Discover Viking treasure in Sweden

Hundreds of coins have been unearthed near Sweden's main international airport. According to archaeologists, this shows that the Vikings brought back foreign currencies earlier than people thought.

Buried about 1,150 years ago, this precious treasure consisted mainly of Arab coins and was the largest early treasure of the Vikings ever discovered in Sweden. Archaeologists from the Swedish National Heritage Council suddenly discovered a treasure containing 472 silver coins while excavating a grave from the Bronze Age near Arlanda airport in Stockholm.

Kenneth Jonsson, a lecturer in copper studies at Stockholm University, determined the date of this treasure in 850 AD. 'That time was very early, because the coins imported by Vikings began only around 800 AD.' This treasure contains more coins than the only Swedish Viking treasure of the same time, discovered in 1827.

According to Jonsson 'It is interesting that the dong played an important role for Vikings from that time.' This also implies that Vikings may have expanded foreign trade earlier than people thought.

Viking treasure

Photographs of the newly discovered 472 silver coins.This is the oldest treasure ever known in Sweden.
These buried Middle Eastern coins show that the Vikings have expanded their foreign trade longer than previously thought. (Photo: Bengt A Lundberg)

The newly discovered treasure contains only the Eastern coins , which is not surprising, since the early Viking treasures usually contained only Middle Eastern coins. Most of these coins are cast in Arabian regions like Baghdad (present-day Iraq) or Damascus in Syria. The youngest currency dates from the 840s AD.

According to the archaeological group member Karin Beckman-Thoor, the oldest coins came from Persia . These Persian coins must have been circulated for centuries before being buried and have "extremely good quality." While Swedish Viking treasures are often discovered on Baltic Gotland, they are less common on land.

Once thoroughly studied, this treasure 'will bring a lot of information about its journey and why it is buried underground' . Beckman-Thoor said the discovery at Arlanda airport could be the spoils of bandits or interest in commercial activities.

Jonsson, Stockholm University, supports the second explanation. 'I think up to 95% is due to trade,' he said, adding that the Vikings could exchange money for goods such as slaves, iron, tar and amber.

Vikings documents that they traveled far to the Middle East, most of these foreign transactions took place in towns in Russia, where the country still has many Viking ruins.

Most of these newly discovered treasures have been cut into pieces, and the Vikings value mainly based on their 95% silver. 'They put a coin on the scale, the weight indicates the value of silver. They smash them into pieces to get exactly the amount of silver they need. '

Medieval village

The stone burial room, where people discovered treasures, was being excavated before a new settlement project was constructed at that location. With a diameter of 16m, the grave dating back to the Bronze Age is believed to be 1,000 years older than treasure. Very few Viking treasures discovered earlier were in such prehistoric buildings.

It is possible that prominent grave stones are used by Vikings because they intend to return to the silver coins later.'Or maybe they think their ancestors will protect the treasure, or it is a gift to the ancestors.'

Bekcman-Thoor notes that there is a medieval residential area located below the hill where the stone building is located.'We believe this village is also from the Viking era.'