ANALYSIS OF THE COIN FINDS FROM THE GRAVES IN THE NORTHERN CEMETERY OF EMONA PDF

Preview

Summary

Posvečeno dr. Ljudmili Plesničar Gec EMONA med Akvilejo in Panonijo between Aquileia and Pannonia Zbrali in uredili / Edited by Irena Lazar & Bernarda Županek KOPER 2012 VSEBINA / CONTENTS: Irena Lazar, Bernarda Županek Predgovor 9 EMONA IN NJENA DEDIŠČINA / EMONA AND ITS HERITAGE Iris Bekljanov...

Description

Posvečeno dr. Ljudmili Plesničar Gec

EMONA

med Akvilejo in Panonijo between Aquileia and Pannonia

Zbrali in uredili / Edited by

Irena Lazar & Bernarda Županek

KOPER 2012

VSEBINA / CONTENTS:

Irena Lazar, Bernarda Županek Predgovor

9

EMONA IN NJENA DEDIŠČINA / EMONA AND ITS HERITAGE Iris Bekljanov Zidanšek Grob 1007 s Kongresnega trga v Ljubljani

13

Janez DIRJEC, Tatjana TOMAZO RAVNIK, Mija TOPLIČANEC, Borut TOŠKAN ZAŠČITNA ARHEOLOŠKA IZKOPAVANJA NA LOKACIJI SNG OPERA (LJUBLJANA) 27 Dénes Gabler SIGILLATE GALLICHE MERIDIONALI AD EMONA E IN ITALIA

49

Josip Korošec BRONASTA POSODA IZ EMONE O SESTAVINAH, KI SOUSTVARJAJO NJENO KAKOVOST

61

Vesna PINTARIČ KOCUVAN BRONASTI KIPCI BOŽANSTVA S PETEROKRAKO KRONO – PRISPEVEK K NJIHOVI RAZPOZNAVI

77

Bojan DJURIĆ THE EMONA XIII.8 MOSAIC FROM THE LATE ROMAN PERIOD

89

Tina MILAVEC A GLASS LAMP WITH BASE KNOB FROM EMONA

97

Marjeta ŠAŠEL KOS DEDICATIONS TO DIVINITIES FROM THE EPIGRAPHIC COLLECTION IN THE CITY MUSEUM OF LJUBLJANA Milan LOVENJAK, Andrej GASPARI NAGROBNA STELA KANCIJEV IZ EMONSKE INSULE XIII

105

123

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

Alenka MIŠKEC ANALYSIS OF THE COIN FINDS FROM THE GRAVES IN THE NORTHERN CEMETERY OF EMONA Benjamin ŠTULAR ZAČETKI SREDNJEVEŠKE LJUBLJANE V LUČI ARHEOLOŠKIH IZKOPAVANJ NA MAČKOVI ULICI – VISOKOSREDNJEVEŠKA LJUBLJANA V LUČI NAJNOVEJŠIH ARHEOLOŠKIH IZKOPAVANJ

133

143

Mitja GUŠTIN RIMSKI ZID EMONE. DEDIŠČINA ANTIKE IN DOBER PRIMER AKTIVNEGA KONSERVATORSTVA

157

Bernarda ŽUPANEK EMONA’S HERITAGE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY: THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY LJUDMILA PLESNIČAR GEC

169

Fedja KOŠIR EDVARD RAVNIKAR IN ARHEOLOŠKA DEDIŠČINA EMONE Ana PLESTENJAK DEDIŠČINA V PRIMEŽU POLITIČNIH SPLETK. PRIMER DRAME NA LJUBLJANSKI TRŽNICI

183 191

Boris VIČIČ MED KLADIVOM IN NAKOVALOM – POGLED KONSERVATORJA

205

Božena DIRJEC, Irena SIVEC, Bernarda ŽUPANEK LJUDMILA PLESNIČAR GEC, MUZEALKA

211

MED AKVILEJO IN PANONIJO / BETWEEN AQUILEIA AND PANNONIA Maria Paola Lavizzari Pedrazzini LA COPPA “TIPO SARIUS” DI PAVIA

