus
3. 26.80 g 1.34 x 20 1 400 possible to measure the same amount of silver ac-
cording to either the earlier or the later øre-standard.
mitqāl / ertogs It was particularly with weight no. 8 that it was possi-
unit? ble to calculate a larger quantity of silver using both
weight-standards. The scope for recalculation also
4. 1.96 g 1.96 x1 ½ ¼ 29.3 renders it highly likely that this weight-set was used
5. 4.04 g 2.02 x2 1 ½ 60.3 to weigh fragmented silver rather than whole objects.
6. 5.99 g 2.00 x3 1½ ¾ 89 But what system of weights is represented by the
7. 7.66 g 1.91? x4 2? 1? 114? smaller weights, calibrated at intervals of 2 g? Or, to
look at this from a Viking-period calibration per-
aurar / mitqāl / spective, was there a system of reckoning that made
ertogs unit? use of 30, 60, 90 and 120 grains to produce recognized
units of weight? There is a real possibility that this
8. 40.34 g 2.01 x 20 was so.
1.34 x 30 1 ½ 10 5 602 The Syrian-Arab mitqāl-unit was reckoned as 20
qı̄rāţ, or 60 habba-grains (Hinz 1955:2; see above,
Table 8.9 The set of lead weights from Jåtten, Hetland, note 49). The weights would therefore be consistent
Southern Norway (Brøgger 1921:4 and 15). with the intervals we are familiar with from reckon-
ing with the Islamic mitqāl. Rather than an Iraqi hab-
ba, which weighed around 0.071 g, lighter Scandi-
unit. All of the weights could be calibrated by means navian types of grain available to the person who
of the grain. If we recalculate the metric weights in manufactured the set of weights were used. As we
numbers of grains, the entire set shows very high pre- have seen, the grain used for calibration for the Jåtten
cision in calibration (Tab. 8.9). The minimum com- set weighed 0.067 g. This produces an overall reduc-
mon factor for all weights is a grain of 0.067 g. This tion of the weight of the mitqāl from 4.26 to 4.02 g.56
precision argues against the use of any larger object Erik Sperber has come to a similar result in his
such as a coin or cubo-octahedral weight by which to studies. From a metrological study of the spheroid
calibrate. The weights that observe the earlier øre- weights, he has concluded that the Islamic mitqāl-
standard are calibrated in terms of a vigesimal system unit was followed on Gotland. In mainland Sweden,
(see above, p. 284). It is possible that weight no. 1 was at Birka, by contrast, a lighter module of 4.0 g was
produced first with 40 grains. Afterwards this weight used, which he calls the Swedish-Islamic unit (1996:
– in order to simplify the procedure – could have 85 and 110–11).57 Sperber was unable to explain this
been used to calibrate the two larger weights at ½ and conspicuous difference, but from the viewpoint of
1 øre respectively. But weights Nos. 4–6 are calibrated weighing in grains such a reduction in weight is a
according to a trigesimal system that could not be
employed with the earlier system of reckoning in øre.
The number 3 appears as a coefficient in a duodeci- 56 4.02 g = 60 x 0.067 g; 4.26 g = 60 x 0.071 g.
mal system of reckoning, such as is found, for in- 57 As a sub-module of the so-called Swedish-Islamic standard of
stance, in the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic systems 4.0 g, Sperber reconstructs a unit of 0.8 g. The Islamic mitqāl-
of coinage. Weight no. 7 may have been damaged, as system at 4.26 g, by contrast, was based upon a sub-module of
it departs slightly from the trigesimal pattern. It was 0.71 g (Sperber 1996:87). What is inconsistent and confusing
perhaps originally meant to weigh 120 grains, which in Sperber’s model is that in the case of the Birka system he
would give a value of around 8 g. Weight no. 8 which assumes a division into 5 units (4.02 g/5 = 0.8 g), while he
weighs around 40 g or 600 grains seems to represent reckons with 6 units to the Islamic standard mitqāl (4.26 g/6
the maximum consistent unit in the set. This weight = 0.71 g). Sperber’s otherwise outstanding metrological analy-
could have been produced using weights Nos. 2 and 3 ses would fit better if the Birka system were likewise based
or by doubling weights Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 together. upon a duodecimal number of 6 and a much smaller sub-
The pattern of calibration suggests that the owner module (4.02 g/6 = 0.067 g). This would match the grain-unit
of this set wanted to be able to deal with precious inferred from the weight-set at Jåtten. The key to understand-
metal according to two different systems of weights. ing Sperber’s Swedish-Islamic module is that the same inter-
The smallest unit that could be weighed and valued vals of calibration were used as in mitqāl-reckoning, but a
with this set was 2 g or 30 grains. It is interesting that lighter grain was applied in copying this in Scandinavia.

familiar practical consequence of weights being cali- its similarity to Islamic mitqāl-reckoning – was called
brated using local types of grain. in Scandinavia we do not know. In the following sec-
The small lead weights from Jåtten presumably tion I shall offer a conceivable answer.
observed the same idea of calibration as is represent-
ed by the cubo-octahedral weights. According to Wholeness, holiness and dissolution
Ingmar Stenroth (in prep.), the cubo-octahedral In the saga of Harald Greycloak in Snorri’s Heims-
weights are based upon a 60-grain system that is kringla, the final section narrates the fate of the skal-
divided into 12 units. Each unit, marked with one dic poet Eyvind skáldaspillir [= “robber of poets”]
punchmark on the weights, corresponded to an (trans. Johansson 1991:185–6). This episode is set in
interval of 5 grains. In theory, then, 30 grains would the 960s, when Eyvind was forced to take care of him-
be the same as a cubo-octahedral weight with 3+3 self after the death of his patron, King Hakon the
punchmarks. As I have noted already, however, the Good. The poet had been given a gift from all the
cubo-octahedral weights with this number of punch- Icelanders after having composed a drápa in their
marks are usually heavier, so that they themselves honour. Each Icelander contributed three pennies of
could not have been used as prototypes for calibra- pure silver in payment. At the Althing it was decided
tion. Rather it may have been the counting system to honour him with a gift that would make the silver
itself that the cubo-octahedral weights were based finer still. The silver was made into a cloak-brooch
upon, and reckoning in grains, that were accepted. If equivalent in value to the huge sum of 50 marks of sil-
we pursue these observations on a more general level, ver. But after Eyvind had the gift sent from Iceland,
a basic unit reckoned as 60 grains would be the defi- he broke the brooch up in order to buy himself a
nite link between cubo-octahedral weights and farm. The saga also tells of a great famine that afflict-
oblate spheroid weights. Using the cubo-octahedral ed Norway and of snow lying on the fields in the
weights one could reckon in fractions of the unit of summer. Eyvind and the people of his farm were suf-
60 grains, and using the spheroid weights in multi- fering too, and they put out to sea to fish. The pur-
ples of that unit. This basic unit was presumably also chase of the farm had cost the poet everything, and he
used in the production of the Southern Scandinavian was forced to pay for herring with his bow and
lead weight sets at the end of the 9th and beginning of arrows. In the final stanza that is quoted by Snorri,
the 10th centuries. The lead weights from Jåtten not the great poet expresses his remorse at having squan-
only provide us with an insight into how calibration dered not only the Icelanders’ beautiful gift but even
was done but also into how fragmented precious his arrows. This composition reveals the conflict that
metal was measured in small portions. had been dominating Eyvind’s thoughts since he had
From the point of view of the user of the weights, broken up such a valuable and personal gift in order
it was important that the weights in the set were per- to buy a property. His personal situation and his
fectly consistent with one another. Outside of the set responsibility as leader of his household compelled
of weights and the intrinsic calibration code that him to take that drastic step. This episode may also
determined the use of the weights within the set, the indicate that the fragmentation of a beautiful silver
lead weights that imitated the Islamic mitqāl-unit brooch in order to use it as currency was a feasible
could not be separated from weights in lead which practice in Eyvind’s day. Although the saga was com-
followed the older øre-standard. Jåtten shows too posed much later, in the 13th century, it evidently
that the aurar-standard based upon gold coin did not reproduces a knowledge of a method of payment that
disappear in the hacksilver period. This find can con- was current in the 10th century amongst a wide
sequently be interpreted as a hybrid set of weights, swathe of the population. Fragmentation was an
the use of which made it possible to reckon fragment- option of which even famous but powerless chief-
ed silver in terms of two different standards. This was tains such as Eyvind could make use. This is the men-
probably a pragmatic necessity when fragmentation tal change in general perception that I believe we can
really established itself in exchange relations in the also read in the hacksilver hoards that started to
10th century. A high proportion of the lead weights spread throughout Scandinavia in Eyvind’s time.
from Kaupang may then have been used in the same The ambivalent attidude that people held to-
way as the weight-set from Jåtten. It was also in wards hacksilver is also expressed in the Icelandic
Kaupang that there was a need to be able to switch law-code Baugatal. In Baugatal the various compo-
between payment using hacksilver and payment nents that made up a fine to pay for manslaughter
using larger, whole aurar-objects such as ingots. This were specified (trans. Dennis et al. 1980:175). These
may provide us also with an explanation of why lead were the ring, baugr, as a larger unit, and smaller
weights predominate in the settlement site and why units that are referred to as baugqak and qveiti. Mor-
they were not immediately displaced by the normal- phological identity is still recognizable in baugr and
ized weights. This ability to switch between two stan- baugqak. What, though, does baugqak mean? The
dards was not so easily offered by the normalized word is a compound of baugr and qak. qak can be
weight-sets. What the basic unit of 60 grains – with translated as “roof” or “covering”. The related verb

qekja means “to increase a sum by adding to it” or “to

contribute to a price or fine” (Engeler 1991:90). baug- Figure 8.23 Silver armring with baugqak from Brunnby,
qak may then refer to the small rings that are linked Krapperup, Skåne (t.p.q. 913) (Hårdh 1976:106, pl. 22:II).
around the larger rings: pendant rings. An example
of a ring that corresponds to the normal fine and the
various units that are noted in Baugatal has been
found in a hoard from Krapperup in Skåne (Hårdh
1976:39 and 106, tab. 22:II). This hoard comprised
two rings: a plaited neckring and an armring. Linked
to the smooth armring were seven smaller rings (Fig.
8.23, c.f. Hårdh 1976:tab. 22.II ). Four of these smaller
rings in turn had dirhams fastened around them. The
whole assemblage weighs c. 100 g, corresponding to
approximately four units of the earlier standard øre.
Both the rings and the coins may, then, be under-
stood as baugqak: supplements adjusting the weight
of the main compensation-ring, which may have
been a plaited neckring. If both the rings and the
coins from Krapperup together should be identified
as baugqak, then each corresponds to the weight that word tveita and Swedish tveta, meaning “cut”,
is stipulated for the second ring in Baugatal, namely “cleave” (Hellquist 1980:1251–2). In Old English the
half a mark or about 100 g (Tab. 8.10). But Baugatal verb qwitan is found, meaning “cut”, “cut off”
goes on to state that the sum of the fine is to be made (Engeler 1991:90–1). qveiti has been interpreted as a
up with qveiti in addition to the baugr and baugqak. very small coin-unit or cut coin (Storm and Hertz-
The heaviest of the four compensation-rings is berg 1895:750). The clipping or partition of coins is
paid by the kin of the miscreant to the closest kins- very common with Anglo-Saxon pennies from the
men of the man who has been killed, father to father, end of the 10th century onwards. But there is no
son to son, or brother to brother (trans. Dennis et al. unambiguous evidence that partition was also prac-
1980: 175). The ring weighs 3 marks, and in baugqak a tised with Norwegian medieval coins (S. Gullbekk,
sum of 6 øre is given too. However the family must pers. comm.). There is therefore scope for suggesting
also pay an additional sum of 48 qveiti. qveiti are also an interpretation of qveiti as “fragment” or “frag-
referred to with the other three compensation-rings mented silver”.
(Tab. 8.10). qveiti are clearly some distinct entity that As I have suggested above, the heavier spheroid
is not reckoned in marks or øre. The fines due in weights were probably given their own particular
qveiti seem also to follow a duodecimal reckoning name as ertogs. “Ertog”, then, referred both to the
that is divisible by the numbers 4 and 8. Could it be very distinctive and readily recognizable type of
that the Icelandic qveiti-units represent an Icelandic weight and to a unit of weight. Using this term it was
and West Scandinavian counterpart to the ertog-sys- possible to specify and to calculate large quantities of
tem? What does qveiti actually mean? fragmented silver. We do not know, however, what
qveiti are also named as a unit in the earliest Nor- the smaller cubo-octahedral weights were called in
wegian laws (Storm and Hertzberg 1895:750). The Scandinavia, as no units smaller than the ertog, in
term is usually translated as “pieces” or “fragments”. other words lighter than about 8 g, were codified and
Etymologically, qveiti is related to the Norwegian preserved in the weight- and reckoning systems of
the High Middle Ages. The ertog was the smallest
unit of reckoning. The find of lead weights from Jåt-
ring baugsak sveiti ten shows that silver was dealt with in portions of 60
grains (see above, p. 314-15). This is the equivalent of
Ring 1 3 mark 6 øre 48 an Islamic mitqāl or half an ertog. This, perhaps, is
the unit that was referred to by the term qveiti.
Ring 2 20 øre ½ mark 32 It was probably with the cubo-octahedral weights
that fragmented dirham silver was processed in the
Ring 3 2 mark 3 øre 24 9th century. The centres for the use and diffusion of
these small weights in Northern Europe may have
Ring 4 12 øre 2 øre 16 been urban settlements such as Birka. It is at Birka
that we have, as yet, the earliest dates for this type of
Table 8.10 Compensation-payments specified in Baugatal weight (see above, p. 307, note 50). We must remem-
in units of marks, øre and qveiti. ber, however, that the finds from Birka may date the
beginning of their use in the town, and not necessari-

ly the absolute introduction of the cubo-octahedral jects can perhaps be seen as an act of sacrilege against
weight as an item of weighing equipment in the Baltic the principle of the bodily wholeness of the coin, ring
Sea area. The possibility cannot be excluded that or ingot, and so too against its intrinsic holiness.
other sites with even earlier dated examples may turn Established conventions of payment that were based
up.58 Using these special weights, which were nor- upon aurar-objects were challenged. For those who
malized both in form and in weight, it was possible to were accustomed to think and to reckon in aurar, this
weigh and divide silver into portions according to a fragmentation may have represented a state of chaos
different, previously unknown, scale. The use of cu- in which the intrinsic quantitative relationship be-
bo-octahedral weights in transactions made it think- tweens coins and rings was dissolved. The system of
able for the trading parties to deal with body-less or qveiti and ertogs based upon fragmentation could
amorphous silver in small quantities. It is this process, have been seen as an assault upon the principle of
I believe, we can read from the term qveiti. The use of value that was embodied in coins, rings and ingots.
qveiti in exchange relations involved the splitting and However the transformation of fragmented metal
so the dissolution of wholeness. The term qveiti man- objects to whole ones and back again was practised all
ifestly refers to the object-free condition of silver: the through the Iron Age. The practice of breaking ob-
non-morphological state that fragmentation brings jects up was not necessarily introduced along with
with it. As a unit of reckoning, qveiti implies a certain normalized weights in the 9th century. Late Roman
quantity of fragmented silver, while in a transferred
sense the term probably also reflects the dissolved
wholeness and the partition of the silver’s intrinsic 58 One possible candidate is the settlement at Janów Pomorski
value. qveiti may be a Scandinavian word for the Is- on the southern shore of the Baltic in the Old Prussian terri-
lamic weight-unit mitqāl, and for the system of reck- tory (Jagodzinski and Kasprzycka 1991). The archaeological
oning the mitqāl represented. In terms of Viking- studies of the last few years have produced a large number of
period weighing and valuation, then, qveiti should be individual finds of dirhams here (Bartczak et al. 2004). About
understood as the basic unit for fragmented silver. four hundred weights have also been found, the majority of
The fragmentation of coined and ring silver that which are the cubo-octahedral type (M. Bogucki, pers.
began to become common throughout Scandinavia comm.). In the Old Prussian and West Slavic lands there is
in the 10th century can therefore be viewed from a also a large number of dirham hoards that are amongst the
different perspective. The breaking up of silver ob- earliest in the Baltic Sea area (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.5).

Iron-age metal hoards consisting of silver fragments quered much of England. This army apparently
are known from, amongst other places, Gudme on camped here for twelve months in the years 872–3.
Fyn (Thrane 1993:36, pl. 10). What constituted a deci- The finds from Torksey are apparently interpretable
sive qualitative difference was that the fragments as the earliest evidence of an economic practice that
could be used as a token of value in various transac- made use of hacksilver, albeit on a small scale, in the
tions of economic character. The development to western North Sea region. Besides 16 cubo-octa-
hacksilver as a calculable substance of value did not hedral weights, a large number of lead weights has
happen all at once but, rather, was presumably first been found, including conical weights, inlaid lead
established locally, where the conditions were right. weights, and weights with metal appliqués – all of
The centres of this innovation in economic life in which have also been found at Kaupang (Blackburn
Scandinavia were probably the early urban trading 2002:98–9; Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.4.4). The use of
sites such as Birka and Kaupang. This was also, per- cubo-octahedral weights at Torksey indicates that
haps, the case at Hedeby for a while, where the strik- hacksilver could have been dealt with in very small
ing of Scandinavian coins was suspended during the units. The smallest weight is only 0.86 g (Blackburn
second half of the 9th century (Malmer 1966:212–9 2002:97, tab. 1). The dirham-fragments are also very
and 246–7). To conclude, I shall now try to pick out small. Of the eleven specimens published hitherto,
various details that I have referred to earlier on in this nine weigh between 0.18 and 0.60 g. Two fragments
chapter to form a coherent picture of the various weigh 0.8 and 1.6 g respectively (Blackburn 2002:
stages of the hacksilver economy in Southern Scan- 92–3). Without the metal-detector finds from Tork-
dinavia and the North Sea zone. sey we should have had no knowledge of this practice
of fragmentation, since hacksilver has left practically
The early use of hacksilver around no traces in the other coin hoards deposited in Eng-
the North Sea and at Kaupang land during the last quarter of the 9th century (Black-
It may have been at Kaupang that a silver economy burn 2003). One exception is the small hoard from
based upon hacksilver first appeared in Viken. The Croydon near London, which contained a few frag-
Orientally inspired practice of fragmentation that ments of ingots and armrings (Graham-Campbell
was based upon the use of normalized weights was 1992b). In Northern Friesland a further hacksilver
able to establish an initial foothold in the market area hoard of Viking-period character has been recorded
at Kaupang which was a meeting place for long-dis- on the island of Wieringen (Besteman 1999; Kilger,
tance trade. But when did that happen? There is, as this vol. Ch. 7.6, Fig. 7.18). The hacksilver finds from
yet, no concrete archaeological evidence of when the Croydon and Westerklief II were apparently deposit-
use of the normalized weights may have been intro- ed in the 870s and thus are contemporary with
duced to Kaupang. We have no surviving stratified Torksey (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.6, Tab. 7.11). Looked
layers later than c. 840/50 (Pedersen and Pilø 2007: at in a larger geographical and chronological per-
185, fig. 9.2). The date of introduction may have coin- spective, however, all three of these finds are isolated.
cided with the first importation of large quantities of It is only from the beginning of the 10th century that
Abbasid dirham silver to the settlement area in the hacksilver hoards begin to be especially evident in the
second half of the 9th century (Blackburn, this vol. British Isles (Fig. 8.21). In this respect, the situation in
Ch. 3; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.9). The practice of valu- England is like that encountered in Southern Scandi-
ing and reckoning fragmented silver presumably navia. The hacksilver and dirham hoards are, with a
came with the dirhams. As I have already noted, it few exceptions, conspicuous by their absence in the
was dirhams that appeared first as fragmented ob- 9th century and enter the scene in the 10th (Hårdh,
jects in the silver hoards (see above, p. 303). The this vol. Ch. 5.4; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.1, Fig. 7.1).
widespread fragmentation of dirham silver can be The connexion between the use of hacksilver as
observed in the earliest dirham hoards of the Baltic currency and the use of cubo-octahedral weights in
Sea zone. This is the case, for instance, with a number the 9th century seems to be corroborated by the col-
of Gotlandic finds from the first half of the 9th centu- lection of finds from Torksey. Pedersen, (this vol. Ch.
ry (see above, note 46). If we move over to the North 6.4.2, Fig. 6.29), argues that the lead weights may
Sea region, the practice of fragmentation and the use have been used to weigh and value hacksilver. Her
of dirham silver seem not to be in evidence until a contextual studies of the most recent excavations in
later date. A very good example is the metal-detector Kaupang show that the distribution of lead weights
site at Torksey, Lincolnshire, in the North-East and hacksilver can be related to one and the same
Midlands of England. Here the combination of the plot. This context is dated to the second quarter of
use of fragmented dirham silver, cubo-octahedral the 9th century, which would then imply a very early
weights and uncoined hacksilver is very clear (Black- use of hacksilver in Kaupang. But were the condi-
burn 2002). tions met for the lead weights also to have fulfilled the
Torksey was, according to documentary sources, same function as, inter alia, the cubo-octahedral
the camp site of the great Viking army that con- weights?

