Islamic Ring Found in 9th-Century Viking Grave

In the late 19th century, the archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe spent years excavating gravesites near Birka, a town on the Swedish island of Björkö that operated as a key center for trade during the Viking Age. In a grave of a woman buried in the 9th century, his excavations recovered a silver-colored ring with a purple stone, now in the collections of the Swedish History Museum. Researchers confirmed this week that the ring, which is engraved with Arabic script, provides rare physical evidence of contact between Vikings and the Islamic world.

From A.D. 800 to the 11th century, the Vikings roamed the world’s seas, covering greater distances than any sailors before them. Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, is thought to have led the first European expedition westward to the North American continent, nearly five centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived in the Bahamas. There is plenty of written evidence suggesting that Vikings also made contact with the early Muslim world, traveling as far as Constantinople and even Baghdad. While in Western Europe they became known as fearsome warriors bent on looting and pillaging wherever they went, the Vikings interacted with the Arab region mostly as merchants and traders, offering goods such as honey and fur in return for the silver they prized so highly. Read More