Hugvísindasvið

Coinsfrom

VikingAgeIceland

RitgerðtilM.A.íFornleifafræði

AidanBell

Kt:120686­3729

Leiðbeinandi:GavinLucas

Haust2009

Coinsfrom

Viking~Age

Iceland

AidanBell

Cover:AnIslamicdirhemfromMjóidalur,Iceland

Contents

Section1­Introduction

1. TheRoleofCoinsinArchaeology 1

2. TheUseofSilverforTradeintheVikingWorld 2

3. TheIntroductionofCoinsintotheVikingWorld 6

Section2–TheArchaeologicalMaterialfromViking­AgeIceland

4. RomanCoinsinIceland 15

5. SilverHoardsinIceland 15

6. Single‐CoinFindsinIceland 18

Section3–ArtefactStudy

7. SampleStudyofCoinsfromtheIcelandicVikingAge 19

• Aims&Objectives• EvidenceforUse• Results• Conclusions

8. ComparisonswithViking‐AgeNorway&Britain 24

Section4–Interpretation&Analysis

9. TheRoleofCoinsinViking‐AgeIceland 27

10. TheOriginofCoinsandIndicationsofForeignContact 30

Bibliography

Appendices

A. SampleCollectionofCoinsfromtheGaulverjabær&KetaHoardsB. SampleCollectionofSingle‐FindCoinsC. ComparisonofAnglo‐Saxon&ImitationCoins

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Section1­Introduction

1.TheRoleofCoinsinArchaeology

Numismatics, the study of coinage, has many applications in the study ofArchaeology.Coinsactasameansofdatingarchaeologicalcontextsandstrataonaccount of the chronological information that can be gained from typologicalanalysis. This is possible because coins often become incorporated in anarchaeologicalcontextatadaterelativelyclosetothatinwhichtheywerestruck,although archaeologistsmust be aware of the possibility of contamination fromothercontexts(Laing,1969:71). AnexampleofthiscanbeseenfromtheAnglo‐Scandinavian excavations in York, where the cutting of pits and other featuresresulted in the displacement and redeposition of coins in contexts 75‐100 yearslater than their striking (Hall, 2000:2461). An indication of date can often beachievedbystudyofthedesignsonthefacesofthecoins,aswellasthedegreeofwearfounduponthecoin,althoughascoinsintheVikingagedidnotcirculateinthemodernsense,thentheyshowrelativelylittlesignofweardespitethelengthoftime that passed between their striking and deposition (Archibald, 1980:103).Nonetheless,thedesignonthecoincangiveaninitialdatetonoearlierthanthatwhichitwasissued,andthedegreeofwearcangiveanindicationastothelengthof timewhich the coin was in circulation. This can then refine the date of thearchaeologicalcontext,byrelatinghowmuchtimepassedbetweentheissueofthecoinanditsburialinthearchaeologicalstrata.

Coinsalsoprovideameansofdatingbyassociationwithotherartefacts.Whilethecharacteristicsofacoingiveanaccurateperiodoftimetowhichthearchaeologicalcontext may date, the relationship between a coin and other artefacts helps tosecureamorereliabledate. Forexample, ifacoin is foundinassociationwithaparticular typeofpottery, then the coinprovides a generaldate and thepotterycanrefinethisdateduetostylisticchangesandarelativelyshortlifespan(Laing,1969:45).

The most common individual class of artefacts that survive from Viking AgeScandinavia are coins (Archibald, 1980:103) and although beads are moreprevalent in Iceland, the application of numismatics to the study of Viking AgeIceland is nevertheless of great importance. The information gained from coinscanaddtothatgiveninthesometimes‐sparsewrittenrecordsandincaseswherethere is littleornoother informationavailable. Forexample, the inscriptionsoncoins enable the identification of the rulerswho ordered theminting andmanycoinsalso carry thenameof themoneyerand theplacewhere theywere struck(Graham‐Campbell & Kidd, 1980:120). With the exception of the earliestScandinavianissues,Vikingagecoinscanusuallybedatedtoaspecifictimeperiod,oftenwithinadecadeorless.TheearliestScandinavianissuesgenerallyrequireawide‐range date bracket of perhaps a quarter of a century or more, as do thecoinages of those kings of a long reign. However, in the archaeological context,whilethedateofissuecanbedeterminedprecisely,thedateofdepositioncanbemuchmoredifficulttoascertain(Archibald,1980:103).

Ameans of establishing the origin ofmost of the silver found in Scandinavia isgiven by coins, as they often carry information regardingwhere andwhen theywereminted (Roesdahl, 1998:111). The presence of coins in an archaeological

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contextthereforegives informationregardingtheeconomyofthetimeandplacethat is being studied because the circulation of silver, by payment or otherwise,canbetraced(Malmer,1985:185).Thisprovidesinformationsuchasthetypesofcoins thatwereavailableat that timeand thedegreesofwealth thatpeoplehadaccess to. However, the reliability and type of information that can be gainedvaries depending upon whether hoards or single‐coin finds are being studied.Whereas single coin finds are likely to be due to accidental loss and thereforeindicatinggeneraluse,hoardsconsistofcoinswhichhavebeendeliberatelytakenoutofcirculationandburiedforritualorkeptfortheirfinancialorcuriosityvalue.When coins were regarded as bullion, they were often hoarded with otherartefacts,andsocoinsprovideaterminusantequemforthemanufactureoftheseobjects (Archibald,1980:103). Therefore,when found inahoard,coinsenableaquiteprecisedepositiondatetobeestablished.

ThearchaeologicalstudyofcoinshasmanyapplicationsforthestudyoftheVikingAgeinIceland.InthisprojectastudywillbemadeofcoinsthathavebeenfoundinVikingAgecontextsinIceland,eitherassinglefindsorinhoards.Thestudywillbetwo‐fold: one aspect of this project will be a study of some of these coins,comparingthosefromhoardsandsinglefinds, to identifyevidencefortheuseofcoinsinIceland. Theotherpartwill lookathowcoinscametoIcelandandwhatthatcaninformthearchaeologistaboutcontactsbetweenIcelandandotherpartsof the Viking world. In order to understand how best to apply this, it is firstnecessary to lookathowsilverwasused for trade in theVikingworld,andhowthisledtothedevelopmentoftheuseofcoinage.

2.TheUseofSilverforTradeintheVikingWorld

Silverwas theprimarymeansofpaymentacross theVikingWorld, and silver inparticular,includingotherpreciousmetals,cametotheNordicregionsbyraidingand trading fromEurope,Russiaand theEast (Fitzhugh,2000:19). Thedemandforsilverwassubstantial;forexampleinhoardsfromSweden80,000Arabiccoins,33,700Englishcoinsand154,776Frankish&Germancoinshavebeenfound,mostofwhich date to the 10th& 11th centuries. These large figures demonstrate theimportance of silver in the Viking economy, as well as the wealth of theScandinavianVikingstowardstheendoftheVikingage(Wilson,2003:176). It isimportanthowevertonotethat itwasthemetal thatwas important,ratherthantheobjectsthatweremadeoutofitanditisthereforecommontofindarangeofprecious‐metal objects collected together in Viking hoards, which are notnecessarilyrelatedbytypology,butwerekeptforthevalueofthemetals.

InIcelandallmetalsotherthanIronwereimportedandBronzehasbeenfoundtobethemostcommon.However,excavationsatSuðurgatainReykjavíkhaveshownBronzeobjectstoberelativelyrare,makinguplessthan0.5%ofallobjectsfromViking age contexts there. A small clay cruciblewas found,which indicates thatmetalsweresmelted,suchasBronzeorperhapsevenGoldorSilver(Vésteinsson,[nodate]:107).Ifthiswereso,thenitsupportsthetrendacrosstheVikingworldofusingpreciousmetalseithertomakeobjectssuchasjewelleryortomeltdownthemetals touse forpaymentsbyweight,albeitonasmallscaleas indicatedbytheReykjavíkevidence. This is supportedbyexcavationsatCoppergate inYork,

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where largenumbersof crucibles, ingotmouldsandevidence forpreciousmetalrefining were found, where silver working was the primary metalworkingindustry,whichmayhavebeenrelatedtocoinproductionandwasat itspeak inthemid‐10thcentury(Mainman&Rogers,2000:2475).

AnimportantaspectoftheuseofSilverfortradeintheVikingworldisHack‐Silver.Silver generally took the form of ornaments or jewellery that had either beenmelted down and recast into such objects, or originated as loot from raidingexpeditions. Thesewould often be given to friends or allies, as part of the giftexchangeeconomythatwasprevalentinVikingAgesociety(Hedeager,2000:84).The Arabian Ibn Fadlan, who documented Viking life in the early 10th century,notedthatmenoftengaveaneck‐ringtotheirwives,whichwerewornassignsofwealth. These were often made from melted‐down Arabic coins (Jørgensen,2000:75).Aspaymentforpurchaseswasoftenmadebyweight,itwascommontocuttherequiredamountofsilverfromjewelleryorotherobjectsinordertomakethepayment.Merchantsandtraderscarriedasmallboxcontainingasetoffoldingscales and weights, and in order to match the required weight, small pieces ofsilver would be cut from jewellery to make the payment (Roesdahl, 1998:112).Hack‐silver is often regarded as evidence for an intermediary stage in thedevelopmentbetweenbullionandmonetaryeconomicsystems,as the fragmentsof ‘hacked’ silver indicates a greater demand for ameans of payment thanwasprovided by the existing quantities of coins thatwere in circulation asweighedmetal (Sheehan, 2000:62). This is an important point to be considered whenstudyingtheuseofcoinsintheVikingworld.

For thesubjectof thisstudy, it isnecessary tohighlight theways inwhichsilvercameintotheIcelandiceconomy.Coinsarekeytoestablishingtheoriginofmuchof theScandinaviansilver,as the inscriptionsuponmostcoins revealwhereandwhen they were minted (Roesdahl, 1998:111). Coins are most often found inhoards,andthereforethisaspectofthearchaeologicalrecord,bothinIcelandandacrosstheVikingworld, isofgreatimportance. Thepresenceofhoardssuggeststimesofinsecurity,leadingpeopletoburytheirwealth(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:120),however, inreality thereasons forburialcanbevarious,suchas thissecurity fromunrest, or for storing the farm’svaluables. Therefore the size andnumberofhoards founddonotnecessarily reflect thewealthoreconomyof thearea(Roesdahl,1998:112),asthesilverwasnotthenincirculation.Thepresenceorabsenceofcoins inahoardalsodoesnotnecessarilydetermine theeconomicroleofthesilver,ascoinswereoftenregardedasbullionandsowereusedassuchforpayments(Sheehan,2000:58).

Thestudyofhoardsenablestheframeworksofchronologyandtypologyofcoinstobecreated,whichcanthenbeutilisedtoshedlightupontheperiodofhistoryinquestion(Laing,1969:52).Dependinguponthetypeofhoardthatisbeingstudied,the coins within a hoard are not necessarily representative of those in generalcirculation at the time. The reasons for burying hoards are various, but withregards to trade, itwouldbenecessary toburysuchvaluables forsecuritywhentravelling overseas. Most coin hoards in Viking Scandinavia, particularly thosefoundontheislandofGotlandinSweden,weretheresultofcommerceandtrade,rather thanviolent times. Thiscommercialactivitywastakingplaceata timeofgreatpopulationmovementinthe10thcentury,asemigrants,manyofwhomwere

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merchants, settled in the new colonies (Lieber, 1981:28). This hypothesissupportsthemovementofsilvertoIcelandalongwiththenewsettlersduringtheAgeofSettlementfromAD870‐930andlater.Anotheraspectofhoardsthatmustbeconsiderediswhytheywereneverreclaimed. Warandunrestaretemporaryand so reclamationwouldbe expected, however the largenumbers of hoards inGotland, Sweden, does not account for this (ibid) and therefore this does notanswerwhysomanyhoardswereleftunclaimed. Hereinliestheideaofaritualelement to the intentional deposition of hoards, which is discussed further inrelationtotheIcelandicmaterialinchapters7&9.

