Judging from the extensive hoards of coins discovered, it is not improbable that they were kept for some opportune time when their need would be required, such as for purchases when travelling back to the Western or Eastern Roman provinces. That the people were well acquainted with the value of these coins is beyond dispute, for otherwise they would not have kept them. We must remember that human nature is and always has been the same; there were misers in those early days as there are now. The Sagas give us some examples of the practice of hoarding, and the probability is that some of the hoards found may have been collected during the lifetime of one or more persons. But the numbers found, in hoards or otherwise, even without those which remain undiscovered, show the existence of commercial intercourse. One of the countries of whose earlier history we know nothing, except that it is mentioned here and there in the Sagas, is the island of Gotland; but from the finds, which are especially rich in coins, we are led to the conclusion that it was a great emporium of trade at least from the beginning of the Christian era to the twelfth century. Roman, Byzantine, Arabic, and earlier English coins are found in far greater numbers than in all the Scandinavian lands together. Of the latter, those of Ethelred are even more numerous than in England itself. Situated in a sea whose shores at that period seem to have been inhabited by a dense population, Gotland appears to have occupied the position of commercial supremacy which England holds in Europe to-day. We have historical evidence of its being a great emporium of trade as late as the fourteenth century, until Wisby, its chief town, was destroyed by the Danes. Its magnificent towers, walls, and ruined churches still bear witness to its past greatness.[171] From the time of Alexander Severus (A.D. 235) to Theodosius (A.D. 395), which comprises a period of 160 years, the coins become very scarce, and Roman gold coins take the place of silver.[172] From the finds we see that this period in the North becomes exceedingly rich in gold jewels, and it seems probable that the people preferred gold coins to those of silver. The North is particularly rich in finds of bronze vessels, which appear to be more specially of Greek, or some perhaps of Roman manufacture; the scarcity of them in Britain and Gaul would imply that they are chiefly of Greek origin; they seem to have been highly prized by the people. [Illustration: Fig. 574.—Bronze vessel, ⅕ real size, containing burnt bones, ring armour, coat or mail, dipper of bronze with a sieve belonging to it, two glass tumblers, &c., under a stone slab buried in the ground. ] Near the fishing village of Abekås, Southern Scania, in Jutland, a dipper has been found with the name of the Roman manufacturer on it, and the words “P. CIPI POLIBI.” Another, with a name on it, was also found in Helsingland, Sweden. [Illustration: