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• 1 2017-05-22T08:55:22-07:00 Spotted Polyhedral Weight 8 object page plain 2017-09-21T22:55:00-07:00 The Spotted Polyhedral Weight is a bronze polyhedron roughly a centimeter across. It has both triangular and square faces, and the square faces are dotted with what appears to be 4 dots. This polyhedron was found on the island of Bornholm from an archaeological site known as Sorte Muld. The Sorte Muld settlement on the island is dated between the beginning of the 9th and the end of the 11th century. The excavations have been ongoing since 2001. Despite the title in the database of the object as “prikornamenteret” (I believe it translates to ornamental dotting), the spots actually categorize what mass value each particular weight was. Dots ranged from 1 to 6 and mass of the weight scaled up with number of dots.^[1] This polyhedral weight is worth examining because it provides insight into the internal and external economies of Norse communities.

  Polyhedral weights were primarily used for measuring hack silver and hack gold, chunks of precious metal torn off of other objects to act as currency. These weights allowed a trader to properly scale the amount of currency a hack silver piece should be. Interestingly, sometimes objects that look like polyhedral weights were originally affixed ornamentally to objects such as knife handles or scales, suggesting that they were hacked off and repurposed as a game piece, a charm, or even a personal seal.^[2] In any case, they communicate a certain flexibility of object. Physical things would be repurposed and reimagined to fit the needs of the situation.

  Polyhedral weights would be most crucial to metal smiths, and indeed the Sorte Muld site is well known for its massive deposit of gold artifacts known as “Guldgubber”. This community had a high status centerpiece, called the “temple”, with highly skilled metalsmiths working to produce these pieces for an unknown religious or other high status purpose. Metalworking debris has been found in addition to the weights and the pieces themselves to suggest a dedicated community of craftsman.^[3] The permanence of this settlement,  and the skilled artisan work that went on there stands in sharp contrast to the constantly roving heathen hordes depicted in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Annals of Ulster pillaging religious sites. This community is not contradictory to the characterization of vikings as raiders and explorers, indeed the work of this scale was only possible because of the influx of large quantities of precious metals due to plunder and trade.  This Spotted Polyhedral Weight demonstrates an intra-scandinavian trade apparatus refining and repurposing raided silver. This secondary flow was robust enough to require standard currencies and weights. This piece provides a more nuanced view of what Norse life could be like in the late Iron Age.