The Ubina Hoard is a wealth deposit of silver coins and jewelry found in the village of Salu, Harju County in Estonia in 2005. The oldest items in the hoard probably date from the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

but the hoard seems to have been deposited during the beginning of the 12th century. The archaeological site was subjected to

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

the day after its discovery, but coins and jewelry fragments later surfaced in Germany and led to successful legal prosecution of the looter and the return of the looted items to the authorities.

Discovery, looting and legal process

The hoard was discovered in Salu village by an amateur archaeologist who on 26 April 2005 informed Estonian authorities of the finding. Experts from the National Heritage Board of Estonia and the

University of Tallinn Tallinn University (TLU; , ''TLÜ'') is a public research university in Estonia. Located in the centre of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn University is one of the three largest institutions of higher education in the country. Both Q ...

examined the site and decided to initiate a rescue excavation of the area. The excavation would eventually take two weeks. However, already after the first day of excavating on the site and despite efforts to keep the discovery of the site secret, the site was looted. An unknown perpetrator had dug deep holes in the marked excavation plots and left footprints on the site. A car was seen circling the area and its license plate number was recorded by the archaeologists. Following this incident, it was decided that the archaeological excavation should be protected by guards from the

Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League (, 'Defence League') is a voluntary paramilitary national defence organization of the Republic of Estonia, under management of the Ministry of Defence. Its aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and s ...

, a volunteer force belonging to the

Estonia Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces () is the unified military force of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consists of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Estonian Defence League. T ...

, together with some of the archaeologists. A watch was kept at the site 24 hours a day. Later in the same year, 108 coins appeared for sale at an auction house in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, Germany. German police confiscated 42 of the coins and traced the other items to a German art dealer. He reported that he had received the coins from an Estonian national and resident of

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

, who was later arrested by Estonian police. Following a trial and turned-down appeal, the Estonian man was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by the

Supreme Court of Estonia The Supreme Court of Estonia () is the court of last resort in Estonia. It is both a court of cassation and a constitutional court. The courthouse is in Tartu. History During the first independence period (1919-1940) With the First Constituti ...

in 2010 for "destroying a cultural monument in a manner which causes significant damage and embezzlement by a group or a criminal organization". The coins from the hoard that were confiscated by German police were returned to Estonian authorities and deposited with the rest of the hoard at the Institute of History at the University of Tallinn in the Estonian capital

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. The case of Ubina Hoard is an unusual case of where illegal looters in Estonia have been brought to justice. In both Estonia and neighbouring Latvia, illegal plundering of archaeological sites – locally known as "black archaeology" – is a recognised problem.

Description

The archaeological excavation at Ubina uncovered remains of structures, pottery, jewelry and coins. The hoard includes penannular brooches, a possibly

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

earring, silver plates and sheet silver fragments. The hoard contains almost 300 coins (sources give the exact number as either 283 or 277) from mints in Germany, England, Arabia, Denmark, Sweden (imitations of Anglo-Saxon coins), Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. The oldest items in the hoard are believed to date from the

and testify to the trading networks of the age; the deposit was probably buried at the beginning of the 12th century. The hoard has been described as a very rare find in both an Estonian and a European context.

References

{{reflist Viking treasure troves Coin hoards Archaeology of Estonia Law of Estonia 2005 in Estonia Harju County