Periodic Reporting for period 4 - SILVER (Silver and the Origins of the Viking Age)
Período documentado: 2023-09-01 hasta 2024-08-31
The Viking Age (c. 750-1050 AD) is widely recognised as a pivotal episode of cultural expansion in Eurasia, but the fundamental questions concerning the start of the Viking Age - when, where and why did it begin? - remain unclear. Traditionally, the Viking Age is seen as starting in the West, with attacks on wealthy, neighbouring polities like Anglo-Saxon England and the Carolingian Empire from c. 800 AD, but new archaeological evidence points to Scandinavian military activity in the Baltic as early as c. 750. Since the Viking Age left an indelible legacy in northern Europe - still seen today in the network of towns, in language and in the political landscape - it is important to understand how the phenomenon of the Viking Age came about.
Our project seeks to address these questions from a new perspective - that of silver. The Viking Age is characterised by large number of silver hoards, as well as hundreds of silver artefacts and weights found on settlements and as single finds. Since no silver was mined in Scandinavia during this period, it had to be imported. If we can understand the source of this silver - and in particular assess the relative contribution of Western European and Islamic coinage to Viking wealth - we can reveal the underlying connections that characterised Scandinavian society at the start of the Viking Age.
The overall objectives are therefore to evaluate the origin of Viking silver and specifically to assess Scandinavia's depth of connection with the Islamic Caliphate via the eastern (Russian) riverine trade route in the ninth century. This is being achieved through an extensive programme of archaeometric analyses, which can reveal the source of lead contained within the silver, and therefore reveal its sources. We will further assess the uses of Viking silver, to work out how it is being used, and work out the timeline of the import of Islamic and Western silver. We are testing the hypothesis that the Viking economy was strongly rooted in an Eastern trade network in its nascent stages before the Viking expansion. Far from being simple treasure hunters, we conceive the Vikings as first eastern traders, who later diversified into raiding in the West out of economic necessity.
Our project seeks to address these questions from a new perspective - that of silver. The Viking Age is characterised by large number of silver hoards, as well as hundreds of silver artefacts and weights found on settlements and as single finds. Since no silver was mined in Scandinavia during this period, it had to be imported. If we can understand the source of this silver - and in particular assess the relative contribution of Western European and Islamic coinage to Viking wealth - we can reveal the underlying connections that characterised Scandinavian society at the start of the Viking Age.
The overall objectives are therefore to evaluate the origin of Viking silver and specifically to assess Scandinavia's depth of connection with the Islamic Caliphate via the eastern (Russian) riverine trade route in the ninth century. This is being achieved through an extensive programme of archaeometric analyses, which can reveal the source of lead contained within the silver, and therefore reveal its sources. We will further assess the uses of Viking silver, to work out how it is being used, and work out the timeline of the import of Islamic and Western silver. We are testing the hypothesis that the Viking economy was strongly rooted in an Eastern trade network in its nascent stages before the Viking expansion. Far from being simple treasure hunters, we conceive the Vikings as first eastern traders, who later diversified into raiding in the West out of economic necessity.
Our work has focused on 1) documenting the material - carried out through museum visits; 2) undertaking archaeometric analyses, of both reference material and Viking-Age silver (overall, we have generated new lead isotope and trace element data for 195 ninth-century coins (reference material), 99 items of archaeological lead from Viking-Age contexts, 297 ninth-century silver artefacts, in addition to 65 other analyses of earlier (7th- early 9th century) material), and 3) analysing the numismatic contents for chronological patterns.
For each artefact/ coin, we captured both lead isotope ratios and trace element data (in particular gold and bismuth) in order to characterize the silver and identify potential source(s). We developed an interpretive framework, taking into account silver recycling and cupellation (refining) (publication 2). The objective was to identify the relative amounts of eastern and western silver entering Scandinavia. We worked in labs across Europe (Fig. 1) and developed with colleagues a portable laser ablation system (Fig. 2) for minimally invasive sampling with high precision (publication 4).
Analysis of dirhams revealed they their silver derived from dry silver ores - not galena (publication 3), opening up the question of silver sources. From our analysis, we identified sources of mining across the Caliphate (publication 9) (Fig. 3). This also allowed us to develop an isotope fingerprint of dirham silver reaching Scandinavia (publication 5). We showed that there was a chemical difference between stocks of silver entering Scandinavia before and after 850 (Fig. 4). The pre-850 signature was especially strong in the analysed silver, showing that significant quantities of dirhams must have reached Scandinavia at this early date, but were melted down. Analysing Viking silver objects, we found a significant pre-850 Islamic component in all regions apart from the Irish Sea and on the Continent. The Vikings didn't just extract local silver, they also brought it with them. Western silver was visible, but not in the volume expected, suggesting that the impact of the Viking raids may have been exaggerated in written accounts. The Islamic connection was strong even early on in the ninth century, before dirhams are recorded in significant number.
