Introduction

In north-west England, as in many other places across the Viking World, the Viking Age was a silver age. The region is home to a series of silver hoards of Scandinavian character, the most recent of which were discovered only in 2011, at Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria) and Silverdale (Lancashire). Together, the hoards give a clear impression of wealth generated by Scandinavian activity. But their significance extends far beyond their status as Viking treasure troves. As repositories of coins and objects accumulated by the Vikings through plunder, tribute, and commerce, the hoards offer unparalleled insights into the mobility and cultural contacts of their owners, as well as the economic spheres in which the silver circulated. More broadly, the hoards also illuminate the symbolic value of silver in the Viking World, particularly as a medium for the display of wealth and status.

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of current thinking about Viking-Age silver hoards from the North West, as well as to introduce some new research relating to the region’s single finds. Accordingly, it addresses several key questions, including: what are the origins of Viking-Age silver from north-west England? What was silver used for? Why were so many hoards deposited in this region? And, what does the combined evidence from hoards and single finds tell us about broader patterns of Scandinavian settlement? But before we can address these questions, we need to have an understanding of the economic activity that preceded the Viking presence. We therefore turn first to consider evidence for wealth and currency before the Vikings.