Localizada no Mar Báltico, Saaremaa é a maior ilha da Estônia. Agora, os arqueólogos podem investigar dois grandes tesouros compostos de moedas de prata, o quais oferecerão uma nova perspectiva sobre a presença dos vikings na ilha.
A descoberta arqueológica foi feita por um detector licenciado, quem relatou as descobertas ao Conselho de Proteção ao Patrimônio da Estônia.
According to EER Estonia, “two separate hoards were found. One of these dating to the second half of the 10th century contained silver coins which came via the Viking trade route which crossed the Baltic from the present-day Swedish island of Gotland to Saaremaa's southern coast, and then on to Lääne County and on to present-day Tallinn.”
Among the coins was also a 1,700-year-old gold bracelet that may be of Viking origin. During the Viking Age in Estonia, the area of Estonia was divided between two distinct cultural areas – Northern and Western Estonia and Southeastern Estonia.
Saaremaa was the wealthiest county of ancient Estonia which could easily explain why this place has the most precious finds of Viking treasures after Gotland in Sweden. Based on the archaeological discoveries, one can picture that Estonia was an important transit country during the Viking era.
The silver coins discovered now were likely to have been buried during upheaval or conflict in the region, as was the case with the other hoard from the Lümanda-Kihelkonna area. Both point to destruction and upheaval in particular parts of Saaremaa in the second quarter of the 11th century.
The find is significant as it gives scientists an excellent opportunity to construct Saaremaa's Viking-era history.
Another exciting archaeological discovery occurred in September this year when metal detector hobbyist Jegor Klimov found a substantially-sized gold bracelet, amber brooches, locally-made luxury amber brooches, silver and silver-plated brooches and a Scandinavian silver-plated belt, at a 1,700year-old sacrificial site.
Combining all these findings we can learn much more about Vikings’ presence in Estonia.
FONTE: Ancient Pages
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