Thanks to the flexibility of the ERC grant, we have been able to apply our methods and approaches to other, early medieval material. Our analysis of lead, undertaken initially to evaluation the evidence for cupellation, revealed new insights into lead mining. For instance, we found that lead was mined in the North Pennines in the Viking Age, and that this lead was shipped across the North Sea to Scandinavia (publication no. 11). We also looked at some earlier material: the earliest coins minted in post-Roman England and France, from the end of the seventh century. This work revealed, astonishingly, that the coins were initially made of Byzantine silver that was stored as plate in England (Fig. 6). In other words, the silver was present in England and a decision was made to liquidate it to turn it into coinage around c. 680. After that, silver from France was used to produce silver coins on both sides of the North Sea (publication no. 10). Investigating Scandinavia's eastern connection also encouraged us to look at metals from the early Iron Age site of Helgo on Lake Malaren, Sweden, a precursor to the famous Viking town of Birka. In analysing brass, copper and lead, we found evidence that brass was imported from the Byzantine Empire, as early as the fifth/ sixth century (publication no. 12).
For each artefact/ coin, we captured both lead isotope ratios and trace element data (in particular gold and bismuth) in order to characterize the silver and identify potential source(s). We developed an interpretive framework, taking into account silver recycling and cupellation (refining) (publication 2). The objective was to identify the relative amounts of eastern and western silver entering Scandinavia. We worked in labs across Europe (Fig. 1) and developed with colleagues a portable laser ablation system (Fig. 2) for minimally invasive sampling with high precision (publication 4).
Analysis of dirhams revealed they their silver derived from dry silver ores - not galena (publication 3), opening up the question of silver sources. From our analysis, we identified sources of mining across the Caliphate (publication 9) (Fig. 3). This also allowed us to develop an isotope fingerprint of dirham silver reaching Scandinavia (publication 5). We showed that there was a chemical difference between stocks of silver entering Scandinavia before and after 850 (Fig. 4). The pre-850 signature was especially strong in the analysed silver, showing that significant quantities of dirhams must have reached Scandinavia at this early date, but were melted down. Analysing Viking silver objects, we found a significant pre-850 Islamic component in all regions apart from the Irish Sea and on the Continent. The Vikings didn't just extract local silver, they also brought it with them. Western silver was visible, but not in the volume expected, suggesting that the impact of the Viking raids may have been exaggerated in written accounts. The Islamic connection was strong even early on in the ninth century, before dirhams are recorded in significant number.
Thanks to the flexibility of the ERC grant, we have been able to apply our methods and approaches to other, early medieval material. Our analysis of lead, undertaken initially to evaluation the evidence for cupellation, revealed new insights into lead mining. For instance, we found that lead was mined in the North Pennines in the Viking Age, and that this lead was shipped across the North Sea to Scandinavia (publication no. 11). We also looked at some earlier material: the earliest coins minted in post-Roman England and France, from the end of the seventh century. This work revealed, astonishingly, that the coins were initially made of Byzantine silver that was stored as plate in England (Fig. 6). In other words, the silver was present in England and a decision was made to liquidate it to turn it into coinage around c. 680. After that, silver from France was used to produce silver coins on both sides of the North Sea (publication no. 10). Investigating Scandinavia's eastern connection also encouraged us to look at metals from the early Iron Age site of Helgo on Lake Malaren, Sweden, a precursor to the famous Viking town of Birka. In analysing brass, copper and lead, we found evidence that brass was imported from the Byzantine Empire, as early as the fifth/ sixth century (publication no. 12).
The project has made progress in its initial area of enquiry: the sources of silver in Viking Age silver objects. We have shown that the source of silver shifts from east to west, but that Islamic silver is a significant component of all silver up to the Irish Sea region. Moreover, we can trace this Islamic contribution to the first half of the ninth century, meaning that these dirhams must have entered Scandinavia between 800 and 850. That this silver is found even in hoards deposited in England shows that the Vikings were not just exploiting local resources, they were also bringing silver with them (as also illustrated by the Galloway hoard vessel from Iran). It also raises questions about the fate of western loot which, while present in southern Scandinavia and the west, is dominant only on the Continent and the Irish Sea region. It does not appear to have been preferentially melted down for casting: there was simply much more Islamic silver than western European silver in circulation in Scandinavia.
Unexpectedly, we have also made some critical discoveries in other areas, from Islamic mining within the Caliphate to lead mining in England and the use of Byzantine silver in the first post-Roman coins from England and France. We are also applying the same methods to further datasets, such as the earliest coins minted in Scotland (twelfth century). Alongside developing the new methodologies in portable laser ablation, this has been the key benefit of the project: having the freedom to apply a method more widely than initially envisioned.
Unexpectedly, we have also made some critical discoveries in other areas, from Islamic mining within the Caliphate to lead mining in England and the use of Byzantine silver in the first post-Roman coins from England and France. We are also applying the same methods to further datasets, such as the earliest coins minted in Scotland (twelfth century). Alongside developing the new methodologies in portable laser ablation, this has been the key benefit of the project: having the freedom to apply a method more widely than initially envisioned.