STAVANGER, NORWAY—Science Norway reports that four large silver arm rings were discovered at the site of a Viking farm on the coast of southwestern Norway. Buildings for housing people and animals, soapstone pots, rivets, knife blades, and whetstones have also been uncovered at the site. The arm rings, dated to around A.D. 900, were found under the floor of one of the houses. “Usually, valuable objects like these are found in plowed fields, where they’re displaced from their original context,” said archaeologist Voker Demuth of the University of Stavanger. “Since this silver treasure hasn’t been moved, it offers us fresh insights into life and society during the Viking Age,” he explained. Because there were no silver mines in Norway at the time, the silver likely reached the farm through trade, raiding, or as a gift, he added. Archaeologists will look for a possible connection between the arm rings and similar silver neck rings unearthed in the region in the eighteenth century. For more on Viking clothing and adornments, go to "Vikings in Furs."
