Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers: The Archaeological and Historical Context of Viking-Age Silver Coin Deposits in the Baltic C. 800-1050

401 Pages·2019·24.077 MB·English

by  Jacek Gruszczynski

Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers
It is widely accepted that the Viking Age (c. 800–1050) stimulated the devel-
opment of long-distance, regional and local trade and exchange networks. The
clearest archaeological evidence for these contacts is mainly in the form of silver
artefacts predominantly found in hoards in Northern and Central Europe – the
Baltic zone. However, beyond occasional national- or regional-level research,
there have been no attempts at a historically guided comparative archaeological
survey of the Baltic zone as a whole.
By investigating silver hoards and the context of their deposition, Viking
Silver, Hoards and Containers seeks to understand the variety of functions per-
formed by hoards; the differences in function within regions; the hoards’
relationship with trade; and the nature and function of emporia. It also exam-
ines the extent to which the findings mesh with literary evidence and the nature
of the different societies benefiting from the influx of silver in the Viking Age.
Crucially, the book features a catalogue, which provides a thorough overview
and update of Baltic-zone hoards.
Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers is intended for use by students of, and
specialists in, early medieval, Viking and Slavic history and archaeology.
However, it will also be a useful teaching resource for other general courses in
archaeology, anthropology and material culture, numismatics, economic history,
religious studies, GIS and statistics.
Jacek Gruszczyński was a Research Associate at the Khalili Research Centre,
University of Oxford, and works as an archaeology and heritage consultant.
Gruszczyński obtained his MA in Archaeology from the Jagiellonian University,
Cracow, and his doctorate from Oxford. His research interests focus on hoard-
ing practices in the context of settlement, economy and social and political
structures in the Viking Age.
Routledge Archaeologies of the Viking World
Viking Silver, Hoards and Containers
The Archaeological and Historical Context of Viking-Age Silver Coin
Deposits in the Baltic c. 800–1050
Jacek Gruszczyński
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Archaeologies-of-the-Viking-World/book-series/RAVW
Viking Silver, Hoards and
Containers
The Archaeological and Historical Context
of Viking-Age Silver Coin Deposits in
the Baltic c. 800–1050
Jacek Gruszczyński
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2019 Jacek Gruszczyński
The right of Jacek Gruszczyński to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gruszczynski, Jacek, 1980- author.
Title: Viking silver, hoards and containers : the archaeological and
historical context of Viking-age silver coin deposits in the Baltic
c. 800-1050 / Jacek Gruszczynski.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: Routledge archaeologies of the Viking world | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018034383| ISBN 9780815373360
(hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781351243650 (ebk) | ISBN
9781351243643 (web) | ISBN 9781351243636 (epub) | ISBN
9781351243629 (mobi/kindle)
Subjects: LCSH: Viking antiquities—Baltic Sea Region. | Vikings—
Baltic Sea Region—History. | Silverwork, Viking—Baltic Sea
Region. | Silver coins—Baltic Sea Region. | Coin hoards—
Baltic Sea Region. | Excavations (Archaeology)—Baltic
Sea Region. | Baltic Sea Region—Antiquities. | Baltic Sea
Region—Commerce—History.
Classification: LCC DL21 .G78 2019 | DDC 948/.022—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018034383
ISBN: 9780815373360 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781351243650 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
For Magda

Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xv
Acknowledgements xvii
List of abbreviations xviii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Why Viking-Age hoards and why this book? 1
1.2 Setting the scene: Vikings, Viking Age, Baltic zone and
silver economies 5
2 Gotland: the silver island 22
2.1 Introduction 22
2.2 Hoards in Gotland 25
2.3 Spatial analysis of hoard distribution 28
2.4 Context 38
2.5 Regression analysis 60
2.6 Hoarding and land ownership 65
2.7 Reasons for (non-)retrieval of silver 67
3 Pomerania: Slavs and war perpetual 85
3.1 Introduction 85
3.2 Hoards in Pomerania 89
3.3 Spatial analysis of hoard distribution 91
3.4 Context 113
3.5 Regression analysis 128
3.6 Reasons for (non-)retrieval of silver 132
4 Svealand: a mainland kingdom 144
4.1 Introduction 144
4.2 Hoards in Svealand 146
viii Contents
4.3 Spatial analysis of hoard distribution 147
4.4 Context 163
4.5 Regression analysis 178
4.6 Reasons for (non-)retrieval of silver 183
5 Composition and patterns of hoard deposition from
a chronological perspective 196
5.1 Composition 196
5.2 Temporal changes in patterns of deposition 211
5.3 Reasons for hoarding from a chronological perspective 223
5.4 Silver hoards before and after the Viking Age 226
6 Synthesis and conclusions 245
6.1 Inflow of silver 245
6.2 Why were hoards deposited and (not) retrieved 253
6.3 Coin hoards in the context of stray finds and non-coin deposits 273
6.4 The end of the journey but not the road: conclusions 279
Appendix A: Scope, datasets and methodology 287
A1 Chronology and scope 287
A2 Datasets 291
A2.1 Gotland and Svealand 291
A2.2 Pomerania 293
A2.3 Common datasets 295
A2.4 Roman denarii hoards and hoards with tpq
1051–1150 296
A3 Methodology 297
A3.1 Clustering and kernel density 297
A3.2 Distances 298
A3.3 Weight calculations and bootstrapping 299
A3.4 Regression analysis 299
A3.5 Boxplots 305
A3.6 Stronghold territories in Pomerania (only) 305
Appendix B: Concise catalogue of silver hoards c. 800–10501 308
Glossary 347
References 351
Index 373
Note
1 Full catalogue is available at https://doi.org/10.5287/bodleian:KOqjpvvQn
Figures
1.1 Map of Viking-Age silver hoards in Europe 2
2.1 Distribution of silver hoards c. 800–1050 in Gotland 29
2.2 Results of Average Nearest Neighbor analysis in ArcGIS
of clustering of the Gotlandic hoard findspots 30
2.3 Kernel density heat map of Gotlandic hoards 31
2.4 Results of Spatial Autocorrelation (Moran’s I) analysis in
ArcGIS of the weight of silver clustering in the
Gotlandic hoards 34
2.5 Results of spatial autocorrelation analysis on silver weight
in Gotlandic hoards 35
2.6 Hoard concentrations discussed in Chapter 2, section 2.3 37
2.7 Kernel density heat map of Viking-Age settlements
in Gotland 39
2.8 Distance from Gotlandic hoards to the nearest Viking-Age
settlement 42
2.9 Kernel density heat map of Viking-Age burial sites 45
2.10 Distance from Gotlandic hoards and Viking-Age settlements
to the nearest contemporary cemetery 46
2.11 Gotlandic hoards associated with markers and standing stones 48
2.12 Distance from Gotlandic hoards and Viking-Age settlements
to the nearest standing stone in situ 49
2.13 Kernel density heat map of Viking-Age sites associated with
metalworking 52
2.14 Distance from Gotlandic hoards to the nearest site with
evidence of metalworking 53
2.15 Map of Viking-Age harbour sites (landing places) and hoards 54
2.16 (a) Hoards classified by distance from the nearest Viking-Age
harbour site (landing place), (b) hoards classified by a number
of available Viking-Age harbour sites (landing places) 56
2.17 Half-normal plot of Pearson residuals versus simulated residuals
in the GLM model for Gotlandic case study (mod8.5) 63
2.18 Results of Spatial Autocorrelation (Moran’s I) analysis in
ArcGIS of Pearson residuals in Gotlandic regression model
(mod8.5) 64