225

Maurizio BUORA UNA NUOVA “RAGAZZA NORICA” DA CAMPOROSSO

235

Tina ŽERJAL KERAMIČNA LANTERNA ALI »SVETLEČA HIŠKA« IZ ŠKOLARIC PRI SPODNJIH ŠKOFIJAH Miha MLINAR, Drago SVOLJŠAK, Verena VIDRIH PERKO Beatriče ŽBONA TRKMAN KOPALNICO IMA: ARHEOLOŠKE RAZISKAVE IN PREZENTACIJA RIMSKE HIŠE Z MOSTA NA SOČI Jana HORVAT SKUPEK KERAMIKE IZ PRVE POLOVICE 1. SToletja IZ NAVPORTA

6

245

257

273

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

Janka ISTENIČ, Žiga ŠMIT A RAW GLASS CHUNK FROM THE VICINITY OF NAUPORTUS (VRHNIKA) Judita LUX, Milan SAGADIN POSKUS ČASOVNE UMESTITVE OBJEKTA 2 RIMSKE VILE RUSTIKE PRI MOŠNJAH

301 311

Eleni SCHINDLER KAUDELKA LA CERAMICA A PARETI SOTTILI DEL MAGDALENSBERG 1975–1998–2011

323

Irena LAZAR Bogat stenski okras rimske predmestne vile pri Celeji

367

Danilo BREŠČAK, Milan LOVENJAK RIMSKA NAGROBNIKA IZ ŠTATENBERKA IN GORENJEGA KARTELJEVEGA NA DOLENJSKEM Phil MASON SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED … ROMANISATION AND THE CREATION OF IDENTITY IN EARLY ROMAN CENTRAL AND SOUTH-EASTERN SLOVENIA

377

389

Iva CURK POETOVIO V PROSTORU – NEKAJ OPAŽANJ IN POSKUSOV

407

Polona BITENC, Timotej KNIFIC POZNOANTIČNE FIBULE V PODOBI PTIČEV IZ SLOVENIJE

429

Špela KARO Zgodnjekarolinške najdbe s slovenskih najdišč

447

Slavko CIGLENEČKI SPREMENJENA PODOBA POZNOANTIČNIH URBANIH SREDIŠČ – PRISPEVEK K TRANSFORMACIJI POSELITVENE SLIKE V JUGOVZHODNOALPSKEM PROSTORU Matija ČREŠNAR, Dimitrij MLEKUŽ, Gašper RUTAR LASERSKO SKENIRANJE POVRŠJA IN KULTURNA DEDIŠČINA – NEKAJ NOVOSTI O VIŠINSKI POSELITVI OB SREDNJI SAVI Branko MUŠIČ ARHEOGEOFIZIKALNE RAZISKAVE V URBANIH OKOLJIH – SPOZNANJA, TEŽAVE IN PERSPEKTIVA

459

479

497

Gregor POBEŽIN CRUDELIS AMOR … CRUDELIS TU QUOQUE MATER – 515 NEKAJ POMISLEKOV O MOTIVU »KRUTE LJUBEZNI« V LATINSKI KNJIŽEVNOSTI SEZNAM AVTORJEV / LIST OF AUTHORS

525

7

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

Alenka MIŠKEC ANALYSIS OF THE COIN FINDS FROM THE GRAVES IN THE NORTHERN CEMETERY OF EMONA

ABSTRACT An analysis of Roman coins as grave goods in the northern cemetery of Emona revealed that these appear in only 15 % of graves, contesting the classical notion of placing coins in graves to cover Charon’s fare into the afterlife. Namely, Roman written sources convey the following: Charon only demanded a small amount for fare, one or two bronze coins, and the money had to be placed into the mouth. In cases where graves contained several coins, these cannot be considered as fare for Charon anymore, even less so if these were made from precious metals, i.e. silver or gold. These were placed in the graves due to their special significance to the deceased. When coins are part of jewellery, this is a secondary use of coins, functioning as any other jewellery in the grave context. We can conclude that the placing of coins in graves was not an obligatory part of the funerary ritual and people did not nurture this tradition en masse. Key words: Roman period, numismatics, funerary finds, funerary rites, Emona Ključne besede: rimska doba, numizmatika, grobne najde, grobni običaji, Emona

