260 ornaments of unmistakable Greek origin are found in both regions. To complete the chain of proof, many of the .antiquities, both in the Museums of Kief and Smolensk, are similar to those of the North. Many of the forms of the antiquities, such as neck-rings and gold snake-shaped bracelets, fibulae, &c., which were thought to belong exclusively to the North, are found in great number in the graves of Kertch, in Southern Russia, where they lie almost side by side with the exquisite Grecian antiquities — the pride of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg — mementoes of the colonies established by Greece on the shores of the Black Sea. They show that at that period there were two distinct civilisations and peoples living near each other — one Greek, the other native. The natives were probably of the same stock as a great number of the people of the North. Western and Eastern, Roman and Byzantine, coins have been found; the gold solidi were for the most part used by the people in the North as ornaments, for loops have been attached to or holes made through them. The two largest discoveries hitherto made of Roman coins are those of Hagestaborg, in Scania, southern. Sweden (550 denarii), found in 1871, and of Sindarfe (Hemse parish), Götland, at which latter spot about 1,500 Roman coins were found, in 1870, in a clay urn.1 Few coins dating before the Christian era have been found. 1 The earliest coins (Götland) are those of Augustus (29 B.C. A.D. 14). Then follow those of Nero, and coins of all the different emperors to Alexander Severus (222-235); the greatest numbers are those of Trajan (98–117); Hadrian (117–138); Autoninus Pius (138–161); Faustina, wife of Antoninns Plus, Marcus Aurelius (161–180); Faustina junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus (180–192). At Hagestaborg the most numerous were those of Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Faustina the younger, and Conmonus. The earliest are of the time of Nero (54–68), the latest of that of Septimius Severus (193–211). In Olaud the earliest are those of Trajan, the latest those of Alexander Severus. In Zeeland the earliest are of Vespasian, the latest of Macrinus (217, 218). In Fyen the earliest are of Tiberius (14–37), the latest of Geta (211, 212). In Bornholm the earliest are of Nero, the latest of Septimius Severu,. In Jutland the earliest are also of Nero. the latest of Macrinus (217, 218). In southern Sweden the earliest are of Claudius (41–54), the latest of Alexander Severus, but only one. or two of the latter have been found; after the time of Commodus the silver denarii became rarer and rarer. On the island of Fyen a complete series of gold coins from Decius (249–251) to Licinius the elder (307–323) have been found. The Byzantine coins are of gold, and chiefly used as ornaments, date from Constantinus Magnus (306–337) to Anastasius (491–518); one also of Justinius I. (518–527) has been found. In Norway the gold coins of the above period are exceedingly rare, only one of Valens (364–378) and one of Gratuanus (367, 375) having been discovered; also one of Tiberius Constanrius (578–582), one of Mauritius Tiberius (582–602), one of Constantius V. Copronvmus (741–775), one of Michal III. (842–867) all of gold. Some of the earlier Arabic coins had already made their appearance in Scandinavia. The Roman coins from the Bangstrup find date from between A.D. 249 and 361. See also Appendix.

261 The people had to learn that these coins had an intrinsic value, and that with them they could buy goods. In every country where barter takes place it has taken a certain, sometimes a great, number of years for the people to learn this value.1 The fact that the earlier coins are rare does not conclusively prove that intercourse between the North and the Western parts of Europe had not taken place before that time. Judging from the extensive hoards of coins discovered, it is not improbable that they were kept for some opportune time when their need would be required, such as for purchases when travelling back to the Western or Eastern Roman provinces. That the people were well acquainted with the value of these coins is beyond dispute, for otherwise they would not have kept them. We must remember that human nature is and always has been the same; there were misers in those early days as there are now. The Sagas give us some examples of the practice of hoarding, and the probability is that some of the hoards found may have been collected during the lifetime of one or more persons. But the numbers found, in hoards or otherwise, even without those which remain undiscovered, show the existence of commercial intercourse. One of the countries of whose earlier history we know nothing, except that it is mentioned here and there in the Sagas, is the island of Götland; but from the finds, which are especially rich in coins, we are led to the conclusion that it was a great emporium of trade at least from the beginning of the Christian era to the twelfth century. Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, and earlier English coins are found in far greater numbers 1 I have myself seen an illustration of this on the African coast, where natives could not understand that coins represent the value of goods, though traders had come to their country for a long time, and in some places they were loth to take money as payment, while a few miles inland it was refused.