As we have already seen, using what was found at nifest and the body-less amorphous silver would have
Jåtten, it would have been possible to use the origi- become much less clear. It was at sites such as Kaup-
nally Islamic system of reckoning by mitqāl-units to ang that people began to conjoin reckoning by aurar
produce a set of weights. The know-how in respect of and reckoning by the originally Islamic mitqāl, which
the matrix of reckoning that thus materialized in the in Scandinavia was apparently reformulated as reck-
cubo-octahedral and spheroid weights was trans- oning by qveiti and ertogs. Mental dexterity was
ferred in the Jåtten set to another material, lead. Erik needed to make the differentiation in exchange rela-
Sperber’s metrological analyses (1996:72–4) of lead tions with these two quite different principles of
weights from the trading site of Paviken on Gotland value possible. I believe that this can be demonstrated
reveals that reckoning by mitqāl may have served as with the set of lead weights from Jåtten. The use of
the matrix for their production too. Pedersen’s me- hacksilver in the North Sea region seems, in the 9th
trological studies (this vol. Ch. 6:146–8, Tab. 6.9) give century, to have continued to be the exception rather
further support to this possibility, as some of the lead than the rule. It was only sites such as Kaupang that
weights with secure context may have calibrated to seem to have practised this use of hacksilver. And it
the pveiti/ertog-system. Both the hacksilver and the was in peculiar situations such as, for example, the
lead weights seem, furthermore, to have been used in Viking camp at Torksey, that this method of valuing
association with the building that stood on this plot and payment was accepted at such an early date with-
(Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:162). But why, then, do we in the North Sea zone. The finds from Kaupang may
not find normalized weights and dirhams in the same show that an economy based upon aurar and a hack-
layers? The very early dating of the context may also silver economy could co-exist. Here there may have
lead us to question Pedersen’s interpretation. been mental elbow-room between those who may
The weights from Kaupang with secure contexts have wanted to use either whole objects or fragments
provide a limited stratigraphical basis for metro- as currency. What makes Kaupang stand out, as it
logical studies. It is also not possible to exclude the then stood at the northern limit of the Danish-influ-
possibility that their weights – although they seem enced area of Southern Scandinavia, was that hacksil-
well preserved – have been changed, since the condi- ver was apparently used in exchanges of an economic
tions for the preservation of metals in the surviving character as early as the first half of the 9th century.
layers are not optimal. Despite these few criticisms, The practice of weighing and valuing fragmented sil-
however, it is equally impossible to exclude the possi- ver may have been difficult to accept beyond the lim-
bility that an economy based on hacksilver might its of the settlement, at least in its earliest phase.
have been introduced in Kaupang already at a very Paradoxically, the introduction of a hacksilver
early date when the plots are showing evidence of economy may, in the longer term, have contributed
permanent occupation (Pilø 2007d:195–200). The sit- to the undermining of Kaupang’s position as a cen-
uation with the finds from Kaupang may reflect the tral place for trade and exchange in silver in Viken. A
resilient but flexible tradition of lead weights. system of market exchange and a regime of value that
One final possibility is that fragmented silver was based upon reckoning and thinking in terms of
could be involved in transactions at sites like Kaup- aurar was itself a precondition for the exceptional
ang even before the introduction of the normalized status of the site in relation to its hinterland. But the
weights. The very early use of hacksilver is docu- practice of fragmentation changed the distribution of
mented at other urban settlements. In Birka the first silver in the longer term, reaching a wider tranche of
appearance of hacksilver can be identified in the ear- the population. The normalized weights embodied a
liest layers from the 8th century (Gustin 1998:76, tab. different regime of value and an alternative view of
1). The crucial question is whether the hacksilver in what constituted economic value, at least during
those contexts can reasonably be interpreted as a their period of introduction. The valuing of silver as a
form of currency or as raw material for the silver- substance in this phase was no longer essentially
smith. Based on the assumption that silver, in the bound to aurar-objects. This perspective may give us
original aurar-economy, was handled and valued in an insight into why hoards containing fragmented
the form of whole objects, this second possibility dirham silver do not appear in Southern Scandinavia
appears a more reasonable alternative. However, during the 9th century but rather are limited to the
hacksilver may have been used, for instance, to weigh Baltic Sea area. It was the “aurar-sites” of Southern
and complete the weight of ingots in a transaction Scandinavia, such as Kaupang, Uppåkra and Tissø,
between two traders. Without more thorough that “sucked up” the Oriental silver coin in the initial
metrological studies that take this question as their phase and re-cast it as standardized aurar-objects
starting point, this is difficult to determine as things (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.9). When the influx of Sama-
currently stand. nid coin from the East broke into the circulation of
When, over a longer or shorter period, hacksilver silver in Southern Scandinavia during the second
developed into an accepted medium of value in quarter of the 10th century, the influence of the
Kaupang, the boundaries between the embodied ma- “aurar-sites” diminished seriously (Kilger, this vol.

Ch. 7.7). This may have coincided with a more habit- which was originally based upon Merovingian gold
ual use of the larger spheroid weights beyond Kaup- coinage and its reckoning, was used to calculate
ang, using which one could deal with hacksilver in whole objects such as rings during the Viking Period,
much greater quantities. In this phase we see the first and later on in the Middle Ages also coins. A clear
hacksilver hoards in the hinterland of Kaupang, and example is Harald Hardrule’s coin-reckoning of the
the use of hacksilver was established as an accepted mid-11th century in which the earlier øre-weight was
form of currency beyond the limits of the trading site. apparently applied (Skaare 1976:79). Using the later
øre, people apparently dealt with and calculated larg-
Conclusions er quantities of hacksilver. It was the spheroid
In this section, I have taken a closer look at the con- weights, which may have been known as “ertogs” in
nexion between the fragmentation of silver objects the Viking Period, that were the fundamental and
and the introduction of normalized weights. Steuer’s legitimating element of the hacksilver economy from
dualistic model of Gewichts- and Münzgeldwirtschaft the beginning of the 10th century onwards. When the
has given us a good image of the appearance of the spheroid weights fell out of use over much of Scan-
new, Oriental, silver economy at the end of the 9th dinavia, the significance of hacksilver as a counter-
century and its establishment in Scandinavian society part of value in exchange relations also vanished. As a
in the 10th and 11th centuries. At the same time, type of weight the ertog began to be taken out of use
though, Steuer’s polarized conception contrasting at the end of the 11th century (Steuer 1997:327–30).59
the use of coinage, on the one hand, and an economy However the ertog survived as a unit of reckoning,
based upon weighted and fragmented silver on the and was integrated as the smallest module weight
other, leaves a blind zone with regard to the econom- into the weight-systems in use in the Scandinavian
ic practice previously to be found in Scandinavia, kingdoms of the 12th and 13th centuries.
namely reckoning in aurar. Alongside the coin- and Several authors have described hacksilver as small
weight-economies in Scandinavia one could put a change that facilitated trade (e.g. Suchodolski 1977;
third means of valuing and making payment, the Hårdh 1996:24–5). However the introduction of
ring-/ingot-economy. The coin-economy and ring- hacksilver as a counterpart of value was presumably
/ingot-economy are related to each other, since the no intrinsically self-evident economic process. A
associations of value were embodied in whole ob- number of preconditions had to be met for payment
jects. It was primarily the ring-/ingot-economy that with pieces of silver to be able to claim an auto-
was confronted by the weight-economy in Scandi- nomous and recognized place in the sphere of ex-
navia at the end of the 9th century. Rings and ingots change. The recognition of hacksilver not only re-
were the principal objects of value that were used quired items of equipment such as the normalized
outside of the monetized areas of Western Europe. weights; in its initial phase it was also restricted to
During the Viking Period a ring-zone stretched from specific sites. It was the early urban sites of the Baltic
Ireland in the West to Russia in the East. In theory it Sea region that were the nodes of the growing and
was only whole objects that could be used in various ever-increasingly regular long-distance trade of the
forms of transaction under the ring-/ingot-economy. Early Viking Period (Sindbæk 2005) which may have
Under the weight-economy, by contrast, silver was developed and put into practice the conventions of
valued by a quite different principle. In this case frag- payment that were based upon fragmented silver.
mented and amorphous silver could also be used in This is the practice that we can probably then trace in
transactions. the North Sea region in the 9th century at sites such
With the introduction of the normalized weight- as Kaupang. The inception of the use of hacksilver as
types came a new way of reckoning – i.e. of weighing a counterpart of value in the sphere of exchange out-
silver in both larger and smaller portions. However it side of the trading sites may very likely have pro-
was not just a different economic order, in accor- voked conflicts in Viking-period society, since fun-
dance with which people started to weigh silver using damental concepts of what constituted value were
precise weighing equipment, that characterized the called into question. This “new” convention respect-
Orientally inspired weight-economy, but rather a ing payment may, to certain groups, have appeared
concurrent change in attitude: a preparedness to dis- alien and irrational.
solve the wholeness of the silver object. There was a Both Steuer’s (1987, 1997) and Gustin’s (2004c)
nagging uncertainty, yet paradoxically also a libera- studies present the introduction of the weight-econ-
tion from the influence of the sacred aurar-objects in omy at the end of the 9th century as a peaceful and
various social and economic situations, that came in innovative process. This economic system is de-
with the use of hacksilver. As Anton Brøgger was able scribed as a convention for making payments that
to show long ago, the øre was dealt with in two differ- created trust and which was established amongst
ent ways in Scandinavia right up to the High Middle those groups that were engaged in long-distance
Ages: both following the earlier øre-standard and the trade and who dealt with large quantities of silver.
later ertog-based øre-standard. The earlier øre, The employment of the normalized weights for eco-

nomic purposes, however, was not necessarily an cemeteries at Birka, in which the normalized weights
immediately conflict-settling and confidence-raising reveal a different symbolic language and were used as
innovation, as the works of both of those scholars a conspicuous feature in women’s, men’s and even
might lead one to believe. As anthropological studies children’s graves (Kyhlberg 1980b:203, 1986:150–1,
of recent years have argued, especially the work of tab. 17.2). These may have been groups whose domi-
Annette Weiner, the motivation behind economical- ciles were linked to the urban trading site and who
ly directed exchanges is not necessarily based upon wished to mark their identity as merchants in their
the principle of reciprocity – i.e. a principle that funerary practice (Welinder 1999:132–5).
always aims at a mutual balance in economic rela- From the Southern Scandinavian perspective, the
tions (see above, p. 262). Economy is rather a matter use of hacksilver as a form of currency which first be-
of monopolizing value: of defining what is valuable gan to spread beyond urban settlements like Kaup-
and so exercising influence. The use of hacksilver as a ang in the 10th century can be interpreted as a break
counterpart of value may then have ushered in new with the ideological and economic power that was
constellations within society and in respect of politi- represented at the old aurar-sites. It was at sites such
cal power in the transitional phase. as Kaupang that aurar-objects were made and sanc-
New groupings appeared in Viking-period socie- tioned as objects of value. It was also there that hack-
ty at the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th cen- silver was first used as a medium of exchange. The
turies which could perhaps be linked to payment early hacksilver hoards of Southern Scandinavia and
using hacksilver and so indentified themselves with the British Isles may represent not only the introduc-
the alternative approach to valuation. A series of tion of the spheroid weights and thus of fragmenta-
archaeological complexes indicate that in certain tion as a practice beyond these centres, but above all
cases the normalized weights can be associated in show that silver had generally become available to a
their phase of establishment with a male-dominated wider group of people outside the towns. The demise
sphere: with weaponry and warfare. An example of of Kaupang during the second quarter of the 10th
this is the use of cubo-octahedral weights at the century – which could have been for various reasons
metal-detector site of Torksey, England (Blackburn (see discussion Skre 2007j:468–9) – thus coincides
2002). The earliest hacksilver hoards of Western Eu- with a decentralization of the handling of silver in the
rope around the Irish Sea and in England, such as Viken area.
Croydon and Cuerdale, or in the Netherlands, such
as Westerklief, may be linked principally with the 8.6 Summary
activities of Danish Vikings (Graham-Campbell This chapter has considered how silver was used and
1992b:110–14; Higham 1992; Richards 2000:31; Beste- valued as a form of currency at Kaupang. The basic
man 2002). It is possible that these groups of fighting problem tackled in this essay is that of approaching
men, campaigning in Western Europe, were amongst the concept of “money” in light of three different
the first in Southern Scandinavia to accept the sys- principles of value and payment that dominated ex-
tem of value that went with the normalized weight- change relations in Scandinavia and Western Europe
sets. The grave finds around Kaupang can be includ- during the Viking Period. These were, firstly, the use
ed in this case. Two burials at Nordre Kaupang which of coinage by monetized societies; secondly, the use
contained both balances and normalized weights of aurar-objects such as rings and ingots of standard
were rich male graves. It is possible that the individu- weights; and thirdly, the use of hacksilver by non-
als who were buried in the northern cemetery were monetized societies. Using the story of Ohthere, the
primarily associated with the chieftain’s seat at much-travelled chieftain from Northern Norway,
Skiringssal and less so with Kaupang itself (Pedersen who visited Kaupang in Skiringssal late in the 9th
2001:28). In this context, the rich male burial from century, as a frame, I have tried to illustrate the com-
Rolfsøy in Østfold should also be noted,60 a grave plicated knowledge of ways of making payments and
that contained a complete set of eight spheroid value-norms, which those who participated in the
weights, one cuboctaderal and three conical lead long-distance trade of the Viking Period had to have.
weights (Pedersen 2000: appendices 4 and 5, V 5). Those travellers who followed the “northern way”
The picture that these archaeological complexes
present is not, however, an entirely simple one, and
could be interpreted in various ways. Alongside the 59 This is shown, for instance, by the stratigraphical evidence
military element which may be hinted at in the from the town of Schleswig. In some areas, for instance in the
Southern Scandinavian context there is also an unde- Baltic states, the use of spheroid weights may have continued
niably peaceful aspect to the use of cubo-octahedral into the 12th century (Steuer 1997:328). The latest hacksilver
weights. There were individuals engaged in long-dis- hoards were deposited at the beginning of the 12th century in
tance trade in the Baltic Sea region who identified the Elbe-Slavic area of Vorpommern (Kilger 2000:140 and
themselves with the use of the normalized weights 157–8).
(Gustin 2004c:203–34). This is exemplified in the 60 C4188–4197.

could in all probability distinguish these three meth- to be of value by those who used them. Here I make
ods of using and valuing silver. use of the anthropological concept of inalienable pos-
It was at Kaupang in Skiringssal that Ohthere en- sessions in order to show that economic relations
countered merchants and craftsmen from both the must always be related to a durable and transcenden-
North Sea region and the lands around the Baltic. tal point of reference. This point of reference may be
The most recent excavations have provided evidence materialized in holy objects which can never them-
that individuals from the Frankish Empire came to selves be the object of exchange; they rather initiate
the site (Gaut, in prep.; Wamers, in prep.). Pieces of exchange. It is this point of reference, this principle
Slavonic cooking pots show that merchants or crafts- or power, which animates the valuables that are
men from the Slavonic area may have resided in included within economic transactions in a given
Kaupang (Pilø, in prep.). The maintenance of regular society and provides them with the authenticity they
contacts with Birka, one of the largest urban settle- need. One example of an inalienable possession in
ments in the Baltic zone, is indicated by the burial Scandinavia in the Iron Age is the gold ring, which
practice in the cemeteries at Kaupang (Stylegar 2007: belonged to the gods but which simultaneously legit-
99–101), by casting workshops employing similar imated the use of silver as currency in the form of
processes of manufacture (Pedersen, in prep.), and rings and ingots of standard weights. Inalienable
finally by the dirham finds (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7.7). principles likewise sanctioned the use of coin in mon-
There were also influences from the Hiberno-Scan- etized societies. Forms of currency always referred to
dinavian settlement areas in Ireland and Scotland in an aspect of value that was considered by the users to
the form of the distinctive lead weights with metal be unobtainable, yet which was something that peo-
appliqués (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6.5.5). At Kaupang ple always desired to achieve. As I have also argued,
in Skiringssal, interaction between these groups was these associations of value were not universal but
intensified in the densely populated settlement of the rather differed from society to society. The second
town. Here, I believe, was all that was needed for the theoretical premiss of this discussion is based upon
development of a quite unique situation. Different the belief that ideas of a standard could only emerge
moral preconceptions in respect of relations of ex- and be manifested in human consciousness if the
change, with regard to what was appropriate or unac- currency was calculable according to a scale that was
ceptable, needed to be clearly explained; different considered to be trustworthy. Thus these objects of
views about what was a reasonable and just price had value had the same characteristics that “money” has.
to be channelled; and conventions and rituals that It has been from this perspective that I have tried to
established trust had to be defined and re-affirmed. It comprehend the use of “money” at Kaupang.
was in an urban context of this kind that exchange In the section “Monetary Concepts around the
could cross over cultural, economic, religious and North Sea”, I have looked at coins as objects of reck-
social boundaries. It was this disorderly and multi- oning and value in the Late Roman, Merovingian and
faceted urban culture that defined Kaupang as an Carolingian empires from the 4th century to the 9th.
enclave and differentiated the site from its hinter- The coin-section itself forms the foundation in this
land. chapter for going on to analyse the øre in a methodi-
A counterpart to the spatial density that charac- cal manner, which I attempt to trace in archaeologi-
terized Kaupang as a town may be found in the char- cal evidence. Here, too, I discuss the underlying men-
acter of silver as a medium of payment, value and tal acceptance that was implicit in the monetization
reckoning. During the Viking Period, silver was dealt of the Carolingian realm. This section thus creates a
with and valued in various forms, including coins, framework explaining why the use of coin failed to
ingots, rings or hacksilver. In specific bodily forms, gain a foothold at Kaupang. The point of reference in
the regimes of value were focused and materialized. It the system of payment using coin constituted what is
was in the silver body that ideas and concepts of value called “coin-reckoning”. Coin-reckoning was based
could find a place and be transmitted. I propose that upon grains, which served as an absolute point of ref-
the crucial objects of value in the Viking Period – erence. It was particularly in the reckoning by gold
coins on the one hand and the rings on the other – coins – the practice of the Late Roman Empire and
were regarded in the economic thought-world of the subsequently in the Merovingian realm – that the
age as living things of the highest order. One of the weight and purity of coins were measured by use of a
fundamental problems to address in this study has certain number of grains. Through the symbolic
been to reach an understanding of how conventions power of the grain, the coin was linked to fertility and
for making payments could develop and be diffused well-being. It was religious values and cosmological
within non-state societies lacking any strong central concepts that the coin, as an imaginary form of capi-
authority. My theoretical premiss has been that ideas tal and therefore of sanctioned value, referred to
of standard were embodied, or in other words mate- above all. In the Carolingian Empire the silver denier
rialized, in objects that served as a form of currency. derived its value by alluding to elemental concepts of
These objects bore associations that were considered the Christian faith, namely salvation and the daily

bread. However the denier also derived its monetary of aurar-weights. These coins respected the same
power through the lord, in his character as Christ’s weight-standard as the Merovingian tremisses. Gold
representative on Earth, endowing the coin with spir- rings and subsequently silver rings were reckoned,
itual life. Similar mechanisms of value were probably from the beginning of the 7th century onwards, using
also involved in the earliest Scandinavian coinage, at an aurar-unit of 20 pennies. There is also some evi-
Ribe and Hedeby in the 9th century. The Ribe coins dence of a heavier aurar-unit based upon multiplies
alluded to the cult of Odin and to Odin’s battle with of 10 pennies. Those “pennies” were probably Abba-
the forces of chaos. Odin guaranteed the order of the sid silver dirhams struck in the Caliphate in the 8th
universe and thus the survival of the world. It was this century and at the beginning of the 9th, and used as
myth that the Danish ruler alluded to and so rooted calibration prototypes.
the value of the coins in a non-Christian cosmology. Reckoning in aurar was not a practice that arose
Because the coin was connected to an important in Scandinavia; rather it had its origins in the Mero-
immaterial aspect of the human conceptual world, vingian realm, where gold coin was in use. There, this
they became valuable in the eyes of those who used originally Roman practice of using a specific number
them. In this section I have also discussed the func- of coins as a unit of reckoning, was called the uncia-
tion of the silver denier as a central measure of value (ounce-) standard. Evidence of the Merovigian oun-
in Carolingian society. In its capacity as a generally ce is found all around the North Sea region. The
accepted standard, the denier could lend legitimacy ounce was given different names around this region
to a system of commodity-money. Under a com- but in fact refers consistently to a single convention
modity-money system one did not necessarily have of value, namely the reckoning of 20 pennies per unit.
to use coin itself for making payments; rather, it was The principle of reckoning a fixed number of coins to
possible to reckon in other media such as grain, live- a unit was apparently also practised in Eastern Eu-
stock, honey or wine. The conclusion drawn at the rope. Here it appears that 10 dirhams were used per
end of this section is that coinage never came to be unit in the production of larger objects of standard-
used in Kaupang despite the close connexions with ized weight such as rings. This practice was probably
the Frankish realm in the 9th century. Presumably the origin of the Eastern grivna-standard. “Grivna”
the immaterial facet of the value of coins was not means “ring” but is a unit of weight at the same time.
accepted because it referred to a set of Christian con- Evidence of both the Western ounce-/aurar-system
cepts. At Kaupang there was also no royal power or and the Eastern grivna-system is found at Kaupang.
politico-religious authority that could animate coins In Scandinavia, the concept of aurar may have been
with a monetary value. linked to the myth of Odin’s eternal gold ring Draup-
In the section “Traces of the eyrir standard at nir. This mythical ring produced eights rings of equal
Kaupang”, I have attempted to trace a monetary weight every ninth night. In such a way, I suggest, the
standard that came to be used in Kaupang. I find a ring was associated with the ideas of predictability
materialization of this standard in the large corpus of and justice, and with fertility at the same time. The
rings and ingots in the Viking-period hoards of myth of Draupnir probably made use of the canoni-
Scandinavia. Just like coins, rings and ingots were cal relationship in reckoning between the mark and
standardized by weight. This standard, I believe, cor- the øre as weights that is recorded in documentary
responded to reckoning in øre or aurar, of which we sources.
have evidence in written sources such as law-codes I have linked the introduction of the aurar-stan-
and runic inscriptions. In the same way as coins, dard in Scandinavia to the growth of North Sea trade
aurar-objects united the principle of countability in the 7th and 8th ceturies. Large quantities of coin
with immaterial associations of value. Aurar-objects were in circulation within this network, on both sides
became calculable as they contained a given number of the English Channel. In Scandinavia, however, al-
of coins per øre and thus were of constant weight. though there may have been contacts with this trad-
This was the convention that was expressed in the ing network, coins apparently were not accepted as
formula “penningar ger eyri” which is quoted already currency but rather were melted down to make larger
in the early medieval Scandinavian law-codes. The and carefully weighed aurar-objects such as ingots
building blocks of the aurar are “pennies” of very and rings. This practice of melting down may explain
consistent weight such as the Merovingian gold coins why gold coins from Western Europe are so rare in
of the 7th century, which may indeed have been the Scandinavia after the Migration Period. They appear
source of the term aurar. Merovingian gold tremisses only in very unusual hoards such as the Viking-peri-
were used as calibration prototypes for the fine-ad- od gold hoard at Hoen. One possibility is that the sys-
justment of weights that were used to weigh precious tem of reckoning in aurar first established a foothold
metal in perfectly equal portions. Silver coins such as at production and exchange sites in 7th-century
sceattas from the end of the 7th century and Anglo- Scandinavia. As a possible “aurar-site” I discussed
Saxon pennies from the 9th century may also have the Lundeborg/Gudme complex on Fyn, in Den-
functioned as calibration models in the production mark. A good sign of an aurar-site is evidence of met-

