Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland (Routledge Archaeologies of the Viking World)

That there was an influx of silver dirhams from the Muslim world into eastern and northern Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries is well known, as is the fact that the largest concentration of hoards is on the Baltic island of Gotland. Recent discoveries have shown that dirhams were reaching the British Isles, too. What brought the dirhams to northern Europe in such large numbers? The fur trade has been proposed as one driver for transactions, but the slave trade offers another – complementary – explanation. This volume does not offer a comprehensive delineation of the hoard finds, or a full answer to the question of what brought the silver north. But it highlights the trade in slaves as driving exchanges on a trans-continental scale. By their very nature, the nexuses were complex, mutable and unclear even to contemporaries, and they have eluded modern scholarship. Contributions to this volume shed light on processes and key places: the mints of Central Asia; the chronology of the inflows of dirhams to Rus and northern Europe; the reasons why silver was deposited in the ground and why so much ended up on Gotland; the functioning of networks – perhaps comparable to the twenty-first-century drug trade; slave-trading in the British Isles; and the stimulus and additional networks that the Vikings brought into play. This combination of general surveys, presentations of fresh evidence and regional case studies sets Gotland and the early medieval slave trade in a firmer framework than has been available before. That there was an influx of silver dirhams from the Muslim world into eastern and northern Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries is well known, as is the fact that the largest concentration of hoards is on the Baltic island of Gotland. Recent discoveries have shown that dirhams were reaching the British Isles, too. What brought the dirhams to northern Europe in such large numbers? The fur trade has been proposed as one driver for transactions, but the slave trade offers another – complementary – explanation. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of maps 9 List of figures 11 List of tables 13 Preface and acknowledgements 14 List of abbreviations and notes on bibliography 17 Notes on contributors 22 1. Why Gotland? 26 PART I: Cogs and drivers 38 2. Reading between the lines: tracking slaves and slavery in the early middle ages 42 3. Slavery in medieval Scandinavia: some points of departure 65 4. The fur trade in the early middle ages 82 5. The dynamics of the drugs trade: a model for the study of the medieval trade in slaves? 100 PART II: Flows from Islam 122 6. Dirham flows into northern and eastern Europe and the rhythms of the slave trade with the Islamic world 130 7. Trading networks, warlords and hoarders: Islamic coin flows into Poland in the Viking Age 157 8. Coin circulation in early Rus and the dynamics of the druzhinas 180 PART III: Gotland 208 9. Hoards, silver, context and the Gotlandic alternative 212 10. Hoards and their archaeological context: three case studies from Gotland 233 11. Gotland: silver island 250 12. Silver hoards and society on Viking-Age Gotland: some thoughts on the relationship between silver, long-distance trade and local communities 267 13. From the foreign to the familiar: the arrival and circulation of silver in Gotlandic society 280 14. Was there life before death? The Viking settlements on Gotland 296 15. Social structures and landscape: Gotland’s silver hoards in the context of settlements 316 PART IV: Comparisons 336 16. Gotland viewed from the Swedish mainland 340 17. Silver hoarding on Bornholm and Gotland: hoards as windows onto Viking-Age life 383 18. Coins as an indicator of communications between the British Isles and Scandinavia in the Viking Age 402 19. Viking economies and the Great Army: interpreting the precious metal finds from Torksey, Lincolnshire 421 20. Viking-Age bullion from southern Scandinavia and the Baltic region in Ireland 440 PART V: Conclusions 460 21. Some reflections on Gotland: slavery, slave-traders and slave-takers 462 Appendix 475 Glossary 480 Index 488 "1 Why Gotland?; 2 Reading between the lines: tracking slaves and slavery in the early middle ages; 3 Slavery in medieval Scandinavia: some points of departure; 4 The fur trade in the early middle ages; 5 The dynamics of the drugs trade: a model for the study of the medieval trade in slaves?; 6 Dirham flows into northern and eastern Europe and the rhythms of the slave trade with the Islamic world; 7 Trading