Free (DRM-free PDF) Means of Exchange [Viking Age Market Dig Archaeology & Economics]

[ATDrake]

Means of Exchange: Dealing with Silver in the Viking Age edited by Dagfinn Skre (faculty profile), a Professor associated with the Museum of Cultural History, is the 2nd volume in the Kaupang Excavation Project an extensive academic project from the University of Oslo about the excavations carried out on the eponymous Viking Age marketplace (Wikipedia) archaeological site (Wikipedia) in Norway, this volume focusing on finds of the various types of currency and exchange used in the marketplace, free courtesy of Aarhus University Press in Denmark.

This is their English-language Free Book of the Month selection for September, and is really rather nifty, not only cataloguing the actual finds and providing analysis of the various kinds of foreign coins found in local towns and such via trade, but also providing some essays about the use of jewellery and cut up bits of precious metal as impromptu coinage, the law codes for setting the value and content of official coinage, etc. We've previously received the 1st volume of this as well.

Currently free throughout September directly @ the university's dedicated promo page (DRM-free PDF available worldwide), and you can read more about the title on its regular catalogue page.

And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because it's nice to see the Aarhus University Press freebies again after their summer hiatus, and an additional treat to get one which is a continuation of a rather nifty series we've received before, and given my inordinate fondness for cultures that produce dragon boats and casual interest in archaeology, getting a Viking era dig one is like a hat trick of win and awesome.

Enjoy!

Description
This month's complimentary e-book is Means of Exchange edited by Dagfinn Skre

The combined study of the find types and the sophisticated chronology of settlements' finds from sites like Kaupang give completely new insight into economy and exchange. The book demonstrates how sites like Kaupang led the way in economic development in Scandinavia and promoted an economic mentality that eventually led to the fundamental transformation of Scandinavian culture and society and culminated in the region's integration in High Middle Ages Christian Europe.

This second volume on the excavations of the Norwegian Viking town Kaupang 2000-2003 presents find types used in economic transactions - coins, hacksilver, ingots, weights and balances. Changes in type and volume of economic transactions at Kaupang and in Scandinavia are discussed, and the economic mentality of Viking crafts- and tradesmen is explored.

In the early ninth century, silver and goods seem to have come to Kaupang mainly from the Carolinigian world. After the mid-ninth century this early system was altered. The increased availability of silver and the introduction in most of Scandinavia in the 860s-870s of standardized weights, paved the way for an increased use of silver as payment.

The combined study of the find types and the sophisticated chronology of settlements' finds from sites like Kaupang give completely new insight into economy and exchange. The book demonstrates how sites like Kaupang led the way in economic development in Scandinavia and promoted an economic mentality that eventually led to the fundamental transformation of Scandinavian culture and society and culminated in the region's integration in High Middle Ages Christian Europe.

[ATDrake]

Just a reminder that today will probably be the last day to pick up the freebie if you haven't already.