Byzantium in Dark-Age Greece (the numismatic evidence in its Balkan context)

Abstract

Much has been made of the presence or absence of seventh- and eighth-century coins on several sites in Greece, primarily in Athens and Corinth. Kenneth Sefton and Peter Charanis have paved the way for a cultural-historical interpretation of coin finds, but a thorough comparison of both single and hoard finds from Greece with others from the Balkans suggests a very different interpretation. Instead of signalising decline, low-denomination coins, especially from Athens, may point to local markets of low-value commodities, such as food, as well as to the permanent presence of the fleet.     

Branded Axes,Thrown into a Pool? The Hoogeloon Hoard and the Shape‐Based Bronze Economy of the North‐West European Bronze Age

One of the biggest challenges for students of the European Bronze Age is to understand the reason behind the massive deposition of large amounts of recyclable metal in non‐metalliferous regions. Such depositions are particularly puzzling when material was buried in a manner which directly seems to denote trade itself, in so‐called ‘trade hoards’. Based on observations on a recent find of such a hoard, in Hoogeloon (NL), we move to an overview of Bronze Age metalwork economy in general and the deposition of trade stock in particular. We argue that Middle Bronze Age metalwork circulation in North‐west Europe may be understood as an aes formatum system, with the serially produced axes in hoards displaying a koiné having a particular social evaluation: a ‘brand’. We suggest that objects were selected by brands for their deposition in the landscape and that this ‘ritual’ act was integral to the ‘practical’ economy of circulation.     

从新出土资料再论“项梁铸大钱”

河南省新郑"郑韩故城"相继出土了几批古钱范和一处古钱币窖藏,其中"异形布"的归属与出现各国货币的现象一直有争论,根据伴出的兵器性质以及当时西楚政权控制封地经济、楚汉相争楚军败退等历史资料分析,这批钱范和钱窖所反映的社会内容最符合项羽西楚政权的历史背景,它们都应属西楚政权时期遗存。     

Context,Continuity, Correspondence,and Continental Connections: New Approaches to the Ironwork Hoards of Roman Britain

For over forty years the study of Roman ironwork hoards in Britain has been defined by a single study by Manning (1972). This article summarizes the wealth of advances made since that publication regarding the distribution, context, and contents of these hoards, highlighting how these alter our understanding of them as a continuation of Iron Age practices. Furthermore, by looking at British hoards at a European level for the first time, we see that British and Continental hoards are closely related. Using Correspondence Analysis to produce new groupings based on content, which crosscut those proposed by Manning (1972) based on distribution, the article provides the first analysis of the entire contents of these hoards. Finally, a discussion of hoard contents is used to examine the potential significance of the artefacts deposited.     

Recent Excavations at the Cluniac Priory of St. Mary,Thetford, Norfolk

RUMNEY CASTLE, a small ringwork historically part of the marcher lordship of Gwynll?g, was situated above a steep natural scarp overlooking the R. Rhymney. First mentioned in A.D. 1184–85, the castle guarded the W. boundary of the lordship and the river crossing. The defences consisted of a ditch and clay rampart constructed around three sides of the site. Initially incorporated into the defences along the fourth side was a large timber building and possibly a palisade. The entrance was originally defended by a large timber gate tower, later superseded by a smaller timber structure. Following this, the defences were strengthened with the widening of the rampart and the construction of a small tower or keep alongside the entrance. Several phases of timber building, including two large halls, were arranged around a courtyard. During a later period the entrance was relocated and a stone gate tower constructed.

During the second half of the 13th century the site was converted for use as a manorial centre. The rampart was levelled, the interior of the site infilled, and a range of buildings constructed along the edges of the mound. A well-sealed coin hoard of c. A.D. 1288–89 discovered in a destruction deposit provides a terminus post quem for the abandonment of the site.     

BARBAROUS RADIATE HOARDS: the INTERPRETATION of COIN DEPOSITS IN LATE THIRD-CENTURY ROMAN BRITAIN

Summary: The episode of prolific coin hoarding in Roman Britain between c. 259 and 287 has never been fully explained. This paper looks at a major group of these hoards; those recognised as containing irregular antoniniani. Two distinct sub-groups are identified, which are shown to have non-random, almost mutually exclusive, distributions. an explanation for coin hoarding is considered which associates the location of certain deposits with the spread of coin use to new, marginal, areas of Britain.     

