The Viking World: A History in ObjectsMain MenuGallery viewA galleryTag Cloudtag cloud pageThemesA path of thematic categoriesAuthor IndexExplore the collection by authorWorks CitedReferencesAdam Bigelow3afa9c7ecebf516bba6609664b1b12f79c54bf77Caitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252fCaroline Harvey1783f21a5882b5b4d3d0b6c174d058052a5ff7eaEdward Hershewee701ef220480b51ca728fc9c719bc094cf813655Martin Hoffmana1fd203afd9a84ee8db567e188cf6ed1d269386eTyler Hruby23493f763b312110686cfafc62578fd0ab5f3833Brittany N. Johnsonc1c1763339f8fa953e3c907c6bb8a3bad0c28b2cCarlos Lua Pineda0a28cc23b0aa00b4f24a9e205aeb57fbdb07ff01Moira McConnell710633400590ea38533ea3412c01fc5056288180Clara McCurdy9aec76477d0b55f9c685c47330d6786ec98182e1Elise McIlhaneyef48481634ff342c8b43c9d56f678b2d3562fb69Cameron Meikle669a5682bfbfd603130a26e25628f24eb07e6295Alexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7fBenja Reilly816c23aa0d444213fb2d1ef33555a15617e08228Oliver Statenc625ae8c3926f5e1a4268bc91d6a6f4cdb1e7fb6Liam Sullivanaa3a1dccb90c7fe4646b61c4af594abbb0c5574aRead Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611eadAliza Yazdanicd49f227d88c72331226ddf574bf56c37308cd10Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
12017-05-20T06:48:50-07:00Silver Armband from Gotland18object pageplain2017-09-19T19:21:34-07:00This silver arm band, found in Gotland (an island in the Baltic Sea) and dating to the Viking Age, tells a story of wealth and trade.[1] Found along with a bronze needle and a gold buckle, it was most likely used as costume. The bands most interesting and telling feature is the stamping.
The stamping, a possible cross, indicates fine metal work. Often the metal smiths used a punch to apply the stamp to the object. Most commonly, an hour glass or a triangle was stamped onto a metal ring.[2] The plus stamp on this arm band could correspond to Christianity. A similar cross structure is found on a steatite mold from Jelling that has both Christian crosses and Norse Hammers.[3]
Gotland during the Viking Age appeared to be extremely wealthy. It is not uncommon for new hordes of silver and gold to be found on the island. The island developed a complex social structure with local "thing" assemblies under the authority of central assembly called the Althing.[4]Although inhabitants of Gotland plundered areas, including Kiev and parts of France, and traded a menagerie of items, they had a thriving slave importing culture. Sources from Baghdad and Persia tell of complex slave routes up the Volga river. The culture was so ingrained in the slave trade they wrote a collection of laws, the Guta Lag, in 1220.[5] The vast trading network acquired large amounts of wealth.
The coins, coming from raids or trade with both the Frankish Empire and the Middle East, have been estimated to be 338 million Islamic Dirhams during the Viking Age.[6] Some of this coinage could have been melted into arm bands and used as for trade as Scandinavia didn't have a set monetary system. For example, a person could cut a piece of silver off the end of the arm band and use it to pay for goods. Often, multiple bands of sliver were coiled together to create the hack silver bands. This silver could then be used to pay for items. In one account from Ibn Fadlan, the wealth of a family was dependent on how many silver arm bands a woman in the family was wearing.[7] This band is a small piece of the bigger picture of Scandinavian trade, raiding, and metal work.
