Four intricately crafted silver bracelets hidden under the floorboards of a Viking slave dwelling for 1,100 years were recently unearthed by archaeologists from Norway's University of Stavanger’s Archaeological Museum.
The current owner of the property, Tårn Sigve Schmidt, had called in the archaeologists to survey his land ahead of his plan to carve out a new tractor road on his mountainside farm overlooking a fjord near Årdal, northwest of Oslo.
Field archaeologists Mari Krogstad Samuelsen and Ola Tengesdal Lygre found the heavy, twisted-motif bracelets under the floorboards of what was once a tiny shelter. They were buried under 8 inches of soil.
"At first I thought it was a question of some twisted copper wires that you can often find in agricultural land," said Lyger, "but when I saw that there were several lying next to each other and that they were not copper at all, but silver, I realized that we had found something exciting."
An analysis of the site revealed that there was once a large and powerful Viking farm consisting of several houses for both people and animals. Apparently, the location had strategic military value because from the vantage point of the farm, the Vikings could control the sea routes into what is today's Årdal.
In addition to the bracelets, the archaeologists found remains of soapstone pots, rivets, knife blades and whetstones for sharpening tools.
The archaeologists called the discovery "unique" because they very rarely find such objects exactly where they were placed. More often, they are discovered in fields that have been plowed, where an object has been completely taken out of its original context.
"Since the silver hoard has not been moved, it can give us completely new insights into life and society in the Viking Age," said archaeologist and project manager Volker Demuth.
The excavation also revealed that the farm had been burned down during a time that coincided with a period of great unrest in the Viking Age (The Viking Age in Norway spanned from 800 AD to 1066 AD).
"If people who lived on this farm had to flee from an attack, it would be natural to hide away the valuables you had before escaping to the mountains," said Demuth.
The archaeologists transported a block of earth containing the undisturbed bangles to the University of Stavanger’s Archaeological Museum, where conservators took X-rays. They are also in the process of analyzing soil samples from the block to tell, among other things, whether the bracelets were wrapped in a cloth when they were buried.
Interestingly, there were no silver mines operating in Norway during the 9th century, so all the silver the Vikings used came from abroad, either through trade, as gifts, or as part of the loot from raiding expeditions.
The silver bracelets will soon find their way to an exhibit at the archaeological museum once analysis and conservation work is complete.
Credit: Photo by Volker Demuth, Archaeological Museum, University of Stavanger.