Slavic tribes began to settle on the island of Rügen in the eighth century. The material culture of the Rani was essentially similar to that of other Slavic settlement areas. In 955, the chronicler Widukind of Corvey refers to the ‘Ruani’ (Rani) as the tribe residing on Rügen; the sources also mention the names Rujani.

Initially, settlement was limited to the centre of the island and the larger peninsulas. Southeast Rügen, which at that time was still connected to Usedom by a narrow isthmus, remained uninhabited. Between 1960 and 1990, more than 1,030 archaeological sites were discovered by volunteer heritage stewards.

The social organization of the Rani was based on public gatherings and a tribal council led by the king. These bodies secured the tribe’s power and expanded its influence. Polabian, the language of the Rani, was closely related to Polish and Czech and is still evident today in numerous place and field names. Agriculture and livestock farming were the main source of staple foods. Farmers ploughed their fields crosswise or diagonally with a hook plough; the main crop was rye. Hunting only contributed a minor part of the overall diet, unlike fishing. Herring fishing assumed a significant role when the consumption of meat was restricted, for example during Lent or in adherence to certain monastic rules. Livestock farming was already well developed, pigs being the most popular livestock, supplemented by dairy cattle, sheep, and goats, which provided both milk and meat. On Rügen, horses held a special position: revered as sacred animal oracles at the temple in Arkona and also as the bearer of warriors into battle.

Trade and war played a decisive role in foreign affairs. Chroniclers wrote of extensive military campaigns to the Danish islands. In 955, the Rani allied with Otto I to fight and defeat their tribal neighbours, the Obotrites in Mecklenburg. In 1111, the Rani pagans prevented Christian priests from settling in Alt-Lübeck (Liubice) by sending a war fleet to besiege the town. In 1128, they intimidated the people of Stettin with their fleet while Bishop Otto of Bamberg, a missionary, was there endeavouring to convert the townspeople to Christianity.

Small, portable scales that could be used when travelling are evidence of peaceful trade. In long-distance trade, so-called hacksilver served as currency, its value determined by its weight. The Islamic dirham treasure of Ralswiek was probably acquired through trade.

The Rani belonged to a Slavic cult that was widespread throughout Poland and in the area east of the River Elbe in Germany prior to the Christianization of Russia. The main temple of the still-free Slavic tribes: the temple fortress located at Cape Arkona on Rügen was dedicated to the god Svantevit, the ‘god of gods’. The religious community of the Rani also encompassed the mainland tribes of the Circipanes and Kessinians, occupying an area from the River Recknitz in the west to the River Peene in the southeast. The larger or smaller size of this cult association depended on the political situation and the progress being made by the Christian missionaries. Pomeranian tribes accepted Christianity during a congress in Usedom at Pentecost 1128, leaving only the Rani faithful to the ancient cult. The temple fortress of Arkona existed until its conquest in 1168 by King Valdemar I of Denmark and his military bishop Absalon.

The Rani also had a tribal sanctuary in Karentia (also Charenza), 17 km southwest of Arkona. There, in three temples, they worshipped Rugievit, the god of war with his seven faces and seven swords, Porevit, the god with five heads, and Porenut, the god with five faces. In 1168, these temples were destroyed during the Danish conquest.

The Slavic word ‘gart’ means fortress, so ‘Rugard’ refers to a fortress belonging to the Rügen Slavs. The oldest written mention of ‘Ruygart’ can be found in a document from 1258 issued by Prince Jaromar II. The fortress was probably built in the ninth century.

Rugard consisted of a main fortress and an outer bailey. Today, only the impressive rampart remains. In 1830, Wilhelm Malte I, Prince of Putbus, acquired the site and had it reforested. The Ernst Moritz Arndt Tower (1869–1877) and other buildings were erected on the site of the former main fortress in the twentieth century.

The Baltic Sea trade routes covered an impressive area. All along the coast, there were settlements where traders met and exchanged goods. Slavs and Scandinavians lived side-by-side for a while in Menzlin on the banks of the River Peene and in Ralswiek on Rügen. On the southern coasts of the Danish islands of Falster and Lolland, place names indicate that the residents were Slavs. In Odense, Naestved, and Roskilde in Denmark, and in Lund on Skåne, local craftsmen produced Slavic pottery.

In addition to slaves, among the goods traded were grain, honey, wax, salt, and iron. Even livestock changed hands. Luxury goods included jewellery and, above all, furs, but also precious fabrics such as silk and satin, like those reserved as offerings in the temple fortress of Arkona.

On 29 January 2018, volunteer heritage steward René Schön and 13-year-old pupil Luca Malaschnitschenko, members of the Rügen archaeological preservation society ‘De Ackerlöper’ (low German for: The Field Runners), unearthed the first clues to an early medieval hoard of silver coins. The hoard was near Schaprode, not far from a Bronze Age burial mound. This former landmark can still be seen on Friedrich von Hagenow's Special Charte der Insel Rügen.