133

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

A famous figure from classical antiquity is the ferryman Charon who transports the dead across the river to the underworld. Since nothing in life is free, Charon expects to be paid for his efforts. Charon's obol had to be placed in or on the mouth of the deceased. This is one of the reasons why people deposited money in graves. But is it the only reason? To answer this question we analyzed in detail the northern cemetery of Emona, which is relatively well researched and published. This large cemetery stretched out along the road across Atrans to Celeia, Poetovio, and further east. Nowadays it is the area between Kongresni Square and the Exhibition and Convention

Centre in Slovenska Street, which continues northwards as Dunajska Street. The cemetery has been researched by many archaeologists over a long period of time and as a result the quality of the data on the graves and grave goods differs greatly. The grave complexes that were discovered accidentally or during excavations before 1961 were published by Sonja Petru (Petru, 1972). For the present analysis we used only the data from three systematically researched areas: in the first one, situated between Trdinova and Pražakova streets, Nowotny and Schmid unearthed 664 graves; the second area, excavated by Schmid on the Lenarčič lot, yielded 81 graves; in the third area, the Gra-

1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

all graves graves with coins

Plesničar

Novotny-Schmid

Schmid

Müllner

Diagram 1: The ratio of all graves to the graves containing coins from the various excavations in Emona. 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000

all graves graves with coins

800 600 400

Csákvár

Intercisa

Ságvár

Esztergom I

BátaszékKövesd

Somogyszil

KeszthelyDobogó

Tokod

Hegyeshalom

Esztergom II

Nagykanizsa I

0

Nagykanizsa II

200

Diagram 2: The ratio of all graves to the graves containing coins from different sites in Pannonia.

134

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

70 60 50 40 30 20 Emona

10

Poetovio Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antoninus Pius M. Aurelius L. Verus Commodus 1. and 2. Cent. Septimius Severus Caracalla Alexander Maximinus Thrax Gordianus III Philip the Arab Decius Gallienus Claudius Gothicus Aurelian Diocletian Licinius I Maximian Maximinus Daia Constantine I Constans Constantine II Magnentius Val. I, Valens, unidentified

0

Diagram 3: Share of coins from different periods in the graves from the cemeteries in Emona and Poetovio.

iser meadow lot, Müllner excavated 100 graves (Petru, 1972, 11, 145). This makes a total of 845 graves. From 1961 to 1968, Ljudmila Plesničar Gec led the excavations of the cemetery complex between Trdinova and Linhartova streets and unearthed a further 997 graves and she published the results of these excavations (Plesničar Gec, 1972). For comparison we used the data on the graves of the western cemeteries of Poetovio, published by Janka Istenič in Katalogi in Monografije no. 32, cemeteries in Venetia (Gorini, 1999), and Late Roman cemeteries from Pannonia (Torbágyi, 2009) and northern Gaul (Gorecki, 1979). Of the total of 1822 Emonian graves that were excavated and published, at least 100 graves were destroyed by bulldozer action or earlier in the past, and these are not relevant to our analysis. Of the remaining graves, 276 contained coins in addition to other grave goods. Diagram 1 shows the ratio of all graves to the graves containing coins from the various excavations. As mentioned earlier, the relatively small number of graves with coins from Plesničar’s excavations (Plesničar Gec, 1972) in comparison to the graves from the excavations of Nowotny–Schmid (Petru, 1972, 23–90, 151–163) most likely results from the high number of destroyed graves, of which some certainly must have contained coins. Put into