alworking, casting, and the presence of weights, par- The third and last conventional practice for mak-
ticularly of lead. Lead weights like those found in ing payment that shaped the economic relations in
craft contexts may have been used by the smith to Kaupang is considered in the section “Ertogs, qveiti
weigh precious metal in exact portions in the process and fragments”. In this section I discuss the use of
of producing aurar-objects such as gold rings in the hacksilver as a form of currency which involved a
Norwegian Merovingian Period and silver rings in rupture with the principles of valuation that were
the Viking Period. Kaupang can be regarded as a represented both in coins and in aurar-objects. Yet
Viking-period aurar-site, with clear evidence of cast- even in the use of hacksilver there is, paradoxically
ing. Dealing with silver in accordance with the aurar- enough, an objectification of standard. How, though,
standard provides us with yet one more basis upon could that standard be maintained when the silver
which to understand why coins are so rare in the ear- that was being used was shattered into tiny frag-
lier phases at Kaupang and indeed generally all over ments? The answer lies, in my opinion, in the use of
Scandinavia throughout the 9th century. The distri- the normalized weights that began to spread around
bution and handling of silver in the various super- the Baltic Sea region during the second half of the 9th
regional exchange network was done through larger, century. The principle of calculability resides in the
re-cast units such as ingots. The melting down of standardization by weight of the normalized weights.
coined metal to make larger aurar-objects was the The idea of value is symbolized and materialized in
central custom in the handling of metal in Southern their uniform and very distinctive appearance. The
Scandinavia in the Early Viking Period; perhaps in small cubo-octahedral weights and the large oblate
the preceding Merovingian Period too. This custom spheroid weights follow the weight-standards that
is, in my opinion, also the key to the explanation of were employed in the Caliphate. Methods of pay-
the absence of coin in hoards all over the area down ment in the Caliphate depended, on the whole, upon
to the beginning of the 10th century when hacksilver the weighing of coined metals such as gold and silver.
hoards start to appear. Reckoning was done by the unit of the mitqāl, and to
Finally, I argue for the presence of a commodity- a lesser extent in numbers of coins. The same practice
money system in Kaupang. There is written evidence of weighing and valuing silver by the mitqāl was
for the existence of a fully developed commodity- established in Northern and Eastern Europe when
money system based upon øre in Scandinavia only and through the fact that people began to use the
from the 12th century. However the archaeological normalized weights. As I use the term, I believe that
evidence in the form of finds of weights, ingots and the mitqāl-standard was materialized in these
rings respecting the øre-standard indicates that such weights. The decisive difference from the monetary
a system may have been in existence as early as the system of the Caliphate was the preparedness to split
Late Iron Age. If the silver denier was the point of ref- up, in other words to destroy, whole silver objects
erence for relations in terms of value and price in the such as coins and pieces of jewellery and so to change
Frankish realm, this role was taken by the øre in them into fragments. The fragmentation of coined
Scandinavia. In the same way as, conceivably, people silver was only exceptionally accepted in the Cali-
thought and calculated by the denier-unit, people in phate, where it was a controversial issue. Under a
Kaupang thought and reckoned in terms of both hacksilver economy the essential associations of
metal aurar-objects that were materialized in silver value were no longer found in the silver objects
and of other, non-metallic media such as, inter alia, themselves but rather were transferred to a substitute
textiles of a certain length and breadth. object such as the normalized weights.
The øre may have been employed as an immateri- Here, then, we see steps taken towards a different
al unit of both reckoning and value because it was abstraction of value from that implicit in coins and
thus possible to compare and measure the value of aurar-objects. The weight and value of the silver
different goods. The øre-standard may thus have laid could only be determined by means of the normal-
the foundations in Kaupang for the use of money and ized weights. It was also through the fragmentation
for quasi-market trade separate from any socially of silver that the weights received a name of their
binding sphere. The Kaupang/Skiringssal central- own. By the 10th century, this process of substitution
place complex can, consequently, be regarded as an in the silver economies of Scandinavia resulted, I
economically closed space in relation to its hinter- believe, in the establishment of the ertog-standard. I
land. This space was an entity within an interwoven make the case that it was the oblate spheroid weights
economic complex. In the workshops in Kaupang that were originally called “ertogs”. An etymological
metal aurar-objects were manufactured which were explanation of this term can be connected to the
used as currency. At the thing the reckoning in aurar highly distinctive copper-alloy shell on the weights,
was annually defined and legitimated. And in the and perhaps also the process of coating by which the
town itself, goods of varying quantity and quality outer copper-alloy shell was added to the iron kernel.
could be bought and sold using aurar/øre as the stan- Both spheroid and cubo-octahedral weights were
dard of reckoning. probably calibrated according to a unit of reckoning

of 60 grains which also was the basic unit of the doxically, fragmentation led to the loosening of the
Islamic mitqāl-standard. This standard unit of 60 religious hold that aurar-objects had over economic
grains, which may have been known as qveiti in Old relations. It was probably part of this process that
Norse, was probably also used to calibrate lead Kaupang’s monopoly of value in its character as an
weights. An etymological interpretation of that term aurar-site was undermined and the site lost its im-
shows that what was referred to was the very fact of portance as the dominant trading site in Viken.
splitting; specifically the fragmentation of silver ob- In my survey of the three principles of value and
jects. The introduction of the normalized weights to valuation in this chapter, in the form of coin, aurar-
Scandinavia involved a new way of measuring value, objects, and normalized weights plus hacksilver, I
which later seems to have embraced the use of lead have been arguing that the use of “money” in some
weights such as those at urban trading sites like form or other was not alien to Iron-age societies. The
Kaupang too. In fact, the majority of the lead weights use of “money” is not restricted to commercialized
found at Kaupang seem to have been calibrated ac- and market-adapted systems alone. Calculation and
cording to the pveiti/ertog-standard. pricing are not limited to the modern market econo-
The employment of the normalized weights led my; they appear in all societies which engage in
to a process of the dissolution of conventional ways organized economic relations crossing political, so-
of making payments and of concepts of value that the cial, ethnic and mental boundaries. “Money” is al-
earlier aurar-system had been based upon. The faith ways ambivalent: it is moral and amoral at the same
in the intrinsic value of aurar-objects had been root- time; it bears inalienable qualities but is at one and
ed in their indivisibility and therefore their whole- the same time alienable. To put it another way,
ness. However the fragmentation of silver objects “money” both questions and simultaneously con-
involved a direct attack upon this principle; it “took firms the concept of value current in a society,
apart” the body of the aurar-object and thus dis- because the value and acceptance of money is always
solved the associations of value that were physically linked directly to this idea of value. As a result, it is
embodied within it. The original system of valuation impossible, in my view, to differentiate between the
of the Viking Period that was rooted in the whole and social and economic functions of money. This artifi-
simultaneously holy objects was thus challenged. A cial division of money has been a prominent inter-
readiness to break objects up probably led to social pretative view in scholarship on the Iron Age in
tensions. In the course of the 10th century the new Scandinavia in the 1980s and 1990s. As I see things,
ideology of value appears in the growth of the hack- economic relations in modern, primitive and prehis-
silver tradition in every part of Scandinavia. toric societies alike remain difficult to understand if
According to my historical model, the hacksilver they are analysed from the outset on the basis of an
hoards initially represent a situation of disorder, in opposition between anonymous and social – i.e. per-
which the wholeness of silver was of little signifi- sonal – structures. The use of “money”, in contrast, is
cance. In the early period of fragmentation new also a matter of relations of power: namely of the
groups, who were prepared to adopt the new princi- right to make material and so to define value.
ple of valuation which resided in the use of the nor-
malized weights, came to the fore. The fragmentation Acknowledgements
of silver and of aurar-objects can also be identified My thanks to Stefan Brink, Gunilla Gonon-Sabel-
earliest amongst marginal groups such as the Scan- ström, Svein H. Gullbekk, Karl-Gunnar Johansson,
dinavian warriors who were raiding in Western Julie Lund, Hanne Monclair, Unn Pedersen, Dagfinn
Europe towards the end of the 9th century. Over a Skre, Ingmar Stenroth, Anders Söderberg and not
longer period, however, the use of the normalized least my wife Erikka Wessel for their valuable and
weights also led to the use of silver being diffused encouraging comments.
across a much wider section of the population. Para-

Post-substantivist Towns and Trade 9

ad 600–1000
dag f i n n s k re
As a basis for the discussion in the next chapter of trade and the economy at specialized sites of craft
and trade in Scandinavia, a range of theoretical and empirical aspects are discussed in this chapter. This dis-
cussion takes as its starting point Richard Hodges’s book of 1982, Dark Age Economics. It comes to the con-
clusion that Hodges over-estimated the roles of the aristocracy and of long-distance trade in the economic
development of Scandinavia in the period AD 600–1000. At the same time, he under-estimated the dynam-
ic power of the economy itself, along with the significance of other social groups such as craftsmen, farmers
and the local elite in economic expansion and urbanization. The specialized sites of craft and trade in
Scandinavia were more firmly integrated into the economy and society of their rural hinterlands than
Hodges’s model allows for.
Several of these problems can be attributed to Hodges’s own theoretical starting point, which was rooted
in Karl Polanyi and George Dalton’s substantivism, and in the ideas of neo-evolutionists such as Elman
Service and Carol Smith. A different approach is outlined as an alternative here, called “post-substan-
tivism”, one which enables us to consider the economies of pre-industrial societies as a special dynamic
field. In the case of North-Western European societies prior to c. AD 700, it would appear that the scope for
economic agency was limited within the dense social networks constricted by social norms and traditionally
fixed prices for goods. The loose social networks created by long-distance trade in the 8th century provided
some groups with the opportunity to exercise economic agency in both production and trade.
On the basis of these discussions, an alternative is also developed to Hodges’s typology of the specialized
sites of craft and trade in Scandinavia. While, prior to c. AD 700, seasonal markets were linked only to aris-
tocratic central places such as Helgö and Gudme, early in the 8th century the first local market sites inde-
pendent of the central places emerged on a seasonal basis. About the same time two seasonal markets with a
significant element of long-distance trade were established, Ribe and Åhus. Around 800 the fourth type of
specialized site for craft and trade, the permanently settled town, appeared.
Finally, two central issues in Hodges’s model are discussed: the importance of long-distance trade, and
the connexion between trade and the aristocracy.
The first element in the place-name Kaupang is kaup, from Frisian or Old English, apparently took place
the Old Norse word for a “deal” or “trade”. This sometime in the last couple of centuries before the
word occurs in all the Scandinavian languages. The Viking Period (Ljunggren 1937:101; Bjorvand and
root of this word entered the Southern Germanic Lindeman 2000:461; Schmidt 2000:86–7). Its specific
languages in the Roman Period from Latin, in which language of origin cannot be identified on purely
caupo means “innkeeper” or “small trader”, reflected philological grounds, although in terms of cultural
by Old High German koufo and Old English cēpa history a Frisian origin seems likely (Seip 1930:8–10).
(Green 1999:224–6). With various suffixes this pro- Frisian trading expanded strongly in the 8th century
duced a range of words for a trading site: for instance (Verhulst 1985; Spufford 1988:32; Lebecq 1999; Ver-
Old Saxon cōpunga, Old English cēaping and Old hulst 2000:113), when Scandinavians came into con-
Frisian kāpinge (Schmidt 2000:87). The introduction tact with their enterprise at the trading site of Ribe.
of the word to the Scandinavian languages, probably Allowing for some uncertainty concerning the
9. skre: p ost-substantiv ist tow ns and tr ade 327

age of the word’s different forms, the diffusion of the substantivist terms and theories that Hodges
the word caupo/koufo/cōpunga/cēaping/kāpinge/kaup employed. The specific case-study, the economy of
seems to follow the wave of foundation of trading Norway during the period 1000–1500, has been cho-
sites and towns that slowly rolled across North- sen for two reasons. First, the sources are sufficiently
Western Europe in the 7th and 8th centuries, first at diverse and informative, and research into them ade-
the mouth of the Rhine and in the South-East of quately comprehensive, for it to be possible to under-
England, and from the 8th century onwards in Scan- take a real test of the relevance and validity of the ideas
dinavia and along the southern shores of the Baltic. and principles of substantivist concepts. Second, the
There had been trading sites in these regions before, Norwegian economy in this period comprised a series
such as Lundeborg on Fyn (c. AD 200–600; Skre of elements, not least the so-called “commodity-
2007j:446–9), where trade using silver and gold as money system” (varepengesystemet), which may well
currencies was practised. It is probably from this time have been traditional practices deriving from the
that another word concerned with trade came into period of primary interest in this book, AD 600–1000
the Scandinavian languages such as they are known (Naumann 1987; Skre, this vol. Ch. 10:344–7, 352;
from the Viking Period, namely aurar (Kilger, this Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:270–1, 296–7). Thus an outline
vol. Ch. 8:280–1; Skre, this vol. Ch. 10:345). of the economy of Norway from 1000 to 1500 prepares
The word kaup probably came in with the up- the ground for the discussion in Chapter 10.
swing in trading activity that the new trading sites In order to lay a theoretical foundation for
and towns of the 8th and 9th centuries bear witness sketching out the alternative to Hodges’s model that
to. Those who visited these sites came to trade, and it is presented in Chapter 10, a separate section (9.3) is
is no surprise, therefore, that precisely this term came dedicated to one particular aspect of the criticism
to be included in the word that was used to designate that has been directed at the substantivist approach
such sites. Kaupang means “a site where trade goes during the last quarter-century. This concerns the
on”. The composition with -ang/-ing/-ange/-inge etc. critique that economists, anthropologists and sociol-
is found in the other languages of Scandinavia as well ogists have aimed at one crucial premiss of Polanyi’s
as in Old English, Old Saxon and others (Ljunggren understanding of the economy: namely that while the
1937:123–4; Schmidt 2000:87). economy of pre-industrial societies is entirely em-
Just as the people of the Viking Age, contempo- bedded within society, the market economy is not
rary scholars have employed this emergence of trade embedded within industrial society. If the modern
as the basis for identifying and classifying specialized economy is also regarded as embedded, the basis for
sites for craft and trade. Richard Hodges’s book of the essential difference postulated by the substan-
1982, Dark Age Economics: The Origins of Towns and tivists between the economies of pre-industrial and
Trade AD 600–1000, deserves much of the credit for industrial societies is taken away. This has massive
the higher level of research that the Carolingian, consequences for the way in which the relationship
Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian sites have enjoyed in between economy and society in pre-industrial con-
the last 25 years. This research has largely taken as its texts is both analysed and understood.
starting point the essential premisses and conclu- Armed with the conclusions and insights provid-
sions of that book. But recent years in particular have ed by these discussions, in the three final sections I
seen a number of scholars challenging Hodges’s take up three key topics within Hodges’s model as
model, while new evidence from excavations has also they present themselves in the case of Scandinavia.
brought into question both his premisses and con- First, his typology of specialized sites for trade and
clusions. The 25th anniversary of the publication of craft is discussed, a discussion that leads to an alter-
that book may be a suitable juncture for a discussion native typological scheme comprising four main
of some of the principles the book is based upon and types of such sites (9.4). Hodges links trade closely
a number of its conclusions. with the aristocracy; this view is examined in relation
Such a discussion is presented in the present to the four types of sites (9.5). A central point for
chapter. In several respects, alternatives to Hodges’s Hodges is also the significance of long-distance trade
ideas and terms are proposed. Elements of Hodges’s at specialized sites of craft and trade; this is assessed
model are based upon substantivist theory, and this here in comparison with the significance of intra-
chapter will begin by taking up these more theoreti- regional trade (9.6).
cal issues, particularly the view of economy as embed- In recent works, Hodges has responded to many
ded in Early-medieval society (9.2–3). Other key of the empirical criticisms his book has met (e.g.
components of the model are of a more descriptive Hodges 1989; 1999; 2000). Although it may seem
character, and the discussion of these components is unfair to focus critically upon a study 25 years old, the
consequently more empirically based (9.4–6). reason for following such a course is that the original
This chapter begins with a summary of the main book provides a good springboard for a critical dis-
points of Hodges’s model (9.1). That is followed (9.2) cussion of the principal themes of research into this
by a discussion, based upon a case study, of some of topic during the last two decades.

9.1 Substantivist emporia began to emerge from the 7th century onwards, in
Perhaps only Philip Grierson’s article, Commerce in Scandinavia from early in the 8th century at Ribe.
the Dark Ages (1959), has been more influential than These were nodes of the networks of long-distance
Hodges’s book for recent research into the trade and trade; Hodges explains their appearance as the result
urbanization of North-Western Europe in the post- partly of the expansive economy of the Carolingian
Roman Period. Both studies apply a substantivist Empire and partly of the strategic policies pursued by
perspective. Hodges’s main term for the specialized Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian kings. Before the
sites concerned with craft and long-distance trade of foundation of the earliest emporia, according to
this period, emporia, has gained wide currency. This Hodges (1982:54 and 65), these kings had access to
word, which was used by contemporary analysts and prestige goods by means of direct contact and gift-
authors such as Bede, means “a trading place” or “a exchange with remote courts. He identifies the kings’
market place”. Hodges uses the term emporium in and chieftains’ need to control such exchange as the
order to distinguish such sites from towns of the reason for abandoning that system in favour of the
older, Roman type, which essentially fulfilled mili- emporia. The growing volume of exchange made
tary and administrative functions (episcopal sees and such control increasingly difficult, while prestige
secular administration), as well as from the towns goods were also increasingly passing through the
that grew up from the 10th century onwards, which hands of merchants rather than of emissaries sent by
mostly fulfilled regional administrative and econom- the courts themselves. If the king were to lose control
ic functions. over trade and the goods were to fall straight into the
Inspired by Polanyi and Dalton, and by sequen- hands of his kinsmen and allies, his socio-political
tial evolutionary models and taxonomies developed role as the provider of these goods would come under
by anthropologists such as Elman Service (1971), threat. As a result the kings limited exchange to
Carol Smith (1976) and Kenneth Hirth (1978), Hod- bounded and easily controlled sites (the emporia) in
ges located the emporia in a specific socio-political the boundary zones of their territories.
context, within which they played a particular eco- Hodges subdivides the emporia into three types
nomic role. Before the period of the emporia, in what (1982:50–2), which he labelled A, B and C. Emporia of
Polanyi (1963:30) called primitive economies, gift-giv- Type A are markets held in border zones, often by the
ing was predominant, and any markets that did exist coast. In a “major attempt to maximise this hitherto
were, in economic terms, of marginal significance. periodic long-distance trade” (Hodges 1982:51–2),
The emporia belonged to an economy governed by kings founded emporia of Type B, which differed
the aristocracy, lacking market trade, in other words, from their predecessors by having “planned streets
an economy of the type that Polanyi (1968:280–1) and dwellings which overlay the earlier clusters of
called archaic. Hodges (1982:16 and 50) adopted this structures” (Hodges 1982:52). The residents of empo-
view, although he also introduced terminology from ria of Type B included both foreign traders and local
Hirth (1978) and Smith (1976) by calling the emporia craftsmen. The traders brought in goods which they
“gateway communities” in “dendritic central-place sold in the emporium, and then departed with other
systems”, in other words, ports of entrance for long- goods that they could sell in other emporia (Hodges
distance trade within societies that otherwise had no 1982:56–65). The craftsmen who lived in the emporia
market trade. This stage of development was suc- met the needs of the traders for housing, clothing and
ceeded by “solar central-place systems”, which in the like. Type C was a transitional category to the
Western Europe means towns with trading and ad- next stage, the solar central-place system.
ministrative functions that appeared in the 10th–11th The involvement of local craftsmen and the need
centuries. for provisions of food from the hinterland in empo-
However, even before the era of the emporia – in ria of Type B, gradually led to the region becoming
the “primitive economies” in other words – there integrated into the economic life of the emporium.
were seasonal markets, in both Merovingian Europe Hodges (1982:148–9) considered that the exchange of
and Anglo-Saxon England. As Hodges understands goods involving the craftsmen and the hinterland
the sources concerning these (1982:49), for instance was not of a market character but was rather some-
the market of St.-Denis outside Paris, the trading thing carried out on a local basis within kin-based
there was peripheral to the economic life of the socie- networks, governed regionally by institutional mech-
ty (Bohannan and Dalton 1962), in other words, one anisms. All the same, this economic integration be-
could not trade foodstuffs, labour or land at this mar- tween the emporia and their hinterlands under-
ket (Hodges 1982:15). Markets of this kind were usu- mined royal control of the exchange of goods with
ally held at royal courts, aristocratic residences, mon- the result that the kings had to adapt to an entirely
asteries or the like. Gudme/Lundeborg on Fyn would new socio-economic situation (Hodges 1982:65). A
be a Scandinavian counterpart (Skre 2007j:446–8). factor in this development was the fact that long-dis-
Clearly both functionally and structurally differ- tance trade declined towards the end of the 9th cen-
ent from these markets were the emporia, which tury. The net result was that many emporia were