262 than in all the Scandinavian lands together. Of the latter, those of Ethelred are even more numerous than in England itself. Situated in a sea whose shores at that period seem to have been inhabited by a dense population, Götland appears to have occupied the position of commercial supremacy which England holds in Europe today. We have historical evidence of its being a great emporium of trade as late as the fourteenth century, until Wisby, its chief town, was destroyed by the Danes. Its magnificent towers, walls, and ruined churches still bear witness to its past greatness.1 From the time of Alexander Severus (A.D. 235) to Theodosius (A.D. 395), which comprises a period of 160 years, the coins become very scarce, and Roman gold coins take the place of 1 See “Land of the Midnight Sun.” The islands of Zeeland and Fyen are especially rich in Roman objects and show the existence of great intercourse with the Roman provinces; while Götland is particularly rich in coins. In the hamlet of Ryk (Tanum parish), Bohuslän, a Roman coin struck A.D. 179 for the Emperor Marcus Aurelius was found in the ground. From the inscription on the coin the date can be accurately fixed, for it was said that it was coined in the year when Marcus Aurelius was Tribune for the thirty-third time, Imperator for the tenth time, and Consul for the third time.    A gold coin of Tiberius (14–37) was found in a stone-set coffin at Rorbcek; a silver denarius of Nerva (96–98) in the find of Fraugdegard, Fyen; and a silver denarius of Antoninus Pius (138–161), with a skeleton, in a natural hill at Bennebo, near Holbwk; a silver denarius of Lucius Verus (161–169), with a skeleton, in a hill at Gunuerugs, near Presto; a barbaric imitation in fold of a Roman imperial coin, with a loop soldered to it, found with a skeleton at Aareslen in Odense amt, Fyen. One limit of time obtained by means of the coins is certain enough, for the graves cannot have been closed before the year of their coinage.    Pyteas mentions Guttanæ. The Götlanders in the Sagas are called Gutar; they may have met him on some of their trading journeys. The two names seem to be sufficiently similar to make this a probable supposition. In the island of Götland a Greek coin of copper was found, but it seems to have been struck at Panormus in Sicily. On the obverse is a female head looking to the right, on the reverse a horse galloping to the left; it has no Punic letters. (In the collection of Capt. C. T. von Braun, of Ystad.) Two Macedonian coins of silver were also found; one of them is a diabole of Philip II., similar to the coins described in Müller, “Der Macedoniske Konge Philipp II’s Mynter,” p. 3, Nos. 14-16, and engraved Plate 1. (Both were in the collection of Capt. v. Braun, of Ystad; now only one remains there.)    Also Roman coins anterior to Augustus, found together about 100 years ago. A silver coin of the family of Lucretia; a silver coin of the family of Nævia; a coin of the family of Sulpicia. They are all unusually well preserved, but shorn on the border. (In the collection of Capt. von Braun Ystad.) A silver coin of the family Funa; a silver coin of the family Poblicia; one subærate coin of the family Postumia; one silver coin of the family Procilia; a silver coin of the family Tituria; a silver coin of the family Veturia. (In the collection of Capt. von Braun.) A silver coin of the family Nævia, given by Capt. Braun to the Museum at Uddevala; and n silver coin of the family Sicinia, both well preserved. (In the Wisby Museum; formerly in the collection of Mr. P. A. Save.)

263 silver.1 From the finds we see that this period in the North becomes exceedingly rich in gold jewels, and it seems probable that the people preferred gold coins to those of silver. The North is particularly rich in finds of bronze vessels, which appear to be more specially of Greek, or some perhaps of Roman manufacture; the scarcity of them in Britain and Gaul would imply that they are chiefly of Greek origin; they seem to have been highly prized by the people. Fig. 574. — Bronze vessel, 1/5 real size, containing burnt bones, ring armour, coat or mail, dipper of bronze with a sieve belonging to it, two glass tumblers, &c., under a stone slab buried in the ground. Near the fishing village of Abekas, Southern Scania, in Jutland, a dipper has been found with the name of the Roman manufacturer on it, and the words “P. CIPI POLIBI.” Another, with a name on it, was also found in Helsingland, Sweden. 1 Three hundred and forty-four silver denarii, coined by the emperors between Nero and Marcus Aurelius, among them many of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius, have been found at the mouth of the Elbe.    Under a large stone on a bank at Sengerich, in Hanover, 1,100 silver denarii were dug up, coined between the years 96 and 211.    In Mecklenburg the finds of imperial coins embrace the period from Augustus to Valentinian.    Finds of Roman coins from the first two centuries after Christ have also been made at the mouth of the Vistula and in its lower course, near the Oder.    An especially interesting discovery was that of a Greek denarius coined in Lycia by Trajan; the only Greek coin discovered covered in Hanover.

