Northern Europe, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 800 to 1000 CE. A heavy, wearable (for a larger wrist) silver bracelet. It was made by its Viking artisan by twisting a cylinder of silver, widened it at its center, around a thinner silver cylinder. The terminals are thin, rounded ends of that underlying cylinder. Silver was the principal currency of the Viking world, which stretched from Russia to northern Canada at the height of their influence. In many places, the Vikings kept silver not as coins, but as jewelry, a wearable currency form that was not subject to the authority of a monarch or mint. One of the most common archaeological finds from the Viking period is a hoard of metal objects, often buried in the earth or deposited in bodies of water, like river beds. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries. What was the meaning of such hoards? Were they treasures buried for safe keeping, perhaps by people fleeing violence who did not wish to travel with heavy loads and who died or forgot before they could retrieve them? Or does their presence in rivers suggest votive deposits, gifts and offerings to spirits who lived in the water? Size: 3.4" W x 0.45" H (8.6 cm x 1.1 cm)

Provenance: Ex-Private Orange County, CA collection

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#118287

Slight tarnish and dirt encrustation