The Ribe Treasure Hoards

A few kilometres north of Ribe, in Ribe Nørremark, a hoard was found with a Frankish silver cup produced in southern Germany in the late 700s, and six small Nordic drinking bowls. The objects in the hoard had been used for ecclesiastical purposes, and were therefore probably first placed in the ground in the 900s. South of Ribe, near Vester Vedsted, another large hoard was found in 1859, dating from after the year 913. Gold neck and arm rings, pendants, silver beads, bars and short rods, as well as a handful of Arab coins, led to a good finder’s reward, with which the farmer on whose land the treasure was found was able to build a whole new farm.  Unfortunately, the smallholder who actually found the hoard received nothing. Both hoards may be seen today in the National Museum of Denmark.