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At the end of the silver flow : Islamic dirhams in Sigtuna and the shrinking Viking network

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Author

Editor

  • Lars Larsson
  • Fredrik Ekengren
  • Bertil Helgesson
  • Bengt Söderberg

Summary, in English

In this paper, a classic subject will be addressed: the last import of Islamic dirhams into Scandinavia. The place under study is Sigtuna, established in c. AD 980, a date that sets the earliest possible deposition for nine retrieved dirhams. The main objec- tive is to provide data for their chronology and provenance, and to confirm under which regent they were issued. With this data at hand, an analysis will be made, connecting them with their inter- national background. The reason for their appearance in Sigtu- na will be addressed, as well as the difference in the circulation compared to the urban predecessor Birka. I will conclude the article by stressing the continuous need for interregional trade from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, with the aim of acquiring raw materials and socially ostentatious objects, but with dimin- ishing distances covered.

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Pages

43-48

Publication/Series

Small Things – Wide Horizons : Studies in honour of Birgitta Hårdh

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Archaeopress

Topic

  • History and Archaeology

Keywords

  • urbanization
  • fur trade
  • islamic dirhams
  • viking age

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 9781784911317