Een bijzondere Vikingvondst van Texel

Samenvatting

An unusual Viking find from the isle of Texel. In the beginning of 2015, a fragment of a silver Hiberno-Viking broad-band arm-ring was found by a metal detectorist on the island of Texel, the Netherlands. It dates to the late 9th or first half of the 10th century, and is the first find of this type in the Netherlands. A Dirhem had been recovered close to the fragment’s find-spot a few years earlier: together the finds possibly represent (the remains of) a small hack-silver hoard. Although Viking finds in the Netherlands are rare, they turn up more frequently through metal detecting, and the Texel find can be seen in the context of these single finds and occasional hoards. The find points to connections between the Frisian coast and the Hiberno-Scandinavian area, presumably as a result of “Frisia-Danes” joining the Great Heathen Army.