Story by James Langton • 29 Jan
Fragments of Arabic silver coins unearthed in a Norwegian field have cast light on the price of a cow in the Viking era.
Discovered by detectorist Pawel Bednarski, the haul included jewellery, silver wire and seven pieces of coins with Arabic script.
Their significance has now been confirmed by archeologists, who believe they would have used for trading, representing around 60 per cent of the price of a cow.
Professor Birgit Maixner of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Museum said using silver to trade was easier than bartering.
“In the barter economy, for example, you had to have a fair number of sheep if you wanted to exchange them for a cow. Weighed silver, on the other hand, was easy to handle and transport, and you could buy the goods you wanted when it worked for you.”
