DOI Heft:
Artikuły / Articles
DOI Artikel:Zapolska, Anna: The solidus of Heraclius from Wargen in Sambia – reconsidered
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43282#0171
THE SOLIDUS OF HERACLIUS FROM WARGEN IN SAMBIA...
in the pieces with pierced holes or Suspension loops added.17 Also, we know of one
case where there are two holes in the solidus, possibly made in order to fasten it to
a garment.18 Pieces with holes have been found in both male (mainly warrior) and
female graves,19 which would suggest that they were not assigned to one sex only.20
Coins with holes are found mainly near the neck, frequently with beads, which may
indicate that they formed part of a necklace.21 In turn, the pieces with no holes, found
inside the graves, were placed primarily near the waist of the interred person, which
means that they may originally have been inserted into a money sack and served as
the personal belongings of the dead.22
While a small number of gold coins were thesaurized, the vast majority would
end up, as P. Somogy believed, in goldsmiths’ crucibles to be smelted and reused
as material for jewellery that suited the local tastes,23 which would very often be
placed inside Avar graves.24
THE DISSEMINATION OF THE SOLIDI OF HERACLIUS
There is no doubt that the solidi of Heraclius as well as some older coins
that left the Byzantine Empire - would primarily go to the territories of the Avar
Khaganate and that the Avars were the main recipients of this inflow of coins. And
so, on the one hand, it could be said that they were destined to go there on account
of the fact that they would come from the Eastern Roman Empire as tribute money.
Onthe otherhand, however, 7th-century solidi were also distributed beyond the area
of the Avar Settlement.25 Certain concentrations of these coins can be found in areas
in the Lower and Middle Danube, but also in areas along the Rhine. Single coinfinds
have also been reported from some locations in the Rhine delta region, to the north
of the Carpathian Range (in what is now the Czech Republic), and from eastern parts
of Britain. One gold coin is reported to have come from Poland: this is a solidus of
Heraclius found at Żółków, Jasło County.26 As M. Wołoszyn notes, this coin may
17 A similar Situation can be observed in other areas of the Barbaricum, beginning from the late period of
Roman influence (cf. BEMMANN 2005: 1-62).
18 SOMOGY 2014: 142.
19Ibidem: 142-143.
20 BURSCHE 1998; BEMMANN 2005: 20; QUAST 2005: 375-385; BURSCHE 2011: 14.
21 SOMOGY 2014: 189-212.
21 Ibidenr. 145.
23 In the absence of suitable metallographic analyses, this remains only a hypothesis.
24 Ibidem-, 92; cf. ZAPOLSKA 2014: 95-116.
25 Cf. SOMOGY 2014: Map 6.
26 WOŁOSZYN 2009: 481. Solidi from the 7th Century have been found in Ukraine as well (see below).
Some of these have already been published by V.V. Kropotkin (1962). This work was translated and edited by
Depeyrot(2006: 67, No. 159; 71, No. 196; 72, No. 207; 78, No. 249; 81, No. 268). Other coins are found by amateur
prospectors using metal detectors (as reported to me by Marcin Rudnicki, M. A.), but these finds remain unpublished.
in the pieces with pierced holes or Suspension loops added.17 Also, we know of one
case where there are two holes in the solidus, possibly made in order to fasten it to
a garment.18 Pieces with holes have been found in both male (mainly warrior) and
female graves,19 which would suggest that they were not assigned to one sex only.20
Coins with holes are found mainly near the neck, frequently with beads, which may
indicate that they formed part of a necklace.21 In turn, the pieces with no holes, found
inside the graves, were placed primarily near the waist of the interred person, which
means that they may originally have been inserted into a money sack and served as
the personal belongings of the dead.22
While a small number of gold coins were thesaurized, the vast majority would
end up, as P. Somogy believed, in goldsmiths’ crucibles to be smelted and reused
as material for jewellery that suited the local tastes,23 which would very often be
placed inside Avar graves.24
THE DISSEMINATION OF THE SOLIDI OF HERACLIUS
There is no doubt that the solidi of Heraclius as well as some older coins
that left the Byzantine Empire - would primarily go to the territories of the Avar
Khaganate and that the Avars were the main recipients of this inflow of coins. And
so, on the one hand, it could be said that they were destined to go there on account
of the fact that they would come from the Eastern Roman Empire as tribute money.
Onthe otherhand, however, 7th-century solidi were also distributed beyond the area
of the Avar Settlement.25 Certain concentrations of these coins can be found in areas
in the Lower and Middle Danube, but also in areas along the Rhine. Single coinfinds
have also been reported from some locations in the Rhine delta region, to the north
of the Carpathian Range (in what is now the Czech Republic), and from eastern parts
of Britain. One gold coin is reported to have come from Poland: this is a solidus of
Heraclius found at Żółków, Jasło County.26 As M. Wołoszyn notes, this coin may
17 A similar Situation can be observed in other areas of the Barbaricum, beginning from the late period of
Roman influence (cf. BEMMANN 2005: 1-62).
18 SOMOGY 2014: 142.
19Ibidem: 142-143.
20 BURSCHE 1998; BEMMANN 2005: 20; QUAST 2005: 375-385; BURSCHE 2011: 14.
21 SOMOGY 2014: 189-212.
21 Ibidenr. 145.
23 In the absence of suitable metallographic analyses, this remains only a hypothesis.
24 Ibidem-, 92; cf. ZAPOLSKA 2014: 95-116.
25 Cf. SOMOGY 2014: Map 6.
26 WOŁOSZYN 2009: 481. Solidi from the 7th Century have been found in Ukraine as well (see below).
Some of these have already been published by V.V. Kropotkin (1962). This work was translated and edited by
Depeyrot(2006: 67, No. 159; 71, No. 196; 72, No. 207; 78, No. 249; 81, No. 268). Other coins are found by amateur
prospectors using metal detectors (as reported to me by Marcin Rudnicki, M. A.), but these finds remain unpublished.