More than 1000 hoards have been found across Viking Scandinavia, providingevidence of silver connections between the east andwest (Roesdahl, 1998:110).Hoardscontainmanyartefacts suchas coins,hack‐silverand ingots, allofwhichcanbeusedtoexamineaspectsofVikingsociety.Thepresenceofsuchquantitiesof silver in hoards is indicative of the amounts ofwealth thatwas accumulatedacross Scandinavia during the Viking Age and demonstrates the impact andsuccessthattheVikingshadinEurope(Morris,2000:99).HereafewexamplesofsignificantVikingagehoardsaregiven.

The Hoen hoard from Norway is the largest hoard to be found in Viking AgeScandinavia.Itcontainedmanyartefacts,includingArabian,ByzantineandEnglishcoins,evenagoldRomansolidus(Skaare,1976:34),andmayhavebeencollectedin Frankia as insurance against further Viking raids (Price, 2000:120). It isunusualtofindwesternandArabiccoinstogetherinsuchcontexts,andsoHoenisanexception (Blackburn,2005:144). TheCarolingianandAnglo‐Saxoncoinsarechronologicallyclose,datingtoc.810‐30,whichcoincideswithwhenwesterncoinswerepresentinNorway(Blackburn,2005:145).Anotablefeatureofthehoardisthat most of the coins have been given loops in order to hang from a necklace(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:33). Thismodificationdemonstrates that coinswerenot justusedasameansofpayment,butwerealsoused for jewelleryanddecoration.

The Cuerdale hoard, found on the banks of the river Ribble in Lancashire, is asignificantfindfromEngland.ThisisthelargestVikinghoardtohavebeenfoundthere and it was buried around AD905, containing 40 kilos of silver and 7,500coins.ThecoinsweremostlyfromtheEnglishVikingrealms,particularlyYork,theEnglish kingdom, continental Europe and Arabia. It even included coins fromHedeby, demonstrating the production and use of Viking‐minted coins fromScandinavia (Roesdahl, 1998:110,247‐8). The hoard was located on the routebetween Dublin and York (Logan, 1983:160), which is of significance becausebetween919and954YorkwasvariouslyruledbytheIrish‐NorsefromDublin,aswell as Norwegian and Anglo‐Saxon kings. The link with the Irish‐Norse fromDublin created a route running across Lancashire and the Pennines (Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:121),placingthelocationoftheCuerdalehoardexactlyonthisroute.Thishoardisimportantforstudyingthemovementofsilverandhowitcame into Viking Scandinavia, and then onwards to Iceland, because itdemonstrates a link between different Viking centres in Britain, explaining thepresenceofsuchquantitiesofAnglo‐SaxoncoinageandlinksonwardstoNorwayandtheoriginsoftheIcelandicsettlers.

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TheChesterhoardisanotherimportantfindfromtheVikingAgeinBritain.Itwasfound in1950 inaceramic jugandcontaineda largequantityofhack‐silverand522coins,mostlyfromAnglo‐Saxonmints,butitalsoincludedcoinsfromFranceandItaly.ThedatesofthecoinssuggestthatthehoardwasburiedaroundAD970(Batey & Sheehan, 2000:128). This hoard is significant to the subject underdiscussionbecausethedevelopmentoftradearoundtheIrishSeawaspartlybasedupon the presence of the Norse population. This growth of trade in this areaincreasedtheflowofsilverintoVikingScandinavia,and10thcenturyfindsindicateanorthernrouteandthattherewerecertainlyScandinaviansinChesterinthe11thcentury(Wilson,2003:175).AsthesettlersofthenorthAtlanticislandsalsopartlycame from the Irish Sea area, then the spread of silver northwards also becamepossible.

Attention must also be given to silver hoards in the archaeological record ofIreland,astheconcentrationofwealththatisrepresentedintheIrishhoardsisnotequalledelsewhereinthewesternpartoftheVikingworld. Bythemiddleofthe10th century, the Irish Seahadeffectivelybecomea ‘ScandinavianSea’, as itwascontrolled by Scandinavian traders and chieftains. By the end of the centuryDublinhadbecomeamajorScandinaviantradingcentre,whereinthelate990sthefirstcoinstobemintedinIrelandwerestruck.TheearliestcoinsimitatethoseoftheEnglishkingÆthelredIIandsomesubstitutehisnameforthoseoftheNorsekingsSihtricorAnlaf(Wilson,2003:175).ThelargenumbersofsilverhoardsthathavebeenfoundinIrelanddemonstratethestrengthandwealthofthiseconomicinfluence(ibid).108hoardsdatingtothe9thand10thcenturieshavebeenfoundinIreland, of which a total of 41 are exclusively coin hoards, 75% of which weredeposited after c.940. Although these coin hoards are relatively small, mainlyAnglo‐Saxon coins have been found in these hoards, although other coins fromArabia and also from Viking‐controlled Northumbria and East Anglia have alsobeenfound(Sheehan,2000:49‐51).AnimportantaspectofDublintothesubjectofthisstudyisthespatialdistributionofthosehoardsthatcontaincoins,whichareconcentratedaroundDublinandAnnagassan,aswellaspartsoftheIrishmidlands(Mytum, 2003:125). The proximity and concentration of coin hoards to Dublinindicate the importance of coins in trade there and excavations in Dublin haverevealed considerable trading contact with the Scandinavian north, France andEngland (Wilson, 2003:175). This role ofDublin as an important trading centreduringtheVikingageaddsimportancetothesehoardsinrelationtothesubjectofthis paper. As one of many sources for silver entering the Viking economy, itprovides another starting point for tracing the flow of silver through the Vikingworld and on to Iceland. The Irish connection is particularly relevant, as it iswidelyknown thatmanyof the settlerswhomoved to Iceland came fromorviaIreland.

ItisclearfromtheevidenceofhoardsthatsilverwasparticularlyvaluableduringtheVikingage,andit’sroleintradecantellusagreatdealaboutwideraspectsofVikingsociety,suchaswealthandforeigncontact.TheimportanceofthelocationandcontentsofthesevarioushoardsareindicativeofhowsilverenteredintotheVikingeconomy,andultimatelyhowsilvercoinscametobeusedinIceland.

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3.TheIntroductionofCoinsintotheVikingWorld

The legacyof theVikingAgecanbe traced through itshoards,which inquantityhavenoparallel inhistory. Thenumismaticcontentsof thesehoardsarealmostcompletely foreign to where they have been buried and although the coinsconstituted only a fraction of the precious metal in the Viking world (Lieber,1981:20,22), coinage is of great importance to the archaeological study of theVikings.

Coinage gradually became more common in the Viking world through thedevelopment of bartering precious metals, which were weighed to pay for theitemsbeingpurchased(Laing,1969:3). It isthereforecommontofindthatcoinshavebeencutorotherwisedamaged,assilverwastestedandremovedtoachievethe required weight and quality. There was no native coinage in VikingScandinaviauntilthelateVikingAge,andsointhiscontextitisoftencommontofind foreign coins, which were used for small payments according to weight(Roesdahl,1998:111).Asthemetalwasofgreatermarketvaluethanthecoin,theweightandqualityofthemetalwasmoreimportantthantheidentityofthecoinsthemselves, and so coins of a goodweight andmetalwere used inmany placesaway fromwhere theywereoriginally issued (Laing,1969:72),becomingwidelyacceptedasaformofbullion.ThistableshowsthedistributionofcoinfindsacrossthewesternpartoftheVikingworld.Itisinterestingtoobservethatthequantitiesof coins in the North Atlantic is significantly less than in Scandinavia, and thatwithinthat,farmorehavebeenfoundinIcelandthantheotherislands.

Country No.ofCoins No.ofLocationsSwedenDenmarkNorwayIcelandFaeroeIslandsShetlands

249,28441,02210,737384999

2,7876572561824

Total 301,535 3,724Table1:DistributionofCoinsintheWesternVikingWorld(AfterJonsson,2009)

Raiding and tradingwereboth important aspects ofViking life, and it is for thisreason thatsomanycoins fromforeign lands found theirway toScandinavia. Agreat variety of coins, from Anglo‐Saxon England to Arabia, have been found inarchaeological contexts across the Vikingworld. More than 200,000 coins havebeenfoundinarchaeologicalcontextsinVikingScandinavia,themajorityofthesebeing found in Gotland, Sweden (Roesdahl, 1998:111). Referring back to theevidence of silver in Ireland from chapter 2, Viking strongholds in Ireland,particularlyDublin,actedbothastradingcentresandalsobasesfromwhichraidswereundertakenoverlandandsea(Sawyer,2001:255). Scenariossuchasthesefacilitated the movement of foreign coins into the Viking world and this isdemonstratedbythedistributionmapsinFigures1and2. Itcanclearlybeseenthat the latter phase marks an increase in the amount of silver hoards inScandinavia,andalsoshowstheappearanceofsuchhoardsintheNorthAtlantic.

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Figure1:DistributionofHoardsbetween800&990

Figure2:DistributionofHoardsbetween990&1100

(AfterJonsson,2009)

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The economy expanded during the 10th century, and the Vikings contributed tothisbyspending,and thereforeredistributing, thewealth that theyhadacquiredthrough raiding and trading. Thiswealthwas in largepart silver in the formofjewelleryandcoins,andmanyhoardscontainingthesehavebeenfoundinViking‐occupiedareasoftheBritishIsles(Sawyer,2001:256).ThisissignificantasitwasbythiseconomicexpansionthatsomanyforeigncoinscameintocirculationintheVikingworld,albeitnotasacurrencyintheiroriginalform.

A factor of great importance in the movement of silver to Scandinavia and theVikingeconomywasthepaymentsofDanegeld.TheDanegeldwasaseriesoflargepayments demanded by the Vikings from the English during the period fromc.AD992‐1012, supposedly in return for a cease in further raids. The significantsizeofthepaymentsreflectedthewealthofEnglandatthetimeandtheDanegeldwas an important means by which silver transferred to Scandinavia (Logan,1983:173).Englandalreadyhadanefficientsystemoftaxcollection,whichmadeit possible to collect and pay the money required for the Danegeld (Lieber,1981:17),andthereforemadeitanattractivetargetfortheVikings.Thepaymentof the Danegeld was in part how Anglo‐Saxon coinage appeared in the Vikingeconomy,asthistotalledmorethan150,000lbsofsilver,whichwasequivalentto36 million contemporary coins (Roesdahl, 1998:110). The Slethei hoard fromNorwayismadeupof92%Anglo‐Saxonpennies,mostofwhicharefromÆthelredII,andappearstohaveresultedfromadanegeldpayment(Skaare,1976:56).ThecoinsofÆthelredIIarerepresentedinlargequantitiesinScandinavia,andthisisevidenceofthelargescaleoftheDanegeldpayments(Archibald,1980:103).ThisrepresentsaroundaquarterorthirdofthetotalEnglishcoinproduction,howeverit is unknownwhether itwas paid completely in coinage or rather in bullion orcommodities. However, the coincidence between the presence of Anglo‐SaxoncoinsinScandinaviaandtheBalticandtheperiodwhenthetributepaymentsweremade is very close (Blackburn & Jonsson, 1981:153) and therefore cannot beignored.OnlyasmallnumberofFrankishorAnglo‐SaxoncoinshavebeenfoundinScandinavia despite the large payments made in the form of the Danegeld(Roesdahl,1998:111),soitispossiblethatmostofthesecoinswerereinvestedinthepurchaseofgoodsorland(Lieber,1981:27),orotherwisemelteddown.From1012theDanegeldbecameanannual tax,whichwascalledHeregeldandwastopayforaDanishfleettodefendÆthelredII(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:153).ThisensuredthecontinuedmovementofsilverfromEnglandintoVikingScandinavia.

