Rorik and the Viking hoard of Westerklief

In 1996 hobbyists with a metal detector found a pot of Badorf ware near Westerklief, south of Hollebalg and west of the village. In it were silver ornaments, coins and bars. The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden weighs that find at 1,662 grams, almost three and a half pounds. In the ninth century that was enough for over 16,000 chickens or about four horses. When it was buried, the pot was covered with tufts of grass.

Study of that grass points to the spring, the start of the Viking season. Perhaps the owner meant to fetch the pot again at the end of the season. The last coin is from 850, so the pot will have gone into the ground shortly afterwards. The museum also names another possibility, as a hypothesis: a pacification hoard (pacificatieschat). In 850 the Danish prince Rorik took power in this region from his nephew. Both sides would then have buried silver to seal an agreement.

It is not certain that the owner was a Viking. He may also have been a Frisian warrior who took part in the raids, or a Frisian trader who hid his silver. There were no banks. In 1999 and 2001 more coins came out of the ground nearby. The finds are dated between 850 and 880. Oneindig Noord-Holland gives a bit over one and a half kilos for the excavated silver together. The museum keeps the 1996 pot at 1,662 grams. A sword found in 2006 was at once called a Viking sword. Later it proved to be older.

The hoard of 1996 is in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden. The story that it belonged to Rorik or his men is one people like to tell. It has not been proved.