The structured retrieval of artefacts was carried out by the Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (State Office for Culture and the Preservation of Historical Monuments in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) with the help of many volunteer heritage stewards.

Modern farming methods had dispersed the hoard over an area measuring 30 by 25 m. All the artefacts were found in the topsoil. The find, comprising more than 1,920 individual items and weighing approximately 1,650 g, was recovered almost totally intact. The 1,498 silver coins, some complete and others as hacksilver, are of varied origin. Of the 697 dirhams, most of which are fragmented, some are pierced or have a pendant bail. The oldest coin is believed to be a Damascus dirham from 714. In addition, there are 542 Western European, English, and a few Byzantine coins and fragments. There are 259 complete, broken, or bent Danish coins, those from the reign of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth (reigned 958–986) being of particular interest. The 129 pieces of jewellery include several complete silver wire neck-rings and also broken pieces, as well as arm-ring/bracelet fragments, at least eight earrings, and eighteen granulated silver beads. Several disc-shaped pendants with granulation overlay, broken pieces of jewellery in the so-called Terslev style, a pendant in the shape of Thor's hammer, various pieces of wire in different thicknesses, ray-shaped ingots and hacksilver complete the range of finds.

The hoard was probably buried there in the late 980s or around 1000. No evidence was found that it was in a receptacle of any kind.

The replicas on display are a representative selection from the treasure trove. Research is still being done into this sensational find, and it is certain to continue to astound us in the future!

Besides the Schaprode hoard, at least three other silver hoards have been documented on Rügen: Ralswiek (deposited after 842–44, within the trading centre) and the large treasure trove discovered in 2023 at Lancken-Granitz (eleventh century). A small hoard of twelve oriental coins, hidden around or after 815–16, is also said to have come from Rugard.

Throughout the Baltic Sea region, people buried numerous treasures in the ground between the ninth and mid-twelfth centuries. The majority of these hoards, in other words the treasures deliberately buried in the ground, originate from the Elbe region, Pomerania, Greater Poland, and Silesia. With a few exceptions, these troves contain only silver objects. Besides coins and jewellery or dress accessories, these also include ingots and cast pieces. In many cases, the former owners cut and hacked the objects, leading archaeologists and historians to refer to them as ‘hacksilver’. It was only the weight of the silver that mattered. The face value of the individual coins or the craftsmanship of the jewellery was insignificant when it was being used in this way. Some of the silver treasures may have been from a robbery, a tribute, or mercenary payments, or just set aside ‘for a rainy day’. However, in most cases it was probably the personal fortune of merchants, saved up over a long period of time. Using folding scales and weights, merchants determined the required amount of silver needed for each transaction in the context of this bullion economy. As far as we know, most silver hoards tended to be small deposits weighing no more than 500 grams. The Schaprode hoard is one of the larger caches. In general, wealth deposits weighing more than five kilograms are rare. The former owner often put the silver into a clay pot which was then closed with a stone or other ceramic lid. In some cases, the silver objects were first wrapped in linen cloths. The hiding place had to protect the treasure from theft through its secret location, yet remain accessible to the owner. The owner probably used distinctive landmarks in the vicinity so that he could visit the hiding place secretly and, if necessary, add or remove items from it. It was probably common for merchants and traders to hide their fortune in the ground, and the likelihood of armed conflicts further encouraged this practice.

At a very early stage, research focused on coins and coin fragments, as the images on the coins reveal where they were minted. Between 800 and around 975, silver coins from the Islamic Orient, known as dirhams, found their way into the Baltic region. The early coins came mainly from the regions that are now Iraq, Iran, and Turkmenistan. From the tenth century onwards, silver was often extracted from mines in Samarkand (now Uzbekistan) in Central Asia. The dirhams show that there was an extensive trade and communication network connecting the Baltic region and the Slavic settlements between the Elbe and Vistula rivers with the Orient. There is no doubt that early medieval trading centres played a special role. From 975 to around 1075, long-distance trade was reorganized and contacts with the East Frankish-German Empire and Eastern Central Europe increased significantly. On the whole, it was only coins from Western Europe, as well as English and Scandinavian coins, that found their way into the Slavic areas.

Jewellery found in hacksilver hoards is distinguished by its high-quality craftsmanship. Earrings, pendants, beads, rings, and arm-rings are skilfully designed and decorated with stamped designs, granulation, filigree techniques, and hand-raised shapes. The neck-rings are made of twisted silver wires. Compared with the jewellery and traditional clothing of the Slavs, as found in the graves, the silver jewellery in the hacksilver hoards seems rather exotic. What is more, there is no convincing evidence of workshops in the area between the Rivers Elbe and Vistula where silver jewellery was produced on a large scale. Future research may be able to answer the question as to the origin of the individual designs.