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Badger leads archaeologists to hoard of Roman coins


Gordopolis

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Badger leads archaeologists to hoard of Roman coins in Asturias, Spain, dating to 200-400 AD.

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/badger-roman-coins-spain-scli-intl-scn/index.html

This corresponds with the Late Roman period, when barbarians such as the Suebi arrived in the Iberian peninsula.
 
Dig director Alfonso Fanjul believes the coins were hidden by refugees sheltering in the area, saying: "We think it's a reflection of the social and political instability which came along with the fall of Rome and the arrival of groups of barbarians to northern Spain."

coins.jpg

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This was a great find, indeed. I needed to put this hoard in context for me.

The coin hoard was found in Asturias, located in northwest Spain.

 

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The article suggests it was a coin hoard hidden from the invading Suebian migration:

0A95FBA4-99F7-4A5B-9408-84D62CCC22EA.thumb.jpeg.f8d3ccf545ab06a7b1fdfc6c02014695.jpeg

The Suevi (along with the Vandals and Alans) crossed a frozen Rhine on a night in December 406 AD and migrated into Roman Gaul. Taking advantage of Roman internecine turmoil, these tribes later migrated into Hispania around 409.
 

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The article suggested that these coins were hidden by refugees. Maybe, but I doubt low valued Nummi (such as the one pictured above of Constantine I) would have been hidden for safekeeping. Possibly they were an offering (to God for protection) or, even more likely, they were merely misplaced and forgotten.

This article is thought-provoking, nevertheless.

Edited by guy
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