A newly published study has confirmed that silver from an ancient Viking hoard discovered in England came not only from European raids but also from trade with the Middle East.
The Bedale hoard, dated to around 1,100 years ago, was uncovered in 2012 near the town of the same name in North Yorkshire by metal detectorists Stuart Campbell and Steve Caswell.
Valued in 2014 at £51,636 (approximately $70,000), the collection features a gold sword pommel, silver jewelry, and 29 silver ingots, offering a rare glimpse into Viking presence and power in early medieval England.
Study traces silver to Europe and the Middle East
Findings published Monday (Aug. 11) in the journal Archaeometry reveal that most of the hoard’s silver originated in Western Europe, likely from looted Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian coins. Geochemical analysis also revealed that a significant share came from Islamic silver coinage, known as dirhams, minted in the Middle East.
Vikings were more than raiders
Lead author Jane Kershaw, an associate professor of Viking Age archaeology at the University of Oxford, said that the results challenge the common view of Vikings as primarily plunderers.
NEW: A study by Dr Jane Kershaw (School of Archaeology) reveals a Viking silver hoard found in North Yorkshire came not from raids, but from long-distance trade reaching deep into the Islamic world.
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— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) August 12, 2025
“Most of us tend to think of the Vikings primarily as raiders, who looted monasteries and other wealthy places in search of wealth,” Kershaw said. “What the analysis of the Bedale hoard shows is that that is only part of the picture.”
A global reach from Scandinavia
The Vikings, originally from Scandinavia, were skilled seafarers who traveled as raiders, traders, and explorers to territories across at least four continents between the 8th and 11th centuries, reaching as far as North America.
Trade routes brought silver to England
In the case of the Bedale hoard, approximately one-third of the silver ingots matched metal minted in the Middle East, primarily from the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids, the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruled a vast empire that included the Arabian Peninsula, much of North Africa, and present-day Iran and Iraq.
According to the study, this silver likely reached the Vikings through eastern trade routes known as the Austrvegr. Arab chroniclers described how Vikings exchanged furs, amber, swords, and slaves for the prized dirhams. The silver then traveled with them as they raided and settled in England.
Bedale’s place in a wider Viking economy
“I love to think how Bedale – today a quintessentially English market town in north Yorkshire – was, in the Viking Age, at the heart of a much wider, Eurasian Viking economy,” Kershaw said. “The Vikings weren’t only extracting wealth from the local population, they were also bringing wealth with them when they raided and settled.”
The research adds to growing evidence that Viking wealth came from complex economic networks spanning Europe, the Middle East, and beyond, underscoring their role as active participants in global trade during the Viking Age.
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