How the Vikings ran the medieval world’s slave trade

David Keys sheds fresh light on the Viking slave trade, and explains how it became a mainstay of the economy of the time

(The Knohl Collection)

The extraordinary new research into Britain’s richest Viking Age treasure hoard – found in Galloway, southwest Scotland – is shedding fascinating new light on an era of conflict and change.

Around 20 Viking period treasure hoards have so far been discovered in Britain – but most of them were almost certainly buried by the Vikings themselves.

By contrast, the Galloway Hoard appears to have been owned and buried by Anglo-Saxon churchmen – specifically to keep it out of the hands of the Vikings.