ForeigncoinsintheVikingeconomy

The processes outlined above for the movement of silver into the Vikingeconomies have resulted in a great variety of foreign coins appearing in thearchaeological record. The presence of foreign coins in the Viking world isparticularlyevidentfromthestudyofhoards,andthisissignificantinsupportingtheunderstandingthat the facevalueofacoinwasnot, in theearlierpartof theVikingAge,ofimportancebutratherthevalueofthesilver.Thisisbecausesuchawidevarietyofcoinscouldonlybeacceptablefortradeifitwereonlyforthevalueofthesilverfromwhichtheyweremade.

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EvidenceoftheflowofforeigncoinsthroughouttheVikingworldandupintothenorthAtlanticislandscanbeseeninthefindsofhoards.Suchahoardwasfoundon Sandoy in the Faroe Islands, which was found in 1863 in the south‐easterncornerof theSandurchurchyard. TheSandurhoardcontainednearly100silvercoins from across Europe and was buried in the late 11th century (Magnusson,1973:83). Apart from a fragment of Hack‐Silver, the hoard consistedmainly ofcoins. These date from between 1000‐1090, and originate from such diverselocations as Germany, England, Ireland, Hungary, Norway and Denmark. Thelargestpartofthehoardisagroupofaround80coins,whicharemainlyEnglishandGerman,andtherewasalsooneHiberno‐Norsecoin,whichdatesfromc.1035.The hoard was assembled in the mid‐11th century, probably in Norway. 17Norwegian coins were later added to the hoard; these coins date to the twodecadesof1080‐90’sandso thisprovidesa terminuspostquem (earliestdateofdeposition)ofc.1093forthehoard(Graham‐Campbell,2005:129). Inaddition,afragmentofasingleArabiccoinwasfoundinagraveontheFaroeIslands,theonlysuchcointobefoundthere.Itdatestoc.750‐775andwasburiedaroundbetweenAD850and900(Arge,2000:163).

The importance of the presence of foreign coins in the Viking economy is clearwhen referring back to the evidence from Ireland. The chronological anddistributional evidence of coin hoards in Ireland indicates that itwas the use offoreigncoins,asopposedtotheuseofhack‐silver,thatleadtothedevelopmentofcoin minting in Ireland in the late 10th century (Sheehan, 2000:62). ThesignificanceofthiswhenlookingattheintroductionofcoinsintotheVikingworldisthatalthoughcoinswereoriginallyusedasaformofhack‐silverinthemselves,their presence later influenced a major change in the way that payments weremade and therefore theway inwhich the Viking economies operated. This hasgreatbenefitsandimplicationsforthestudyofwidersocialaspects,whichwillbedemonstratedinchapter9inrelationtothestudyofIceland.

Themain groups of foreign coins that are found in Viking contexts are outlinedhere:

• ArabicCoins

Morethan85,000Arabiancoinsdatingfromthe9thand10thcenturieshavebeenfound across Scandinavia (Hedeager, 2000:85). The presence of Arabic coinsacross the Viking world is indicative of the eastern trade routes used by theVikings.TheIslamiceastwasrichinsilver,andtheVikingshadgoodssuchasfursthattheycouldsellthere,inreturnforthemuch‐desiredsilver.Asaconsequence,coins found in theVikingworld arepredominantlyofArabicoriginuntil aroundAD970,when thesilversuppliesstarted todryupand focusshifted to thesilverminesofGermany(Roesdahl,1998:111).TheArabiccoinsarealsoreferredtoas‘Kufic’coins,becausethetypeofscriptthatappearsonthecoinsisnamedafterthecityofKufah inMesopotamia. Thisscript isveryusefulbecause itoftenrecordsthe name of the mint and the date of issue (Graham‐Campbell, 2001:110).AlthoughArabiccoinsareknowntohavereachedScandinaviarelativelyearly intheVikingAge,evidencefromtheNorwegiantradingcentreofKaupangsuggeststhattheyonlybegantoappearinwesternScandinaviainanygreatquantityfromthe middle of the 9th century (Blackburn, 2005:143). Six hoards from Norway,

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dating to the first half of the 10th century, demonstrate that the Arabic dirhamcame to dominate the currency there and the presence of these coins in thenorthernandwesternislesofBritain,aswellastheIrishSea,furtherconfirmlinkswith western Scandinavia (ibid:146‐7). This is significant for the study of theIcelandicmaterial, asmostof the Icelandic settlers came from, and continued totradewith,NorwayandothersettlerscametoIcelandfromandviaIreland. TheArabic dirham may therefore prove to be instrumental in identifying themovementofsilvertoIceland.

• CoinsfromContinentalEurope

Over70,000German‐origincoinshavebeenfoundacrossScandinavia(Roesdahl,1998:111)andtheopeningofthenewminesinGermanycreatedanewinfluxofsilver and coins into the Viking economies. However, the opening of theRammelsberg silvermine aroundAD970didnot lead to an immediate export ofcoinage,asbetween975and990Germaniccoinswerestillrelativelyuncommonin Scandinavia (Ilisch, 1981:135). The movement of Germanic coins intoScandinaviawasgenerallygreaterthanthenumberofAnglo‐Saxoncoins,andhadbeenoccurringsincetheearly10thcentury.Howeveraround970,slightlyearlierthantheEnglishcoins,therewasanincreasewhichpeakedbetween990and1040(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:154). ThedatingofGermancoins isproblematic,asmanydonotcarrythenameofaruler;thisisfurthercomplicatedbythefactthattherewerethreeconsecutiverulerscalledOttoduringthe10thcenturyandseveralwere namedHenry between1002 and1125. Thereweremanydifferentmints,whichlargelyoperatedindependently,andimitationsofthecoinagewerecommon(Ilisch,1981:129).ItismostlikelythatGermaniccoinsarrivedinScandinaviabytradeasopposedtoraiding,asmostexamplesweremintedinthelate10thor11thcenturies,atatimewhenfewraidsweremadeinthatdirection(Lieber,1981:26).

The distribution of Germanic coins in Viking Scandinavia is highlighted by thevariationsinthecontentsofhoards.Duringthe11thcenturySwedenwasmintingitsowncoinageandDenmarkhadastrongnativecoinagebuthadnotyetenforcedits local issues. The hoards from both countries contained large proportions ofGermaniccoinage. Bycontrast,thehoardsfromNorwaycontainfewerGermaniccoinsandafter1066thesearealmostexclusivelynativeissues,howeverthisdoesnotprovethatNorwaydidnottradewithGermany,asSwedenandDenmarkdid.TheNorwegianmonarchywas strong enough to rule that foreign coins enteringNorwaywerere‐struckaslocalissues(Archibald,1980:103).

• Anglo­SaxonCoins

Initially,Anglo‐SaxoncoinsarerarelyfoundinVikingScandinavia,particularlyinthetwocenturiesprecedingEadger’sreformofcoinagearoundAD973(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:149).TheearliestcointobefoundinNorwaywasan8thcenturycoin from Ervik, followed by eight silver pennies from southern England,whichdatetotheperiodbetweenc.792‐823.Twootherexamples,whichareparticularlyinteresting, are twoNorthumbrian ‘Stycas’ of Eanred,whichwere struck aroundAD830‐40andweremountedontosmallleadcyclinders,whicharethoughttobeNorthumbrian or Anglo‐Viking weights (Blackburn, 2005:144). These few coinfindsindicatethedevelopmentofsmall‐scaletrade,whichbroughtthesecoinstoScandinavia(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:151).Thisearlyphaseofcoinmovement

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fromEnglandtoNorwayappearstohavethenceased,untilrestartingagainduringthelatterhalfofthe10thcentury.

The coinage reform of Eadger of the Reform Small Cross (c.973‐9) marks anincrease in the number of English coins which are found in Scandinavia. Thisappears to coincide with renewed Viking raids, which were recorded in 980(Blackburn & Jonsson, 1981:153). This increased substantially around 990 andfromthelatterhalfofthe10thand11thcenturies,largerquantitiesofAnglo‐Saxoncoinsare foundintheVikingworld. Morethan40,000coinshavebeenfoundinScandinaviawhichdatefromthisperiod–morethanhavebeenfoundinEnglanditself (Roesdahl, 1998:111). This significantdirect contactbetweenNorwayandEngland is supportedby evidence fromhoards inNorway,which containhigherproportions of Anglo‐Saxon coins than any other part of Viking Scandinavia(Blackburn, 2005:144). Themain coin types, fromÆthelred’s Crux (c.991‐7) toCnut’s Short Cross (1030‐1035/6) are present in large numbers (Blackburn &Jonsson,1981:153)andthisisofinterestasthisisthetimewhentheDanegeldandlater Heregeld payments were made from the English to the Vikings (Lieber,1981:26).

FromaroundAD1030therewasagradualdeclineinthenumbersofEnglishcoinsthat were going to Scandinavia, which continued throughout the 11th century.However,thiscouldbeinpartduetoareductioninthedurationofcoinissuestoabout twoyears, and therefore thenumbersofparticular issueswouldbe fewer(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:153).

• VikingcoinsstruckinEngland

The difference between Anglo‐Saxon and Anglo‐Scandinavian coins must beconsideredatthispointtoacknowledgethedifferenceincoinageinEnglandatthistime. The first Viking coins to be struck in England were from the Danish‐controlledareasthathadstrongtradinglinkswiththeAnglo‐Saxons. TheAnglo‐Saxonshadahighlydevelopedcoinage,soitisthereforenotsurprisingthatmanyoftheVikingcoinsimitatedthecontemporaryAnglo‐Saxonissues,whichhadthetwodenominationsofthesilverpennyandhalfpenny.However,theAnglo‐Saxonswere not the only source of inspiration for the Viking coinage, and some of theearly issues from York, which were struck just before 900, were of Carolingianinfluence(Smyth,1975:52).ThisconnectionsuggestsNorthSeatradinglinks,butultimately itwas the Anglo‐Saxon coinage that had themost influence upon theearly Viking coin designs, and this is also the result of the Vikings in EnglandemployingAnglo‐Saxonmoneyers(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:121).

TheAnglo‐SaxoninfluenceuponVikingcoinsisparticularlyevidentinthefacesofkingswhich appeared on the coins. These faces,which are often in profile, arecopiesfromAnglo‐Saxonexamples,andinmanycasesthefaceremainsthesamewhilethenameoftherulerischanged(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:122).ThisisalsoevidentinVikingcoinsthatwerestruckinnativeScandinavia.AveryraresilvercoinofSveinForkbeard,holdingasceptreinfrontofhisface,withalegendhalf in Latin and inaccurate Anglo‐Saxon, is the first of the royal Scandinaviancoinagetocarrythefaceofaking(Brøndsted,1986:188).