264 Fig. 575. — Piece of the coat of mail. Real size. Oremölla. Fig. 576. — Vassel of glass. 1/3 real size. Oremölla. Fig. 577. — Dipper of bronze, with sieve. 1/3 real size. Oremölla. Fig. 578. — Urn. 2/5 real size. Oremölla.

265 Fig. 579. — Bronze vessel of Roman workmanship, containing burnt bones, and a few pieces of melted glass. Height, 18 inches. Inscribed on it are the following words in silver:1 “Apollini Granno donvm Ammillivs Constans præfectvs templi ipsivs votvm solvit libentissimo merito.” Mound, Fycklinge, Vestmanland, Sweden. 1/5 real size. Fig. 580. — Roman bowl of bronze, found, with several antiquities, under a slab at Sojvide, Gotland. 1 Apollo Grannus, to whose temple the vase once belonged, was worshipped by the tribes of Gaul and Belgium. The Roman historian Dio Cassius relates that lie was one of the gods worshipped by the Emperor Caracalla, who was murdered in A.D. 217. The name has also been discovered in Transylvania on a stone which Quintus Axius Ælianus, Governor of Dacia at the beginning of the second century, had cut. It, however, happens that this Ælianus had before this resided in Belgium, whither he had probably brought with him the worship of the god.

266 Fig. 581. — Ornament of a large bronze vase, with hole for the handle; found when ploughing. 2/3 real size. Öland. Fig. 582. — Handle of a Roman bronze vase. 2/3 real size. Öland. Fig. 583. — Bronze vessel, s real size, with burnt bones, in a tumulus, with two bronze spurs exactly alike, a bent double-edged sword, a spear-head damaged purposely, lying over the kettle, another larger spear-head well preserved, &c. Norway. Fig. 584. — Restored bronze vase, containing ashes and bones, length 8½ inches, encircled by glittering stones and inlaid with silver. Angvaldnœs, Karmoen, Norway.

267 Fig. 585. — Bronze statuette,1 representing Juno. 1/3 real size. Ösby, Gräsgard parish, Öland. Fig. 586. — Silver vase. 3/7 real size. Byrsted, Aalborg amt, North Jutland. Fig. 587. — Sieve of bronze, 1/3 real size, found with ornaments of bronze and a drinking horn, a gold charm, two gold rings, and a small gold button found in a sepulchral chamber of little over 4 yards in length, and about 2 feet 3 inches wide. Norway. Fig. 588. — Handle of the sieve. Real size. 1 More than forty different statuettes have been found.

268 Fig. 589. — Ornament of a bronze vase, 3/7 real size, found in a tumulus. Norway. Fig. 590. — Ornament of bronze. ½ real size. Norway. Fig. 591. — Bronze vessel from Mosbœk hog. Jutland. Fig. 592. — Fragments of a bronze chain, probably part of riding gear. 1/3 real size. Bog, Karby on Mors. Fig. 593. — Head at fastening of the handle of the bronze vessel.

269 Fig. 594. — Bronze basin, over a kettle containing burnt bones, ¼ real size, in round tumulus, inside a little stone cist built of slabs; with it also were a bronze kettle and a glass cup. Norway. Fig. 595. — Bronze vase containing burnt cones, wrapped in a dark green woollen cloth with greenish and yellow stripes, fastened with a fibula of silver. In the chamber were a pair of shears and other objects. Ringkjobing amt, Jutland. Fig. 596. — Vase, ¼ real size, found in a round mound, Vang, Hdm., Norway, with fragments of another bronze vessel of the same size, but of a somewhat different form. It has on it the inscription “LIBERTINVS. ET. APRVS. CVRATOR [ES. POS] VERVNT.” Originally it must have belonged to a Roman temple of one of the northern provinces of the empire, and was offered to this temple by two of the administrators (curatores) named above. The shape of the letters leads to the conclusion that the vase belongs to the first century of our era.

270 Fig. 597. — Bronze bucket of Roman make, 1/5 real size, found in a round mound, Norway, together with a spear of iron and other objects of the same metal, but these were so decayed as to be undistinguishable. Fig. 598. — Bronze vessel about 10 inches high. Angvaldnces mound, Norway. Fig. 599. — Flat finger-ring of silver and alloyed gold, real size, found together with fragments of Roman or Greek bronze vessels, four small heads of greenish glass, and two bronze fibulae, in a mound, Hjörring, Jutland. Fig. 600. — Bronze ring, real size, with Latin inscription, “Divo Trajano Parth. Avg. Patri.” Holbak, Denmark.

