ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Non-invasive characterization of Viking Age Islamic coins by neutron diffraction

Abstract: The Viking Age is a period characterized by four big transformations in Scandinavia, the most important of which was the change from a subsistence economy to one increasingly based on trade. Crucial for the development of the economy was the stream of silver that entered Scandinavia from the east and south in the 9th and 10th century. Such imported coins are often the only indicators of the trade routes that connected different parts of Scandinavia with the rest of the world. The purpose of the current project is to use the INES diffractometer to identify the variations in chemical composition and microstructural properties of 20 identified 8th-9th century Islamic coins and dirhams found in Norwegian Viking archaeological sites and from this reference database possibly classify other 24 fragments of unknown origin.This work would help us understanding the Viking Age trade routes.

Principal Investigator: Professor Jan Bill
Experimenter: Dr Calin Steindal
Experimenter: Dr Anna Fedrigo
Local Contact: Dr Antonella Scherillo

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910586

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1910586

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Jan Bill et al; (2019): Non-invasive characterization of Viking Age Islamic coins by neutron diffraction , STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910586

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.