By IANS,
Copenhagen : A Viking-era treasure of silver coins, buried around the year 854 A.D., has been discovered on Denmark’s Bornholm island in the Baltic sea, Danish officials said Thursday.
The 152 Arab and Persian coins were made in different parts of the Middle East, and represent the single-biggest collection of Arab coins dating from the 8th century to be found in Denmark, Xinhua quoted the Bornholm Museum as saying.
The first coins in the treasure were found by an amateur archaeologist in September, with the museum conducting future excavations, the museum said.
Archaeologists said the treasure was hidden in a house in an early Viking-era settlement, and reflect a tendency at that time to safeguard treasures by burying them under floors of houses.
Only around 20 coins are intact, while most of the rest are cut into pieces, as the Vikings used them as a unit of payment based on the weight of the silver.
Most of the coins are very thin and worn out, and weigh three grams each on average.
Although the total weight of the treasure is just 250 grams, that would have represented a fortune in Viking times, the museum said.
The Vikings were Nordic warriors, merchants, raiders and explorers who roamed and settled in various parts of Europe and the North Atlantic between the eighth and 11th centuries.