abandoned while others assumed new roles, becom- mies. It is their ordering in functional sequences and
ing emporia of Type C. These had a greater part to evolutionary models that runs into difficulties when
play in the regional economy than their predecessors, the actual evidence is considered. Such difficulties
including administrative functions for the surround- can best be identified through specific, empirical
ing territory. In this way, Type-C emporia really analyses, one of which will be worked through below.
belong to a new type of society, the state society. It To substantially challenge the validity of substan-
would appear that Hodges included this final type tivist concepts and models, the empirical basis has to
solely in order to accommodate the development of be more comprehensive than is the situation with
Birka and Hedeby from the early to middle 10th cen- Scandinavia’s specialized sites of craft and trade from
tury onwards. the period 600–1000. A suitable case-study, however,
Hodges discusses possible connexions between is the economy of Norway in the period 1000–1500.
the various stages of his sequential model and differ- This is a classic topic of Norwegian historical re-
ent forms of measuring value and means of making search, and major contributions have appeared in the
payments. He concluded that the connexions be- past two decades. A majority of these also use some of
tween these two phenomena were different in Scan- Polanyi’s terms, although at the same time they make
dinavia from those in England and in the Carolingian use of a more empirical and less theoretical approach
realm. Before the early, peripheral markets, both than one finds in studies of neo-evolutionist inspira-
areas had had particular classes of materials and tion. The relatively sophisticated view of the Nor-
objects, such as silver and gold, that were attributed wegian economy from 1000–1500 that these studies
with value. For this type of measure of value Hodges provide makes this topic a very effective one for an
employed Dalton’s term primitive valuables (Hodges examination of whether the relatively general sub-
1982:107; Dalton 1977:198–9); these were used as com- stantivist ideas and models cover the essential fea-
plementary gifts, alliance-forming gifts, etc., but not tures of the economy.
as currency for trade. The next stage of development A second reason for selecting this case-study is its
is primitive money, which was of much the same char- close chronological, social and cultural linkage to the
acter as primitive valuables, but which could also be main subject of this chapter. The analysis below thus
used as currency. Hodges wrote, with reference to also functions as an introduction to the discussion of
Birgitta Hårdh (1978), that despite minor minting in the Scandinavian emporia in the following chapter
Ribe and Hedeby from the early 8th century on- (Skre, this vol. Ch. 10). In the arguments that are
wards, primitive valuables in the form of whole silver made there seeking to explicate the economy of the
objects were the predominant measures of value in Viking Period, it is of some help to consider the econ-
Scandinavia until as late as the 10th century, when omy of the succeeding period as having emerged
hacksilver came to play the role of primitive money from that of the Viking Period. There were important
(1982:116). In the 11th century this measure of value changes in the transition from one period to the next,
and form of currency was superseded by the third such as the consolidation of the kingdom, conversion
and final mode, early cash, in the form of coined sil- to Christianity, and a new wave of urbanization.
ver and gold, the value and use of which was con- However certain lines of continuity can be traced.
trolled by a king or a bishop. In the Anglo-Saxon and Two sets of terms are used that are of particular
Carolingian emporia, early cash was always the dom- significance in the wider discussion of urbanization.
inant measure of value and currency (Hodges 1982: Absolutely central are Polanyi’s three types of ex-
117). change of goods (1957:250), which he calls forms of
integration: namely, reciprocity, redistribution and
9.2 Substantivist economics – some flaws exchange (in the sense of market exchange). Polanyi’s
The application of neo-evolutionist substantivist ap- notion of administered trade is also discussed; the
proaches to pre-industrial North-Western Europe is term means trade within archaic economies, where
weakly grounded beyond the claims of the model those in power establish fixed frameworks and sites,
itself. Contrasting the approach with well-documen- which he calls ports of trade, for trade between a local
ted changes in forms of currency, trade and the econ- aristocracy and foreign traders (Polanyi 1957:262–3;
omy shows that the reality was far more complex and 1963:30). The second set of terms is Dalton’s termi-
varied than these evolutionary and sequential models nology (1977:198–9) for measures of value: primitive
allow for. These variations were in themselves far valuables, primitive money and early cash.
from inessential or marginal phenomena; rather they
were typical and dynamic features of the economies 9.2.1 The economy of Norway c. 1000–1500
of those societies. In the 11th century a monetary system was intro-
Although the models are too coarse, several of the duced in Norway. Coins were common currency in
concepts that have been defined by substantivist eco- the towns as early as the middle of that century. In
nomic anthropologists are nonetheless helpful in the second half of the 12th century coins were also
understanding both pre-state and early-state econo- widely in use in the agrarian countryside (Gullbekk

2003; 2005). In the course of the 14th century both the of the coin, that determined its value in payment.
Norwegian kingdom and the Norwegian coinage col- Since the use of coin was more common in the towns
lapsed, and the use of coin became less common. than in rural areas throughout this period (Gullbekk
This situation continued into the 16th century. 2003, 2005), it seems likely that different people trad-
Throughout the period in which coins were used ed in the towns than traded in the country, and also
as currency, there were also transactions using com- that, to some extent, different goods were traded in
modities as currency (Steinnes 1936:66–73; Lunden the towns.
1972:76–9; 1978:19–27; Pettersen 2000; Gullbekk 2003; As can be seen, the changes in currencies and
2005; see further discussions in Skre, this vol. Ch. styles of transaction throughout this period of some
10:344–7, 352). Thorough studies show that the rela- five centuries were only loosely connected; nor do
tive values of the types of goods were highly stable they follow a chronological course of development
across the centuries. These prices therefore were that had a definite direction – i.e. towards a more
scarcely affected by supply and demand, but rather fully developed market economy. The reason why
were based upon traditional exchange values for the market trade was more common in the towns was
goods (Lunden 1978: 94–5; Pettersen 2000). This sta- presumably because there, types of goods were on
bility was not the result of regulation by any authori- sale that did not have a place in the traditional range
ty; rather, it was a product of a strong social conven- of priced goods, and so were in fact subject rather to
tion that could not be broken except at the cost of a pricing in terms of supply and demand. This was typ-
high price in lost reputation (Norseng 2000a). That ical for imported luxury goods. In times of shortage,
the prices of goods could remain stable in a society the price of fundamental subsistence goods, such as
lacking a royal authority is shown by the stability of grain, could also fluctuate greatly. It was the prices of
Icelandic prices for goods in precisely such social cir- these goods that the kings sought to control.
cumstances (Naumann 1987). At the beginning of the The king’s role in the economy seems to have
second millennium AD, this form of trade was, in the been to establish firm parameters for trade and to
overall view, the most common, although it reduced suppress speculative market prices for certain goods.
in scope as the use of coinage gradually became more The king did not regulate the prices of luxury goods
usual. When the supply of coin fell in the 14th centu- and he never attempted to control overseas trade,
ry, trade using commodities as currency again only internal trade. His objective seems to have been
became the normal form of exchange, even in the to look after the interests of the common people by
towns. As will be argued below (Skre, this vol. Ch. protecting consumers against the over-pricing of
10:344–6), the commodity-money system in this necessities (Benedictow 1972:254 n.56; Nedkvitne
period was founded upon traditions derived from the 1983:229; Norseng 1983:183–8).
Viking Period and before, when it must also have The concepts of Polanyi and Dalton noted above
been the predominant system of payment and valua- can be used to different degrees to characterize the
tion of goods. various factors affecting the exchange of goods in this
Market trade, with fluctuating prices, had cer- period. Dalton’s terms can be reconciled with the
tainly appeared from the 12th century onwards, espe- types of measures of value that have just been de-
cially in the towns and in overseas trade, albeit to a scribed: commodity-money and weighed silver are
relatively limited extent (Nedkvitne 1983:347–64; primitive money, and the coinage is early cash. Prim-
Pettersen 2000:221). From the late 13th century, the itive valuables were presumably also found in this
kings attempted to stabilize by prescription the mar- period, but these fall outside the range of this account
ket prices of a range of goods, and of labour, in the because this term refers to objects of value, such as
towns – but not the prices of goods that were ob- gifts, that could be used in ceremonial exchange, but
tained from foreign trade (Nedkvitne 1983:229–30; not to objects to be traded or used as currency for
Norseng 1983:183–8; Pettersen 2000:205; Risvaag trade (Dalton 1977:198–9).
2006:21–3). In the code of trade laws Bjarkøyretten, However, Dalton’s terminology also has an evo-
which is known from a redaction of the mid-13th lutionist character, which does not fit with the ac-
century, there are provisions that were intended to count given here. There was nothing primitive, in the
establish fixed parameters for any deal (Hagland and sense of undeveloped or simple, about the commodi-
Sandnes 1997). ty-money system. It had all the key features of a mon-
Throughout this period, it would appear that etary system, namely a fixed unit of value and defined
coins constituted one form of currency alongside media of payment, and it was well adapted to pro-
others, such as silver, hides and cloth (Pettersen duction and trade at the time (Skre, this vol. Ch. 10:
2000:203–4). In written sources, coins are usually re- 344–7, 352). The introduction of coinage, further-
ferred to as weighed amounts of silver, not in terms more, represented nothing qualitatively new purely
of denomination or number (Steinnes 1936:61; Lun- in terms of the modes of transaction, in comparison
den 1978:38): something which indicates that practi- with the means of exchange that were already pres-
cally it was the silver, in other words the metal value ent.

Dalton goes on to link his concepts to specific ury goods were not included within the traditional
social contexts, and these associations also fit poorly scales of value unless they were of gold or silver. Thus
with the economy described above. Dalton wrote gift-giving requires a high level of economic calcula-
that primitive money was used as payment in market tion. However it leaves little space for economic
trade in societies where such trade constituted only a agency, and only at the risk of a high price in the form
limited part of the economy. However market trade of loss of face.
with varying prices was not the type of transaction According to Polanyi, reciprocity may also take
that commodity-money was most commonly in. It the form of exchange of goods, as such swapping
was primarily used in what was the most common takes place between parties of equal social status at
type of trade in this period, namely the exchange of fixed prices. As noted, much trade in medieval Nor-
subsistence items at prices fixed by tradition within way was conducted at fixed prices. This trade was not,
an agrarian economy. It was also used for the pay- however, particularly linked to transactions between
ment of the tithe to the Church, for ground rent to persons of equal social status, although it could take
the landlord, and more. For these reasons Dalton’s place in such contexts. The Scandinavian sagas in-
terminology will not be used in the further discus- clude many examples of trading at fixed prices also
sion, although his criteria for distinguishing between taking place between individuals of very different
different forms of currency are still employed. social status (Norseng 2000a). The stability of the re-
Polanyi’s term administered trade (1963:30) is lations of exchange thus was not a reflection of the
manifestly concerned with a situation in which long- prominent influence of power in the relationship, but
distance trade is introduced to a society that has no rather of the fact that both parties were obliged to
market economy. The administrative instruments in respect a social norm. They had to place “honour be-
the form of treaties between those in power, the mili- fore profit”, as Helgi Porláksson has put it (1992: 242,
tary protection of trade and the like, were meant to 233).
create secure fora, ports of trade in Polanyi’s termi- It is noteworthy that it was not the use of com-
nology, where such trade could take place. As noted, modity-money that resulted in trade being conduct-
the Norwegian kings’ politics specifically did not ed according to traditionally fixed relative values.
involve the regulation of long-distance trade or of the When coins came into use as currency they were
prices of imported goods. Polanyi’s notion is there- adapted to the commodity-money price-system, in
fore ill-suited to characterize the intervention of 13th- which they too had specific values. The introduction
and 14th-century kings in the economy, even though of coins did not in itself precipitate any breakdown of
some scholars have used it (e.g. Lunden 1972:67–8 the traditional relative valuations. On the contrary,
and 86–9; Risvaag 2006:20–3). the coins were integrated into the system as one of a
Polanyi’s concept of redistribution likewise has range of currencies, more or less on a par with the
little real relevance to the economy of Norway c. wide range of goods used as commodity-money.
1000–1500. This type of exchange is supposed to be The importance Polanyi has attached to the con-
found in societies with a small market sector, if any, nexion between coinage and the market economy
and with a hierarchical structure – a description that does not fit particularly well with the economy out-
should fit Norwegian society of that period well. lined above. The introduction of coinage can be asso-
However it is impossible to identify clearly redistrib- ciated above all with the consolidation of royal
utive features in the economy of Norway at that time. power, and less with economic change. When Nor-
Polanyi’s concept of reciprocity is also a poor fit. wegian minting began around the year 1000, weighed
Polanyi classified gift-giving as one of the reciprocal silver was a common medium of payment in both
forms of exchange in which the social function rather urban and rural contexts. Purely from the viewpoint
than the economic aspect of the exchange – the actu- of how transactions are effected, there is little differ-
al value of the object – was crucial. As Bourdieu ence between weighed silver and coin, as long as
points out, however, the most important difference there is an accepted system of weights. In this light,
between gift-giving and purchasing is the temporali- the important change did not take place with the
ty of the transaction. While purchasing implies that introduction of coinage in the 11th century but rather
provision and payment coincide in time, a suitable over the 150 years from the second quarter of the 9th
time has to pass between the gift-giving and the century in which weighed silver became increasingly
counter–gift-giving so as to maintain the social fic- common as a form of currency, first in the towns and
tion that gift-giving and counter–gift-giving are then in the countryside (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:162;
“inaugural acts of generosity” (Bourdieu 1990:112). Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114, 118).
Like purchasing, gift-giving and counter–gift-giving As can be seen, many of Dalton and Polanyi’s
imply a careful calculation of value, as the counter- premisses can be applied to the economy of Norway
gift has to match the gift in value in order to achieve in the period 1000–1500. But the evolutionist charac-
the intended social effect. The calculation of the value ter of their theories, and the connexions they make
of gifts might have been a challenging matter, as lux- between social context, methods of payment, and

forms of transactions, do not fit at all well. The ahis- different forms of integration that characterize the
torical and evolutionist nature of their theories gives actual economy of a society (Polanyi 1957:250).
no place for the uniqueness of every historical se-
quence (Gudeman 1986:29–35). These tendencies in 9.3 Post-substantivist economics
Polanyi’s works were reinforced by neo-evolutionist It is remarkable that, even though Polanyi declared
scholars with their explicit aim of establishing ahis- formalist economic theory to be irrelevant to pre-
torical and general models of the development of industrial societies, he adopted the formalist view of
human society. Aspects of Polanyi’s theory, and in the market and market trade, also for such trade as
particular the neo-evolutionists’ development of his there was in pre-industrial situations. While he oth-
substantivist approach, run into the same sorts of erwise emphasizes the inter-connectedness of econo-
problems faced by the adherents of classic economic my and society, Polanyi’s idea of the market is com-
theory, whom Polanyi called formalists, who apply pletely anti-contextual. The market obeys only me-
contemporary economic models to pre-industrial chanical economic laws, such as that of supply and
societies. Human societies do not run according to demand, and is free of influence from social relations
rules of the kind that the models attempt to establish. (Polanyi 1957:256–7). Market transactions are under-
The analytical instruments that historical cultural taken solely with a view to economic profit. As a
disciplines have at their disposal are not of a charac- result, just like formalist economists, Polanyi bases
ter to reveal complex cultural and social connexions his understanding of the market on one single propo-
which apply universally to human society. The great- sition concerning humanity: “that individuals act
est problems are with models that associate concepts rationally in trying to satisfy their preferences”
and phenomena in synchronous social constellations (Hirsch et al. 1987:317, 318).
with diachronic sequences. As a rule, such models This, in reality rather metaphysical premiss has
encounter major problems when one tries to apply been challenged over the past few decades by anthro-
them to societies other than those upon which they pologists, economists and sociologists who have been
were formulated. The individual concepts may none- exploring the territory between those three disci-
theless be appropriate to analyses of societies in very plines. They have shown that the assumption of
different periods and places; their relevance, howev- human economic rationality is inadequate for under-
er, has to be argued for in each particular case, not standing not only the economies of pre-industrial
taken for granted on the authority of general models. societies but also the economies of modern societies.
Those of us who undertake research in the historical As the sociologists Richard Swedberg and Mark
cultural disciplines must, as a result, content our- Granovetter have written (1992:9), with reference to
selves with working at a specific level towards conclu- modern society:
sions that are valid for the time and the place that is
under investigation. Economic action is socially situated and cannot be
One further lesson is that a consciousness of the explained by reference to individual motives alone. It is
complexity of the distant past has to be reflected in embedded in ongoing networks of personal relationships
scholarly terminology. It is an easy mistake to assume rather than being carried out by atomized actors.
that societies and cultures were less complex in the
period before such complexities are documented in Swedberg and Granovetter thus make use of Pola-
written sources. The term gift-economy has, for ex- nyi’s term embedded to characterize the modern mar-
ample, been widely used in Scandinavian scholarship ket economy. The same or similar terms have been
as a term for the economies of the 1st millennium employed by a number of other scholars (e.g. Grano-
AD. But is it right to assume that just one form of vetter 1985; Gudeman 1986:44; Hirsch et al. 1987; Lie
transaction was so predominant that it was charac- 1991; Davis 1992; Lie 1992:509; Swedberg and Grano-
teristic of an economy as a whole? And even if one vetter 1992; Wilk 1996; Lie 1997:347–8; Gudeman
form were indeed dominant, terminology of this 2001; Zafirovski 2001).
kind would create a misleading impression of unifor- Since the notion of “embeddedness” cannot
mity (Moreland 2000b:32–3). There are good reasons therefore be reserved for the economies of pre-indus-
to believe that the majority of transactions in this trial societies alone, as Polanyi would have it, the
period were undertaken with reference to fixed rela- foundations of the sharp substantivist distinction
tions of value, and thus according to social norms between the market economies of industrial societies
that left no space for negotiation over price. Polanyi, and the embedded economies of pre-industrial soci-
however, refers to gift-giving as just one of several eties vanish. This distinction was the main plank of
forms of exchange that were practised according to Polanyi’s argument that the market is of no signifi-
such norms. Polanyi also warns against views that cance in pre-industrial societies, and that economic
elevate one of his forms of integration into some- dealings in those contexts have to be understood with
thing that characterizes an economy as a whole. It is reference to social relations rather than economic
the combination of, and the interplay between, the mechanisms.

Since the market is also embedded, the sharp dis- absent; rather, he demonstrates that they are usually
tinction Polanyi draws between us, who live in mod- constrained by social norms, and that in extreme sit-
ern societies, and them, who lived in pre-industrial uations they supersede those norms (Swedberg and
contexts, also disappears. Moreland uses Ricoeur’s Granovetter 1992:12).
terms Same and Other (Moreland 2000b:2; Ricoeur Polanyi’s idea of redistribution can be challenged
1994). Ancient socio-economic formations may then, in the same manner; it may be more productive to
just like contemporary ones, be understood in both regard transactions of this sort as trade between indi-
social and economic terms. The sociologist John Lie viduals who are at different levels within a hierarchi-
(1997:350), using terminology adopted from Grano- cal social structure, while the prices of goods are
vetter (1985:483), characterizes this approach thus: determined by tradition and relations of power.
Polanyi’s notion of administered trade (1963:30) is
In avoiding the oversocialized (e.g. the substantivist skewed and inadequate in that it directs attention to
school in economic anthropology) and undersocialized the administrative framework and away from the
(e.g. the economic approach) approaches, it seeks to economic aspects of the trade in question. The eco-
strike a correct balance in analyzing markets and other nomic aspects of trade in primitive societies are like-
economic phenomena and institutions. wise defined out of significant existence by the term
peripheral market exchange (Bohannan and Dalton
For Polanyi, the free determination of price on the 1962). Both the economic facets of trade and its
basis of supply and demand is diagnostic of market embeddedness in social relations and norms have to
trade. But if the market is also embedded in society, be brought into the analysis in order to understand
the determination of price will never take place com- the socio-economic phenomena that these ideas
pletely independently of the social context, be that attempt to describe.
pre-industrial or modern. All exchanges of goods in If market trade is regarded as embedded, it does
every social situation will have an economic element, not become necessary to make fundamental assump-
in other words, an element of the type that Polanyi tions about people’s innate tendencies, in the way
finds only in the market economy. An economic way that the formalists do, nor to postulate absolute con-
of thinking therefore cannot be associated with mod- nexions between types of transactions and social con-
ern society alone, as Polanyi would have it. It could stellations in the manner of the substantivists. Rather,
have been a factor in any period. it can be profitable to start from the basis that it is
This does not in any way mean that the mecha- within the compass of human possibility to trade as
nisms of the market economy, such as determination both an economic and a social agent, and that the
of price by supply and demand, play an equally signif- interplay between certain social and cultural condi-
icant role in both modern and pre-modern societies. tions will give different groups and individuals oppor-
The social circumstances will always constrain the tunities to develop themselves within the space mar-
impact of mechanisms of this kind. As Swedberg and ked out between economic motives and social duties:
Granovetter put it (1992:10, their italics), the “level of as Richard Wilk expresses it (1996:146–53), between
embeddedness [of the economy] varies considerably shortsighted, individual economic motives and far-
– both in industrial and pre-industrial societies.” sighted, altruistic, social norms. Pierre Bourdieu
A number of the fundamental concepts of sub- (1990:113–16) adopts the same intellectual stance
stantivism are challenged by this view: for instance when he writes that economic agency is situated in the
the distinction drawn by Polanyi between market area between a “man of good faith” who bases all ex-
trade and reciprocity. Reciprocal exchanges – exchange on trust and generosity and “the shady deal-
changes between parties of equal status at normalized er”, who always allows “interested calculation” to
prices, which should appear within closely integrated govern his business.
societies (Polanyi 1957:252–3) – can be considered as Bourdieu, however, goes one interesting step fur-
trade, in Polanyi’s terminology market exchange, ther when he points out that “interested calculation
embedded in, variously, kinship, tribal or neigh- … is never absent from the generous exchange”
bourly structures. This sort of trade can be seen as (1990:114–15). The real contrast to the transactions of
both social relationship and economic transaction. the shady dealer is that good-faith economy is “based
The anthropologist and substantivist Marshall Sah- on a set of mechanisms tending to limit and disguise
lins (2004:277–314) argues intensely for the absence, the play of (narrowly) ‘economic’ interests and calcu-
as a matter of principle, of the market economy in lation.” Bourdieu thus introduces a distinction be-
pre-industrial societies, devoting a whole chapter of tween the individual’s own, private assessment and
his book Stone Age Economics to showing that the rel- calculation of the transaction and the positions acted
ative values of goods in such societies are fixed, and out in the public domain vis-à-vis the parties to the
that they are only altered as a result of profound trade and others. Economic agency may thus clothe
influences, such as famine. What he really demon- itself with hints of social agency, and so become so-
strates, though, is not that market mechanisms are cially accepted, and play a different social role than it

