Silver Fragmentation

Abstract

This chapter explores the phenomenon of silver fragmentation from the evidence of silver hoards deposited in the Baltic area. Focusing on the evidence of dirhams, it charts an increase in silver fragmentation in an anticlockwise direction around the Baltic Sea. This culminates in hoards from the west Slavic lands (Poland and eastern Germany), in which dirham fragments often weigh just fractions of a gram. Chronological and geographical patterns are presented to suggest that the degree of dirham fragmentation reflects not local monetary circulation, but the number of times dirhams changed hands in commercial transactions. In this sense, the degree of fragmentation reflects the distance dirhams travelled from their source. The implication is that silver was above all a means of payment in transactions related to the long-distance trade—especially in slaves and furs.

Crossing the Maelstrom: New Departures in Viking Archaeology

“…As a distinctive subfield, it is unified by the focus on hoard finds, which often provide a great diversity of material culture, and by contextual associations (e.g., Graham-Campbell and Ager 2011;Gruszczyński 2018;Ingvardson 2012). It presents a model of wellintegrated interdisciplinary research, bridging archaeological studies (e.g., Hårdh 2016;Jankowiak 2018;Roslund 2015), numismatics (e.g., Moesgaard 2015Myrberg 2009a;G. Williams 2014), and economic history (Gullbekk 2011;Skre 2017a) within a joint research discourse (e.g., Kershaw et al 2019).…”