HELSINKI, FINLAND—According to a Live Science report, a hoard of silver coins and jewelry was discovered in southern Finland by a metal detectorist. Esko Tikkala of the Lahti Historical Museum said that the hoard, dated to between A.D. 1000 and 1050, had been split into two deposits held in birch-bark containers, weighing a total of about 10 pounds. The two containers had been buried several feet apart, in an area of forest marked by two stones. “There are quite a lot of coins in this hoard,” Tikkala said. “I have not had time to go through them.” From his initial examination of the hoard, however, he has identified coins from what are now Germany, Sweden, and Great Britain, in addition to dirhams made in the Islamic world. Hacksilver, or pieces of silver that could be cut into smaller pieces for use as payment by weight, have also been identified. To read more about medieval Finland, go to "The Archaeology of Gardens: Medical Gardens."
