The famous Vikings treasure contains silver from more than 3000 miles

Despite their well -documented reputation at the end and conquest, life during the Vikings era was a little more sophisticated – financially. Vikings had to pay fines and the complexities of their financial system were documented on silver rings. Their extraordinary wealth was also an additional arrival of scientists who once believed.

Not part of the silver came from the cache in the Vikings era, which was discovered more than a decade in northern Yorkshire, England, from local raids. Instead, some minerals have reached England from long -distance commercial networks, which spanned more than 3000 miles until he reaches Iraq and Iran. Detailed results in Jadida The study was published on August 11 in the magazine Measurement Add to an increasing group of research on the complexities of Vikings economy.

What is Bedale Hoard?

In May 2012, A group of metal detector lovers I found 29 silver Alloys (Or bars), many sophisticated neck pieces, Angelu Saxon, and more in northern Yorkshire. They were brought to the Yorkshire Museum in York, England, and they return to The late ninth or early tenth century During the Vikings era.

While the military campaigns and raids brought a great wealth to the Scandinavian chants, physical domination is likely only one part of Viking A broader economic strategy. This strategy is likely to involve trade exchange, melting of imported metal currencies, then reformulate this silver into uniform coins and trading jewelry inside Scandinavian alloys economyWhere the value was based on the weight of the metal. Bedale Hoard explains this complex economy at work – where hiding your precious metals was just a good bank.

Silver was discovered in Viking in 2012. A new geodic analysis revealed that he not only came from local raids. Credit: Oxford University.

Economy under a microscope

For New studyThe team used a new geodic analysis. Most silver comes from the sources of Western Europe, Perhaps the Anglo Sixon and the coin Received through chimneys or ransom. However, a large part of the Islamic silver currency called Dirhams arose. These drams are likely to be transferred to the current England through Scandinavian Trade Roads.

The team says Bedale Hoard explains how different cultures and economies were mixed In England during the age of Vikings on the island between 800 and 1150. The analysis also confirms that the looting was not the only way in which Vikings gained a fortune. They also participated in long -term commercial networks, extending thousands of miles away throughout Europe and to the Middle East and Central Asia.

“Most of us tend to think about Vikings in the first place as the invaders, who looted the monasteries and other wealthy places in search of wealth. What appears in Bedale Hoard is that this is only part of the image”, “Jin Kirchu, a partner study in the study and the University of Oxford that specialized in Vikkss,” He said in a statement. “The Vikings and looting-some of this wealth are looted in the episodes and alloys in the treasure. But they also achieved great profits from the long trade methods that link northern Europe to the Islamic caliphate. We can now see that they have brought large quantities of this Islamic silver with them when they created settlements in England.”

[ Related: Viking mouths were a painful mess. ]

Metal sources

The team used a mixture of P lead analogues and trace elements analysis To define three main sources of silver within the Bedale Hoard: Western Europe, Islamic Farmaz, and mixed sources that reflect a mixture of both sources. It was nine alloys, or nearly a third of the church silver, geocally identical with the silver that was written in the Islamic caliphate (a region that is almost compatible with Iran and Iraq and Iraq). This silver in the Middle East is likely to reach the Scandinavian countries Eastern Trade Roads known as AustrVEGR Before making her way to England.

The results also indicate that Viking minerals in both Scandinavian countries and England have polished some silver with kinetic organisms with local lead. Some of the introduction may have come from North Benins, a group of hills that pass through northern England, A proposal for both advanced metal work practices and local production. A large ring on the neck of the treasure consisting of multiple twisted bars will be thrown, using a mixture of eastern and western silver, and perhaps in northern England.

“I would like to think about how Bedale – Time is an ideal English city city in northern Yorkshire – in the Vikings era, at the heart of the wider Viking economy,” Kircho added. “Vikings were not only extracted wealth from the local population, and they brought wealth with them when they raided and settled.”

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Laura is the editor of popular science news, as it supervises the coverage of a wide range of topics. Laura is especially fascinated by all aquatic things, fossil science and nanoparticles, and exploring how science affects daily life.


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