networks,warlords and hoarders: Islamic coin flows into Poland in the Viking Age; 8 Coin circulation in early Rus and the dynamics of the druzhinas; 9 Hoards,silver,context and the Gotlandic alternative; 10 Hoards and their archaeological context: three case studies from Gotland; 11 Gotland: silver island; 12 Silver hoards and society on Viking-Age Gotland: some thoughts on the relationship between silver,long-distance trade and local communities; 13 From the foreign to the familiar: the arrival and circulation of silver in Gotlandic society; 14 Was there life before death? The Viking settlements on Gotland; 15 Social structures and landscape: Gotland’s silver hoards in the context of settlements; 16 Gotland viewed from the Swedish mainland; 17 Silver hoarding on Bornholm and Gotland: hoards as windows onto Viking-Age life; 18 Coins as an indicator of communications between the British Isles and Scandinavia in the Viking Age; 19 Viking economies and the Great Army: interpreting the precious metal finds from Torksey,Lincolnshire; 20 Viking-Age bullion from southern Scandinavia and the Baltic region in Ireland; 21 Some reflections on Gotland: slavery,slave-traders and slave-takers" 1 Why Gotland?; 2 Reading between the lines: tracking slaves and slavery in the early middle ages; 3 Slavery in medieval Scandinavia: some points of departure; 4 The fur trade in the early middle ages; 5 The dynamics of the drugs trade: a model for the study of the medieval trade in slaves?; 6 Dirham flows into northern and eastern Europe and the rhythms of the slave trade with the Islamic world; 7 Trading networks, warlords and hoarders: Islamic coin flows into Poland in the Viking Age; 8 Coin circulation in early Rus and the dynamics of the druzhinas; 9 Hoards, silver, context and the Gotlandic alternative; 10 Hoards and their archaeological context: three case studies from Gotland; 11 Gotland: silver island; 12 Silver hoards and society on Viking-Age Gotland: some thoughts on the relationship between silver, long-distance trade and local communities; 13 From the foreign to the familiar: the arrival and circulation of silver in Gotlandic society; 14 Was there life before death? The Viking settlements on Gotland; 15 Social structures and landscape: Gotland’s silver hoards in the context of settlements; 16 Gotland viewed from the Swedish mainland; 17 Silver hoarding on Bornholm and Gotland: hoards as windows onto Viking-Age life; 18 Coins as an indicator of communications between the British Isles and Scandinavia in the Viking Age; 19 Viking economies and the Great Army: interpreting the precious metal finds from Torksey, Lincolnshire; 20 Viking-Age bullion from southern Scandinavia and the Baltic region in Ireland; 21 Some reflections on Gotland: slavery, slave-traders and slave-takers "That there was an influx of silver dirhams from the Muslim world into eastern and northern Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries is well-known, as is the fact that the largest concentration of hoards is on the Baltic island of Gotland. Recent discoveries have shown that dirhams were reaching the British Isles, too. What brought the dirhams to northern Europe in such large numbers? The fur trade has been proposed as one driver for transactions, but the slave trade offers another - complementary - explanation. This volume does not offer a comprehensive delineation of the hoard finds, or a full answer to the question of what brought the silver north. But it highlights the trade in slaves as driving exchanges on a trans-continental scale. By their very nature, the nexuses were complex, mutable, and unclear even to contemporaries, and they have eluded modern scholarship. Contributions to this volume shed light on processes and key places: the mints of Central Asia; the chronology of the inflows of dirhams to Rus and northern Europe; the reasons why silver was deposited in the ground and why so much ended up on Gotland; the functioning of networks - perhaps comparable to the twenty-first century drug-trade; slave-trading in the British Isles, and the stimulus and additional networks that the Vikings brought into play. This combination of general surveys, presentations of fresh evidence, and regional case-studies sets Gotland and the early medieval slave trade in a firmer framework than has been available before."-- Provided by publisher This volume highlights the trade in slaves during the ninth and tenth centuries as driving exchanges on a trans-continental scale. A combination of general surveys and regional case-studies sets Gotland and the early medieval slave trade in a firmer framework than has been available before.