Of saints,sows or smiths? Copper-brazed iron handbells in Early Medieval England

ABSTRACT

Copper-brazed iron handbells were a distinctive feature of monastic life in Early Medieval Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Handbells were used in liturgy, prayer, worship, and later as reliquaries. In England, brazed bells of the seventh to ninth centuries take on a greater range of sizes and forms and are found on a wider variety of sites. As a consequence, their roles within Christianity have been questioned, and associations with animals and itinerant smiths have been emphasised instead. Recent archaeological investigation of an Anglo-Saxon marsh-island at Little Carlton, Lincolnshire has resulted in one of the largest assemblages of copper-brazed iron bells from any site in England, comparable to similar collections from Flixborough and Brandon. Taking into consideration the inclusion of brazen bells in some ritualistic ‘closure hoards’, this paper argues that whilst Anglo-Saxon plain iron bells may have fulfilled a range of profane functions, those that were copper-brazed, regardless of their size, were important objects amongst early Christian communities in England, and the Northumbrian church in particular.     

Medieval Britain in 1967

Abstract

Almost 180 years of scholarship on the Lewis chessmen have given us a solid foundation of understanding, primarily based upon their art-historical analysis. Taking a more interdisciplinary approach (combining elements of art history with archaeology and history), this paper focuses on some over-looked themes — primarily the archaeological, gaming and political contexts of the 12th- and 13th-century North Sea world — and some more familiar themes but in a new light. We suggest a more fluid composition and function of the gaming hoard, with at least four sets of chessmen from the same workshop conceivably made for use in Lewis, possibly in the early 13th century.     

Evidence of Social Stratification in Bronze Age Denmark

Abstract

The Late Bronze Age hoards (12th–6th centuries B.C.) from Denmark are examined as evidence of the existence of social ranking in that prehistoric society. The hoards contain bronze weapons and ornaments which seem to function as sumptuary goods and appear to be ranked according to regular rules. The hoards also represent economic wealth and include objects of ritual importance. This intersection, in single finds, of material reflections of the political, religious, and economic systems in the society, along with the inferred existence of social ranking, suggests the presence of a prehistoric chiefdom in Denmark in the Late Bronze Age.     

A study of the composition and microstructure of silver hoards from Tel Beth-Shean,Tel Dor,and Tel Miqne,Israel

The chemical composition and microstructure of objects excavated in three hoards from the end of the Late Bronze and Iron Age sites in Israel were studied using energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis and optical metallography. The objects are industrial in origin (scrap or jewelry pieces) and include differently shaped ingots, mainly so-called hacksilber, in various sizes. The primary composition is Ag with typically several percent of Cu and Au and less than 1 % of Pb. The concentrations of these metals in each hoard differ significantly. The microstructure of the hacksilber ingots shows a typical dendritic as-cast structure and a surface cold work deformation, probably caused by chiseling the ingot piece off a larger cast bar. Relatively high concentrations of Au, as in the above samples, were observed previously in Egyptian ancient silver which differs from the ancient Greek silver that contains a significantly lower Au content.     

河南安阳孟村魏晋时期古钱窖藏探析

１９９１年８月,河南省安阳县伦掌乡盂村（岳城水库南区“柏阳城” 战国遗址南１５００米处）出土一古钱窖藏,计１６０余公斤８万余枚。我们征集到其中的２０余公斤,现经初步整理报告如下。 一、出土概况 据发现人称,古钱原放在一灰陶缸内,距地表０．５米,在出土过程中陶缸被打碎,残存陶片上饰有花纹,无盖。出土时钱币多成串放置在一起,大小相混,锈蚀严重,有穿系痕迹,呈长条形盘放其中。据初步整理,该窖藏数量大,种类丰富,有较多的珍稀币种,是安阳地区近一时期发现较重要的古钱窖藏之一,实为难得的实物资料。 二、钱币类别…     

Small change: economics and coin-trees in Britain and Ireland

Abstract

Throughout the c. 2,000-year period coins have been circulated in Britain, they have also been ritually employed, most notably as votive deposits. Focusing specifically on the understudied custom of the British coin-tree, whereby coins are ritually embedded into the barks of trees, this paper considers the coin’s role and applicability as a deposit. It aims to demonstrate that our understanding of the coin’s past, present and future ritual employment is not only aided by a consideration of economics and the coin’s secular function; it would be utterly incomplete without it.     