otherwise would have. Bourdieu uses this distinction study of prehistoric and pre-industrial societies. The
(1990:112–21) to create space for what he calls symbolic one scholar, apart from Bourdieu, who has made the
capital, a term for the social profit that is achieved by most extensive attempt to develop analytical instru-
gift-giving. The main difference between “the man of ments for such situations, is Lie, who has outlined
good faith” and “the shady dealer” is their different certain social and structural parameters that allow
emphasis on the two types of capital one can try to for various grades of opportunity of economic agency
accumulate in transactions: symbolic and economic. (Lie 1992;510–15). He attaches importance to whether
Equally of interest is the importance Bourdieu trade is intra-regional or inter-regional, whether it is
attaches to whether the parties to the transaction are open (with popular involvement in trade) or closed
members of dense or loose social networks. Intimate (with only certain groups having access to trade), on
and long-term social relations give either party little whether local stratification is high or low, and on
scope for economic agency (Bourdieu 1990:115). whether national circulation is strong or weak. The
Trade with outsiders has an element of mistrust and first of these pairs of criteria is applied in the rest of
conflict (Gustin 2004c:166–74; Skre 2007j:450–2) this chapter and that which follows (Skre, this vol.
which means that honour does not lie in the demon- Ch. 10).
stration of a normative approach, restraint and gen- Within economic anthropology, a number of
erosity, but rather in coming out of the transaction models and concepts have been developed which are
with an advantage. In contrast to the powerfully so- not based upon Polanyi’s rejection of economic an-
cial validation of economic agency in deeply em- alyses of pre-industrial societies. Although the ma-
bedded transactions within dense social networks, jority of these are located within the neo-evolutionist
there may be more honour to be gained amongst tradition, some of their concepts can still be em-
one’s own in deceiving a stranger by selling him poor ployed outside of such a structure of thought (Brum-
goods at full price or by defrauding him over weight fiel and Earle 1987; Earle 1991; Johnson and Earle
(Bourdieu 1990:115). 2000; Ensminger 2002).
A number of general observations concerning the Various terms have been used to label the direc-
analysis of economy and society can be abstracted tion within sociology, economics and anthropology
from the above. The connexions between society, that has been outlined here, and which has had cer-
culture, social norms and economy are so complex tain impacts within archaeology too (Gustin 2004c:
that absolute linkages between specific combinations 40–4; Sindbæk 2005:27–9). Swedberg and Grano-
of the basic conditions cannot be postulated. Each vetter’s term the new economic sociology (1992) does
individual economic history has to be examined not fit the archaeological context well. Lie’s term the
empirically. The market is not an ahistorical entity: embeddedness approach (1997:349–51) works best in
markets should be regarded as “historically variable sociology and economics, as it emphasizes its con-
social organisations constituted by traders” (Lie trast with the formalist approach that formerly dom-
1991:227). Investigations of markets, on the one hand, inated analyses of the economies of modern societies
have to map out their social parameters, which the within these disciplines. Within archaeology and his-
substantivists prioritize and, on the other, have to tory, it is Polanyi’s substantivism that is the point of
explore the economic mechanisms and modus ope- departure, and the term the post-substantivist ap-
randi. In this way, ancient markets will not appear as proach may therefore be appropriate.
theoretical abstractions based upon assumptions
about the profit-maximizing tendencies of human- 9.4 Typologizing sites of trade and craft
kind but rather as concrete, historical formations
with real actors who exploited trading opportunities 9.4.1 Hodges’s concept emporium
with reference to cultural norms, social relations and Is there really any strong connexion between the two
conflicts, structures of power, and laws. As Lie puts it principal stages in Hodges’s model, the emporia of
(1991:230): Types A and B – in other words, between seasonal
market places and permanently settled urban com-
Rather than assuming the invisible hand, we should inves- munities? It will be shown below that this is not the
tigate the concrete social relations of those who buy and case, and it is in my opinion unfortunate to group
sell; the visible hand of the market. such very different types of sites together in a single
category. The term emporium is therefore only used
With just a few exceptions, the analytical tools that in the following to refer to Hodges’s terminology and
have been developed by the sociologists and econo- classification.
mists referred to have been calibrated using analyses Emporia of Type B were derived from Type A;
of the economies of modern societies with a range of amongst the Scandinavian examples of this develop-
evidence that is rarely available to archaeologists or ment cited by Hodges are the cases of Helgö-Birka
historians (e.g. Gudeman 1998; 2001). Their termi- and Südsiedlung-Hedeby. Since 1982 the view of
nology is therefore not particularly well suited to the Helgö has changed much, and there is also a good

case to be made that there was no connexion between themselves dendrochronologically other than as ter-
Südsiedlung and Hedeby of the kind Hodges alleges. mini post quos (Schultze 2005:361). In the case of the
The comprehensive archaeological work on Hel- dating of the sunken huts, there is no definite evi-
gö of 1954–1978 revealed seven building groups, four dence to place any large number of them in the period
of which were excavated, one of them in its entirety. before Hedeby itself was founded. The 8th-century
The principal period of settlement runs from the 5th phase of Südsiedlung therefore looks like that of a
century to the 10th. There were several houses here, normal rural settlement. The large number of sunken
taking the form of a series of longhouses, together huts more probably belong to the period after
with two halls and a series of buildings that have been Hedeby had been established. In that light, Süd-
identified as workshops for craftsmen, with up to sev- siedlung appears as one of many similar settlements
enteen buildings in a single building group (Holm- that have been discovered in the vicinity of Hedeby in
qvist 1980:18). The buildings are of the same basic the last 20 years, such as Schuby (Kühn 1987),
types as are also found at rural settlements in this Gammelby (Willroth 1987), Kosel-West (Meier 1994),
region, although their quantity and the artefactual Kosel-Ost (Meier 1998b), Winning (Meier 1998a) and
finds distinguish Helgö from nearly all other sites. Füsing (Dobat 2004). These have been examined to
Spectacular finds of imported objects and precious different degrees, and are not all contemporary, but
metals showed this to be a special site (Holmqvist all belong either entirely or partly within the Hedeby
1980:10–68; Zachrisson 2004; Ljungkvist 2006:59–65). period. All, too, have the same sort of evidence of spe-
While the area was being excavated, this special char- cialized production as at Südsiedlung, probably of
acter was inferred to be the result of trade, and there- textiles in most cases (Müller-Wille et al. 2002:15–
fore Helgö was identified as a predecessor of the near- 29).These were rural settlements, of which a few were
by site of Birka (e.g. Herteig 1975; Holmqvist 1980). established before the urban settlement at Hedeby.
In 1980 Helgö was still a unique site within Scan- After the town had come into being these settlements
dinavia (Holmqvist 1980:64). In the past quarter- concentrated upon the processing of raw materials
century, however, many similar sites have been dis- that they could produce themselves to market in
covered (Skre 2007d:48–50). Their common features Hedeby. There is nothing to indicate that the 8th-cen-
include a central, aristocratic residence, and some tury phase at Südsiedlung matches Hodges’s defini-
have a plurality of houses and varying levels of evi- tion of an emporium of Type A, nor indeed that He-
dence of trade and craftwork. There is also evidence deby should be regarded as having evolved from
that they served as assembly places for people from a Südsiedlung.
large territory, accommodating cult activities, thing- Based upon what is now known about Scandi-
moots and the like. Rather than emporia, or special- navian market sites, there would appear to be only
ized sites for trade and craft at which long-distance one site that could accommodate the two stages in
trade was the key activity, these should be under- Hodges’s bipartite concept of the emporium, Ribe.
stood as aristocratic residences with diverse central- Throughout its existence, this site has evidence of
place functions, including seasonal trade and craft- long-distance trade and craftwork using imported
production (see below p. 337–8). The trade at these raw materials. It emerged in the early 8th century and
sites was for the most part regional, with a minor was abandoned in the mid-9th. The market site was
proportion of long-distance trade goods (see the only in seasonal use to begin with (Hodges’s Type A)
analysis of Borg in Sindbæk 2005:87–98). Although and came into permanent settlement in the 790s
Helgö does also have a few spectacular imported (Hodges’s Type B).
objects, it fits this general picture well. It manifestly Apart from Ribe, Hodges’s notion of a Type-A
does not fit into Hodges’s definition of Type-A emporium fits only one site, Åhus in Skåne: a season-
emporia. al market site that has rich evidence of long-distance
That Südsiedlung was long believed to have been a trade and of craft-production using imported raw
predecessor of Hedeby is due to two factors. First, it is materials. This market site was abandoned at the
located on the southern edge of the town and had same time as Ribe, in the mid-9th century, but it
already been there for about half a century when the appears never to have developed into a permanent
town was founded. Second, there appears to have settlement as Ribe did in the 790s.
been large-scale production of textiles and other ma- Apart from Ribe, it would appear that those Scan-
terials at the site (Steuer 1974:154–65). On the strength dinavian sites that fit Hodges’s definition of Type-B
of dendrochronological dating evidence, a massive emporia, Birka, Kaupang and Hedeby, appeared with
wharf-structure, implying large-scale sea-borne tra- no preliminary stage of Type A. There are very few
de, has been associated with the 8th-century pre- Scandinavian examples of emporia that fulfil Hod-
Hedeby phase of settlement here (Crumlin-Pedersen ges’s definitive criteria (2 of Type A, 4 of Type B), and
et al. 1997:68). Typical of this wharf-structure, howev- in only one case, Ribe, did a Type-A emporium
er, is the fact that none of the timbers had any sap- develop into one of Type B.
wood, so they cannot be used to date the wharves Were there other specialized sites for trade and

craft in this same period or before? Hodges (1982: that are crucial to the definition of the various types:
149–50) discussed the possibility that there could whether the sites had seasonal or permanent activity;
have been “periodic fairs” apart from the emporia, at the trade was intra-regional, inter-regional or long-
which intra-regional trade could have been under- distance; and finally whether their location in relation
taken. He concluded, though, that this was not the to political entities (at central places; on boundaries of
case. It was only the reforms of Charlemagne in the kingdoms) (Fig. 9.1).
Carolingian realm that created such sites in the 9th The final point needs to be refined. A region in
century, along with real market trade within the this regard is not delimited geographically but in eco-
boundaries of the Empire (Hodges 1982:63 and nomic terms. It is constituted of an area that is inte-
148–9). Outside the boundaries of the Empire, in grated in the economic sense: within which there is
other words in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and in regular and frequent economic interaction. Inter-
Scandinavia, competitive markets depended upon regional refers to trade between such regions that
the specialized craft-production in the emporia. does not cross profound cultural and linguistic
Hodges, however, stressed that this development boundaries. In this case that would mean that it takes
took place only because it was promoted by the kings place within Scandinavia, which in a certain sense
(1982:163): “The central role of power in the develop- can be regarded as one cultural and linguistic zone
ment is beyond question.” (Fenger 1992; Hastrup 1992; Meulengracht Sørensen
In the past quarter-century, a number of sites 1992). In the period under discussion, trade of this
have been found in England that do not fit this view. kind was primarily at the aristocratic level, and con-
As Ben Palmer (2003:48–9), and Katharina Ulm- stituted the first step towards the economic integra-
schneider and Tim Pestell (2003:1) state, these finds tion of the regions. Ohthere’s voyage to Skiringssal
challenge Hodges’s understanding of the socio-polit- and Hedeby provides an example. Long-distance
ical context and economic role of the emporia. In trade differs by crossing major cultural and linguistic
Scandinavia and around the Baltic, too, there are a boundaries, and also, usually, by by-passing regions
number of sites that conflict with this model. Most of that are not involved in this trade. The importance
these appeared before the year 800; the character of attached to the cultural and linguistic boundaries is
trade there is varied; they fit into diverse local situa- related to the quite different degree of economic
tions; and not all of them can be associated with kings agency that can be enacted in loose as opposed to
or an aristocracy. As in England, the discovery of dense social networks (above, p. 335).
such sites in Scandinavia and around the Baltic com- The perception of Helgö as a predecessor of Birka
pletely explodes Hodges’s representation of trade developed, as noted, in a period during which this
and of specialized sites of craft and trade in Scan- site was more or less unique in the archaeological
dinavia from c. AD 600–1000. The identification of record. Nowadays Helgö can be accommodated as
such sites is partly due to the discovery of new sites, one of quite a large number of complex sites where
such as Fröjel on Gotland, Sebbersund on the Lim- there is evidence of craft-production and trade:
fjord in Jutland, Uppåkra in Skåne, and Tissø on Tissø, Uppåkra, Sorte Muld and Gamla Uppsala, for
Sjælland (Skre 2007j:452–8). But many of them have instance (Hjärthner-Holdar et al. 2002:164–9). The
also been identified as a result of more detailed study evidence of craft and trade at these sites is copious,
and re-assessment of sites that have long been but it is still only a limited part of the evidence of
known, such as Sorte Muld on Bornholm and Lödde- activity there. These were much more complex sites,
köpinge in Skåne. Earlier scholarship regarded the and therefore the craft and trade have to be seen as
latter two, like many other sites with evidence of just elements of a greater whole. At their hearts, these
trade and craftwork, as significant centres of long- sites were aristocratic residences with political, reli-
distance trade. However, more precise analyses of the gious and juridical functions for their surrounding
structures and finds reveal that these were sites of territories. Their seasonal market trade was congru-
markedly differing character (Sindbæk 2005). ent with these other roles. The evidence of craft and
trade at these sites has to be viewed in its full context.
9.4.2 An alternative typology of sites As a result, it is inappropriate to label them with
The foregoing discussion means that Hodges’s two Hodges’s term emporium, for sites of that kind are
categories of emporia, Types A and B, can be kept not multifunctional but are exclusively sites for craft
(below, Types 3 and 4), but that the number of Scan- and trade. The actual sites in question also lack the
dinavian sites these terms can be applied to is restrict- quantities of objects of long-distance trade that
ed to just two and four, respectively. The discussion Hodges’s term presupposes. Multifunctional com-
has also demonstrated that there is a need for further plexes of this type are quite accurately characterized
categories so as to be able to designate all of the vari- by Walter Christaller’s term “central place” (1966:
ous kinds of specialized sites of craft and trade. Two 14–26), and I would call the activity at some of them
new categories will be described here (Types 1 and 2). that has left extensive evidence of craft and trade cen-
The discussion has further identified three criteria tral-place markets (Type 1; Fig. 9.1).

Permanence Trade Context Site, Date 600 700 800 900 1000
1. Central-place Seasonal Inter- / Central place Old Uppsala

markets intraregional Tissø
➞
Uppåkra
➞
Helgö
➞
Sorte Muld
➞
Lundeborg
2. Local Seasonal Intraregional Independent? Löddeköpinge

markets Sebbersund
Fröjel
3.Nodal Seasonal Long distance, Border area? Ribe I

markets inter- / intraregional Åhus I-II
4.Towns Permanent Long distance, Border area Ribe II

inter- / intraregional Hedeby
Kaupang
Birka
The identification of specialized sites of craft and few of these sites did belong to central-place com-
trade at central places requires sufficient archaeologi- plexes.
cal work to have been undertaken. At most major The Scandinavian sites that produce extensive
aristocratic farmsteads there will be some evidence of evidence of trade and craft that Hodges grouped as
specialized craft-production, and weights, coins, his emporia of Types A and B thus can be divided
hacksilver and other items that can be associated with into two additional categories using the criteria
trade will be found. If there is only a small amount of explained (Fig. 9.1). The datings of the various cate-
finds, however, this could all be limited to produc- gories of sites show, as Callmer has already noted
tion for and trade with the permanent residents of (1995), that prior to the year 700 trade and craft-pro-
the site. To categorize them as central-place markets, duction were linked to aristocratic farmsteads (Type
the quantity of finds has to be so large that it can be 1: central-place markets). Here these were seasonal
explained only in terms of production for and trade activities, and the locations are sites that produce evi-
with a visiting population (Skre 2007j:455–8). dence of other central-place functions. From the
To some extent the same sort of range of finds, beginning of the 8th century onwards, markets of
but in a rather different local context, is encountered two new kinds were founded: Type 2, local markets,
at sites that I call local markets (Type 2; Fig. 9.1). These apparently independent seasonal markets of essen-
are sites such as Sebbersund (Christensen and Jo- tially intra-regional significance; and Type 3, market
hansen 1992), Fröjel (Carlsson 1991; 1999) and Lödde- sites that are also connected to the long-distance
köpinge (Svanberg and Söderberg 2000). The arte- trade networks and which are therefore called nodal
factual finds at such sites constitute only a small pro- markets, corresponding to emporia of Hodges’s Type
portion of long-distance trade goods, and the crafts- A. Towards the end of the 8th century and around the
men largely made use of local raw materials (Sind- year 800, Type 4 was established, the permanently
bæk 2005:76–8 and 87–97). This shows that these occupied urban settlements that I call towns (Skre
were not nodes of the long-distance trading network 2007d:45–6; 2007b:452–5), corresponding to emporia
but rather seasonal market sites of, essentially, intra- of Hodges’s Type B.
regional significance. This category includes every-
thing from major market sites, like those referred to 9.5 Kings and trade
above, to the many small landing places and beach Central-place markets were clearly situated at aristo-
markets (Carlsson 1991; Ulriksen 1998; Dobat 2007). cratic centres, while towns were located at the
Like the previous category, it can be difficult to iden- boundaries of the kingdoms that royal powers were
tify the boundary between these and sites with more establishing in this period (Skre 2007j:458–63). With
specialized production, which might, for instance, both categories of sites, then, a connexion with the
have been undertaken at the instigation of the local aristocracy is clear, even if in different forms, as the
ruler rather than for sale of the products to visiting central-place markets belong with socio-political
traders and consumers. The absence of clear central- structures with their roots in the Roman Iron Age
place features in the localities may also be due to a while the towns were founded by the royal power that
lack of archaeological investigation, and more de- grew from the 8th century onwards; in any event by a
tailed studies may, as a result, come to show that a very high-status aristocracy, which in some cases, in

probably horizontal networks of co-operative rela-

Figure 9.1 Using the criteria of permanency, range of trade, tions rather than hierarchical structures in which
and local context, Scandinavian and Baltic sites with exten- dominance and dependency were the critical binding
sive evidence of trade and craft-production can be divided elements.
into four types. The datings show the periods of the trading Turning the attention beyond the Scandinavian
and productive activity, not the entire functioning lives of homelands, the Slavonic market sites along the
the sites. The sites listed under Types 1 and 2 are representa- southern and eastern shores of the Baltic, with
tive examples, but Types 3 and 4 show all the known exam- greater or lesser Scandinavian elements in their
ples of these types. ranges of finds, such as Groß Strömkendorf (Reric),
Ralswiek, Wolin, Elbla̧g (Truso) and Staraja Ladoga,
can also be classified as nodal markets for long-dis-
tance trade between the Scandinavian and Slavonic
areas.
Kings, then, founded towns and nodal markets.
What does this imply about their relationship with
the economy, and especially about their scope and
motives to control it? Hodges regarded all trade in
this period as being administered by the aristocracy,
and so considered the establishment and develop-
ment of sites of Types 3 and 4 to be the outcomes of
England and on the Continent, was ecclesiastical political decisions. Hodges thus expressed a very
(Verhulst 2000:112). strong belief in the ability of kings to control both the
The socio-political position of local and nodal economy and society.
markets, however, is less clear. Given that all other There is clear evidence that kings played a part in
sites with substantial evidence of long-distance trade establishing and moving markets and towns. The
were linked to the royal power, one would assume classic Scandinavian example is King Godfred’s plun-
that nodal markets also had such connexions. In its dering of Reric and relocation of the negotiatores
early phase as a nodal market, Ribe appears to have there to Sliesthorp, an operation that can be counted
been associated with royal authority (Näsman as the foundation of Hedeby (Rau 1955:78–81; Schult-
2000:56; Skre 2007j:458). Ribe is situated in a liminal ze 2005; Skre 2007j:458–9). The foundation of towns
region between the Danes and the Frisians, and thus of this kind, even if rather less dramatically, is widely
has the same kind of boundary location as the four attested over the next three centuries. It is also clear
Scandinavian towns and the Anglo-Saxon towns of that kings played a major role in the establishment of
the same period. In the case of Åhus, the situation is a secure legal basis for trade, both as legislators and as
more difficult, as the political entities of the 8th cen- the guardians of peace. The establishment of stan-
tury and their possible boundaries are quite obscure dards for weights and coinage was also the kings’
– apart from the fact that there was a king of the duty. The royal administration of rights and respon-
Danes called Angantyr in the early 8th century. This sibilities in the towns is well documented, as, with
name is also recorded in the Danish royal dynasty of reference to 9th-century Birka, in Vita Anskarii. The
the 9th century, which might indicate that the same exaction of taxes and tolls was probably a feature of
dynasty had also been ruling in the 8th (Andersen Viking-period Scandinavian towns just as it was in
1985:21–2). This, however, is extremely uncertain, their contemporary and earlier Anglo-Saxon and
and so too is the matter of what territory these kings Carolingian counterparts (Ulmschneider and Pestell
ruled at various dates. In light of the later extent of 2003:6–7).
the kingdom, it is possible that Åhus lay on the east- Kings could thus make provision for, stimulate,
ern border of the Danish king’s territory, on a border or create opportunities for economic agency within
with the various peoples of the Baltic zone. But this is the population. The kings could likewise control the
no more than a possibility. organization of production in and trade from their
As far as the knowledge of the archaeology of own properties, and perhaps influence, to a degree,
their hinterlands goes, neither Ribe nor Åhus was the same concerning the remainder of the aristocra-
part of a central-place complex, even though Näs- cy. But it is a big step from this situation to the as-
man (2000:59) suggests a connexion with the centre sumption that kings could generally control and
at Vä some kilometres inland in the latter case. The direct economic agency within the population, name-
large number of greater or lesser local markets that ly in production, trade and consumption, as Hodges
grew up in the 8th century similarly do not appear to presupposes. The scope for royal control that Hodges
form part of any clear, local, socio-political system. implies was not to be found in the Scandinavian
Of course they must have played a role in some sort kingdoms in the 11th and 12th centuries. The kings of
of socio-political structures, but those were most that period thus had much less power than Hodges