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FromaroundAD900untilthemiddleofthe10thcentury,coinswereproducedbytheNorwegianandDanishkingsofNorthumberland,bearing theirnames:Sitric,Regnald,AnlafandEirikBloodaxe(sonofHaraldFine‐Hair). ThedetailsoftheseAnglo‐Scandinaviancoinsareofgreatinterest.Someofthesecoinsbeardesignsofswords,banners,orabowandarrow,whileothersdisplayChristiandesignsandinscriptionssuchasacrossorthehandofGod.ThistypeofcoindemonstratestheconflictbetweenPaganismandChristianitytakingplaceintheVikingworldatthistime(Brøndsted,1986:187‐8).

Archaeologically, it is interesting to note that notmany of the Viking coins thatwere struck inEnglandhavebeen found inScandinaviaand this isbecause theywereprimarilyusedfortradeintheIrishSeaandAnglo‐Saxonareas. ThisphaseofcoinageendedinAD954,whenEirikBloodaxe,whowasthelastVikingkingofYork,wasexpelled(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:121).ThelackofthesecoinsinScandinaviaisaninterestingobservation,asithighlightsanacknowledgementof thedifferencebetweentheBritishandScandinavianeconomies. Astradewasconductedwith an agreed coinage in Britain, it was clearly unnecessary to takethesecoinsbacktoScandinaviainordertouseashack‐silver,andmoreover,itwasbeneficialtoretaintheminBritainfortradethere. Onthisnote,CarolingianandAnglo‐Saxonmerchantswould not have been in favour of accepting amounts ofhack‐silverinpayment,becausetheydealtincontrolledcurrencies.Itisthereforeexplanatory that the Viking merchants who were based in Dublin for example,wouldhoardAnglo‐Saxon (mostlyminted inChester– seeChesterhoardabove)andothercoinsforusewhentradingabroad(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:38).

Theproductionofcoinageby theVikings inEngland isofgreat importance,as itindicates the beginnings of coins becoming accepted as currency in the Vikingworld. This acceptance undoubtedly influenced and encouraged the furtherdevelopment of native Scandinavian coinage, which had already begun to bestruck.

• NativeScandinavianCoins

The native production of coinage in Viking Age Scandinavia is divided into twoperiods:thefirstphasewasduringthemiddleandlatterpartsofthe9thcentury,and thesecondphaseduring thesecondhalfof the10thcentury,aroundAD960‐980 (Brøndsted, 1986:186). The earliest coins thatwereminted by the Vikingswere Imitations, dating from the 8th‐9th centuries, which copied Frankish,Carolingian and Arabic coinage, as well as those of Charlemagne, which wereminted inDorestad. Productionwasonquiteasmall scale,andevenstopped inthelatterhalfofthe9thcentury,butthislaterresumedaroundAD900.Itwasnotuntil the reign of Harold Bluetooth that coin production increased with theincrease in the number of mints, striking coins based on Byzantine models(Roesdahl,1998:113).Laterinthe10thcentury,VikingcoinsbegantoimitatetheAnglo‐Saxoncoinstyle,andoftencarriedthenameoftheVikingkingwhomintedthem (Hedeager, 2000:85). These carried Christian symbols, and were issuedacrossthethreeScandinaviancountries(Gräslund,2000:61).

ThefirstcoinstobemintedinScandinaviacamefromDenmarkasearlyasthe8thcentury,andthesecoinsareknownasSceattas(Roesdahl,1998:112).Thesewereprobably minted at Hedeby around AD825, and the designs of the coins were

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copied andmodified from those of the Carolingian Empire from Dorestad, withwhichHedeby had strong trading links. They often have a Carolingian obverse,with a Scandinavian design of a ship or animal on the reverse (Lagerqvist,1992:220).Theseappeartohavebeenaquiteshort‐livedissue,astheyarerarelyfoundawayfromtheearlytradingcentres(Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:121).

Itwas only during the last part of the Viking Age that theNorse beganmintingtheirowncoinageinacontrolledandregulatedmanner,andthisbeganataroundthesametimeineachofthethreecountries:AroundAD1000inDenmarkbySveinForkbeard(988‐1014),inSwedenbyOlafSkotkonung(994‐1022)andinNorwaybySaintOlaf(1016‐30).ApartfromtheimitatedDorestadcoinage,thesystemoftheAnglo‐Saxon coinage laid thebasis fornative coinproduction in Scandinavia(Brøndsted,1986:188). Thesedevelopments inthe11thcentury ledtopaymentsbeingmadeaccordingtothefacevalueofthecoin,ratherthantotheirweightorstandard(Roesdahl,2003:155).Thecoinsofthesecondphaseofproduction,fromthe latterpartof the10th century, are relatively lightweightand thin. Theseareoften only struck on one side and therefore are referred to as ‘half‐bracteates’(Brøndsted,1986:187).

The importance of coinage is demonstrated by the fact that the samemoneyerswereoftenemployedbydifferentrulerstostriketheircurrencies. Anexampleisin York, where the various Irish‐Norse, Norwegian and Anglo‐Saxon rulers allemployed the same moneyers for this purpose (Graham‐Campbell & Kidd,1980:121). In addition, Anglo‐Saxon moneyers were taken to Sweden to mintmoney for kingOlaf Skotkonung (Brøndsted, 1986:190). The skill of theAnglo‐Saxon moneyers, both artistically and technically, was exceptional and theinscriptions were often in Latin. Evidence for foreign moneyers acting inScandinaviaisfurtheradvancedbythefactthatcoinscarryingrunicinscriptions,such as an example of Svein Estridsson in the 11th century are rare (Graham‐Campbell&Kidd,1980:122).

An importantaspectof thedevelopmentofcoinage in theVikingworldoccurredaroundtheyear1000,whenalimitednumberofcoinswerestruck,basedupontheAnglo‐Saxonstyle.Thenameofthekingsappearedonthecoins:SveinForkbeard(Denmark),OlafTryggvason(Norway)andOlofSkötkonung(Sweden)(Roesdahl,1998:113). In the10thcenturyareliablesystemofcoinagewasrequired for thedevelopment of trade, particularly at towns such as York (Graham‐Campbell &Kidd, 1980:121), and so towards the end of the Viking Age, coins began to beintroducedasamonetarysystem.Knut,KingofDenmarkandEngland,whoisalsoreferredtoasCnuttheGreat(AD1018‐35),attemptedtointroduceintoDenmarkacoinagesystembasedupontheEnglishpattern,strikingcoinsmodelledonthoseinEngland(Lund,2001:173).ThecoinsofCnuttheGreatoftencarrythenameofthemint, the moneyer, and also a royal portrait and Christian symbol (Brøndsted,1986:189).

AroundthetimeofHaraldHarðraði(AD1047‐66)amoredevelopedcoineconomybegan to become established, and it is interesting to note that around this timehoards containing amixture of coins and jewellery begin to disappear from thearchaeologicalrecord. Inaddition, ingotsandhack‐silveralsoceasetoappear in

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hoards, indicating that a sufficiently strong coin‐based economy had beenestablished, thus rendering the need to store silver obsolete. Thiswas finalisedwithareformofcoinagearound1070,afterwhichforeigncoinsceasetoappearinthe archaeological record, as only native coins were accepted (Roesdahl,1998:114).

TheUseofCoinsintheVikingWorld

Coins were often made into ‘wearable wealth’ in the form of jewellery andornaments(Hedeager,2000:85),eitherbybeingmelteddowntoreusethemetal,orthecoinswereincorporatedintothe jewellerythemselves. Thesewereeitherpiercedorhadaloopattachedtoenablehangingfromanecklaceorchain.Amostpopular coin for this use was the Arabian dirham, which is indicated by theproduction of imitations specifically for this purpose as jewellery hangings(Edgren,2000:112). WealthintheVikingworldwasnotdirectlyregardedastheaccumulation of silver or other precious objects, but rather richness in status,alliances and connections (Hedeager, 2000:84). This is important to considerwhenstudyingcoinsinVikingsociety,astheythemselvesarenotvaluedaswealth,butasameansofgainingrichnessinsociety.

Duringtheearly8thcenturytherewasadecisivechangeinthewaythatcoinswereused in Scandinavia. Up until this time there was a ‘secondary coin economy’,wherebyforeigncoinswereusedforexchange,butnotinthewayintendedintheircountry of origin. This later transformed into a ‘primary coin economy’, whichusednative‐issuecoinsforexchangeandtaxation.Itbecamenecessaryforforeigncoinstobere‐mintedasnativesceattas;thiswasanimportantdevelopmentintheuse of coinage in the Vikingworld, and ismost identifiable in theHedeby coins(Nielsen, 2002:186). The use of coins in the Viking world clearly changedconsiderablythroughoutthecourseoftheVikingAgeandthearchaeologicalstudyofcoinscantellusmuchaboutlifeatthistime,boththroughthestudyofthecoinsthemselves and the contexts in which they are found. Having established howsilverandcoinscametobeusedintheVikingworld,attentioncannowbeturnedtothearchaeologicalevidenceforcoinsinIceland.

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Section2–TheArchaeologicalMaterialfromViking­AgeIceland

4.RomanCoinsinIceland

Todate,atotalofsixRomancoinshavebeenfoundinIceland.Allhavebeensinglefinds,andaremadeofBronze.Althoughtheseareofunreliableprovenance(Holt,2003:2), they are included here because some have been found in Viking agecontextsinIceland.MuchdiscussionhasbeenmadeabouthowthesecoinsarrivedinIcelandandwhy. Thefact that theyareallofBronze indicatesthat theywereonlyintendedastrinkets(ibid),assilverwasthepreciousmetalusedfortrade.

Year Location Ruler/Date190419231933196619921993

Bragðavellir,Suður‐MúlasýslaKrossanes,Suður‐MúlasýslaBragðavellir,Suður‐MúlasýslaHvítárholt,ÁrnessýslaVestmanneyjarReykjavík

Probus(AD276‐282)Diocletian(AD284‐305)Aurelian(AD270‐275)Tacitus(AD275‐276)Orbiana(AD226‐240)Aurelian(AD270‐275)

Table2:RomanCoinsfoundinIceland(AfterHolt,2003:2)

Although these coins are not a contemporary currency, they indicate foreigncontactandshowanotherperspectiveontheuseofcoinsintheVikingworld.Aninteresting comparison for thepresenceofRoman coins canbemadewith findsfromNorway.Theseincludeexamplesofsilverdenariiandthegoldsolidus,anditisevidentthattheirmainfunctionwasas jewellery. Thecircumstancesinwhichthese coinshavebeen found suggests that theywerenot regarded formonetaryuse (Skaare, 1976:34‐8) and it is likely that the same applies to the Icelandicexamples. While it is possible that these coins arrived in Iceland by way ofNorway,aroute fromBritain isalso likely,especiallydue to thestrongerRomanhistorythere.However,astheinformationrelatingtotheseIcelandicRomancoinsissounreliable,thennofirmconclusionscanbedrawn.

5.SilverHoardsinIceland

Four hoards from the Viking age have been found in Iceland, and although onlytwocontaincoins,theyvaryconsiderablyinsize,andconsistmainlyofHack‐Silver(seeEldjárn,2000:423‐6).AllfourhavebeenincludedherebecausethosethatdonotcontaincoinsdoprovideinformationabouttheuseofsilverinIceland.