271 Fig. 601. — Part of bent sword, real size, showing inscription in Latin “RANVICI,” probably a name, and above it a stamp. probably constituting the trade-mark of its maker.-Similar swords have been found at other places in the North, in the Nydam and Vimose bogs. Fig. 602. — Bent sword, ¼ real size, found in a mound at Einang, Kristians Amt, Norway, on a layer of charcoal and burnt bones. Fig. 603. — Bronze vessel, of Roman manufacture, mound 48 to 50 feet diameter, 6 feet high, found in a mound at Harf, Meldelpad Sweden, above a slab, filled with burnt bones, an iron spear-point, fibula of bronze, fragments of clay urns, &c. ¼ real size.

272 Fig. 604. — Bronze kettle, 1/9 real size, Brokær, Ribe. Jutland; found with fragments of Roman bronze vessels; and of two massive coats of mail; fragments of artistically woven cloth; double-edged sword with scabbard; comb, fragments of checkers, oblong dice of bone, and fragments of a silver drinking-horn, &c. Fig. 605. — Ornaments of silver for drinking-horn, Brokær, Ribe, Jutland. ½ real size. On the farm of Brottby, Ösby, Upland, a grave-mound of about 150 feet in circumference and 13 feet in height was found. The mound, the exterior of which was of earth, covered a cairn, in which was found a stone burial chamber enclosing a clay urn. The upper part contained bones, which were entirely unburnt,.below which were pieces of the skull, also unburnt.1 1 Among the bones outside the urn were found various fragments of bronze, six clinch-nails of iron, remains of glass, a burnt oblong loaf of bread, two pieces of a head ornament of bronze with rivets of iron, a ring of bronze, twelve beads of glass of different size and appearance, a damaged hanging ornament of bronze, a square plate of bronze with iron rivets, a denarius of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius coined in A.D. 162.

273 Fig. 606. — Grave-chamber found at Bröttby, Upland. Fig. 607. — A buckle of bronze found with an iron needle. Bröttby. Fig. 608 – 609 – 610. — Glass beads, of pale red colour, with white flowers with light and dark-green leaves; one is fastened to a silver wire. Of the twelve beads, three are represented here. Bröttby. Fig. 611. — Bronze chain, found in a small elevation ½ foot deep, with a bead covered with some metal, and a silver wire like the one in Bröttby parish. Upland. Fig. 612 – 613. — Denarius of Marcus Aurelius A.D. 162. Bröttby.

274 Fig. 614. — Fibula of gold, ornamented with eight garnets. Aareslev, Fyen. Real size. Fig. 615. — Fibula with hanging ornament of gold, real size, representing a lion’s head; the filagree work is ornamented with garnets, found with another large silver fibula, a crystal ball, a vase of bronze, an imitation of a Roman coin, &c. Aareslev, Fyen. Fig. 616. — The crystal ball with Greek inscription found near a skeleton with hanging ornaments, &c. Aareslev, Fyen. Real size. Fig. 617. — Part of a belt buckle, silver gilt. 1/3 real size. AARESLEV FIND.

275 Fig. 618. — Bronze vessel, 1/5 real size, so brittle, that only by covering it all around with clay could it be moved away. It is made of two parts joined together in the middle with small flat rivets of bronze, and contained six quarts of burnt bones, among which were seventeen human teeth, different articles of iron and bronze, which had been packed in apparently coarse linen, small fragments of which only remained; a bronze mounting for, a drinking-horn, and different kinds of iron knives; iron mounting for a knife-handle, remains of two iron awls, an iron key, two small melted lumps of silver, remains of about thirty-two bone needles, a. glass bead with green ground and yellow stripes, remains of four earthen vessels, &c. Möllegaard, Broholm. Fig. 619. — Bronze ornament, real size, found with kettle. Möllegaard, Broholm. Fig. 620 – 621. — Byzantine gold coins, fifth century, Libius Severus and Leo, found in Björnhofda, Öland, with thirty-three other coins of the same century. Real size. Fig. 622 – 623. — Barbaric imitation of Byzantine coin of the fifth century. Real size. Mallgards, Götland. Fig. 625 – 625. — Antonini Pii. Fig. 626 – 627. — Faustina the younger.