Mediaeval Scandinavia was characterised by a high level of mobility. Scandinavians of the Viking age had highly developed navigational skills and built ships that permitted the undertaking of long journeys. Their sphere of action expanded considerably from the 8th century onwards; in the early 11th century, Scandinavians even reached the coast of North America. Long-distance trade was one of the central economic pillars. Scandinavian traders travelled long distances, established trading stations, and returned with foreign goods to the North of Europe. Across Eastern Europe, they went to Byzantium and traded with the Muslim empires as well as far into Asia.
Sigtuna, 1050–1075
Glazed ceramic
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 9198
Glazed pottery, also called “fritware”, originated in the Near East and was imported to Scandinavia via the eastern trade routes. Even small ceramic fragments like this one testify to the far-reaching trade and economic networks in the Near Ages.
Kurdistan, Anatolia or Macedonia, 11th c.
Mineral
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 7165
Orpiment is a toxic arsenic material that was used as an expensive colour pigment already by the Ancient Egyptians. It was also used during the production process of Byzantine manuscripts, and traces of Orpiment have been detected on Norwegian church sculptures.
Sigtuna, ca. 1125–1175
Copper
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 4626
In Eastern Europe, the Northmen came into contact with nomadic Turkic tribes who lived north of the Black and Caspian Seas. The exchange and influence of these contacts can be detected in costume elements and weapons. These were adopted or imitated, even in later times.
Byzantium, ca. 12th c.
Copper
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 149757
This little horse was not a toy, but served as a padlock with a locking mechanism still similar in today’s padlocks. The horse shape is of Byzantine origin; however, animal-shaped locks were also common in the Near East.
Novgorod, ca. 1020–1050
Pewter, glass gems
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 17645
The rings were part of a hoard containing 51 similar rings. It was buried under a house. The glass inlays give the rings a precious appearance, but they were comparatively cheap to produce.
Byzantium, ca. 1075–1100 (6); late 10th/early 11th c. (7); late 12th c. (8)
Glass (6–7), painted glass (8)
Sigtuna, Sigtuna Museum & Art, Inv. 17024 (6); Inv. 28678 (7); Inv. 22700 (8)
Glass arm rings (6) played an important role in the material culture of the Eastern Mediterranean and were also frequently found in Eastern Europe and in the area of the Kievan Rus’. The presented fragment here is partly decorated with silver-coloured scrollwork. The dark blue glass of the Byzantine beads (7) was decorated with rhombic ornaments made of silver foil and covered with a thin layer of light yellow glass, which gives them a golden appearance. The glass fragment (8) with a bird motif probably originally belonged to a cup or a bowl and is also of Byzantine origin. Sigtuna is an important site for glass finds from the East and the finds testify to a lively exchange.
Scandinavia, late 10th c.
Silver
Schleswig, Museum für Archäologie Schloss Gottorf, Inv. SH2003-205.348
This pendant was made from a Byzantine silver coin. Byzantine money probably reached Scandinavia not only through trade and the Christianisation of Kievan Rus’, but also through the Scandinavian mercenaries in the Byzantine army. Coins, whether Arabic or Byzantine, also had ornamental value and were often converted into jewellery.
Gotland, 2nd half of 11th c.
Sandstone
Visby, Gotlands Museum, Inv. GFC 9181
This whetstone was used to sharpen needles, which is indicated by the indentation on the back of the stone. But the stone also bears a runic inscription on the other side that reads as a list: two male names, “Ormika” and “Ulfhvatr”, are mentioned, as well as several places: Greece, Jerusalem, Iceland and Serkland, that is “land of the Serkir” usually identified as “Saracens”. Possibly this was meant to be a reduced travelogue or the author of the inscription named the extent of the world known to him (or her).
Wiesing, Cham, 9th/10th c.
Iron
Regensburg, Museen der Stadt Regensburg – Historisches Museum, Inv. 2009/102
Sandby, Öland, 10th/11th c.
Copper alloy
Stockholm, National Historical Museums, Swedish History Museum, Inv. 1835:563 6819
The two objects represent Viking Age trade. In addition to trading goods such as furs, amber or honey, humans were a popular trade good. People were kidnapped, enslaved and often sold. To this the slave shackle refers (2). “Human goods” were among the most important and lucrative goods for Viking Age Scandinavian traders. The folding scales (3), on the other hand, could be used to weigh coins and the so-called “Hacksilver”, i.e. “hacked” silver objects that served as a means of payment. Such scales were important instruments for trade and could be transported well.