Danish garden yields largest Viking silver hoard ever found

DR reports that a man in the Rebild area has uncovered the largest Viking Age silver hoard ever found, after digging in his garden to build a new terrace shortly before the summer holidays.

The hoard contains more than 700 objects and fragments, with a combined weight of 18.5 kilograms. Nordjyske Museer, which had kept the discovery secret for several months, unveiled it on Monday. The find is nearly three times larger than the largest Viking silver hoard previously found in Denmark.

The hoard includes 47 silver coins and coin fragments. A few come from England in the 900s, while the most common coins are Arab dirhams from Central Asia. Torben Sarauw, head of cultural heritage and an archaeologist at Nordjyske Museer, said the coins show that Vikings traded across a wide area, with silver reaching the Baltic region via the Russian rivers.

About 365 items are silver bars, which were used for trade. The heaviest weigh around 200 grams. Sarauw said the Vikings could use bars, coins or pieces of jewellery as currency, and could cut or break a silver arm ring to pay for something.

The discovery also includes a Thor’s hammer and silver bars marked with crosses or Thor’s hammer motifs. Nordjyske Museer said the symbols reflect a period in the 900s when the old Norse religion and Christianity existed side by side.

Sarauw said the find came from a time of major change involving religion and royal power, when Harald Bluetooth was bringing the Danish kingdom together.