percentages, in the part of the cemetery excavated by Plesničar only 9.82 % graves yielded coins, the area excavated by Nowotny–Schmid 21.08 %, the Lenarčič lot nearly 30 %, and the Graiser meadow 16 %. The overall average is 15.4 %. The percentage of graves containing coins is somewhat higher in the western cemeteries of Poetovio – 20.6 % (Istenič, 1999). In Venetia, the practice of depositing coins in graves differs from period to period; it gradually increases until the start of the Julian-Claudian era, when over 50 % graves contain coins. This is also the highest percentage and in the 2nd century it gradually decreases to disappear completely in the 4th century. Gorini assumes that the ritual of placing coins in graves in Venetia was introduced with the arrival of the Romans, and that after reaching its climax in the Julian-Claudian era the custom slowly vanished (Gorini, 1999, 75). In the Pannonian cemeteries of Keszthely-Dobogó and Hegyeshalom, the share of graves with coins is quite high: 34.5 % in the first, and no less than 58 % in the latter. It must be mentioned however that the share of graves with coins decreases with the number of graves (Torbágyi, 2009). Bronze coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries dominate in the graves from the northern cemetery of Emona. Coins from the 1st century

135

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

Figure 1: Solidus of Magnentius, National museum of Slovenia, inv. no. LJ 12951.

Diagram 4: Percentages of coin denominations in the graves from the cemeteries in Emona.

represent 47 % of all grave coins, those from the 2nd century 18 %, and they thus total 65 %. Their share was certainly higher if we take into account a number of the very high portion of unidentified coins – 24 %. The shares of coins from the 3rd and 4th century are quite negligible as they total only 11 %. This picture provided by the northern cemetery of Emona is well complemented by the data from the western cemeteries of Poetovio. 1st-century coins rep-

resent 57 % of all deposited coins, nearly 20 % are from the 2nd century, and unidentified coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries have a joint 15 % share; this makes a total of 92 % (diagram 3). We may thus conclude that the ritual of placing coins in graves was more common in the first two centuries of the Imperial era. Even if we consider that coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries were placed in later graves, the practise effectively culminates in the Flavian period.

136

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

grave 32

grave 251

grave 877

grave 932

grave 320

denomination As As As As As Cen/AE 3 As As As As S coin coin D D D D D

emperor Gaius (Agrippa) Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius Augustus Claudius (Germanicus) Constantius II Tiberius (Divus Augustus) Vespasian Vespasian Augustus Nero ? ? Hadrian Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Diva Faustina I) Antoninus Pius (Diva Faustina I) M. Aurelius

mint Rom Rom Rom Rom Rom Sis

date 37–41 138–161 138–161 16–6 BC 50–54 337–361

Rom

22–30

Rom Rom Rom Rom ? ? Rom Rom

69–79 69–79 16–6 BC 64 ? ? 117–138 138–161

Rom

from 141

Rom

from 141

Rom

169–170

Figure 2: Graves in the northern cemetery of Emona containing more than two coins.

The graves from the cemetery of Emona mainly yielded coins of lower nominal values: a little over 60 % are asses, 3.5 % dupondii, and nearly 3% sesterces. Of the 23.5 % unidentified coins, the majority probably are asses as well. There are practically no coins made of precious metals. Denarii were found in only two graves; inhumation grave 320 contained a necklace made of 5 denarii (Petru, 1972, 44, 155), and grave 663 a denarius of Domitian (Petru, 1972, 64, 158). A quite exceptional find is the solidus of Magnentius from grave 513, excavated by Nowotny–Schmid (Petru, 1972, 53, 156; Jeločnik, 1971, 116–117). Only a small share of the graves in the northern cemetery of Emona contains larger numbers of coins: 0.4 % or eight graves (fig. 2). They were deposited in four inhumation graves and four cremation graves. The cremation graves are older as is evidenced by the coin finds. The example of grave 251, which contained an as of Augustus, an as of Germanicus, and a coin of Constantius II, clearly shows that

