SUSPENDED VALUE Florent Audy Suspended Value Using Coins as Pendants in Viking-Age Scandinavia (c. AD 800–1140) Florent Audy ©Florent Audy, Stockholm University 2018 ISBN print 978-91-7797-228-0 ISBN PDF 978-91-7797-229-7 ISSN 0349-4128 Graphic design: Alexander Svedberg Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2018 Distributor: Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University Front cover: Reconstruction of the necklace from grave 94 at Folkeslunda, Öland Photograph: Gabriel Hildebrand, SHM A Pauline, Eva et Liv Table of contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................15 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................19 Part I – A background to the study of the Viking-Age coin-pendants ....................................................................21 Chapter 1. The reuse of coins as pendants: old and new perspectives....................................................................23 1.1. Coins and jewellery: research history ........................................................................................................................................23 1.1.1. The ‘annoying’ suspension ................................................................................................................................................23 1.1.2. The reuse of coins as pendants: a Scandinavian perspective ............................................................................................25 1.1.3. Coin-pendants and the Viking-Age economy ...................................................................................................................29 1.2. Towards a theoretical model for studying coin-pendants ..........................................................................................................32 1.2.1. Between archaeology and numismatics ............................................................................................................................32 1.2.2. Coins, graves and hoards after the cultural turn ...............................................................................................................34 1.2.3. Contextual archaeology ....................................................................................................................................................35 1.2.4. The social biography of things ..........................................................................................................................................36 1.2.5. The meaning of things.......................................................................................................................................................39 1.3. Research questions .....................................................................................................................................................................40 Chapter 2. Presentation of the material ...................................................................................................................43 }[ ..................................................................................................................................................................................43 2.1.1. Coins, coin-pendants and coin-like pendants ....................................................................................................................43 2.1.2. Historical and geographical framework ............................................................................................................................46 2.2. Structuring the data ....................................................................................................................................................................49 2.2.1. The grave sample ..............................................................................................................................................................49 2.2.2. The hoard sample ..............................................................................................................................................................51 2.3. Overview of the material ...........................................................................................................................................................55 2.3.1. Dating issues .....................................................................................................................................................................55 2.3.2. Overview of the hoard material ........................................................................................................................................57 2.3.3. Overview of the grave material .........................................................................................................................................65 Part II – The making of coin-pendants in the Viking Age ......................................................................................73 Chapter 3. Selection ................................................................................................................................................75 3.1. Methodological considerations ..................................................................................................................................................75 3.2. Coins and coinage in the Viking Age .........................................................................................................................................76 3.2.1. Islamic coins .....................................................................................................................................................................77 3.2.2. German and English coins ................................................................................................................................................78 3.2.3. Scandinavian coins ............................................................................................................................................................78 3.2.4. Byzantine, Carolingian and Roman coins .........................................................................................................................79 3.3. Coin selection: a morphological approach .................................................................................................................................81 3.3.1. Rarity. ................................................................................................................................................................................83 3.3.2. Size and weight .................................................................................................................................................................83 3.3.3. Aesthetic quality ................................................................................................................................................................85 3.3.4. Inscriptions and images .....................................................................................................................................................86 3.4. Coin selection: a spatio-temporal approach ...............................................................................................................................87 3.4.1 Chronological variation .....................................................................................................................................................87 3.4.2. Geographical variation ......................................................................................................................................................88 Chapter 4. Transformation ......................................................................................................................................91 4.1. Methodological considerations ..................................................................................................................................................91 4.2. Towards a typology of the means of suspension ........................................................................................................................92 4.2.1. Biconical mounts ..............................................................................................................................................................93 4.2.2. Edge-mounted loops .........................................................................................................................................................93 4.2.3. Holes .................................................................................................................................................................................93 4.2.4. Sandwiched loops .............................................................................................................................................................94 4.2.5. Rings .................................................................................................................................................................................96 4.2.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................96