postulates for the kings of the period three or four Frisian or Slavonic trading vessels in the harbours of
centuries earlier. Kaupang or Hedeby.
There is really no reason to believe that the kings’ It is the unconsidered use of the term gateway
capacity to control and direct the economy had fallen community that has led Hodges astray here. He
over time. A general perspective suggests that pro- derives this term from Hirth (1978), who constructed
duction and trade grow out of natural conditions, a general model of the early importation of long-dis-
social relationships, cultural norms and an economic tance goods on the basis of empirical evidence from
agency – all of which lay well beyond the range of Mexico c. 1200-500 BC. However one of the essential
control of the earliest kings. Hodges’s assessment of conditions of this model disappears when transferred
the ability of kings to control and direct the economy by Hodges to Viking-period Scandinavia. Hirth
has no empirical support, but is rather based upon (1978: 37) wrote that gateway communities are found
his substantivist view that economic agency played in circumstances in which “transportation is difficult
no autonomous social role. Consequently he opts to or underdeveloped”. This is hardly the case with the
assign the dynamic to the political sphere. Viking Period in Scandinavia, when both the greater
and the lesser aristocracy had ships that could take
9.6 The significance of long-distance trade them to sites from which exclusive and exotic goods
For Hodges, long-distance trade in luxury goods was could be obtained, either by way of plunder or
the key to understanding towns and nodal markets, through trade.
which he called emporia. According to him, these The establishment of nodes for long-distance
were founded by kings in order to attract traders who trade, thus, can hardly have had enormous impact on
could supply those kings with attractive goods from the availability of exclusive and exotic goods for the
distant lands. However the large body of archaeologi- highest aristocracy. They had their own connexions
cal evidence from these sites right across Northern and channels many centuries before the Viking
Europe shows that luxury items constituted only a Period. On the occasion of his visit around the year
very limited proportion of what was imported. The 890, Ohthere called King Alfred his hlaford, meaning
great majority of imports were essential goods, such “lord” (Bately 2007:44); apparently a well-established
as quernstones, whetstones, cooking vessels, and raw relationship that could also have been exploited to
materials for craftsmen, together with rather ordi- allow one to dispose of one’s own goods and obtain
nary jewellery for the use of the non-aristocratic sec- new ones, as both gifts and objects of trade.
tor of society. Contrary to Hodges’s view, therefore, it would
The paucity of exclusive and exotic goods such as appear that the towns were not especially crucial for
expensive weaponry, drinking vessels, furs, clothing the supply of attractive, imported goods to the elite.
and jewellery from stratified deposits cannot proper- It appears more likely that long-distance trade in-
ly be interpreted as evidence that such were not trad- creased the scope for the lower aristocracy and the
ed in the towns and nodal markets. Items such as ordinary farmers to obtain goods. Men such as
these would not have been casually lost, but rather Ohthere bought and sold goods in these places, and
kept with care. Indeed, exclusive imported goods did the crews of these men’s ships would presumably
find their way into the richly furnished graves from have taken advantage of the opportunity too. Con-
this period that can be found over much of Scandi- sequently a high proportion of the goods that were
navia. Is there, however, any reason to postulate that offered for sale in towns and nodal markets were
such goods would, as a rule, have entered the region probably within the means of a wide spectrum of the
via towns and nodal markets? Some of these sites population. The widespread occurrence of the hum-
have cemeteries, and in some of those there are bler sorts of imported goods and craft-products in
graves with rich, imported grave goods (Blindheim et Scandinavian Viking-period graves shows, further-
al. 1999; Arbman 1940–1943). Many of those objects more, that access to those items was quite common
were probably unloaded from ships in the harbour (Solberg 2003:223). The goods that came to towns
close by. However the majority of graves with expen- and nodal markets through long-distance trade went
sive foreign objects, such as the silks in the Oseberg on to reach both the local aristocracy and the popula-
and Ladby burials, were located away from towns or tions of the average agrarian settlements (Bäck 1997;
nodal markets. Based on what is known of sea travel Müller-Wille et al. 2002), who probably visited those
in the Viking Period, there is little reason to suppose sites or achieved the goods through trade within the
that such items were bought in the closest towns, regional economic networks.
which in those cases were Kaupang and Hedeby. The Another social group that gained access to the
frequency of Viking-period voyages to England, new goods by way of long-distance trade consisted of
Ireland, the Carolingian realm, the Baltic, and down particular sets of craftsmen (Gaut, in prep.; Pedersen,
the Russian rivers, should indicate that the aristocra- in prep.; Wiker, in prep.). In the towns and nodal
cy had a much wider range of ways to obtain attrac- markets there is evidence of production using im-
tive goods than just sitting and awaiting the arrival of ported raw materials such as glass, lead and bronze.

There is little if any evidence of such production at and ensure. It is not, though, the degree of specializa-
other types of sites (Sindbæk 2005:97). From such tion that distinguishes the products of craft in towns
raw materials, metalcasters certainly also produced and nodal markets from those that were produced at
exclusive artefacts that had only a few, well-off cus- local markets and central-place markets. It is instead
tomers. There is nothing, however, to indicate that the types of raw materials that some of the craftsmen
the productive work of the Scandinavian glass-bead were using. In towns and nodal markets and at these
makers was in the least bit exclusive. This was rather a other sites alike, there is evidence of craft-production
form of mass production of quite simple items. The involving bone, antler, iron and other local raw
same image emerges concerning the majority of the materials. However, as noted, evidence of craftwork
metalcasters’ output, judging from the remains left making use of imported raw materials such as glass,
behind by them. Their production was primarily tar- lead and bronze is virtually only found in towns and
geted at the average population, not just the aristoc- nodal markets. This is presumably due to the fact that
racy, nor even at the merchants at the sites, as Hodges it was here that such raw materials could be obtained;
imagined. hardly because these craftsmen had a particular need
Since 1982, Hodges (2000:83) has taken account of protection as assumed by Hodges. That evidence
of the huge amount of archaeological evidence of of these craftsmen is found at these few sites must
craft-production of goods in towns and nodal mar- also have something to do with the permanent char-
kets. In light of this he has adjusted his model, and acter of the towns and the good marketing condi-
proposed that it was not long-distance trade so much tions which allowed the craftsmen to settle there on a
as this specialized craft-activity that towns and nodal more or less permanent basis.
markets were established in order to both control

Dealing with Silver: 10

Economic Agency in South-Western
Scandinavia AD 600–1000
dag f i n n s k re
In the present chapter, points and conclusions arising from discussions in chapter 9 will be applied to
the results from the other chapters in this volume with a view to identifying the dynamic elements within
the economic expansion during the Viking Period in South-Western Scandinavia.
Prior to c. AD 700 specialized sites for trade and craft were found only in association with aristocratic
central places. Here trade was conducted essentially within dense social networks, and the scope for eco-
nomic agency was severely restricted by traditionally fixed prices for goods and by the loss of reputation
that would have followed any exposure of economic motives in such dense relationships.
Right down to c. 825, trade in Scandinavia was conducted almost entirely as a commodity-money sys-
tem, with gold weighed in aurar as the common measure of value, and essential goods as the media of
exchange. If traders from afar were not offered payment in goods they were interested in, they would have
demanded payment in silver, which had been the preferred currency since the end of the 7th century in the
Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon lands. This is probably the functional background to the minting of sceattas
at Ribe, apparently the only Scandinavian 8th-century site where silver was used as currency.
When the three towns of Ribe, Hedeby and Kaupang were founded around AD 800, each had a perma-
nent population that depended upon selling what it produced for its survival. This, together with the
increased level of long-distance trade that these towns made possible, expanded the scope for economic
agency. Although goods were still the most important form of currency, silver in the form of Western coins
was probably a usable currency from the start at Hedeby and Kaupang, while local sceattas were the usable
currency at Ribe. Around 825 coins were struck at Hedeby and Ribe, and around the same time hacksilver
came into use as currency in Kaupang. Both of these were probably elements of an integrated policy of the
King of the Danes to create normalized currencies in his kingdom. A special type of payment-ring, the
Duesminde, can be linked to this initiative, which probably also included an active policy of melting down
Islamic, Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon coins.
When the Danish kingdom started to fall apart in the 850s, this policy could no longer be maintained,
and fragmented Islamic coins gradually became common in South-Western Scandinavia, as they had long
been around the Baltic. This coincided with a powerful economic recession in the Anglo-Saxon and
Carolingian economies and trade, with the result that Ribe was abandoned while Hedeby and Kaupang sur-
vived on trade with the Baltic and Western Scandinavia. The stronger integration of Hedeby and Kaupang
into the Baltic trading network may help to explain why a new, common weight-standard was adopted in
these areas in the 860s and 870s, manifested in the cubo-octahedral weights.
In the 10th century, silver became a common form of currency beyond the towns as well. However,
throughout the period under discussion here, payment in goods must have remained the most common
payment method in both the towns and most rural areas. The most fundamental transformative role played
by the towns regarding the Scandinavian economies had little to do with forms of currency. Their deepest
significance in the development of the Scandinavian economies lay in the opportunity that the loose social
networks, created by long-distance trade and the urban way of life, provided for the emergence of economic
agency.
10. skre: dealing w ith silver 343

The great expansion of trade and economic life prices in trade of this kind were strongly controlled
throughout the Viking Period cannot be explained by traditional valuations, and transactions were pri-
without allowing for a significant degree of economic marily exchanges in kind (Sawyer 1990). Tradition-
agency amongst landowners, craftsmen (Callmer ally determined prices for goods like this are known
2002), agrarian producers, and indeed also amongst through scattered and diverse sources from the end
groups who were involved more or less in purely of the Viking Period through to the 16th century
trading itself – the buying and selling of goods they (Steinnes 1936; Lunden 1972; Naumann 1987). The
themselves had not produced. In this chapter an system of goods prices in these sources demonstrates
attempt will be made to identify the social groups that one or maybe a few goods, evidently goods that
who participated in production and trade, and to were consistently needed and which were produced
investigate what scope the historical situation in the to a consistent quality, had an additional function –
period AD 600–1000 gave these groups to exercise they became the common measure of value for the
economic agency. other goods (Skre, this vol. Ch. 9:331).
In the first section of the present chapter (10.1), Money has three functions. It can serve as curren-
this set of questions will be analysed with reference to cy, as a measure of value, and as a means of saving. In
each of the four types of sites defined in Chapter 9. modern societies these functions are commonly uni-
The procedure will be to show what opportunities for fied in just one form, coinage, but in earlier times
economic agency various social groups had, and to they were most commonly divided amongst various
link this to the historical situation they had to operate media. In the period 1000–1500 goods were com-
within, especially to changes in forms of currency. In monly used as currency in Scandinavia. As a measure
the second section of the chapter (10.2) another of value, on the other hand, silver was the norm.
essential aspect of the economic expansion is treated: Relative values amongst a large number of different
the production of agricultural surplus and of long- kinds of goods were much more easily kept track of
distance trade goods. when they were defined according to a common
measure. In transactions, silver could serve as the
10.1 Silver and sites AD 600–1000 common measure used to value the goods involved,
although no silver was exchanged. The weight of sil-
10.1.1 Central-place markets before AD 700 ver was given in øre or marks of silver (Lunden
How were various forms of trade put into practice at 1978:20–7; Naumann 1987:376–7). In some regions in
this early date, and what scope for economic agency Norway the value of a productive and healthy cow,
was there? As Callmer would interpret the finds from called the kyrlag, was also an important unit. Ice-
Southern Sweden (1995:65–6), craftsmen in this area landic sources show that the most important export
prior to c. AD 700 were essentially involved in pro- from the island, wool, fulfilled the role as a measure
ducing one-off items, presumably, therefore, to spec- of value there (Naumann 1987:379–80).
ifications given directly by their customers. Crafts- As a measure of value and a currency, silver is first
men were primarily situated within regions, within found in Scandinavia at the beginning of the 8th cen-
the parameters of dense social networks. Production tury, with the striking of sceattas at Ribe. This does
largely took place where the customer lived, although not, however, seem to have led to silver gaining such
there was also production at central-place markets a role beyond Ribe. Silver must have taken on the role
(Hjärthner-Holdar et al. 2000:164–9). of a measure of value in the rest of Scandinavia in the
Since production was done to order, both the period between the second quarter of the 9th centu-
production and trading of the products of craft ry, when it was first used as a currency in the towns,
would have taken place within a relationship between and the mid–late 10th century, when numerous
the producer and the customer. This relationship hoards show that silver was then commonly found
must at least have lasted from the first contact con- even in rural areas as a means of saving (Pedersen, this
cerning what was to be made, through the stages of vol. Ch. 6:162; Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:98–9; see below,
specification and the sequence of manufacture, on to pp. 347–52).
delivery and payment. The duration of this relation- Two elements allow the media of payment of the
ship indicates that a relationship of trust was estab- Late Viking Period to be characterized as integral
lished which probably involved some element of parts of a commodity-money system, distinguishing
power. Close and durable social relations left the two the trade from barter involving a limited use of silver.
parties little scope for economic agency (Bourdieu The first of these is the existence of one dominant
1990:115; Skre, this vol. Ch. 9:335). measure of value, silver, in which the prices of goods
The same would be the case for all trade in essen- were expressed. The second is the fact that the most
tial items that took place within local communities, common form of currency was goods rather than the
independent of market sites, and between people medium in which value was measured, namely silver.
who knew one another or were connected by indirect Can these features be traced to the beginning of the
social ties. As is well documented for later periods, Viking Period, or even earlier?

As Christoph Kilger shows (this vol. Ch. 8:270–1), 8:298) as goldsmiths’ caches of raw material. How-
silver was the usual measure of value in the Frankish ever both the composition of the hoards (Voss 1955:
realm at the end of the 7th century, when it supersed- 213–17; Munksgaard 1956:64–6) and the clear concen-
ed gold, which had served that purpose since the tration at the only major market site of this period,
Roman Period. The same switch from gold to silver as Lundeborg (Runge 2007:7), indicate rather that at
the measure of value took place in the Anglo-Saxon least some of these finds have to be regarded as cur-
kingdoms at the same time (Spufford 1988:19– 22). In rency hoards. Frands Herschend’s analysis of hoards
Scandinavia too, the common measure of value be- of fragmented and whole gold objects from the 3rd to
fore the silver age must have been gold, which was the 5th century on Öland concluded that the gold was
weighed in units of the early øre: a term that etymo- acquired in Central Europe as payment for the agri-
logically is derived from the Latin word for gold, cultural surplus production, most probably of wool
aurum. The existence of weight-standards and gold (Herschend 1980:230–49).
objects adjusted by weight from the 3rd century to the Altogether, these finds provide reason to con-
6th shows that gold was then valued according to clude that fragmented gold was used to a certain,
weight (Brøgger 1921; Steinnes 1936; Bakka 1978; Her- albeit a rather limited, degree as currency in trade
schend 1980; Munksgaard 1980; Skre 2007j:448– 50). from the 3rd century to the 6th. The relatively rich
Both the weight-standards and the terminology finds of cut gold at central-place markets such as
of weight thus point towards gold having served a Helgö and Lundeborg show that such currency was
function as a measure of value in this period. Could in use at sites of this kind.
it, however, also have served as a currency in trade? The sort of long-distance trade that Herschend
The existence of large weight-adjusted rings indicates (1980) detected on Öland could hardly have been
that gold was exchanged in quantities of a specific undertaken by free traders on specialized sites for
value. But the rings are rather heavy, perhaps indicat- craft and trade. It was probably put into effect
ing that they were used in the payment of fines, amongst aristocratic families who already had estab-
dowries, tributes and other transactions involving lished links amongst themselves. Such exchanges of
large sums fixed by tradition. Had gold been used for specialized essential products could have been made
payment in trade, there would normally have been a both within Scandinavia and through Continental
need for a variety of values large and small, varying contacts. In the archaeological evidence, however,
according to the quality and quantity of the goods. they can only occasionally be distinguished from gift-
One would then expect the gold objects to have been exchanges, as in the special case of the gold hoards of
cut up in order to serve as payment for goods of vary- Öland. It is possible that this form of trade also made
ing values. use of cut gold and silver as currency.
A few finds of fragmented gold and weight-ad- As has been noted, one characteristic of the com-
justed objects from contexts of payment show that modity-money system is that there is a well-devel-
gold, and to a lesser degree silver, could indeed serve oped system of measuring values in a medium that is
as a currency in trade between the 3rd and 6th centu- itself used as currency only to a limited extent. In the
ry. In particular, the finding of 25 purses with 200 period c. AD 200–600, it would appear that gold ful-
gold coins, gold fragments, etc., in the major weapon filled those requirements. The most important eco-
deposit at Illerup Ådal in Jutland shows that it was nomic function of gold was probably, then, as a com-
not uncommon to carry gold as a currency as early as mon measure of value within a commodity-money
the beginning of the 3rd century AD (Ilkjær 2000:40 system, and the goods themselves must have been by
and 122). From this century and the three following far the most important form of currency in this peri-
centuries more than 70 solidi and a large number of od. Finds of gold diminish drastically towards the
fragments of gold have been found on Helgö in end of the 6th century, and from the 7th century few
Mälaren (Holmqvist 1980:22; Kyhlberg 1986a; Oddy if any gold finds are known that could suggest that
and Meyer 1986), and there are similar finds of coins this metal was still in use as a measure of value or a
and fragmented gold from the trading site of currency. However the weight-unit and the termi-
Lundeborg on Fyn (Thomsen 1993:77–80). Some of nology of aurar from the preceding period survived
the finds from these two central-place markets might into the following centuries, implying that gold did
have been goldsmiths’ raw material, but finds of gold continue to be a measure of value.
together with weights and touchstones show that The trade at the only specialized sites of craft and
some of it must indeed have been for payment. The trade of this period, the central-place markets, was
nine Danish hoards of hacksilver and gold from the quite probably practised as outlined here: using
5th and 6th centuries, the two largest of which con- goods, sometimes gold itself, as the currency for
tained 4.5 kg silver (from Høstentorp, Sjælland: Voss transactions according to prices fixed by tradition
1955) and 4.5 kg of gold (from Broholm, Fyn: Kilger, within dense social networks that limited the scope
this vol. Ch. 8:293, Fig. 8.14) have been interpreted by for economic agency. Beyond that, however, those
some scholars (e.g. Runge 2007; Kilger, this vol. Ch. meetings between the leading aristocrats of the

region provided numerous opportunities to ex- nomic character, so that this character was all the
change gifts, something that was also done on a series more bare to the eye than it was in any essentially
of other social occasions, such as when one visited intra-regional transaction within aristocratic net-
friends on journeys, or made marriage proposals, works, or any inter-regional transaction within the
and the like. regions of Scandinavia. Trade with outsiders, in loose
rather than dense social networks, was not subject to
10.1.2 Local and nodal markets in the 8th century sanctions of this kind. Rather, those to whom each
The earliest extension to the use of silver as currency trading partner was closest, saw the outwitting of a
in Scandinavia is represented by the first striking of stranger in trading as a laudable achievement (Skre,
coins, which happened shortly after the foundation this vol. Ch. 9:335).
of nodal markets. A few years after the market site at This opportunity for economic agency emerged
Ribe was founded around the year 710, large numbers primarily in the context of transactions between
of sceattas were struck for use there (Metcalf 1984; Scandinavians and foreign traders, probably mostly
Feveile 2006a:31; 2006b). This introduction of a new Frisians. However, the public revelation of the eco-
form of currency cannot be explained solely from a nomic character of these transactions would have
Scandinavian perspective, but as part of a monetiza- had consequences for the other forms of trade and
tion of trade between the towns and market sites production that took place at nodal markets. This is
which had grown up along the Carolingian and most evident in the change from the production of
Anglo-Saxon North Sea coasts (Metcalf 2007:1–2). one-off items to the mass production of various
For trade in Ribe to be of interest to those who kinds of goods. This must have been the economic
engaged in this long-distance trade, the local con- practice which those involved in trade internalized as
sumers of their goods had to be able to pay in a cur- a result of long-distance trade, thus making it possi-
rency that they were interested in receiving. The fact ble to free the production and marketing of the local
that silver came into use as a currency so swiftly after craftsmen’s goods from the dependency on the cus-
the foundation of Ribe may indicate that those who tomer involved in the sequence of order, production
brought long-distance trade goods to the site were and delivery that had hitherto reigned. At the nodal
not directly attracted by payment in the goods that markets of the 8th century, Ribe and Åhus, the first
the customers in Ribe had to offer. Payment in silver evidence of the mass production of identical items
was easy to accept because silver could be used in the and the standardization of specific types is found.
other areas to which the long-distance traders came. This was a style of production in which the con-
This has to be why the local authority, the king, mint- sumer, rather than specifying a personal order and
ed silver in the form that was in general use within then awaiting manufacture before the final transac-
this trading network, the sceatt. The preference of the tion could take place, was faced with finished goods
long-distance traders for silver may also be connect- which he or she was invited to buy. This change is
ed to the fact that they did not just transport goods evident earliest and most clearly in the production of
between two places where they knew the preferences glass beads and copper-alloy jewellery (Callmer 1995:
of their potential trading partners. Rather, they were 53–7; Feveile and Jensen 2000:17 and 22), both of
likely to take their money on to a number of other them examples of production for which the crafts-
long-distance trading sites around the North Sea man had to deal with long-distance traders in order
coasts where there were many trading partners with to obtain his raw materials. The link is probably that
different and relatively unpredictable preferences. these craftsmen carried – to their own production for
Silver was accepted everywhere, and therefore was to and marketing to Scandinavian customers who came
be preferred in payment. At such sites, the coin was to the market site – the economic agency they them-
melted down and converted into the local currency. selves enacted when obtaining raw materials from
The scope for economic agency at nodal markets long-distance traders. In this way, one can suggest
must have been greater than that within earlier trad- that these craftsmen literally embodied the change in
ing and gift-exchange, which were undertaken for the economic mentality that took place at the nodal mar-
most part in the context of well-established relation- kets. They must have been at the very core of the
ships where the social sanctions against breaches of transmission of greater economic agency into the
traditional valuations put one’s honour in jeopardy wide variety of transactions that took place in a nodal
(Bourdieu 1990:114–15; Porláksson 1992). Two aspects market.
of long-distance trade changed this situation drasti- This development in economic agency thus could
cally. Firstly, foreign items whose value could not be have had little direct connexion with the type of cur-
defined by tradition were brought in. Secondly, the rency that was used at the site. Both the necessity of
trading partners lacked social ties beyond those fleet- bringing silver into use as a currency and the greater
ing connexions implicit in the trading itself. The scope for economic agency arose because the new
absence of social ties stripped the transaction of the type of long-distance trade relationships differed
social pretence which otherwise disguised its eco- structurally from trade within dense social networks;