Year Location No.ofItems No.ofCoins TotalWeight1909193019521980

Sandmúli,SuðurÞingeyjasýslaGaulverjabær,ÁrnessýslaKeta,SkagafjarðarsýslaMiðhús,SuðurMúlasýsla

363604041

035660

304g496g135g654g

Table3:VikingAgeHoardsfoundinIceland(AfterHolt,2003:4)

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Sandmúli

ThehoardfoundintheruinsofafarmhouseatSandmúli,inBarðardalurinnorth‐eastern Iceland, is a coinless hoard containing 36 pieces, mainly hack‐silver, aswell as some plain finger‐rings and dates to the 10th century (Jóhannesson,2006:329;Graham‐Campbell,2005:134).Oneparticularpieceisofinterest,whichShetelig identified in the1930’sasbeinga fragmentof theterminalofa ‘bossed’penannularbrooch. This is similar toanexample from Ireland,andso this itemfromSandmúliisofrelevanceasithighlightsconnectionsbetweenIcelandandtheIrish Sea (ibid:135). Further connections between Iceland and abroad aresupportedbythesimilaritiesofboththeSandmúlihoardaswellasthatfoundatSkaill in Orkney. This is the largest silver hoard to be found in Scotland and issimilarinsizetoScandinavianhoards,althoughthenumberofcoinscontainedinitis rathersmall (Crawford,1987:128). Thepresenceof ringmoneyand ingots inbothhoards,aswellastheinclusionofcoinsintheSkaillhoard,indicatethatthesilver from these hoards was used for trade. The Skaill hoard was depositedaroundAD950‐70,andit is likelythattheSandmúlihoardwasdepositedaroundthesametime,duetothesimilaritiesinthecontentsofbothhoards.However,thepresenceofthebossedbroochfragmentindicatesalatedateforsuchafragmenttobe in circulation as hack‐silver, as comparative finds from Yorkshire and Skyeindicate an earlier date of c.920 and 935‐40 respectively (ibid). However, thischronological pattern would indicate a movement northwards over time, andtherefore the later date for the Icelandic fragment may not be so unusual in awidercontextofthemovementofsilverintheVikingworld.

Gaulverjabær

The Gaulverjabær hoard is of great archaeological importance, and has beenstudied extensively by AntonHolt inViking Age Coins of Iceland (2003, see also2005).TheGaulverjabærhoardisthemostsignificantinrelationtothisstudy,asit almostexclusively contains coinsand isof a sufficiently large size thatagreatdealof information canbegained from it. It contained360 items, ofwhich356were coins or coin fragments. The remaining items were three flans and afragmentofdecoratedandengraved jewellery. Thehoardwas found in1930atthe Gaulverjabær church in southern Iceland, when the churchyard was beingextended.Thehoardwaslocatedonthesouthsideofthechurch,onasmallrise,buriedatadepthofonemetre,andthecoinsappearedtohavebeenoriginallyheldinawoodencontainer,althoughthepreservationwaspoor(Holt,2003:6).

Anaspectofgreatinterestofthishoardisthevariedplacesoforiginofthecoins,withthedistributionbeingthus:

PlaceofOrigin No.ofCoins %ofHoard MissingEnglandGermanyScandinavianImitationsDenmarkSwedenIslamicIrelandBohemia

172160854421

494521110.50.25

211

Table4:PlacesofCoinOriginfromtheGaulverjabærHoard(AfterHolt,2003:6)

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TheAnglo‐Saxoncoinshaveaclearcut‐offdateofc.1002/3andtheslightlyfewerGermaniccoinsextendfurthertoc.1010.Thiswasasavingshoard,similartothatfoundatSandurintheFaroeIslands(seechapter3),whichwasinitiallyassembledinNorway. The8Scandinavianimitationsthatarepresent,the4coinsofOlofofSweden (994‐1022) and the 5 half‐bracteates of Harald Bluetooth indicate aScandinavian connection, however the inclusion of two Hiberno‐Norse coinsindicateanIrishlinkandtheIslamic/Kuficcoins(Graham‐Campbell,2005:133‐4)demonstratethatforeigncontactswithIcelandweremorecomplex.Adepositiondate for the Gaulverjabær hoard has been suggested as c.1010‐1015 (Eldjárn,2000:425). TheGaulverjabærhoard is themostsignificant find fromVikingAgeIcelandwithregardstothesubjectunderdiscussionhere.

Keta

TheKetahoard, foundonafarm,containsmainlyhack‐silver–35pieces–but italsocontains6coin fragments,onebeinganOtto‐AdelheidpennydatingtocircaAD1000, and the otherswere fragments of Islamic dirhems (Eldjárn, 2000:426).Two fragmentsare illegible,butof theothersone isofNasr ibnAhmed(AD913‐942),anotherisofal‐Mutadir(AD908‐932)andtheremainingtwoarepartofthesame coin of al‐Mutamid from Baghdad (AD883‐884) (Holt, 2003:4). The Otto‐Adelheid coin indicates that the hoard was deposited in the 11th century, andtherefore it is broadly contemporary with the Gaulverjabær hoard above. Thehack‐silver is of notable interest, as it appears to be Scandinavian in origin,reinforcingconnectionswiththatpartoftheVikingworld.AsignificantdifferencebetweentheKetaandGaulverjabærhoardsisthequantitiesofArabiccoins–80%inKeta,whileonly1%inGaulverjabær(Graham‐Campbell,2005:134).

Miðhús

ThehoardfromMiðhúsconsistsentirelyofHack‐Silverandcontainsnocoins.Itisthe largesttohavebeenfoundinIceland,weighing654g(Magnússon,1980)andcloselyresemblestheSandmúlihoard(Graham‐Campbell,2005:135).Afragmentofanannularnarrow‐bandarm‐ringfromthishoardisdecoratedwithtworowsofaheart‐shapedstampcontainingthreepellets.Thisisofnotableimportance,asasimilar but complete example has also been found in Iceland as a stray find,although on this example the decoration is more elaborate (Graham‐Campbell,2005:130;Eldjárn,2000:391).TheMiðhúshoardcontainsacompleteexampleof‘ring‐money’,aswellastheterminalofaningot(Graham‐Campbell,2005:135)andso indicates that the silver was used for trade. As with the Sandmúli hoard,parallels can be drawn between this and the Skaill hoard from Orkney. Twopennanularbroochhoops,onecomplete,arecomparabletoasimilarpenannularbrooch fromtheSkaillhoard,as isan Insular ringedpin. Althoughsilver ringedpins are very rare, this example fromMiðhús exactlymatches another from theSkaill hoard; further still, a faint diagonal step‐pattern, lightly incised betweencontourlines,isexactlymatchedonbothexamples(ibid:136).Aninstancewheresuch exact parallels can be drawn suggests a strong link in this case betweenIcelandandOrkney. TheMiðhúshoardcanbedatedtothelatterhalfofthe10thcentury,asitisbroadlycontemporarywiththoseatSandmúliandSkaill(ibid).

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6.Single‐CoinFindsinIceland

IndividualcoinsfromboththeVikingAgeandEarlyMedievalperiodareveryrareinIceland(Kristjánsdóttir,2004:71),howevertherehavebeenseveralinstancesofsingle‐coinfindsinIcelanddatingfromtheVikingAge.

Table5:Single‐FindCoinsinIceland(AfterHolt,2003:18&Pers.Comm.)

Withregards to interpretationandanalysis,while largecollectionsofcoins fromhoardscanprovidequiteaccurateresults,anindividualcoinfindisnotsoreliable(Laing, 1969:73). However, such finds can prove useful in demonstrating howcoinswereusedinIceland. Althoughsinglecoinsmaybe interpretedto indicatelocalcirculation, itmustbeconsideredthatsomehavebeen found ingravesandthereforehavebeendeliberatelyplacedoutofcirculation.

TheearliestfindswereofthreecoinsfoundinMosfellaround1725.AtleastoneofthesecoinsisthoughttobeofAnlafGuthfrithsson,whowasaVikingkingofYork,but these may in fact date to the 11th century (Graham‐Campbell, 2005:133).Excavations at a Conversion‐age church at Þórarinsstaðir in Seyðisfjörður, ineasternIceland,unearthedaquarterofaDanishsilvercoin,datingfromthemiddleofthe11thcentury. It istheonlycoininIcelandtohavebeenfoundonachurchsite.ItisanimitationofanAnglo‐Saxoncoin,andsuchcoinsbegantobeimitatedintheVikingworldfromaround1014.ThecoinwasprobablymintedduringthereignofHarthacnut,between1035&1042.ThishasbeentheonlyDanishcointobe found in Iceland (Kristjánsdóttir, 2004:71). Another find of interestwas thediscoveryoftwocoinsofHaraldHarðráði inassociationwithashielinginnorth‐eastern Iceland. These coins had both been pierced for use in jewellery (Lucas,2008). The single‐finds are a very interesting collection of coins because of thevaryingwaysinwhichtheyhavebeenused,lostanddeposited.

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Section3–ArtefactStudy

7.SampleStudyofCoinsfromtheIcelandicVikingAge

Here a study will be undertaken of a selection of coins from the Icelandicarchaeological record, inorder to identifyevidence for theuseofcoins inVikingAgeIceland,throughthecomparisonoftheevidencefromhoardsandsinglefinds.

Aims&Objectives

Theaimof this study is to identify theevidence for coinuse, suchaspeckingorpiercing, with the objective of suggesting how coins were used in Viking AgeIceland.ThemajorityofcoindatausedinthisstudycomesfromthedatabasefromAnton Holt’s thesis Viking Age Coins of Iceland (Holt, 2003), and the referencenumberofeachcoinreferstotherecordsinthisdatabase.ThecoinsusedinthisstudyarefromtheGaulverjabærandKetahoards,aswellasthosefromsingle‐findcontexts. DuetothequantitiesofcoinsintheGaulverjabærhoard,aswellasthepoorconditionofsomeof thesingle‐findcoins,onlyasampleselectionhasbeentaken.ThesearelistedinAppendicesA&B.

ThedifferencebetweenthecontextsinwhichcoinsarefoundmaybeofinterestinidentifyingtheusesforcoinsinVikingAgeIceland,sothisstudywillbemadefromacomparisonofcoinsfromhoardsandsingle‐findcontexts.Coinsinhoardshavebeendeliberatelytakenoutofcirculation,whereasthosefoundassinglefindsaremorelikelytobetheresultofaccidentallosswhileincirculation.Inthiscontext,‘circulation’isusedtomeanregularuse,eitherforpaymentordecoration,ascoinswerenotusedinthemodernsenseinVikingAgeIceland.

EvidenceofUse

Inordertomakeanequalcomparisonbetweenthecoinsfromhoardsandsingle‐findcontexts,fourcategorieswillbeusedtostudytheevidencefortheiruse:

• PeckingTheterm‘pecking’referstosmallnicksor‘pecks’thatwerecutintothecoininordertotestthequalityofthesilver,andsothisindicatesausefortrade.

• BendingThe bending of coins varies, as some have been bent once, while othersmultipletimes.Ithasbeensuggestedthatthebendingofcoinsmayhaveritualconnotations(Merrifield,1987),andso thismay indicatehowthecoinswereusedanddeposited. Thesignificanceofthismaybesupportedbythecontextinwhichtheywerefound,suchasahoardoraburial.

• CuttingIn situationswhere coinswere used as hack‐silver, theywere often cut intosmallerpiecesinordertomakepaymentsof lesservaluethanthesilverfromwhich the coin was made, and so this also demonstrates a use for trade.Brokenorcrackedcoinshavealsobeenincludedinthiscategory,asthesealsoresult in the fragmentation of coins, which could then have been used forsmallerpayments.Ritualmustalsobeconsideredasamotiveinthiscategory,as cutting may also resemble the ‘killing’ of the coin, in a similar way tobending.

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• PiercingThepiercingofcoinsindicatesadecorativeuseofacoin,asthepiercingwouldallowforthesuspensionofthecoinfromanecklace. Thepurposeofpiercingcanbetwo‐fold.Thefirstissimplyfordecoration,howeverthesecondrelatesto the use of hack‐silver, as discussed in chapter 2. If coins were used forpayment in this context, then piercing would provide a means of displayingwealthandalsocarryingsilverinordertomakepaymentswhenrequired.

