Postby dognose » Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:47 am
Link to the first of five episodes of a BBC Radio programme regarding the Vale of York Hoard:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sqw6pThis Viking hoard was discovered in 2007 in North Yorkshire. It was buried in AD 927 and contains 617 silver coins, which were tightly packed into a Frankish silver cup, along with silver bars, and both intact and broken jewellery. This treasure was probably accumulated through a combination of raiding and trading throughout Europe and beyond. Some of the jewellery is Scandinavian, some Russian and some of the coins are from Central Asia. The Vikings originally came from Scandinavia but settled in Scotland, Ireland, Normandy and northern and eastern England.
Why was the hoard buried?
Around AD 920 Britain was divided into a southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom and the Viking kingdom of Northumbria, with its capital in York. The hoard probably belonged to a member of York's powerful Viking elite. The dates of the later coins show that the hoard was buried after the Anglo Saxon king, Athelstan, conquered Northumbria in AD 927. Uniting the two kingdoms, Athelstan was the first king who could claim to rule over the whole of what would become England.Trev.