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More than 50 silver coins and various jewels from the late Viking age have been found in two buried collections in southern Gotland. The treasure was found by a private individual in a rabbit hole.
The silver hoard is typical of Gotland, but the site of the find in the desert is unusual.
– At two meters we found another treasure that the rabbits did not destroy. It also contained a necklace of twisted silver cans, parts of four pieces of jewelry and another 25 or so coins, says archaeologist Per Widerström of the Gotland Museum, who investigated the site.
The taxes include two Byzantine coins minted in Constantinople, what the Vikings called Miklagård, the city we know today as Istanbul in Turkey. The collection also contained a large number of Arab coins.
– The youngest coin is minted in Constantinople in 976 to 977, says Widerström.
The fact that the two little treasures were found side by side in what appears to be a wasteland makes the find special, he says.
– As far as we know, there have been no Viking-era settlements here.
Taxes on silver are common in Gotland, which in Viking times was a place for distance trading.
– Those that end up on land can be seen as a trade surplus. A tax that you have sacrificed or do not need right now.
The finding has been reported to the National Heritage Board, which decides on any compensation to the seeker.
– Now we will try to decide what types of coins they are and if they can say something about the commerce in Gotland during the Viking era, says Widerström.
