Mehdi Daryaii, the coin expert of the National Museum of Iran said on Monday that the Vikings were professional businessmen who used to bring in goods such as wool clothes, honey, wax, and ivory from Scandinavia and Russia, and exchange them with silver coins and Chinese silk, so the discovery of 40,000 pieces of Iranian silver coins near Demark is not a big surprise.
“There have been several theories on the possible links but still the relation remains a mystery. There is no doubt Vikings had reached the Caspian Sea through the Volga River. The discovery of their tombs in Russia proves the theory, but still more studies need to be carried out,” he added.
He also stated, “The economy of the Vikings was based on silver. Of course, they were using gold and jewelry as well. They did not pay much attention to the form of the coins, but the purity of silver and the weight of the coins were of high importance to them.”
Studying the coins kept in the museums of northern Iran and their comparison with the discovered coins, reviewing Islamic inscriptions, and conducting research to find possible tools belonging to the Vikings will help shed light on the possible links between the Vikings and the Iranian people during the early Islamic era, said Daryaii.
Daryaii is currently working with the Danish expert Nadia Haupt at the National Museum of Iran to discover the possible relations between the Scandinavians and the Iranians of the early Islamic era.
Vikings were Nordic peoples -- Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians -- who raided and settled in large areas of eastern and western Europe during a period of Scandinavian expansion from about 800 to 1100.
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MNA