coins are not always the best source for dating graves. Because of the coin of Constantius II, this grave must be dated to after 361 even though it contained two coins from the 1st century, which were certainly no longer in circulation in the 4th century. In the other three cases as well, the coins are not temporally homogenous, since grave 32 contained in addition to an as of Agrippa two asses of Antoninus Pius. In the western cemetery of Poetovio, larger numbers of coins were found in four graves or 0.5 %, and this number is well in line with the northern cemetery of Emona. A survey of some large Pannonian cemeteries showed that the most common practice was to place one or two coins in a grave. Depositing larger numbers of coins in a grave became more common in the 4th century. A particular case are graves with more than five coins: in the Pannonian cemeteries there are seven graves with over 40 coins, and in four cases remnants of leather or textile were found close to the coins, which were certainly part of a pouch. They were usually found next

137

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

700 600 500 400

all graves

300

graves with coins

200 100

ed un de f in

om b at li n

on

bu ria

am ph gr or av a es :m ad eo fb ric ks bu ria li n an as h ur n

or iu m

cr em ati

bu ria

li n

ad ol

cr e sim pl y

in hu m at

io n

m ati on

gr av

gr av e

es

s

0

Diagram 5: The share of coins in different types of graves from the cemeteries in Emona.

to the hips of the deceased (Torbágyi, 2009). There are no such cases in the northern cemetery of Emona. Some finds are particularly interesting, e.g. from grave 320 in the northern cemetery of Emona, which contained 5 silver coins: 1 denarius of Hadrian, 3 of Antoninus Pius and 1 of Marcus Aurelius (Petru, 1972, 44, 155, fig. 2). Two coins revealed a remnant of a silver ear and these were certainly part of a necklace. In this connection we must mention the famous grave form Karlovška Street near the Samassa villa: discovered in 1914 it contained in addition to small glass bottles and balsamaria a necklace made of gold coins of Gallienus and glass medallions. Unfortunately, the necklace is lost (Petru, 1972, 122–123; 173). Both are cases of secondary use of coins and they have the same function in the graves as other jewellery. Coins were found in both inhumation and cremation graves: of the total 1882 graves, 221 are inhumation graves, a good 12 %, and the remaining 88 % consist of 1601 cremation graves. Cremation graves are more common and they have different forms (diagram 5). Most coins were found in graves which were simply dug in the ground – 36.5 %. They are followed by graves made of bricks or tegulae, representing 30 % of the graves with coins. These two types of graves are generally the most common ones.

In 10 % of the graves the coins were found in burials in a dolium or amphora. Coins are rarer in inhumation graves – only 17 %. The burial method allows us to establish to which social class the deceased belonged. Müllner thought that the deceased buried in a dolium were at approximately the same position on the social ladder as those buried in brick cists (?), because a dolium cost about as much as five bricks. Concerning inhumation graves, we have enough accurate data on the position of the coins only in Petru’s publication. In the 25 inhumation graves coins were found on the neck vertebrae, below the mandible or next to the skull in ten cases; these positions may indicate that the coins were placed in the deceased’s mouth. In two cases the coins were deposited at the legs, and in one near a hand or on the breast. There are no accurate data for 11 graves. Interpretation: In the cemetery of Emona coins were found in only 15 % of all graves. If we associate placing coins in graves with the classical idea of the transition into the underworld from antique sources, we can hardly say that they represent Charon’s fee. Antique written sources (especially Roman ones) indeed inform us that Charon required only a modest fee for the transfer – one or two bronze coins, to be placed in the mouth of the deceased. In the cases where several coins were found in a grave,

138

EMONA – med Akvilejo in Panonijo EMONA – between Aquileia and Pannonia

they cannot be associated with Charon’s fee. In particular not when this involved coins made of precious metals like silver and gold coins. Conclusion – When a grave contains one or two bronze coins and they are found near the head, we may associate them with Charon’s fee for the passage to the underworld. – Some coins may have been placed in graves because of the special value and significance they had to the deceased, especially gold coins and medallions. – Where coins are part of a piece of jewellery, this means a secondary use of coins and they have the same function in graves as other jewellery. – Coins were found in inhumation as ...