each phenomenon, however, was linked to separate 10.1.3 Towns in the 9th and 10th centuries
aspects of the long-distance trade relations. The con- The discussion now moves to the type of sites repre-
nexion between the new form of currency and the sented by Kaupang: the towns. In what follows, a
greater scope for economic agency was, consequent- South-Western Scandinavian perspective will be pre-
ly, not so strong that it would be inconceivable for served, although the discussion will be focused more
one to have come about without the other. Such, upon Kaupang and the other chapters in the present
indeed, must have been the case at Åhus, where silver volume. This discussion is structured around the
seems not to have come into use as currency but chronology of the changes in the silver currency, with
where standardized production was to be found just a final section on commodity-money and the oppor-
as at Ribe. This difference between Åhus and Ribe tunities for economic agency in towns.
must be due to the fact that the recipients of long-dis- The earliest finds of silver currency from Kaup-
tance trade goods at Åhus were able to make payment ang are imported coins which must have arrived in
in kind with goods that the suppliers were prepared the period AD 800–840. Few of these have been
to accept. found: three Carolingian coins, one from Ribe, and
In the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the distribution of two from East Anglia (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:56–7;
sceattas beyond the towns was limited, although their Rispling et al., this vol. Ch. 4:Nos. 6–11). As Black-
presence at various classes of trading sites and ordi- burn writes (this vol. Ch. 3:56), the three Carolingian
nary villages (Blackburn 2003; Metcalf 2007) is still so coins must have reached Kaupang after 822 but
extensive that coins must have played a major role as before 840. The two Anglo-Saxon coins must have
currency for transactions even at intra-regional mar- arrived before 840, although it is likely that they
kets as early as the 8th century. In Scandinavia sceat- reached Kaupang some time earlier, most probably
tas are found in very small quantities outside Ribe, before 825. The other silver coins from Kaupang are
essentially in high-status contexts (Metcalf 2007:7). all Islamic dirhams which reached the site after the
This suggests that it was members of high social class- middle of the 9th century, probably post-860 (Kil-
es, alongside the craftsmen who were importing raw ger’s Phase IVa: this vol. Ch. 7:228–35).
materials, who traded directly with foreign mer- After around 860 there was a massive increase in
chants. The rest of the trade at the market site, which the use of fragmented silver as currency at Kaupang.
must mainly have been amongst Scandinavians, such Silver in two forms was cut up: coins and artefacts.
as the sale of one’s surplus production and the pur- All the coins were Islamic, a coinage that was import-
chase of artisans’ products, was probably almost ened to Kaupang in great quantities throughout the sec-
tirely conducted using goods, not silver, as currency. ond half of the 9th century until some date between
Otherwise, sceattas would presumably have had a either 890 and 920 (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:54) or
much wider distribution. 920 and the early 930s (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:245). A
The trade that was going on at the local and cen- few Islamic coins found their way to Kaupang right
tral-place markets in Scandinavia during the 8th cen- down to some time between 960 and 980.
tury must also, essentially, have been conducted
using goods as currency, which would presumably Western coins c. 800–840
then have been valued according to the traditionally The only coins documented in Kaupang before
accepted scales. On the other hand, there was a cer- around 860 were West European silver coins (Black-
tain, wide-ranging standardization of the products of burn, this vol. Ch. 3:57; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:243–6).
craftwork, such as combs (Callmer 1995:65–6), indi- As Blackburn points out (this vol. Ch. 3:58), the im-
cating that craftsmen generally discovered opportu- portation of Western coins was limited to the same
nities for economic agency, and that the production period at both Birka and Uppåkra. In Hedeby too,
and marketing of their products grew less dependent practically all of the Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon
upon social relations even at the level of intra-region- coins are from the period up to the middle of the 9th
al production and trade. This change probably century (a total of 9 of the 137 coins from graves and
occurred because the blatant exercise of economic urban deposits: Wiechmann 2007:37–8, figs. 3.10 and
agency amongst craftsmen working with imported 3.11). In Ribe, however, no Carolingian or Anglo-
raw materials at nodal markets was adopted in other Saxon coins have been found at all; only 203 local
craft-environments too. These two groups of crafts- sceattas, 10 Scandinavian pennies, 4–7 dirhams and 3
men would have been in close contact at the nodal Roman coins (Feveile 2006c). The absence of
markets. This behaviour thus became socially accept- Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon coins at Ribe must be
able even within dense social networks; it was in any due to an efficient local melting-down policy, which
event less stigmatized than previously. To what must, in turn, have been based on the fact that Ribe
extent this affected other trading going on at these had local coins in circulation throughout the period.
sites, namely trade in various kinds of essential prod- The rarest specimens amongst the six Western
ucts within the region, is difficult to investigate. coins from Kaupang are the two Anglo-Saxon exam-
ples, of which only ten other specimens are known in

Norway and are extremely rare elsewhere in Scan- carried out through Scandinavians’ voyages to
dinavia too (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:56–8). In Nor- Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian ports, or by ships from
way, 19 Carolingian coins struck in the period 754– those ports arriving in Kaupang.
840 have been found, and 88 elsewhere in Scan- However, the fact that the coins remained intact
dinavia (including the Hedeby region), making 107 in after they arrived in Kaupang shows that there was
all. Of the total of 125 Carolingian coins from the some point in keeping them thus. Reworking would
period down to AD 900 found in Scandinavia, there- have stripped them of the characteristics that distin-
fore, only 18 are from the period 840–900 (Garip- guish coin from silver; therefore, it would appear
zanov 2005:tab. 1). likely that they had a function as complete coins. As
The latter figure is striking when one knows that Wamers (in press) would interpret the finds of jew-
from 835 to 885, and especially after 845, enormous ellery that had come from the Carolingian lands,
quantities of silver coin were paid out by Carolingian people from those areas were resident in Kaupang. If,
and Anglo-Saxon kings and princes to Viking armies then, Kaupang was partly populated by people who
active in their areas. Some of these coins might have were familiar with the use of this sort of coin in pay-
been put back into circulation in the same areas, ment, one has to consider the possibility that the
since in this period the Viking armies had begun to absence of reworking of the coins was because they
camp over winter, and some of the troops chose to were valid currency in the town.
settle in those areas (Sawyer 1971:100–1). But much of
this silver must have been melted down and taken Danish coins and fragmented silver c. 825–860
back to Scandinavia (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:57–8). In the second quarter of the 9th century there was a
Re-cast silver in the form of ingots and jewellery was change to the currency in Ribe, Hedeby and Kaupang
sought after by Scandinavians who, as Kilger points alike. At Ribe and Hedeby, coins were struck around
out (this vol. Ch. 8:254–5), normally saw silver as or shortly after 825, while at Kaupang finds of hacksil-
valuable in the form of whole objects in the first ver and weights show that fragmented and weighed
phase of the Viking Period. Most of the 9th-century silver came into use as currency (Pedersen, this vol.
Carolingian coins found in Norway, other than at Ch. 6:162; Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114, 118). In all three
Kaupang, are complete but perforated. Thus they are towns coins and hacksilver remained in use as cur-
regarded and treated as jewellery (Garipzanov 2005). rencies throughout the remainder of their function-
It is quite noteworthy, then, that the six Western ing lives. Minting in Hedeby and Ribe continued for
coins from Kaupang had not been perforated. It is some years; in the case of Ribe probably until just
equally striking that they had not been melted down shortly before the town was abandoned in the middle
when they arrived in the town – although many oth- of the 9th century (see Malmer’s discussion of Mint B
ers might well have been. Finally, these six coins do ‘Ribe’: 2007:22–3). From the end of the 9th century,
not appear to have been deliberately cut, while 90% minting in Hedeby was suspended, but it resumed at
of the Islamic coins that reached Kaupang somewhat the beginning of the 10th century on a large scale
later were cut. The fragmentation of unminted silver down to c. 980, when the town suffered an economic
came into practice at Kaupang by the end of the peri- recession. Typical of every phase of this production
od 800–840 (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:162), so the of coins is that the prototypes for the form of the
absence of fragmentation of Western coins from the coins and their weight were Carolingian, especially
same period is not because that practice was un- coins that had been struck in Dorestad (Metcalf 1996;
known. Malmer 2002b, 2007; Wiechmann 2007).
The lack of melting down, fragmentation and per- The large-scale importation of Islamic silver coin
foration constitutes a set of three significant and dis- to Kaupang began, as noted, around 860 (Blackburn,
tinctive features that contrasts the handling of this vol. Ch. 3:57; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:243–6), and
Western coin in Kaupang in the period 800–840 from 90% of the 90 dirhams found in Kaupang are frag-
handling in the rest of Norway, and from later han- mented (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:Tab. 3.14). Why
dling of Islamic coin. Why was the handling different? were coins from the Caliphate treated so differently
Down to the years around 840, the Vikings’ rapa- to their Western counterparts just a few years previ-
cious expeditions to the West were primarily concen- ously?
trated on Ireland. Expeditions to the monetized areas In the Caliphate too, there was a strong rule that
of Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon Europe were only the form of the coin had to be intact for it to be valid
sporadic. This means that coins from those areas as currency (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:303). But in an
prior to c. 840 probably reached Scandinavia by way unstable period for the monetary system in the
of trade rather than plunder. Blackburn (this vol. Ch. Caliphate post-840, the fragmentation of coin ap-
3:56) assumes that the two Anglo-Saxon coins came peared as a marginal practice. It seems likely, as
direct from their places of origin to Kaupang, and the Kilger writes (this vol. Ch. 8:303–4), that this practice
same may be true of the three Carolingian pieces. The was introduced into Eastern Scandinavia at more or
trade that brought them to this site might have been less the same time, with the arrival of fragmented

coins from the Caliphate. That cutting up Islamic striated rods of Type Duesminde I, are otherwise
coins became so much more widespread in Scandi- found mostly in finds from Danish territories
navia than in the Caliphate must have been because (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:104, 111). The discovery of two
Scandinavians, when undertaking further transac- cut ring-fragments in contexts predating 840/850
tions with such coins after they had reached Scan- shows that the employment, as currency, of rings of
dinavia, dealt with others than the original users of the Duesminde type began early at Kaupang.
the coins. The fragmentation, re-melting and perfo- The weight-unit upon which these objects were
ration of Islamic coinage thus destroyed none of its based indicates that there was some connexion
qualities as a currency, although the same treatment between the minting of coins in Ribe and Hedeby
of Western coinage would have done so. The dirhams and the use of hacksilver at Kaupang. The Dues-
had become amorphous silver, as Kilger puts it (this minde rings appear to observe a standard of c. 50 g.
vol. Ch. 8:256). This unit can be fitted into several weight-systems,
However, the practice of cutting up and weighing including that which most of the lead weights at
silver had not only come to Scandinavia with frag- Kaupang were regulated by, the Scandinavian mark-
mented dirhams from the Caliphate. As already /øre-units. In this system, c. 50 g corresponds to ¼
noted (above, p. 345), fragmented gold and silver had mark or 2 øre (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:111-113 and
been used in payment in Scandinavia for centuries 106–7; Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:280, 286–8; Pedersen,
before the Viking Period, even if probably only on a this vol. Ch. 6:140–4). The coins from Ribe and He-
small scale and primarily at central-place markets deby weigh c. 0.74 g, corresponding to the Caro-
such as Lundeborg and Helgö. The first recorded lingian half-denier (the obol) of the same period, and
fragmentation of silver at Kaupang in the second in size match the denier exactly, at 19.5 mm (Malmer
quarter of the 9th century (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 2007: 19–20). The weight of the coins can easily be
6:162) would seem to have been a continuation of this converted into those of the rings and the ingots, as 32
tradition, because it was not then coins that were coins make 1 øre or half a ring. The number 32 initial-
fragmented but rings, ingots and the like (for a differ- ly appears economically impractical as it cannot be
ent view, see Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:298). divided into the usual units of 10 or 12, but it is divisi-
Fragmented, unminted silver thus served as a ble by 8, which was a common unit in Scandinavian
currency at Kaupang for 20 to 40 years before the reckoning systems (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 8:280).
massive influx of Islamic coins after c. 860 (Kilger’s Amongst the finds from Kaupang, Hårdh (this
Phase IVa: this vol. Ch. 7:228–35). It is not easy to vol. Ch. 5:108–13) has identified a total of fourteen
assess the extent of this early practice. Amongst the fragments of Duesminde-type rings: three of these
90 definite examples of hacksilver that can be identi- are punch-ornamented and eleven spiral-decorated.
fied from the settlement area of Kaupang, several The differences seem simply to be attributable to the
derive from types of artefacts that could be of this fact that these fragments are of different parts of the
early period; however all the types also occur later in rings. The somewhat thicker fragment from Char-
the century (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:115). In stratified lotte Blindheim’s excavations has not been included
contexts datable pre-840/850, five fragments of silver in these figures as, in Hårdh’s judgment (this vol. Ch.
can be identified as having been cut, probably for use 5:111), it is from an artefact of a formally closely relat-
as currency (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:114). This view is ed type, the so-called Permian ring.
corroborated by the fact that weights first occur in The silver ingot of 48.227 g that Hårdh has dub-
contexts of this date (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:162). bed “the large Kaupang ingot” (this vol. Ch. 5:106–7)
Compared to the number of coins from the same was adjusted to the same weight-standard as the rings
contexts (just one), the number of pieces of hacksil- of the Duesminde type. The remaining four complete
ver is relatively large, and therefore the use of hacksil- silver ingots from Kaupang weigh 1.50, 1.88, 2.98 and
ver in this period cannot have been insignificant. 3.77 g respectively (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:107), corre-
Thus payment-silver was introduced in new sponding to two, two and a half, four and five Hede-
forms more or less simultaneously in Ribe, Hedeby by/Ribe coins of 0.74 g with remarkable accuracy. As
and Kaupang. The most basic difference between its Kilger suggests (this vol. Ch. 8:278–9), one of the
forms in the three towns was that the silver at Kaup- functions of whole coins at Kaupang – one whole
ang was in the form of hacksilver, while that at Hede- coin has been found there – could have been to cali-
by and Ribe had been minted. Could there be any brate weights, indeed silver ingots too. The comfort-
connexion between these phenomena in the three able agreement in weight between the four small
towns? ingots and the Hedeby/Ribe coins strengthens the
The geographical distribution of two specific view that the melting down of silver at Kaupang
forms of payment-silver from this period can help observed not only the mark/øre standard but also the
answer that question. Two key, early artefact-types Danish king’s standard of coinage.
which can be identified amongst the hacksilver from In Pedersen’s graphic presentation of the 146
Kaupang, ingots of Weichmann’s Type 1 and spiral- well-preserved weights from Kaupang (this vol. Ch.

6:Fig. 6.19), there are clusters of weights close to the payment. The 200 or so ingot-moulds from Hedeby
means of two (1.5 g), three (2.25 g), four (3.0 g), five and their 25 counterparts from Kaupang show that
(3.75 g) and six coins (4.5 g). However several of these such re-melting was practised on a large scale in these
units are close to fractions of the øre, and it is there- two towns, perhaps particularly there (Kilger, this
fore impossible to draw clear conclusions about vol. Ch. 8:298).
whether the weights also agreed with the weight-sys- What might have been the cause of such a policy
tem of the Danish king’s coinage. on the part of the King of the Danes? Around AD 825,
The obvious metrological, geographical and Islamic silver was steadily becoming more common
chronological coincidences between these two cam- as currency in the trading sites around the Baltic
paigns of standardization, the striking of coins in coasts (Kilger’s Phase III: this vol. Ch. 7:221–28). The
Hedeby and Ribe, and the establishment of a weight- towns of the Danish king had Carolingian areas as
standard for silver as currency based upon the weight their most important trading partners, but the Baltic
of the coin (0.74 g), implies that they were elements trade must have been of growing significance at
of a single strategy. One can discern the outline of an Hedeby. At the same time, the lands in Norway were
integrated move promoted by the King of the Danes of sufficient political and economic importance to
for the standardization of currencies sometime in the the kingdom that the Danish king led an army to
second quarter of the 9th century – probably around Vestfold in 813 to defend his interests there (Rau
825, on the numismatists’ dating (Blackburn, this vol. 1955:102; see Skre 2007j:460–1).
Ch. 3:57). The weight-standard for payment-silver In these circumstances, the motive of the King of
was probably established for common use in the the Danes in establishing this new standard might in
kingdom, including Kaupang, while the coins were the first place have been to mark the integrity of his
struck for use in the two towns that handled the kingdom and his own authority, by founding mone-
majority of the trade with monetized areas around tary and weight-systems just like the Carolingian
the North Sea: Hedeby and Ribe. That the hacksilver emperor and the Anglo-Saxon kings did. Secondly, it
at Kaupang should be regarded as complementary to was important to preserve the position of his king-
coinage in the other two towns is shown by the quite dom as the conduit of trade between neighbouring
striking circumstance that no pieces of hacksilver areas to the east, south-west and north. That could be
have been found in stratified contexts at the Posthus achieved by establishing a standard that was internal-
excavations in Ribe (Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6:164). ly consistent and at the same time easily convertible
The chronology of the use of hacksilver is difficult to to the standards of the trading partners. The answer
follow at Hedeby because of the lack of secure, well- was to choose a medium of payment, silver, that was
dated archaeological contexts there. However Steuer, accepted, and a weight-standard that was easily con-
Stern and Goldberg (2002:137) conclude that hacksil- vertible to the weight-systems that were used by all of
ver did not become common in Hedeby until 880. It these trading partners. As noted, the weight-unit that
was massive local minting at the end of the 10th cen- the Duesminde rings and Hedeby/Ribe coinages were
tury and in the 11th century that drove the use of based upon was readily convertible to the øre-/mark-
hacksilver out of the town (Steuer et al. 2002:140; standard that was widespread in Norway, as well as to
Wiechmann 2007:42). the standard that the Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon
The establishment of the new standard for cur- coinages were based upon. It is also valuable to note
rencies was implemented in the form of minting, and that the weight of the Hedeby/Ribe coin was a quar-
it is possible that the king also enforced a weight- ter of the dirham-weight of 2.97 g (Blackburn, this
standard and the use of silver as currency through the vol. Ch. 3:65), which was itself an important unit in
production of weight-adjusted objects. The carefully the system of weights that was introduced to Scandi-
manufactured rings of the Duesminde type are strict- navia post-860, the cubo-octahedral weights (Peder-
ly standardized both in thickness and in ornamenta- sen, this vol. Ch. 6:132). The weights of the øre, the
tion: the variation of thickness is only 0.5 mm. Since obol and the dirham were already well known in
they are also very consistent in weight, they stand out South-Western Scandinavia when the first Hedeby
as the most plausible candidate for confirming the coins were struck, and it would appear probable that
hypothetically centralized production of payment- the weight of the coin of the King of the Danes was
silver for use within the Danish kingdom, which fixed in order that it too should be simply convertible
included Kaupang. against these three weight-systems.
Ingots of Wiechmann Type 1 and other artefact- An important source of silver for the Danish
types that respect the same weight-standard as the king’s production of coins, and rings of standardized
Duesminde-type rings might have been manufac- weight must have been the Islamic silver that poured
tured through the normal melting down of frag- into the kingdom from trade with the Baltic zone.
ments of weight-adjusted ingots, rings and the like, The large-scale melting down of dirhams to strike
which would have been undertaken in most metal- Hedeby and Ribe coins and standardized rings would
casting workshops at sites where people used silver in explain why the number of Islamic coins in Danish

and Norwegian areas pre–c. 860 is much lower than archaeological finds from the Scandinavian towns. At
around the Baltic (Kilger’s Phase III: this vol. Ch. Birka, contacts with the Rhineland and the West Slav
7:228). Similarly, coins from Anglo-Saxon and Caro- areas around the Baltic were dominant until the mid-
lingian lands, from both trade and the huge quanti- dle of the 9th century. Then the Western contacts
ties of silver the Viking armies extorted after c. 835 evaporated, while those with the Western Slavs were
(Sawyer 1971:100–1), must have been re-melted. This, maintained and contacts with Byzantium, the Cali-
together with the decline of North Sea trade (below), phate and the Khazar lands became predominant
helps to explain the almost complete absence in (Ambrosiani 1999:241–2). At Kaupang, the formerly
Scandinavia of Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian coins common Carolingian pottery practically disappears
struck in the decades following the reign of Louis the from the range of finds sometime between 850 and
Pious (822/3–840). 900 (Pilø, in prep.). The great majority of the Caro-
The finds of fragments of Duesminde rings on lingian metalwork from the Kaupang settlement
Gotland and of ingots adjusted to the same weight- dates to before 850, and this tendency is also very
standard (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. 5:111) fit this picture clear regarding the Anglo-Saxon finds (Wamers, in
well, as the early hoards of Islamic coins and other sil- prep.). These changes must have been the key reason
ver on Gotland of Kilger’s Phases II (AD 790–825) why there are no Western coins at Kaupang dated
and III (825–860) show that traders from there were after 840. Ribe, the Scandinavian town most immedi-
already playing a central role in this field of Baltic ately linked to North Sea trade, was abandoned at
trade using silver as a form of currency, as they prob- this time (Feveile 2006a:41).
ably were in Hedeby too. The collapse of North Sea trade led the two sur-
viving towns in South-Western Scandinavia to re-
Islamic silver c. 860–890/930 orientate themselves to the Baltic trade, Hedeby even
The 90 Islamic coins found at Kaupang show that, more than Kaupang. Access to Islamic silver was thus
after the middle of the 9th century, fragmented improved – but why, then, was that not melted down
Islamic coins came into intensive use as currency in as often as it previously seems to have been (above, p.
the town, continuing until some time between either 350–1)? This must be due to the fact that the Danish
890 and 920 (Blackburn, this vol. Ch. 3:54) or 920 and kingdom fell apart during this period. After the death
the early 930s (Kilger, this vol. Ch. 7:245). More limit- of Horik I in 854, rivalry between the various clai-
ed use then continued until some time between 960 mants to the throne began, and the kingdom was
and 980. Hacksilver from undated contexts – frag- divided up between them. The Danish royal authori-
mented rings and ingots, etc. – cannot be dated as ty remained in a weakened state for nearly a century
closely as the coins, but the general impression of its from then, until Gorm the Old rebuilt it from the
age suggests that hacksilver remained in use along- 930s onwards (Krag 1995:89; Jensen 2004:282–4; Skre
side the Islamic coins throughout. The majority of 2007j:467). Before the time of Gorm, Hedeby was
the fragmented artefacts are from the 9th century and intermittently part of the German kingdom, while it
the beginning of the 10th (Hårdh, this vol. Ch. is unclear what superior political structure Kaupang
5:113–14). Divided Islamic coins and fragmented sil- might have been part of. The weakening of political
ver objects were thus in use as parallel forms of cur- authority must lie behind the long periods of suspen-
rency at Kaupang from c. 860. sion of minting at Hedeby after the mid-9th century.
Concurrently, Islamic coins were becoming more Another consequence of the collapse of the uni-
common in Hedeby, and this coinage was also fied lordship over South-Western Scandinavia might
brought into use at central-place markets such as have been that it was no longer possible to maintain
Uppåkra. But it was not until the 10th century that norms for the forms of payment-silver that could be
Islamic coins became common in rural areas, where used within the kingdom. The practice of melting
the use of this coinage ran in parallel with the devel- down Islamic coins, which seems to have been an
opment of the use of other hacksilver (Hårdh, this element of the policy of standardization, probably
vol. Ch. 5:99). The towns were evidently pioneering ceased as a result, and South-Western Scandinavia
sites for this increasing use of silver for payment: gradually became incorporated into the practice of
complete coins c. 800–840, fragmented artefacts from using fragmented Islamic coin as currency that had
c. 825/40 onwards and fragmented coins from c. 860 developed around the Baltic in the period c. 790–860
onwards. What could have caused the change around (Kilger’s Phases II–III: this vol. Ch. 7:214–28).
860? This assimilation to the Baltic system of curren-
Partly as a result of Viking raids, the Carolingian cies is shown by the fact that the new and more strictly
and Anglo-Saxon towns along the North Sea coasts normalized system of weights for silver that was
were abandoned or declined steeply around the mid- introduced c. 860/70 in the form of cubo-octahedral
dle of the 9th century, and the kingdoms were weak- weights appeared simultaneously all over Southern
ened by profound political instability. This led to a and Central Scandinavia as well as in the Scandin-
virtual cessation of trade, as is clearly visible in the avian-influenced areas south and east of the Baltic

