Archaeology - Vikings in Wieringen
The Viking treasure of Westerklief
original in Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden (National Museum
of Antiquity) in Leiden |
In 1995, two young men with a metal detector were searching for coins near
Westerklief.
They succeeded in finding a number of objects but didn't realize how special
their find would turn out to be. Only after showing the objects to a fellow
amateur archaeologist did it occur to them that perhaps they should seek
expert advice. They called in Jan Besteman, a Middle Ages specialist from
the "Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology" at the University
of Amsterdam. Further investigation of the original findspot unearthed
what appeared to be the remains of a Viking treasure! In the meantime,
elsewhere on Wieringen, finds were being made that pointed to the presence
of Vikings in 9th century Wieringen.
The most recent find was the November 1999 discovery of a second silver
treasure, not far from where the first treasure had been unearthed. The
details of the Wieringen Viking treasures can be found on this and the
following pages.
There are currently four sections about Viking finds:
Each section is sub-divided into a number of pages. You can surf from page
to page using the silver bars at the bottom of each page. Use the upright
silver bar to return to this page.
What is the significance of these
finds? What do they tell us about Wieringen
in the early Middle Ages?
Last updated: 3-10-2001