Results

Intotal,45coinswerestudiedfromhoardsand13fromsingle‐findcontexts.Thesmallsamplesizeavailableforthesingle‐findscanbeproblematicinproducingacomparative and accurate representation for the use of coins in these contexts,because there are not enough coins from single‐find contexts to give an equalrepresentationagainstthehoardevidence. Thesignificantdifferenceinnumbersbetween the hoards and single‐find samples can be problematic in theircomparison,asthedifferencemayaddbiastotheresults.Therefore,theaccuracytobegainedfromsuchasmallsampleispotentiallyunreliable,asdistinctpatternsinusagecannotbedefinitivelydefinedortested.Theresultshavethereforebeenpresentedasanaverageinordertoreducethebiasbetweenthetwosamplesandmakethemmorecomparable.

Figure3:ComparisonofCoinsfromHoards&SingleFinds

As can be seen from the graph in figure 3, there aremarked differences in thecomparisonof coins fromhoards and single‐find contexts. It is of great interestthat thepattern of use is reversed for the single‐find coins, as opposed to thosefromhoards.

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PeckingThe difference in the evidence for Pecking between the two contexts isconsiderable, as 37 out of 45 coins from hoards show evidence for pecking,whereas thiswas only 2 out of 13 in the single‐finds. As coinswere pecked inordertotestthequalityofthesilver,thenthisindicatestheimportanceforwealthandtrade.Therefore,theevidencesuggeststhathoardswerestoresofwealth,tobeusedatalaterdatefortrade.However,itmustbeborneinmindthatitwasthesilverthatwasofvalue,notthecoinitself.Thisissupportedbytheclosesimilaritybetween pecking and bending, both for testing the quality of the silver. Therelative amount of pecking evident on the single‐find coins is substantially less,suggestingthatthosecoinsdidnotrequirethetestingofthesilver,whichmayberelatedtoCuttingandtransactions.

Themajority of Scandinavian Imitation coins are copies of Anglo‐Saxon coinage,almost exclusively of Æthelred II. The imitations studied here are listed inAppendixC. Itmaybeconsideredthat theAnglo‐Saxoncoinswouldcarry fewerpecks as itwas amore established and reliable coinage,whereas the imitationsmayhavemorepeckmarks,asbytheirnature,thequalityofthesilvermayhavebeen more uncertain. However, a comparison of imitation and genuine Anglo‐SaxoncoinsfromtheGaulverjabærhoarddemonstratethatpeckingwascommon,almost universal, on both sets of coins. This can be explained by the fact that,although theAnglo‐Saxon coinagewas known and trusted closer to the place oforigin,inIcelandbothcoinageswereimportedtoIceland,andthereforewouldberegardedwithanequalnecessitytotestthequalityofthesilver. It is interestingthatwhile thepatternofpecking issimilarbetween imitationandoriginal in thehoard, in the context of single finds, the pattern is reversed as no evidence ofpeckingisseen.Itmaybeconcludedthatwhetheracoinwasanimitationornot,the pattern of usage remains the same in relation to other coins from the samecontext.

BendingBendingwasevident in38outof45coinsfromhoards,butonly3outof13hadbeenbentinthesingle‐finds.IthasbeensuggestedbyMerrifield(1987)thatthebendingofcoinsrelatestotheritual‘killing’ofacoin.Thereisaveryhighrateofbendinginthehoardevidence,andthesignificanceofthebendingofcoinsmaybefurther understood from the evidence of graves, because in both contexts coinshave been deliberately deposited. At least 8 coins have been found in burialcontextsfromVikingAgeIceland,ofwhich5havebeenstudiedhere.

Table6:CoinsfoundinGraves

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Table 6 shows that in this context, pecking is the most unusual characteristic,whereasthecuttingofcoinsisthemostcommon.Evidenceforbendingispresent,butisnotasfrequentasmayhavebeenexpectedifritualbendingwasassociatedwith the ritual of burial. The two Islamic coins found in a grave in Mjóidalur(Rafnsson, 2001:124) have been bent several times and then flattened, whichdemonstratesthatbendingwasnotdirectlyassociatedwiththeburialofthecoin.

Itislikelythatthebendingofcoinswasnotaritualprocess,butratherassociatedwith the testing of the quality of the silver. This is because the evidence forpeckingiscloselymatchedbybending,inbothhoardandsingle‐findcontexts,andthat if ritualwere thereason, then the frequencyofbendingshouldbehigher ingravecontexts.

CuttingCoinswithevidenceofcuttingamountedto24outof45inthehoardsand7outof13ofthesingle‐finds.Coinswereoftencutinordertomakesmallerpaymentsinthe value of silver, and so the evidence for cutting indicates theuse of coins fortrade.However,iftherewasaritualaspectof‘killing’coins,thencuttingisalsoapossibilityasTable6showsthatthisisthemostfrequentforcoinsfoundingraves.The relatively high and very similar figures for cutting between the hoards andsinglefindssuggeststhattheroleofcuttingcoinswasimportantinbothcontexts.Whereas Pecking and Bending are examples of testing the silver quality, thecuttingofcoinsisdemonstrativeoftheuseofcoinsforpayment.Thisexplainstheclosesimilaritybetweenbothcontextsinthiscase,asthecoinsfrombothhoardsandsingle‐findswerebothusedfortrade,albeitindifferentways.Thelowrateofpeckingandbending inSingle‐findcontexts is likely tobebecause thecuttingofthecoinwouldenable thesilverquality tobe testedwhenmakinga transaction,thereforerenderingtheothertestsunnecessary.

PiercingPiercedcoinsamounted toonly5outof45 in thehoards,but7outof13 in thesingle‐finds. The piercing of coins is primarily associated with their use fordecoration,asthepiercingwouldallowthecointobesuspendedfromanecklaceorotherjewellery.InthecontextofVikingAgeIceland,wherecoinswerenotusedas‘money’inthemodernsense,thenthepiercingofcoinswouldallowregularuseineverydaylifeastheycouldbeeasilycarried.Thelackofevidenceforpiercinginhoardssuggeststhatthedisplayofwealthwasnotassociatedwithhoarddeposits,but the frequencyofpiercing insingle‐findssupports the ideathat thesewere inregularuse.Theuseofcoinsforjewelleryissupportedbythosepiercedcoinsthatalso had loops attached to them. Coin number 377, an Anglo‐Saxon coin ofÆthelred II found in Bjarnastaðir, is piercedwith a slightly decorated loop andriveted mounting. Coin number 360 is another Anglo‐Saxon coin fromValþjófsstaðir in Fljótsdalur, of Edward the Confessor, which is pierced with adecoratedandornateloop,witharivetedmounting.Thesecouldbeforadisplayofwealthandmayalsosignifyforeigncontacts.Thepiercingofcoinsisdiscussedfurtherinchapter9.

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A comparison of pierced coins from both the hoards and single‐find contextsdemonstratesthatthereisnotanevidentpatternintheselectionofcoinstohavebeenpierced. Thereappearstobenoemphasisuponanyparticulartypeofcoin,althoughthereareslightlymoreIslamiccoinsthathavebeentreatedinthisway.However, this may be affected by the sample selection, and may not berepresentativeoftheentirearchaeologicalrecord.

Conclusions

The comparison of these four categories has created some interestingobservations.Itisofgreatinterestthatthepatternofcoinuseisreversedbetweenhoardsandsingle‐findcoins,suggesting(givensamplesizeproblems)adistinctlydifferent use of coins in each context. For example, cutting and piercing arecommoninsingle‐findcoins,whichindicatesuseas‘wearablewealth’,whereastheveryhighratesofpeckingandbendingshowthatthequalityofthesilverinhoardswasofgreatimportance.Itisclearthatbendingwasnotaritualactofdeposition,but thepresence of coins in burials andhoardsdemonstrates the importance ofsilver nonetheless. It appears that coins in hoards were used primarily as astorage of wealth, which was only used for trade occasionally, perhaps foroverseastransactions.Single‐coins,however,wereusedasadisplayofwealthandforsmallerpayments.

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8.ComparisonswithViking‐AgeNorway&Britain

ItiswellknownthattheIcelandicsettlerscamefrombothNorwayandtheBritishIslesandso,asallcoinswereimportedintoIceland,itisinterestingtocomparetheIcelandiccoinageevidencewithsimilarfindsineachofthesecountries.

NorwayThe evidence fromNorway is extensive and varied, comprising of coins such asdirhems from the east, Frankish deniers from Europe and Anglo‐Saxon penniesfromEngland.

The trading centre of Kaupang in southern Norway was connected withinternational tradingroutes,whichaided themovementof foreigncoins into thecountry. Ofthecoinsfoundhere,nonehavebeenpierced,whilesomehavebeendeliberatelycut,indicatinguseforpaymentashack‐silver(Skaare,1976:45).ItisalsointerestingtonotethatthevastmajorityofcoinsfoundatKaupangareIslamicandwerestruckbetweenAD698&955,whereasonlysixWesterncoinshavebeenfound,eachdatingtothe9thcentury(Blackburn,2008:29).NorwayhasthefewestKufic coins in Scandinavia, themajority of these being struckbetweenAD890&950. Kufic coins are present in the Norwegian archaeological record from thebeginningoftheVikingAgeuntilthemiddleofthe11thcentury.Kufic,orIslamic,coinscouldcirculateforalongtimebeforetheireventualdepositionintheground,andit israreforKuficandEuropeancoinstobefoundmixedtogether;theHoenhoardandKaupangbeingtheexceptions. Wherecoinswereusedasjewellery, itwasunusualtomixKuficdirhemsandEuropeanpennies,aseachvariednoticeablyin size and appearance. If they had been used asmoney, then their circulationwould have been greater, resulting in more mingled finds. While it cannot bedeterminedwhetheralloftheKuficcoinsinIcelandcameviaNorway,itiscertainthat at least someof themdid. Certainly thepresenceof these coins inNorwayreflectstheimportanceofIslamicsilverinScandinavia(Skaare,1976:48‐52).Itisnotable therefore that the coins of earliest date in the Icelandic archaeologicalrecord are Islamic, and all date to within the striking period of the Norwegianexamples.AlthoughitisuncommonforKuficcoinstobefoundinassociationwithothercointypesinNorway,itisrathercommoninIceland.

ThedeclineintheflowofIslamicsilverfromtheeastinthelatterhalfofthe10thcenturymeant that anew sourceof silverwas requiredby theVikings, and thiswas found in the form of Germanic, and also Anglo‐Saxon, coinage. Around themiddle of the 10th century, Germanic pennies arrived in Norway, reaching largeproportions.ThiswasaresultoftheopeningoftheRammelsbergsilverminesinHarz. The presence of Germanic coins inNorway began at around this time, asthere isno evidence for these coins inNorwayprior to thisdate. Spectroscopicanalysis has demonstrated that the most common Germanic coin, the Otto‐Adelheidpenny,wasstruckfromsilverfromthesemines(Skaare,1976:54). TheOtto‐AdelheidtypeisalsocommonintheIcelandicarchaeologicalrecord.

