Trade during the Viking Age

While the Vikings are perhaps best known for accumulating wealth by plunder, tribute, and conquest, they were also skilled and successful traders. The Vikings developed several trading centres both in Scandinavia as well as outside Scandinavia, along with a series of long-distance trading routes during the Viking Age (c. 8th Century AD to 11th Century AD). Viking trading centres and trade routes would bring tremendous wealth and plenty of exotic goods such as Arab coins, Chinese silks, and Indian gems. Vikings also established a "bullion economy" in which weighed silver, and to a lesser extent gold, was used as a means of exchange. Evidence for the centrality of trade and economy can be found in the criminal archaeological record through evidence of theft, counterfeit coins, and smuggling. The Viking economy and trade network also played a part in the rebuilding of the European economy after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Vikings' unique seafaring abilities and ships allowed them to develop expansive trade routes across continents, from North America to West Asia, covering some 8,000 km.