Why go
The striking detail is the silver’s range of origins: Islamic dirhams dominate a find that also included Persian, Byzantine and Nordic coins. Marks testing the metal’s purity suggest why the material mattered beyond the designs on the coins. This is a way to understand Gotland’s trading world through objects rather than later monuments.
The full story
The Spillings Hoard was discovered in July 1999 in a field at Spilling farm, northwest of Slite. Archaeologists continued surveying after filming a television feature about looting and detected two silver caches. A third deposit contained bronze scrap. The caches had been hidden beneath the floor of a Viking-age outbuilding during the ninth century. Before conservation, the two silver deposits weighed 67 kg together. Coins were only part of the find, which also included silver bangles. Of the 14,295 coins, most were Islamic dirhams; other examples came from Persia, Byzantium and Hedeby. The latest coin dated to 870, helping establish the earliest possible date for burial. Many coins and bangles carried marks that may have tested silver purity. Their condition points towards the value of metal itself, alongside the extraordinary geographical spread of the coinage. The farm field is the discovery location, not an established visitor attraction. Keep the story as context for Gotland’s archaeology rather than planning access to the findspot.