Proceedings of the Central Committee of the British Archaeological Association

Factors that determined the location of mints and the function and supply of bronze coinage in the Roman Empire during the fourth century A.D. are considered. The survey is based primarily on a comparison of site assemblages which cover the century, although in their absence hoards provide useful comparisons. Aspects of minting activity and coin circulation in both the western and the eastern empire are discussed, but the distribution of the most satisfactory material has biased the survey to Britain and the German provinces. It is argued that imperial policy towards the mints was strongly influenced by development and change in regional economies.     

A TIME OF CHANGE: THE IRON AGE TO ROMAN MONETARY TRANSITION IN EAST ANGLIA

Summary. The majority of Icenian coin hoards have traditionally been dated to the historical events of the Boudican revolt. This paper removes that link and examines the material using classical numismatic methods to show that far from all being of one date they represent a series of depositions throughout the period of the client kingdom: AD 43–60/1. It also demonstrates the gradual increase in use of Roman coins within that kingdom alongside the local Iron Age series.     

Animal Remains from the Carter Creek Site: Late Woodland Adaptive Strategies in the Upland Frontier of West Central Illinois

Abstract

The Carter Creek site (11-Md-817) was a village located at the prairie edge in west central Illinois during the early Late Woodland Weaver phase (Esarey et al. 1984). This occupation represents a frontier upland community (Green 1987, 1993). Animal remains recovered from the Carter Creek site are compared to contemporaneous samples from the region in order to test hypotheses proposed by Green (1987, 1993) and Styles (2000). It is found that the “pioneers” at Carter Creek continued to hunt and fish as their ancestors had (cf. Green 1987, 1993), but with some adjustments to optimize local resources (cf. Styles 2000). There is no evidence of venison trading or tribute found at this or any contemporaneous sites.     

Probable Fibres from Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in Bronze Age Scotland

Abstract

Diameter measurements of bast fibres from cloth and string with a hoard of bronze age metalwork found in St Andrews, were different from those of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) but comparable with those of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) leading to the suggestion that hemp was used as a textile fibre in Britain much earlier than has been thought.     

Residential versus civic use in the Pueblo II-III period: A case study from the Harlan Great Kiva site in the Goodman Point area of southwestern Colorado

Abstract

Sites recorded during survey that were occupied or used for long periods of time often present problems in determining when particular activities may have occurred, and what types of activities correspond to which periods of use. The Harlan Great Kiva site, in southwestern Colorado, provides an opportunity to examine sequential residential and civic use of one ancestral Pueblo period site over a period of 250 to 300 years. Pottery recovered during test excavations suggests that it may be possible to recognize changing types of use from surface remains recorded during survey. This analysis may prove useful for survey-level studies of long-lived sites with recognizable civic architecture at the surface.     

Portuguese coarsewares in early modern England: reflections on an exceptional pottery assemblage from Southampton

Abstract

The study of a large hoard of Merida-type ware from Portugal found during excavation in Southampton prompts an examination of Portuguese pottery in 16th- and 17th-century England, its trade, uses and context.     

The United States Monopolization of Bank Note Production: Politics,Government, and the Greenback, 1862–1878

Abstract

Between 1862 and 1878, the view of the United States government towards the nation's money was transformed. Early in the Civil War, the government got into the bank note printing business out of necessity, printing and issuing the first-ever federal currency. Over the following years, debates raged whether the national currency should be printed privately or by the government's bank note printer, the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). Matters came to a head in 1878 when Congress debated the future of the BEP. That year, in a radical departure from the past, Congress gave the Bureau of Engraving and Printing a monopoly on the production of currency, forever changing the role of the government in the nation's economy. Money, be it in the form of coin or currency, was now the exclusive province of the government – not private banks or bank note companies. This change was the result of a rare consensus between Democrats and Republicans and between the forces of the antimonopoly tradition, Greenbackism, and hard money. For various reasons, they were unanimous in believing that the government, especially Congress, should be in control of those matters affecting the monetary affairs of the country.