TheflowofEnglishcoinstoNorwaywasintwophases–inthefirst,thepresenceofAnglo‐SaxonpenniesinNorwaypriortoc.840isuniqueinScandinavia(Skaare,1976:47).TheexamplesoftwoNorthumbrianstycasmounteduponleadweights(seeBlackburn,2005:144)indicateaconnectionwiththeearlyVikingraids,whichbeganwiththeattackofLindisfarnein793. Itwouldappearfeasibleatfirstthat

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thefewcoinsmakingtheirwayfromEnglandtoNorwayinthismannercouldthenbetakentoIcelandbythesettlersfrom870onwards,howevertheevidencedoesnot support this because the earliest English coin to be found in Iceland is ofEadwig(AD955‐959)asasinglefindfromSkriðdalur.

In the second phase of English coins appearing in Norway, the Anglo‐SaxoncoinageremainedverypopularwiththeVikings.ThiswasbecauseitwasastablecurrencyduetothepoliticalunificationofEngland,andthesilvercontentwasveryhigh – often 85‐90%. The evidence from Norwegian hoards shows that Anglo‐SaxoncoinscametoNorwayinthelatterhalfofthe10thcentury. Akeypoint inthe history of the English currency at this timewas the great coinage reformofKing Eadgar in 973, in which he demonetised all previous issues and replacedthemwith a new, uniform, penny thatwas standard across England. After thisreform, there was a continuous flow of these coins into Norway. Anglo‐SaxonpenniesreappearinearnestintheNorwegianarchaeologicalrecordfromaround990inlargequantities,endinginadeclinearound1050. TheSletheihoardfromNorwayconsistsof92%ÆthelredIIcoins,whichappearstohaveresultedfromadanegeldpayment(Skaare,1976:54‐56).FromEngland,coinsfromÆthelredIIarebyfarthemostcommonintheIcelandicarchaeologicalrecordfromthisperiod.

NearlyallofthecoinsfromtheNorwegianarchaeologicalrecordshowevidenceoftesting, such as peck marks. There appears to be a connection between thepecking and bending of coins, both in order to test the quality of the silver.Piercing is rarely found, and the presence of attached loops is extremely rare(Skaare, 1976:57). This indicates that, for the most part, coins were used forpayment by silver, rather than primarily as jewellery. In comparison with theIcelandic archaeological record, this scenario is similar to the evidence found inhoards, where the study in chapter 7 demonstrated the frequency of such testmarkson these coins. It is clear from theNorwegian archaeological record thatthereare somesimilaritieswith theevidence from Iceland. However, theuseofcoinsinNorwayandIcelandisnotthesameandsoitdoesnotdefinitelydeterminealinkbetweenthenumismaticevidenceofeachcountry.

TheBritishIsles

ThemajorityofcoinsfromVikingAgeIcelandareoriginallyfromBritain,andsoastudyof similar evidence from this areamaybeof use in furtherunderstandingthosecoinsfromtheIcelandicarchaeologicalrecord.

In Scotland some finds of silver from the 10th and 11th centuries have includedlarge numbers of coins and the range of origins of these suggests that littlepreferencewasgiven for certain issues. However, thesedonot representdirectforeigncontact,andprobablycamefromthesilverweighteconomiesoftheIrishSea. Asignificantcontrastwith thearchaeologicalrecordof the IrishSeaarea isthat there isascarcityofhoards thatonlycontaincoins,whichsuggests that theuse of silver in the form of artefacts was more preferable to coin (Kruse,1995:190).ThismatcheswiththeIcelandicevidence,ascoinsofdifferentoriginsare found mixed together, which is perhaps most notable with regards to theIslamic coins, as discussed above. In the Icelandic case aswell, the presence of

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foreigncoinsdoesnotnecessarilyrepresentdirect foreigncontactwiththeplaceofcoinorigin.Thiscanbedemonstratedbytheindiscriminatorymannerinwhichthecoinshavebeentestedwithpeckmarks. AsinScotland,thelackofexclusivecoin hoards is noticeable because even theGaulverjabær hoardwasmade up ofother items of silver; this pattern indicates that evenwhere silverwas used fortrade,coinwasnottheonlyfavouredformforsilvertobeused.

Thesingle‐findsofcoinsareoften interpretedasresembling localcirculation. InScotland very few single coins have been found, the majority of these in theNorthern Isles (Kruse, 1995:198). Again, the Icelandic evidence is very similar,andis it interestingtonotethattheconcentrationofcoins inScotlandis focusedupon the northern isles, which was a focus of Norse settlement in Britain. AsdiscussedinChapter6,althoughsinglecoinsmaybeinterpretedtoindicatelocalcirculation, it must be considered that some have been found in graves andthereforehavebeendeliberatelyplacedoutofcirculation.

TheevidencefromIrelandshowsthattheVikingsdidnotbegintominttheirowncoinsuntilthe10thcentury,althoughforalongtimethecoinswhichdidcirculateweremainlyEnglishpennies,alongwithasmallamountofHiberno‐NorseissuesfromYork(Dolley,1965:11).AlthoughweknowthatsomeoftheIcelandicsettlerscame from Ireland, there are very few Irish coins in the Icelandic archaeologicalrecord.

ThecoinageevidencefromEngland,inrelationtotheViking world, is primarily associated with the largepayments of Danegeld and the results of raids. TheIcelandicarchaeologicalrecordisdominatedbycoinsofKingÆthelredII(978‐1016),whoisoftenknownasÆthelred the Unready, however the Saxon word‘Unræd’actuallytranslatesas‘Ill‐Advised’.Æthelred’skingdomwasanythingbutunready,asitwaswealthy,efficientandwellequippedwithastrongsailingfleet.However, England was the subject of renewed andrelentless Viking attacks from the 980s, due toinstability in Scandinavia and an interruption in silver supplies from the east(Haywood,1995:118).AlthoughÆthelred’sreignwasdisastrousforEngland,itisofthegreatestinterestnumismatically(Dolley,1964:26),particularlyinrelationtotheIcelandicmaterial,wherepenniesofÆthelredarebyfarthemostcommon.

The large numbers of Carolingian coins in the Cuerdale hoard discussed earliersuggeststhatmuchofthesilverinEnglandcamefromcontinentalEurope(Bluntetal,1989:102),whichwouldhelptoexplainhowEnglandwassowealthyinSilver.This wealth in silver is therefore why Britain was so attractive to the Vikings,resulting in the large quantities of English coins that made their way to VikingScandinaviaandonwardsintotheNorthAtlantic.

SilverpennyofÆthelredII

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Section4–Interpretation&Analysis

9.TheRoleofCoinsinViking‐AgeIceland

SilverwasavaluablecommodityinIcelandduringtheVikingage,asindeedwereotherpreciousmetalssuchasBronze.CoinswerenevermintedinIceland,buttheearly settlers brought Silver and foreign coins with them to use as a means ofpayment and trade (Byock, 2001:315) and Silver was the Icelanders’ primarymeasurementofvalue(Jóhannesson,2006:329). Inthischaptertheevidencefortheuseofcoinsstudiedinchapter7willbestudiedinthewidercontextoftheroleofcoinsinVikingAgeIceland.

DuringtheCommonwealthperiodinIceland(AD930‐1262),standardsandvaluesvaried considerably, however the units of currency were based upon theNorwegian system. These began as units ofweight, but during the 11th centurythey became units of value (Byock, 2001:315). The units of currencywere theMörk(pl.Merkr),whichequalled8Aurar(singularEyrir ­Ounce),whichequalled24Örtugar.InNorway,theMörkweighedapproximately214g,andwasthereforetheweight adopted for use in Iceland. It is interesting to note that theMiðhúshoarddiscussedinchapter5weighed654g,whichequatesto3Merkr(Magnússon,1980:20). These units of measurement were used across the Viking world(Jóhannesson,2006:329)andsothisdemonstrateshowIcelandwasinfluencedbyandmaintainedconnectionswithVikingScandinavia.InIcelandthecoarsehome‐spunclothcalledVaðmálbecameanadditionalmediumofexchange,thevalueofwhichwas linked to thatof Silver. Thiswasof a standardwidthand lengthpermeasure,whichwascalledanell. TheimportanceofVaðmáltothediscussionofthe use of silver and coinage in Iceland is that Silver was not in immediate orregularuse,whereasgoodsandproductswereindemandandweremorereadilyavailable.ThisresultedinoneellofVaðmálequatingtooneounce(Eyrir)ofSilver.Duringthe10thcenturythischangedtoduetoanincreaseinclothproductionandalsotherisingpriceofSilver(Foote&Wilson,1970:55).ThisislikelytobelinkedtothedeclineintheimportofsilverintoIcelandduringthe11thcentury.

AlthoughcoinswerepresentinIcelandduringtheVikingage,theywerenotusedascoins intheirownright,butrather forthemetal fromwhichtheyweremade.TheSilverhad tobeweighed,whetherornot itwascoinedoruncoined,as theywereofdifferentsizeseven if theyoriginated fromthesamemintandsovereign(Jóhannesson, 2006:329). The presence of foreign coins is indicative of foreigncontact, as in the country of origin the coin would be accepted as face value,whereasintheVikingeconomyitwouldbeacceptedbyweight.Thisissupportedbythepresenceofforeigncoinsthathavebeencutforthepurposeofpaymentbyweight(Foote&Wilson,1970:197).EvidencefortheuseofsilverforpaymentbyweightissupportedbythefindsofmanyweightsandscalesthathavebeenfoundinIceland(FriðrikssoninEldjárn,2000:608).

TheburialofhoardsinIcelandmayrelatetotimesofunrest,asanaccumulationofwealth, or for ritual. The 13th century Icelandic chronicler Snorri Sturlusonsuggestedthatitmighthavebeenareligiouscustom,wherebyanythingthatwasburiedcouldthenbeenjoyedintheafterlife(Edgren,2000:113).Analternativeisthatiswasasecuremeansofstoringthevaluablesoftheowner,astheKetaandSandmúli hoards were found on farms. Icelandic Archaeology has often been

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studiedinrelationtothesagas(seeFriðriksson,1994),andaninterestinginsightintotheburialofhoardsinIcelandisgiveninanextractfromEgil’sSaga(Scudder&Óskarsdóttir,2002:203).ThepassagereferstotwochestsfullofEnglishsilver,whichweregiventoEgilbyKingÆthelstanofEngland:

“OneeveningwheneveryonewasgoingtobedatMosfell,EgilcalledintwoofGrim’sslaves.Hetoldthemtofetchhimahorse,‘becauseIwanttogotobatheinthepool’.Whenhewasreadyhewentout,takinghischestsofsilverwithhim.Hemountedthehorse, crossed thehayfields to the slope thatbegins thereanddisappeared. In themorning,whenallthepeoplegotup,theysawEgilwanderingaroundonthehilleastof the farm, leadinga horse behindhim. Theywent over to himandbrought himhome. But neither the slaves nor the chests ever returned, and there are manytheoriesaboutwhereEgilhidhistreasure.Eastofthefarmisagullyleadingdownfrom themountain. It has beennoticed that English coins have been found in thegully when the river recedes after floods caused by sudden thaws. Some peoplebelieve Egil must have buried his treasure there. … Egil himself said that he hadkilled Grim’s slaves and hidden his treasure somewhere, but he never told a singlepersonwhereitwas.”

