Why Did Every Viking Own A Whetstone And Trade Massive Amounts Of Them?

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - Vikings understood the importance and benefits of trading and exchanging often in the selling and buying of goods.

During the Viking Age, people established commercial hubs where visitors from distant lands came to buy or sell something of value. One of the most flourishing Viking towns was Kaupang, located in Skiringssal (now known as Huseby), Norway.

With trade routes from Norway to Denmark protected, the researchers behind the whetstone-research believe Vikings were prompted to find other sites to raid, and thus decided to go overseas. Credit: Illustration Arkikon/CC BY-SA 4.0.

Like today, luxury items such as jewelry and beautiful artifacts were appreciated by people in those days. Some important objects were not much to look at but a daily necessity.

At the end of the 19th century, people emptied the water of an old quarry in Trøndelag mid-Norway. Some thought it might contain a large silver deposit, but they only found lots of stones. A totally commonplace object.

Whetstones Were Important

Why would someone build a massive quarry to look for – and produce – ordinary stone?

According to Irene Baug, an archaeologist and researcher at the University of Bergen, ordinary stones such as whetstones are by no means pretty. Still, the information they provide us with is truly unique.

Whetstones were known as sharpening stones. As the latter name suggests, they were used to sharpen things made of iron.

“Whetstones are among the most common items found from the Viking Age. There were so many of them,” Baug says.

Whetstones were an absolutely necessary item.

Farmers needed them for their tools, and they were used in the household. They were also used in craft activities in the cities.

Whetstones were also an important part of the equipment needed by a warrior: Viking warriors needed to sharpen their swords, axes, arrows and knives.

Unlike many of the items we have from the Viking Age – whetstones were used by everybody, warriors, craftsmen and housewives, rich and poor alike.

“These finds can tell us a lot about production, trade and contact networks from the Viking Age onwards,” Baug says.

This photograph is from the whetstone quarry in Eidsborg, Telemark. (Photo: Janne Sogn / Local history wiki)

As early as the Viking Age, they were mass-produced and distributed over great distances. Whetstones from Norway have been found in a number of countries," Science in Norway reports.

The Vikings also traded in other items, Baug points out. But whereas, for instance, fur or animal hides have not left any traces, the whetstones are still there to tell the story.
Baug says the stones can tell us a lot about society in the Viking Age — and even about earlier times as well.

Whetstones Have Not Been Studied Much

“Large amounts of whetstones are stored in the museums, but they have not been particularly studied until the last few years,” Baug said.

During excavations, archaeologists found large amounts of purple-colored fine-grained whetstones, but they could not understand where they had come from. When scientists examined the famous Gjellestad ship, they also came across whetstones.

The stone is light grey, so the archaeologists believe it might be from the Eidsborg quarry in Telemark.

“As we believe that the Gjellestad ship is from the early days of the Viking Age, a whetstone from Eidsborg would be an important find not only to understand more about the person buried at Gjellestad, but also to understand the networks of trade he or she could access,” archaeologist Christian Løchsen Rødsrud said to ScienceNorway.no.

Norway's First Export Item?

There’s been a lot written about these whetstones if you search around on the internet. A common conception is that whetstones were Norway's first export item.

Baug is not so sure about that.

“People have had contact, and probably also conducted trade, with other goods before the Viking Age as well, but on a much smaller scale,” she says.

And often, it was luxury items that made up the trade goods, and not everyday products such as whetstones, Baug said.

Baug's research also shows that the whetstones are a very old export item, and they were transported out of Norway in large quantities.

“This trade began early in the 8th century, meaning a little before the first Viking expeditions took place,” Baug said.

“Whetstones become a reflection of the development of trade and production that took place in the 8th and 9th centuries,” she said.

Why Are Norwegian Whetstones So Popular?

According to Baug, whetstones from Norway are particularly desirable due to geology.

"They are made of slate and have hard mineral grains that could act as an abrasive when sharpening tools. In particular, the whetstones from Mostadmarka are relatively fine-grained. These are well suited for fine grinding, putting the final edge on a sword or needle,” she said.

The stone from Eidsborg is more coarsely grained but also very well suited to sharpening.

“There’s not much suitable stone in Denmark, so they had to import whetstones. Our findings show that from the 8th century onwards, people had built up contacts and a network which enabled them to access quality products from distant lands. They didn't have to go out and look for locally sourced stones,” Baug said.

Marketplaces Expanded The Scope Of Trade

Whetstones could be traded far and wide as trade overall became more organized.

“It was challenging and sometimes dangerous to transport goods by sea during the Viking Age. Having to export goods over great distances also meant that you were dealing with people you didn’t know. If you traded with strangers, you could be cheated or robbed,” Baug said.

In more urban areas like Kaupang in Vestfold, trade became safer. Here, there were people with power and resources who could ensure that the marketplace was safe. Trade was undertaken at a much larger scale at these established market areas, where more people than before were involved.

“What is exciting about Ribe is that exports started much earlier than we thought. As early as the 8th century, trade began to be organized,” Baug said.

Shaping Society

“There were probably many workers who were involved in the whetstone industry. Some cut whetstones, some organized the work in the quarries, while others were involved in exporting the whetstones to towns and trading places,” Baug said.

Perhaps there were more men in the quarries in winter, when there was less to do on the farm.

“The individuals who owned and had control over quarries and the products they produced earned a lot of wealth,” Baug said.

What did people do with so many whetstones 1,300 years ago? The two light grey stones were found in Eidsborg in Telemark, while the darkest ones are from Mostadmarka in Trøndelag. (Photo: Irene Baug)

And the communities along the watercourse where the stones were shipped may have benefitted from the whetstone trade.

“This kind of trade required a good export port, not only for whetstones, but also for other products,” Baug said.

Don’t Raid Where You Trade

As part of their work on whetstones, Baug and colleagues have also come up with a theory of nothing less than why the Viking Age began.

The quarry in Trøndelag is roughly 1100 kilometers from the trading center in Ribe in, Denmark. A fairly stable trading network would need to be in place for it to be possible to transport large quantities of stones this far away.

“Our studies show that trade between the Northern and Southern parts of Scandinavia was very important – so important that this trade route was protected,” Baug says.

The archaeologist says Vikings did raid their own, but measures put in place to protect trade and the benefits of trade meant that raiding villages along that route was less attractive. So, those wishing to continue this activity had to find new hunting grounds outside of Scandinavia and thus began the raids overseas in Ireland, Scotland, and England.

Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer