A farm in Norway’s mountains, built on the site of what was once a large and powerful Viking farm, has revealed significant Viking treasures.
An excavation team uncovered four silver bracelets dating to the Viking Age, likely from the 9th century CE. The bracelets were found close to where they were originally buried, offering new insight into the treasures' origins.
“At first, I thought it was a question of some twisted copper wires that you can often find in agricultural land,” field archaeologist Ola Tengesdal Lygre said in a translated statement from the University of Stavanger. “But when I saw that there were several next to each other and that they were not copper at all, but silver, I realized that we had found something exciting.”
Between 800 and 1066 CE, the Vikings were famous for sailing huge distances from their home in Scandinavia to raid and plunder. But these Nordic sea warriors did much more than that, such as trading across Europe and traveling all the way to the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and North America. They also left their linguistic mark on today's Scandinavian languages, as well as the English language.
Want to discover more about these northern Europeans? Then check out this gallery.