THREE VIKING GRAVES YIELD DISTANT COINS

 
Norway gravesite Hedeby Denmark coin

The graves belonged to three women who lived during the early Viking Age, in the first half of the 9th century.

At that time, there was a large farm at Skumsnes. It probably belonged to a local or regional king in western Norway.

One woman was buried in a natural crevice in the rock, which was then covered with stones.

The woman was buried with costume jewellery and brooches, the characteristic oval brooches that Viking Age women used to fasten their apron dresses.

Her grave contained stones arranged in the shape of a boat. Inside the stones were boat rivets.

A four-metre-long boat accompanied this woman into the afterlife.

This grave also contained oval brooches, other costume jewellery, and a necklace made of 46 glass beads and 11 silver coins.

One of the coins is a very rare variant from the Danish Viking towns of Hedeby or Ribe. It was made in southern Denmark during the first half of the 9th century.

"That coin might be the most remarkable find here," says Diinhoff. "I plan to have it tattooed this winter."

The other coins appear to be Carolingian silver coins. These also date from the first half of the 9th century but originate from the Frankish Empire. This suggests the woman had connections to the continent.

In the middle of the boat grave, there was a stone marking the mast of the boat. When the archaeologists turned it over, they saw that it resembled a ‘vulva stone' – the stone looked like female genitalia.

To read the complete articles, see:
Found jewellery and a unique coin: Three women were buried here during the Viking Age (https://www.sciencenorway.no/archaeology-viking-age/found-jewellery-and-a-unique-coin-three-women-were-buried-here-during-the-viking-age/2441557)
'Vulva stone' and coin jewelry among remarkable treasures discovered at Viking burial site in Norway (https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/vikings/vulva-stone-and-coin-jewelry-among-remarkable-treasures-discovered-at-viking-burial-site-in-norway)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web