(Steuer et al. 2002:abb. 4; Pedersen, this vol. Ch. 6: Because of the frequency of transactions in every-
132). It is possible that this standard was adopted, day life, the town’s population also had a great need
amongst other things because virtually this entire for currencies that all were willing to accept, and for a
region became integrated during this period into a common measure of value that various forms of
single economic zone. Although it was probably easy craftwork and other goods could be priced in. Silver,
previously to convert values between the different in various forms, seems to have been an accepted cur-
standards of weight and payment-silver that were rency throughout the lifetime of Kaupang. The first
found within this area, the introduction of a single, generation of Kaupang’s population were familiar
common standard made trade easier still. The overar- with silver as currency only in the form of Western
ching political structures in the region during this coins, and the second generation adopted the use of
period are obscure, but it is difficult to conceive of hacksilver in the form of rings and ingots; the third
this new standard having been introduced and main- generation also in the form of Islamic coins. It was
tained if it were not secured by some strong political initially with the third and subsequent generations
authority, probably based somewhere in the Baltic that the quantity of finds reaches a level which implies
area. that silver was a widespread form of currency within
the town. Silver was probably the common measure
Economic agency and commodity-money in towns of value in the commodity-money system at the same
The foundation of towns meant that craftsmen could time as it was becoming common as a form of curren-
now be permanently settled elsewhere than at aristo- cy, at the earliest in the second quarter of the 9th cen-
cratic residences (Hjärthner-Holdar et al. 2002). tury. Before this period it was probably gold, and the
Their production thus became more independent of most common types of commodities such as grain
the orders of the elite, and the power-relation that and cows, that were the measures of value.
had probably existed between craftsmen and the lord All the same, other forms of currency than silver
who housed them disappeared or at least became must have been used for the majority of transactions,
weaker. Craftsmen in the towns would thus have particularly by the first two generations but also by
been able to act with greater freedom from aristocrat- later generations. This must have involved the use of
ic dominance, although at the same time they would goods as currency. The craftsmen sold their prod-
probably have become more dependent upon mak- ucts, but what could have been the most significant
ing their productivity and sales sufficient to support commodity they accepted in payment? As Kilger
themselves. This would presumably have con- points out (this vol. Ch. 8:270), the Frankfurt Capi-
tributed to a further surge in the standardized mass tulary of AD 794 notes the relative values of the
production that began at the nodal markets (above, denier and various types of grains, indicating that
pp. 346–7). Greater independence in the marketing grain was a common form of commodity-money.
of their own products would probably have led to Since grain would also have been the most important
greater economic agency amongst the permanently subsistence commodity for the townsfolk of Kaup-
settled craftsmen. ang, and since many of their transactions would have
As the inhabitants of Kaupang did not produce been a matter of obtaining food, it is reasonable to
their own food apart from occasional fishing and postulate that grain was the most common type of
perhaps some hunting, life in the town required commodity-money for transactions amongst the
more transactions than the life of the food-producers townsfolk and in their trade with the population of
on the farms of the agrarian hinterland did. The large the agrarian hinterland.
number of transactions, many of which were proba-
bly undertaken with suppliers of raw materials and 10.2 Production and long-distance trade
with customers with whom the craftsman had no AD 700–1000
strong social ties, would have increased awareness The intense flourishing of specialized sites for craft
and display of the economic aspect of the deals. and trade seen in Scandinavia from around the year
Nevertheless, the situation could hardly have been 700 has to be explained partly in terms of social,
one of purely economic enterprise. Even within the political and economic changes within Scandinavia
town, the exercise of economic agency had to be bal- and partly on the basis of the opportunities for long-
anced against social norms for relationships with distance trade that the circumstances offered: namely
other townsfolk, the town authorities, the suppliers along the Slavonic Baltic coast and the Carolingian
of agricultural produce in the hinterland, and with and Anglo-Saxon North Sea coasts. The growing
customers and suppliers from further afield. The trade between the Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon
many transactions of town-life, and the activity of the ports in the 7th century enabled the Scandinavians to
residents within loose networks, must have put those gain access to long-distance trade goods through
conventions under pressure, and they must have trade in the ports, whereas previously they had to be
changed, as a result, quite significantly during the obtained through personal connexions with aristo-
lifetime of Kaupang. cratic families in those other lands.

It is striking that it was probably the emergent and nodal markets. At nodal markets and in towns,
Scandinavian royal power, not the old aristocracy long-distance traders would have bought those goods
that created the fora for long-distance trade by they were interested in, and transported them into
founding the nodal markets, as it definitely did the Continental and Insular trading networks. They
through the foundation of the towns. Likewise, the might have been especially interested in one form of
old aristocracy does not appear to have been so close- goods that, according to McCormic (2001) was one
ly linked to the local markets. The motives of the of the most fundamental in the European economy
royal power in founding these sites probably had to of this period, namely slaves. Slave-taking might have
do with, as in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, obtaining been a crucial motive for the Scandinavian expansion
income from tolls on long-distance trade and enforc- into the Slavonic areas in the 8th century and into
ing the king’s right of pre-emption regarding partic- Ireland in the 9th. Slave-raiding has to be regarded as
ular goods, as well as strengthening the kingdom in one of the forms of specialized production organized
general (Middleton 2005). Apart from those in- by the Scandinavian aristocracy in this period.
comes, the king himself need not have been a central What, though, would have been the desirable
agent in the trade, even though he, like all major goods that brought traders from afar all the way
landowners, would also have ensured that his surplus north to Vestfold, and which the landlords of 8th-
production was taken to market. and 9th-century Norway opted to set their people to
The remainder of the aristocracy must, however, produce? The export items that could have been pro-
have played a crucial role in taking advantage of the duced in some quantities from parts of Norway in the
opportunities that were offered in these new fora for Viking Period are commodities such as soapstone,
long-distance trade. In several parts of Scandinavia whetstones, furs, iron, wool and slaves. Finds from
structural changes in agriculture can be traced which Ribe and Dorestad show that only small amounts of
must have been directed at increasing productivity. soapstone arrived there in the first half of the 9th cen-
They too are of a character that must have been initi- tury (Baug, in prep.). However it is a matter of inter-
ated by major landowners. In the case of Southern est that soapstone, probably from somewhere in
Norway, Bjørn Myhre (2002:181–202) has observed a Norway, first appears in the Posthus excavations in
concentration of settlement that is associable with Ribe in contexts datable to the period 800–820 (2
the introduction of more effective methods of farm- pieces), and in larger quantities (22 pieces) in the
ing, while agricultural equipment became more effi- later contexts (820–850). Soapstone thus first appears
cient at the same time and the farms themselves larg- in the years immediately following the foundation of
er. These changes took place in the course of the 7th Kaupang. Whetstones of dark violet slate, probably
and 8th centuries, at different dates in different re- from the west of Norway, were introduced at the
gions. In Jutland the intensification and re-organiza- same time, but whetstones of the Eidsborg type do
tion of agricultural production can be seen around not occur in the Viking-period layers of Ribe (Feveile
AD 700, with a clear aim of producing surpluses and Jensen 2000:20, fig. 11).
(Näsman 2000:60–2). The finds from Hedeby are not so easy to date
With the scope they had for controlling agricul- because the archaeological layers revealed by excava-
tural production, the major landowners laid the tion there are less secure and less well dated than
essential foundation for the boom that is evident in those in Ribe. All the same, the finds indicate that
trade and craft in the 8th century: the production of soapstone appeared there in large quantities only in
an agricultural surplus that could keep traders, the second half of the 9th century, and perhaps did so
craftsmen and various other producers fed. Some particularly in the 10th century (Resi 1979:111–12). It
such surplus must have been in existence for inde- would appear, however, that whetstones occur there
pendent craftsmen in towns and nodal markets to from the very earliest layers, both the dark variety
have been able to obtain it in exchange (Callmer from Western Norway and the light type from
2002). The surplus production of food was also Eidsborg in Telemark (Resi 1990:44–7).
essential for the landowners themselves to be able to Studies of the evidence of iron production in
remove persons from food production and put them Norway have been carried out over many years; the
to the specialized production of goods that would be two periods that stand out with the highest output
in demand in trade within both intra- and inter- are the periods before c. AD 600 and after c. AD 1000.
regional networks, as well as in long-distance trade. Evidence of Viking-period production has been
It is likely that the goods produced with a view to sparse in many areas, and often difficult to identify.
their marketing at sites of Types 1–4 (Skre, this vol. Larsen (2004:160–2) notes a number of possible
Ch. 9:337–8, Fig. 9.1) would largely have consisted of explanations, of a methodological nature, that could
various forms of essential items produced by special- mean that the number of production-site finds are
ists using local resources such as iron, furs, amber unrepresentative of iron production in this period. If
and cloth. In addition, many craftsmen would have his figures are divided up regionally, there are, how-
sold their products to fellow Scandinavians at local ever, some interesting differences. In Eastern Nor-

way, namely the inland regions north and west of duction and exportation from these quarries acceler-
Kaupang, the number of iron-extraction sites dou- ated through the 9th century, the goods would then
bled around AD 600, to a level that was maintained, presumably have been subjected to toll at Kaupang
with some variation, throughout the Viking Period before they continued on to Hedeby and to other
(Larsen 2004:fig. 5). There was thus probably surplus destinations in the kingdom. More uncertain is what
production of iron both before and throughout the happened to Kaupang’s role as a toll station after the
history of Kaupang. Danish kingdom split up from the mid-9th century
Other types of goods, such as furs and slaves, are down to the reign of Gorm the Old some 70–80 years
difficult to trace archaeologically. No paw bones of later. As already noted, for parts of this period
fur-bearing animals have been found at Kaupang Hedeby was part of the German kingdom. Kaupang’s
whereas they have been found at Birka (Wigh political allegiance is unclear. It would appear most
2001:120–3). But this cannot be used as evidence that likely that the old petty-king dynasty of Vestfold, the
there was no fur trade at Kaupang. At Birka the re- Ynglings, re-established their control over the town
moval of the paws from the furs was manifestly part (Skre 2007j:466–7).
of the production sequence there. It is conceivable Although tradition determined fixed prices for
that the sequence in Kaupang was organized differ- intra- and inter-regional trade in the subsistence
ently; moreover, the conditions for the preservation goods and essentials such as iron, whetstones and
of bones, especially small bones, are much poorer in soapstone vessels that would have been attractive to
the acid soil in Kaupang (Barrett et al. 2007:293). As long-distance traders, it is not certain that they would
noted, McCormic (2001) identifies slaves as the most have been ready to pay those prices. Tradition did
important export from Europe in trade with the not determine the prices of the long-distance trade
Orient in this period, and he believes that Scandi- goods they imported. Both of these conditions would
navia provided slaves for this trade. Kaupang might have created an opportunity for economic agency,
have played a role in the slave trade, but it is difficult not only for the long-distance traders but also for
to find any supporting evidence for this in the others participating in this trade.
archaeological remains. During the first half-century of Kaupang, pay-
It is equally difficult, in fact, to produce firm ment with hacksilver was principally focused, within
archaeological evidence that the more durable types South-Western Scandinavia, upon the towns of
of materials such as iron, soapstone and whetstones Hedeby and Kaupang, and to some extent at other
were actually traded through Kaupang. Finds from specialized sites of craft and trade. To judge from the
the settlement area show that all of these types of actual finds of silver outside of Kaupang, hacksilver
materials did reach Kaupang for the use of its inhabi- was very little seen or used in rural Norway in the 9th
tants. But it is difficult, in the archaeological finds, to century. This indicates that in the 9th century it was
see if they were also brought into the town in order to primarily the inhabitants of Kaupang who used silver
be re-exported by long-distance traders. However the as a currency in trade amongst themselves and with
very idea of founding a town on the border of a king- long-distance traders. The trade that the landlords
dom implies that the site should serve, inter alia, as a and producers were involved in, some of which went
toll station for the king (Middleton 2005). Goods that on at Kaupang too, was probably principally con-
were brought into the kingdom from the lands of the ducted using goods as currency. It is not before the
Northmen must necessarily have been subject to toll 10th century that greater quantities of hacksilver start
at Kaupang. When, around 890, Ohthere sailed from to appear in hoards in rural areas in the vicinity of
North Norway along the Northmen’s coasts and into towns. The amounts increase over the course of the
the territory of the King of the Danes, he called at century, but in the parts of Scandinavia that lie far
Kaupang before continuing his voyage to Hedeby. from towns, such as the west and north of Norway,
One of the purposes of his vist to Kaupang might hacksilver seems still to have been little used (Hårdh,
have been to pay the tolls on his cargo. this vol. Ch. 5:99). In those areas, whole silver arte-
Things would have been different concerning facts are predominant in the hoards. The appearance
those goods produced within the kingdom. Soap- of weight-adjusted silver objects all over Scandinavia
stone was used in the Viking Period in Østfold, shows that although the use of silver as a currency
Halland and Bohuslän – all areas within the Danish had only a limited and a slowly changing range, the
kingdom. Geological studies of soapstone from metal nevertheless became established as the most
Hedeby indicate that it came from only these areas common measure of value in Scandinavia across the
(Alfsen and Christie 1979; Baug, in prep.); there is lit- 9th and 10th centuries.
tle reason why it should have been brought into It must be correct to regard the economic life of
Kaupang before being transported to Hedeby. the towns as the driving force behind the develop-
However the great whetstone quarries at Eidsborg in ment of silver as a currency and measure of value. In
Telemark and in the west of Norway appear to have regions with no towns and few if any market sites, sil-
lain outside the Danish king’s territory. When pro- ver did not become a common form of currency until

towns were founded there in the 11th and 12th cen-

turies.
The transformative significance of the early
towns regarding the economies of the Scandinavian
societies was not, however, just a matter of currencies
and measures of value. It lay rather in the opportuni-
ty that the loose social networks in the towns, created
by long-distance trade and the urban way of life, pro-
vided for the growth of economic agency.

Abbreviations
Ab Aarsberetning. Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring. Kristiania.

AD Anno Domini (Christian era)
B Finds kept at Bergen Museum, University of Bergen
C Finds kept at Museum of Cultural History (KHM), University of Oslo
CNS Corpus Nummorum Saeculorum IX–XI qui in Suecia reperti sunt. Catalogue of Coins from 9th–11th Centuries
found in Sweden. Kungliga vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien. Stockholm, 1975–.
CRM Cultural resource management excavations (c.f. Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch. 2:20)
fnr. find number, Blindheim’s excavations 1950–1984
H Hijra (Muslim era)
KHM Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
LRBC Carson, R. A. G., Hill, P. V., and Kent, J. 1960: Late Roman Bronze Coinage A.D. 324-498. London.
LUHM Finds kept at Lund University Historical Museum
m-d metal-detector
MRE Main research excavation (c.f. Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch. 2:20)
NFG Numismatiska Forskningsgruppen (Stockholm Numismatic Institute), Institute of Classical Archaeology and
Ancient History, Stockholm University
NM Finds kept at The National Museum of Denmark, København
obv. obverse
rev. reverse
RIC Roman Imperial Coinage, eds.: H. Mattingly, E. A. Sydenham, and others. 10 vols. London, 1923–94.
SHM Finds kept at Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm
SP Site Period (c.f. Pilø and Skre, this vol. Ch. 2:22–4)
St Finds kept at Archaeological Museum in Stavanger (AmS).
T Finds kept at Vitenskapsmuseet, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim
t.p.q. terminus post quem

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List of Authors
Mark Blackburn Unn Pedersen

Fitzwilliam Museum University of Oslo
Cambridge CB2 1RB Institute of Archaeology,
United Kingdom Conservation and Historic Studies
mab1001@cam.ac.uk P.O.Box 1008, Blindern
NO-0315 Oslo
Birgitta Hårdh Norway
Lund University unn.pedersen@iakh.uio.no
Institute of Archaeology
P.O.Box 117 Lars Pilø
SE-221 00 Lund University of Oslo
Sweden Institute of Archaeology,
birgitta.hardh@ark.lu.se Conservation and Historic Studies
P.O.Box 1008, Blindern
Kenneth Jonsson NO-0315 Oslo
Stockholm University Norway
Institute of Archaeology and Classical Studies larpi@online.no
Stockholm Numismatic Institute
SE-106 91 Stockholm Gert Rispling
Sweden The Royal Coin Cabinet
kenneth.jonsson@ark.su.se P.O.Box 5428
SE-114 84 Stockholm
Christoph Kilger Sweden
University of Oslo gert.rispling@myntkabinettet.se
Institute of Archaeology,
Conservation and Historic Studies Dagfinn Skre
P.O.Box 1008, Blindern University of Oslo
NO-0315 Oslo Institute of Archaeology,
Norway Conservation and Historic Studies
c.c.l.kilger@iakh.uio.no P.O.Box 1008, Blindern
NO-0315 Oslo
Norway
dagfinn.skre@iakh.uio.no

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63076_om_kaupang_bind2_r1.

qxd 29/07/08 8:05 Side 1

Published in the series Norske Oldfunn, Kaupang Excavation Project

a Aarhus University Press isbn 978 87 7934 308 5

Kaupang Excavation Project

Norske Oldfunn XXIII

© Aarhus University Press

Ministry of the Environment The Anders Jahre Humanitarian Foundation

Ministry of Education and Research Vestfold County Council

Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs The Municipality of Larvik

The Research Council of Norway Arts Council Norway

2 Lars Pilø, Dagﬁnn Skre

Part I: The Kaupang Finds 27

3.3.2 The 9th-century Western coins 56

4 Gert Rispling, Mark Blackburn and Kenneth Jonsson

Part II: Silver, Trade and Towns 197

The use of silver coins in the Frankish realm 267

Introduction to the Site 2

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 13

visited on one of his journeys, had lain. In 1850 the

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 15

MRE excavations 2000-2002

Area with plot-division

Figure 2.2 Settlements, cemeteries and single barrows in

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 17

Figure 2.3 Aggregated artefact recovery during ﬁeld surveys

Figure 2.4 The main excavations at Kaupang 2000–2003.

2000–2003 a number of additional shorter and nar-

Blindheim excavations 0 100 m

F154 County road 154 CRM excavations 1999-2003

Vik.r. Road to Vikingholmen Research excavations 2000-2003

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 19

Figure 2.6 A schematic overview in perspective of the Site

Later medieval plough-layer

Site Period III

Hearth Pit Truncated Site Period border

Floor deposit Early plot boundary Intact Site Period border

Deposit in side-aisle Ditch Edge of excavated area

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 21

Figure 2.7 The platform after excavation, facing south.

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 23

Figure 2.8 Estimate of the Viking- N

Total settlement area 0 100 m

Area with plot-division

2. pilø, skre: introduction to the site 25

3. blackburn: the coin-finds 29

items that may have been silver coins were said to

30 means of exchange · part i

3.1.2 The new finds, 1998–2003

3. blackburn: the coin-finds 31

Figure 3.1 The hoard or crucible melt from Kaupang (No.

32 means of exchange · part i

3. blackburn: the coin-finds 33

terms “currency” and “circulation” are used here in

34 means of exchange · part i

3. blackburn: the coin-finds 35

No. of Coins No. of Coins

No. of Coins No. of Coins

36 means of exchange · part i

ted as histograms, but that is impractical at present.