Finland unearths largest Viking-Age silver treasure
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Kalle Lappinen, a metal detectorist in Finland, discovered the country’s largest Viking-Age silver treasure near Sysmä, approximately 150 kilometers north of Helsinki.
The find, made on September 3rd, consists of thousands of coins, jewelry, and silver fragments weighing around 4.5 kilograms. Archaeologists from the Historical Museum of Lahti are still cleaning, separating, and counting the items.
The treasure was buried in two birch bark containers, placed about 12 meters apart and 45 centimeters underground, next to a rocky outcrop in a forest. Researchers have identified coins originating from present-day Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, and silver dirhams minted in the Islamic world. In addition to coins, the hoard included silver jewelry like a bracelet, and hacksilber, small pieces of silver used as currency by weight.
Although the treasure dates to the Viking Age, archaeologists note that present-day Finland was not culturally or politically part of Viking Scandinavia like Sweden, Norway, or Denmark. The purpose of burying the treasure remains unknown, and researchers plan to study the discovery site and analyze the coins to learn more. This new find surpasses a previous silver treasure discovered in Nousiainen in 1895, which contained over 1,700 silver coins but weighed roughly half as much.
