A homeowner near Rebild in North Jutland has dug up 18.5 kilos of Viking-age silver, described by Nordjyske Museer as the largest known silver hoard in Denmark.
The discovery was made during ordinary garden work. An anonymous man in the Rebild area was digging to lay a new terrace when large amounts of silver appeared in the soil, DR reports.
Nordjyske Museer has registered more than 700 silver objects or fragments with a combined weight of 18.5 kilos. That is around three times heavier than the previous Danish record find. The Terslev hoard, until now the largest Viking-age silver find in the country, weighs about 6.5 kilos.
Torben Sarauw, head of cultural heritage at Nordjyske Museer, told DR that he did not believe his own eyes when he first saw the silver. Per Sarauw, the museum has received smaller silver hoards before, but those were measured in grams rather than kilos. He called the find completely unique.
What the hoard contains
The silver includes numerous bars, jewelry, coins, a small Thor’s hammer and other small items. According to MigogAalborg, the hoard was deposited in a clay pot. About 320 objects weighing 6.4 kilos were still inside the pot, while the remaining pieces lay scattered in the surrounding soil.
MigogAalborg further reports that the contents include arm rings and 47 coins and coin fragments, primarily Arabic dirhams, along with cut or broken silver items. Museum staff at Nordjyske Museer estimate that the silver was buried in the 10th century.
Lars Christian Nørbach, director of Nordjyske Museer, said the find is significant both in terms of weight and in archaeological and historical terms. The many silver bars are among the unusual features of the hoard, according to the museum.
Unanswered questions
Museum staff stress that considerable work lies ahead. They assume a connection to another, markedly smaller silver hoard found in the same area in 1971, but many questions remain open.
Nørbach said he would like to identify a house, a village or another structure that the silver formed part of. As stated by the director, the museum is now beginning to look into that question.
Regardless of whether that search succeeds, the silver itself adds to knowledge of shared history, according to Nordjyske Museer. Sarauw described the find as part of the larger puzzle of Danish history.
Per Sarauw, unique new finds provide important information about where Vikings traveled, how they obtained silver and how their economy worked. He added that such discoveries help explain why people today are as they are.
