Stycas, kings and Vikings: the copper-alloy revolution in 9th-century England

这一博士学位将为研究中世纪早期最常见的英国硬币--铜合金Stycas带来新的曙光。它们是在9世纪的诺森布里亚王国铸造的，取代了它的银币，通常认为，由于反复的北欧海盗袭击和内战削弱了诺森布里亚的皇家权威，到867年，斯泰卡停止了铸造和使用。当公元前900年诺森比亚恢复铸币时，是约克的维京国王用银子造币。然而，越来越多的证据表明，直到9世纪末，Stycas仍在使用，甚至可能是铸造的(伍兹2019)。最近，数百人出现在日期严密、金属探测到的集会上，这些集会与上世纪60年代末突袭英国的维京大军有关：例如，他们在托尔克西(Lincs)和奥尔德沃克(Aldwark)的营地。除了将它们用于贸易外，现在还有证据表明，维京人‘模仿’了风格，这是a)他们不识字的铭文，反映了英国其他早期的维京硬币；b)不同的诺森布里亚国王用配对的模具制造出看起来‘不规则’的硬币。这一新证据具有深远的影响，因为风信子长期以来为9世纪英格兰北部提供了重要的测年证据，但我们似乎很早就确定了关键地点的年代。填补9世纪考古记录中的空白对于理解一个巨大的变化时期至关重要，因为维京人袭击并征服了诺森布里亚王国，改变了它的经济。通过检查诺森布里亚官方问题的新证据，我们可以追溯到它们被铸造后继续流传的时间；例如托尔克西营地(根据文献资料可以追溯到873年)包含在840年代铸造的托尔克西营地。我还将通过区分官方版本和维京仿制品(带有不识字的铭文和不规则的模接)来确定铸造者有多长，由谁铸造。这也将揭示维京人铸造仿制品的规模，对理解他们的经济活动具有重大意义。我还将通过在冬令营和囤积中发现铜合金铸块和黑金属，以及在便携式文物计划数据库中发现金属检测到的发现，来研究维京人使用铜合金作为交换媒介的其他证据。总而言之，这将与对维京白银经济的传统强调形成重要对比，使人们能够从新的角度看待贱金属经济的规模。Liz Pirie在1996年出版的Styca目录是许多用于铸造这种创新硬币的模具的主要资源，但现在关于它们的历史背景已经过时，早在怀疑任何可能的维京人对它们的分发和生产产生影响之前就已经写成了。我将首先对1996年以来出现的样式进行分类，主要是由于金属探测的出现：PAS记录了来自英格兰各地的700多个进一步的标本。北欧海盗营地也有新的记录(托克西有205个，奥尔德沃克有90个)，班堡(125个)和惠特比(130个；发现于20世纪30年代，但直到最近才被伍兹编目)。由YMT策划的藏品包括圣伦纳德广场(约克)和博尔顿珀西(约克)囤积，包括3700个Stycas。这些传统上可以追溯到860年代，但包含到目前为止还没有被识别的仿制品，因此似乎是相当晚的日期，需要进行新的检查。这两个主要的囤积物已经被彻底编目，它们的模具匹配，这意味着它们提供了与其他组装物进行比较的基础。我还将研究斯堪的纳维亚博物馆中少量的Styca收藏品，它们的发现背景将增加维京人使用Staca的持续时间和性质的证据。总而言之，这一博士学位将对一个分析潜力尚未得到充分认识的硬币进行重新评估，并为该领域的标准参考工作提供亟需的最新情况。

"This PhD will shed new light on copper-alloy stycas, the most common early medieval English coins. They were minted in the 9th-century kingdom of Northumbria, replacing its silver coinage, and it is usually argued that stycas ceased being minted and used by 867, as repeated Viking attacks and civil war undermined Northumbrian royal authority. When minting resumed in Northumbria c.900 it was by Viking kings in York using silver. However, there is growing evidence to suggest stycas continued to be used, and perhaps even minted, into the late 9th century (Woods 2019). Hundreds have recently turned up in tightly-dated, metal-detected assemblages linked to the Viking 'Great Army' that raided England from the late 860s: e.g. their camps of the 870s at Torksey (Lincs) and Aldwark (Yorks). As well as using them for trade, there is now evidence the Vikings 'imitated' stycas, suggested by a) their illiterate inscriptions, mirroring other early Viking coinages in Britain; and b) the pairing of dies used by different Northumbrian kings to produce 'irregular' looking coins. This new evidence has profound implications, as stycas have long provided essential dating evidence for 9th-century northern England, but we appear to have been dating key sites far too early. Filling a perceived gap in the 9th-century archaeological record is crucial to understanding a period of immense change, as Vikings raided and conquered the Northumbrian kingdom, transforming its economy.By examining the new evidence for official Northumbrian issues from clearly Viking contexts we can trace how long stycas continued to circulate after they were minted; e.g. the Torksey camp (dated by documentary sources to 873) contains stycas minted in the 840s. I will also seek to establish how long, and by whom, stycas were minted, by distinguishing official issues from Viking copies (with their illiterate inscriptions and irregular die linking). This will also reveal the scale on which the Vikings minted imitations, with major implications for understanding their economic activities. I will also examine other evidence for use of copper alloy as a medium of exchange by the Vikings, through finds of cu-alloy ingots and hack metal on the winter camps and in hoards, and metal-detected finds on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. Together this will provide an important contrast to traditional emphasis on the Viking silver economy, enabling new perspectives on the scale of the base-metal economy.The late Liz Pirie's 1996 published styca catalogue is the major resource for the many dies used to mint this innovative coinage, but is now out of date concerning their historical context, being written long before any possible Viking influence on their distribution and production was suspected. I will begin by cataloguing stycas that have emerged since 1996, largely via the advent of metal-detecting: the PAS records over 700 further specimens from across England. There are also newly recorded assemblages at Viking camps (205 from Torksey; 90 from Aldwark) and hoards at Bamburgh (125) and Whitby (130; found in the 1930s but only recently catalogued by Woods). Assemblages curated by YMT include the St Leonard's Place (York) and Bolton Percy (Yorks) hoards, comprising 3700 stycas. These have been traditionally dated to the 860s, but contain hitherto unrecognised imitations and so appear to be of rather later date, and in need of fresh examination. These two major hoards have been thoroughly catalogued and their dies matched, meaning that they provide a basis for comparison to other assemblages. I will also examine the small number of styca collections in Scandinavian museums, whose find contexts will add to the evidence for the duration, and nature, of use of stycas by the vikings. In sum, this PhD will present a reappraisal of a coinage whose analytical potential has not been fully appreciated, and provide a much-needed update on the standard reference work for the field."