Thedepositionofhoardshasbeenthoughttorelatetothesymbolicconfirmationofboundaries. InrelationtotheIcelandic landnám,Svarfdølasagadescribesthesymbolic deposition of silver on the boundary of the newly‐taken land, andwitnesses had to be present in order to legitimate the ritual deposition andthereforetheclaimtotheland(Olsen,2003:24).Thebiggestproblemwiththisisthat the deposition dates of the Icelandic hoards are much later than theSettlementperiod (see ch.5). Nonetheless, the theorydoeshave interesting andrelevantpoints.TheGaulverjabærhoardwaslocatedonaslightriseintheterrain,andthiswasalsothecasefortheMiðhúshoard(Magnússon,1980:19),yetneitherwere directly associated with other evidence of human activity. There is thepossible exception of a connection between the Gaulverjabær hoard and thesanctity of the nearby church, as a parallel can bemadewith the Sandur hoardfromtheFaroeIslands. Theprominenceof the location inthe landscapemaybelinked to this idea of hoards acting as boundarymarkers. This is an interestingobservation,as it indicates that the location inwhichahoardwasburiedwasofimportanceandthataprominentlocationinthelandscapeawayfromotherareasofactivitywaspreferred.

Theevidencefortheuseofcoins intheGaulverjabærhoardindicatesthat itwasintendedasastoreofwealth,whichwasoccasionallyusedfortrade.Thisfitstheaspectsoutlinedaboveofhowsilver,whileanimportantsourceofwealth,wasnotusedasaprimarymeansofpaymentineverydaylifeinIceland. Thereforeothermeans of payment, such as vaðmál would otherwise be used. The Keta hoardshowsthatthecoinagecirculatinginIcelandcouldremainverystatic,asthedatesbetweenthedirhemsandtheGermanicOtto‐Adelheidcoinrangebetweenthelate9th c. and the turn of themillennium (Blackburn, 2005:147). From the study inchapter7, it is clear that the roleof coinswasverydifferentwhether theywerefromahoardorasasinglefind.Inordertoplacethefindingsofthisstudyintothecontext of this chapter, it is necessary to identify the extent and distribution ofsilverandcoinsinIceland.Thisisshownonthemapinfigure4,whichshowsthattherewasrelativelylittlesilverinIcelandinthefirstphaseofsettlement,butthatthisgreatlyincreasedduringthe11thcentury.

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Figure4:DistributionofCoinsinIceland(Blue:800‐990;

Red,990‐1100;☐:Hoards)(Jonsson,2009)

ThepiercingofcoinsisastrongindicatorfortheroleofcoinsinIceland.Thetwoexamples inFigure5showhowcoinswerepierced. Thecoinonthe left is fromPálssel/Pálstóftir in Kárahnjúknar (Lucas, 2005 & 2008) and the second on theright is fromMjóidalur inMýrarsýsla. It isclear that theyhavebeenpierced forsuspension from jewellery because of the deliberate location of the piercings.Indeed, the Mjóidalur coins were found attached to a necklace (see Eldjárn,2000:103). It is interesting to note that the first coin has been pierced twicesymmetrically, whereas the other has only been pierced once. In addition, thepiercingoftheMjóidalurcoinhasaslightlyelongatedshape,demonstratingthatithasbeensuspendedforsometime.Suchevidencesupportstheideaofcoinsbeingincorporatedintojewelleryasaformof‘wearablewealth’.

Figure5:TwoPiercedCoins

The role of coins in Viking Age Iceland was clearly of importance, even thoughtheir presence was on a relatively small scale. While it is expected that themajority of coinswould be found in hoards, it is interesting that the amount ofcoins found as single‐finds is also high enough to demonstrate that coins werecommonlycirculated. Thefact thatweights,measuresandvalueswere linkedtothoseofsilverdemonstratestheimportanceofsilverinthewiderVikingeconomy,andcoinswereaconvenientmeansofcarryingwealth,fordisplayorpayment.

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10.TheOriginofCoinsandIndicationsofForeignContact

TheaimofthesecondaspectofthisstudyistolookatIcelandinthecontextofthewiderVikingworld,throughtheevidenceofcoinage.ThisconcludingchapterwilllookathowtheoriginofcoinsindicateslinksbetweenIcelandandotherpartsofthe Viking world, how coins came to Iceland, and how that can inform thearchaeologistaboutcontactsbetweenIcelandandotherpartsoftheVikingworld.

TheoriginofcoinsindicateslinkswiththeVikingworldonthebasisoftheroutebetweentheplacewheretheywerestruckandthearchaeologicalcontextinwhichtheywerefoundinIceland.AparticulardifficultywhenstudyingcoinsfromVikingAgeScandinaviaisthattheimportedcoinscouldremainincirculationfordecadesor even centuries after their production date (Blackburn, 2008:29). This alsoapplies to the Icelandicmaterial, and so in the Icelandic context, coins thereforeare problematic as a precisemethod of dating. The coins of earliest date to befoundinIcelandareIslamicdirhems,bothinHoardsandsingle‐findcontexts.ThisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthattheyarrivedinIcelandfirst,beforeothercoins,butit does fit thepattern of the influx of Islamic coins into Scandinavia in the earlyVikingage.

Coins came to Icelandwith the settlers aswell as through ongoing trade,whichmaintained links between Iceland and the Viking world. The finds in Icelandindicatethatcoinswerearrivingbythemid‐9thcentury,andthatthesecamefromScandinavia and the British Isles (Blackburn, 2005:147). Themajority of thosewhosettledIcelandwerefromthewestcoastofNorway,whileothershadlivedinparts of the British Isles, such as Ireland and the Hebrides, before moving toIceland (Foote & Wilson, 1970:52). This is of significance as it adds to theinterpretationofhowsilverandspecificallycoinscametoIceland. ItisgenerallyacceptedthatthoseNorsewhowereraidingandsettlinginIrelandandnorthernBritain had come from Norway, whereas those in the south in England wereprimarilyDanish.ThesouthofEnglandhadanestablishedsilvercoinage,whereasthe north of Britain consisted of almost coinless economies (Dolley, 1965:9‐10).This isan interestingpoint to considerwith regards to thenumismaticevidencefrom Iceland, as although itmay at first be considered that the settlers broughtcoinswiththem,theevidencesuggeststhatcoinsdidnotcometoIcelandbysuchadirectroute.

TheindicationthatIcelandhadstrongandfrequentcontactwithotherpartsoftheVikingworld issupportedbyevidencefromtheFaroeIslands,wheretheSandurhoardwasfoundtocontaincoinsfromBritain,ScandinaviaandEurope,andthesecoinswereprobablyobtainedinexchangeforwoolorotherFaroesegoods(North,2005:61). ThisdemonstratesonewaythatcoinscametoIceland;throughtrade.Furthercomparisonsonthebasisof tradecanbemadebetweenIcelandandtheotherNorthAtlanticislands.Ineachoftheseislandstherehavebeenseveralsilverfindsfromgraves.OftwogravesfoundontheFaroeIslands,oneburialofayoungmancontainedaleatherpursewithleadweightsandsomefragmentsofsilverandbronze.Thesecondburial,ofawoman,includedaclippedsilvercoin,whichwasan imitation of an Islamic dirhem originating from the lower Volga. ReachingDenmarkorNorwaybeforec.925, it isthoughtthat itwasburiedinthemid‐10thcentury. This is similar to the findofa cuthalfpennyofEadmund(939‐46) ina

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maleburialonOrkney(Graham‐Campbell,2005:131).Thiscanbecomparedwiththe Icelandic evidence,where 12 graves have been found to contain artefacts ofgold or silver, and at least 8 have included coins. The evidence outlined heredemonstratestradelinksbetweentheNorthAtlanticislandsandtheVikingworld,asnotonlydoesitshowevidencefortheuseofsilveras‘currency’byweight,butalsotheoriginofthecoinsdemonstrateslinkswithdistantlands.

ThecoinevidencefromIcelandisofvaluableusetothearchaeologist,because ithelpstoidentifyandtracecontactsbetweenIcelandandotherpartsoftheVikingworld.Withregardstothehoardevidence,manyinterestingobservationscanbemade.TheevidenceofcoinagefromtheNorthAtlanticformsaconsistentpattern,and so the hoards in Icelandmay have been a store ofwealth to be used as aninternational currency (Blackburn,2005:149). Theoriginsof the coins from theGaulverjabær hoard are typical of those from Scandinavia, and the quantity ofAnglo‐Saxon coins refines this to an identification with Norwegian hoardsspecifically.ANorwegianoriginissupportedbythefactthattheIslamiccoinsarealso consistent with such 11th c. finds from Norway (Holt, 2003:7). It appearsthereforethatthishoardcamefromNorway,butitisunlikelythatitwasaddedtoonceithadarrivedinIceland(Blackburn&Jonsson,1981:175). TheevidenceoftheGaulverjabærhoarddemonstratescontactsbetweenIcelandandNorwayinthe11th century and this is important in understanding how Iceland fitted into thecontext of thewider Vikingworld. As discussed in chapter 9, the fact that thishoardappearstohavebeenintendedasastorageofwealth,foroccasionalusefortrade, supports the idea that thiswas used for trade between Iceland and,mostlikely,Norway.

The single finds indicate links with the British Isles as much as Scandinavia(Blackburn, 2005:149) and perhaps give the most varied indications of foreigncontact. Two examples are of great interest in demonstrating how the origin ofcoinscanindicateforeigncontacts.Thetwocoinsshowninfigure6werefoundatÞingvellir (Friðriksson, 2006:32), which originate from Norway and date to themid‐11thcentury.FindssuchasthesereinforceourknowledgeofcontactbetweenIcelandandNorway,andalsoprovideameansoftracingthemovementofcoinstoIceland.

Figure6:TwoNorwegianCoinsfromÞingvellir,mid‐11thCentury

ItissurprisingthattheamountofIslamiccoinspresentinIcelandisrelativelyfew,despitethefactthatIslamicsilverwassopredominantinScandinaviaintheearlierpart of the VikingAge. Evidence fromKaupang inNorway suggests that Arabicdirhemsonly reachedwesternScandinavia in greatnumbers from themiddleof

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the9thcenturyonwards(Blackburn,2005:143).ThismatcheswiththedatesofthedirhemsfoundinIceland,thereforesupportingtheideathatthesecoinsalsocameto Iceland via Norway. The vast amount of Anglo‐Saxon coins to be found inIceland,morethanofanyotherorigin,mustnotbetakentoindicatedirectcontactbetween England and Iceland. The discussions in the previous chapters haveshown how coins moved from England to Scandinavia by way of raiding andtrading. This, in addition to the fact that we know that most of the Icelandicsettlers coming from the British Isles came from areas with predominantlycoinlesseconomies,demonstrates that thepresenceofsuchquantitiesofEnglishcoinsmusthavecometoIcelandbyadifferentroute,mostlikelythroughNorway.Thepresenceof twoHiberno‐Norsecoins indicates linkswith the IrishSeaarea,howeverasthesewerefoundintheGaulverjabærhoard,whichisthoughttocomefrom Norway, then this serves to demonstrate how complex thematter of coinoriginandforeigncontactcanbe.

ThestudyofcoinsinIcelandicarchaeologyisofgreatinterestbecauseitprovidesatraceofcontacts,throughsettlementandtrade,betweenIcelandandotherpartsoftheVikingworld.Theevidenceindentifiedinthisstudyhasshownthatcontactbetween Iceland and particularly Norway was strong and sustained, whereascontactwiththeBritishIslesdoesnotaccountsomuchforthedirectflowofcoinstoIceland,ascontactwasnotsosignificant.WhiletheroleofcoinsinIcelandwassmall, due to their relatively few numbers, they were nonetheless significant inprovidingameansofwealth, forpaymentanddisplay. It isclearfromtheoriginanddateofthecoinsfoundinIcelandthatalthoughtherewasalimitedamountofsilver in the initial phase of settlement, the most silver was around in the 11thcentury.Thenatureofsuchfindsindicatesthattheprimaryuseforsuchsilverwasdirectly related to foreign contact, such as trade, and that Iceland maintainedcontactwiththeVikingworld.

AidanBell

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