What’s the difference between a pile of old wires and a priceless Viking treasure? About seven inches of Norwegian soil, as it turns out.
Before the roadworks on Årdal mountainside farm a local archaeological check turned out to be an extraordinary glimpse into the 9th century. Under the floor of what was probably a slave dwelling, archaeologists found four complete silver bracelets, each beautifully decorated. Field archaeologist Ola Tengesdal Lygre recalled, “At first, I thought it was a question of some twisted copper wires that you can often find in agricultural land, but when I saw that there were several next to each other and that they were not copper at all, but silver, I realized that we had found something exciting.”
The arm rings were discovered that way, the exact spot where they had been buried more than 1,100 years ago, which is very rare in Viking archaeology. Manager of the project Volker Demuth, pointed out the importance: We very rarely find such objects exactly where they were placed. As a rule, such valuable objects are discovered on fields that have been plowed, where an object has been completely taken out of its original context. Since the silver hoard has not been moved, it can give us completely new insights into life and society in the Viking Age.
The site itself was once a “large and powerful Viking farm” with multiple buildings for people and animals, strategically positioned to control access to the fjord a critical advantage in an era when waterways were lifelines for trade, communication, and defense. This control over fjord entry points was a hallmark of Viking political and economic power, allowing such settlements to dominate regional movement and commerce. Excavations also revealed soapstone pots, rivets, knife blades, and whetstones, painting a picture of daily life alongside the glitter of wealth.
The evidence indicates that the farm was destroyed violently. The traces of fire strongly suggest that the farm was set on fire deliberately, maybe during a local riot in Norway’s Viking Age between 800 and 1050 AD. Demuth conjectured that “If people who lived on this farm had to flee from an attack, it would be natural to hide away the valuables you had before escaping to the mountains. And perhaps in a place where you would not have thought that a treasure was hidden.”
The silver on the bracelets must have gone a long way before it got to this mountain side. There were no silver mines in Norway at that time, so the silver must have come through trade, as gifts to the diplomats, or as loot from the raids. The Vikings liked silver more than gold, a choice that was influenced by the areas they went to. Throughout Scandinavia silver was at the heart of the so-called weight economy, in which bullion was valued by weight rather than the use of minted coins. This system made the transactions very quick, with pieces of silver sometimes taken from bigger ones being the money.
Finds like the Årdal bracelets connect to broader Viking patterns seen in other hoards. In discoveries such as the Bedale Hoard in England, silver artifacts reveal complex trade routes reaching as far as the Islamic Caliphate. Dirhams minted in regions of modern-day Iran and Iraq traveled along the Austrvegr, the “eastern way,” into Scandinavia, blending with silver from Western Europe before being recast into jewelry or ingots. Such networks show that Viking silver was not merely plunder it was the product of a far-reaching web of commerce and cultural exchange.
The bracelets also echo other regional finds, such as silver necklaces unearthed in Hjelmeland in 1769, hinting at possible local traditions or connections between elite Viking households. Whether buried in haste during an attack or as part of a ritual act some sagas speak of valuables interred to accompany their owners to Valhalla the Årdal hoard offers a rare, undisturbed snapshot of Viking wealth in its original hiding place.
Museum Director Ole Madsen summed up the find’s importance: “This is an absolutely fantastic find, which gives us completely unique knowledge about one of the most central eras in Norway, namely the Viking Age. We will exhibit this as soon as it is ready to be displayed.” Indeed, to lovers of history, these bracelets represent much less than mere decorations: they were the survival of distress times, the interconnection of commerce that reached even the most remote places on the earth, and the everlasting human nature of protect the dearest ones.
