Bjerndrup - et skattefund med bebyggelse fra vikingetiden

Resumé

In the early part of 2018, three metal detectorists
discovered several Viking Age
silver coins on a field near the village of
Bjerndrup in the southeastern part of Jutland,
Denmark. Local archaeologists were
contacted and in cooperation with the
landowner they were able to excavate the
area during two campaigns in 2018 and
2019 – excavations in which the original
finders took part with their metal detectors.
The excavations revealed 224 pieces
of silver: 150 coins or fragments of coins,
fourteen silver ingots and sixty pieces
of hack silver. The coins were Kufic, Anglo-
Saxon, Frankish, and Danish, from the
emporia Ribe and Hedeby. The date of the
younger coins suggests that the hoard was
buried not long after 910 AD.
The removal of the topsoil revealed
a longhouse, three smaller buildings
and nineteen sunken-feature-buildings
(SFBs). The longhouse was 14C-dated to
c. 945 – 993 AD, while some of the other
buildings appear to be a bit older. The SFBs
contained spindle whorls and loom weights
indicating textile production. One SFB
stood out as it contained e. g. glass beads, a
miniature silver sword, and a Thor’s hammer
amulet.
The combination of coins and especially
the presence of coins from both Hedeby and
Ribe sheds new light on early Danish coinage
and trading between Ribe and Hedeby.