Ebook: Excavations at Helgö X: Coins, Iron and Gold

"Excavations at Helgö X" contains articles concerning the coins found at Helgö: the solidi, the Westeuropean and the Arabic silvercoins. The volume also includes special articles concerning two other important groups in the Helgö material: the gold objects and the iron slag.

The article on the solidi is not purely numismatic in character but is rather an archaeological analysis of the numismatic sources. The study includes a socio-economic framework to the coin hoards. It also deals with technical, chemical and numismatic aspects as well as it presents a new methodological approach to the analysis and interpretation of coin hoards. The Westeuropean silver coins as well as the Arabic coins have been determined and commented on by Brita Malmer and Bengt Hovén respectively.

In the article of Oddy and Meyers the Helgö gold finds have provided the stimulus for a general program of analyses of gold from Sweden from the 3rd to the 8th centuries with a view to determining whether the composition of the gold was subject to any debasement. The analyses have shown that there was a progressive use of an increasingly wide range of gold alloys for jewellery in Sweden from the third/fourth centuries when most items contained more than 85% gold through the sixth when alloys as low as 34% gold were in contemporary use with fine alloys.

The study of the slag material has shown that it was of key importance for the scientific investigation and interpretation of the ironworking practised in the smithies of Helgö. Slag can indicate the steps involved in ironworking and give some idea of the technical knowledge possessed by the smiths. The different types of slag can also elucidate the role of iron in local and distance trade. The study deals with slag from Building Group 3, but distinct similarities in the slag from different building groups are quite evident.