An Early Roman Iron Age Grave containing a Roman Gold Coin

Abstract

An Early Roman Iron Age Grave containing a Roman Gold Coin

A grave found at Bæk in Nustrup parish near Haderslev has not previously received the attention it deserves. The excavation uncovered a little burial chamber built of field stones in which the body had been placed lying in a log coffin (fig. 2). The chamber was covered by a 4.5 x 2 m heap of stones and surrounded by a ring-shaped cobbling 4-5 m wide (fig.1). The grave goods were modest, but included remarkable objects. Apart from two pots there was a spur of iron and bronze decorated with silver wire, and a Roman gold coin (figs.3- 4). The coin is an aureus minted in Lugdunum in the reign of the emperor Tiberius. The spur is the type called a stool spur and has X-shaped stool, two rivets, and inlaid silver wire decoration on the spike. Among the covering stones there were also found sherds of pottery and a fragment of a bronze pin (fig.6).

The grave can be dated to the later phase of the Older Roman Iron Age, phase B2 (the end of the first and first half of the second century). However as the pottery retains some old features and the spur still has two instead of four rivets, the date is most likely to be early in the phase.

The Bæk grave has certain features in common with the "princely graves" of "Lübsow type". The spur implies the burial was that of a mounted fighter, and the coin is evidence of wealth and wide connections, while weapons are missing as they are in other graves of similar type. In distinction from the Lübsow graves, which are richer, the Bæk burial has no other Roman imports than the coin. This is evidence of a further hierarchization of the upper strata of Iron Age society. Per Ethelberg sees cavalry graves without weapons as the burials of chieftains intermediate in rank between "warriors" and "princes" (Ethelberg 1995, 131f).

What makes the grave from Bæk especially noteworthy is that the coin is the only one found in a Roman period grave in Jutland, and that the grave is the earliest dated one in Denmark containing a coin. In Denmark 20 other Iron Age graves have been found with Roman coins in them, 9 in Zealand, 8 in Funen, and 3 on Bornholm. They are all from the Later Roman Iron Age, and Bæk is the only grave with a coin from the Older Roman period.

Silver denarii make up the commonest category in graves (18 coins). There are only 2 aurei and 1 imitation aureus, and also 2 solidi and 3 siliquae. It should be noted that most graves held only a single coin regardless of the quality of the remaining equipment. This suggests that the presence of coins in graves was determined not so much by wealth and status as perhaps by religious concepts. An obvious explanation would be that the coins were intended as payment for the journey to the kingdom of the dead, as a kind of "Charon's penny".

If coins could be used for payment in death rituals the question is raised whether they could not do the same in the world of the living. What function could these foreign coins have had in the Iron Age economy? It has been assumed that in a region like South Scandinavia Roman coins were primarily raw materials for metal handwork, and played no role in trade and exchange. The finds from Illerup Ådal and Gudme/Lundeborg argue however for their use as a means of payment.

In the ritual weapon deposit from Illerup the personal possessions of the vanquished had included nearly 200 denarii, found singly or in small groups. It seems the coins were often kept in a separate purse. If the equipment included tools and scrap metal, the coins were usually kept apart. This must show that coins were not regarded just as raw material.

The Lundeborg excavations gave the same impression. At this trading and industrial site traces of various crafts, including bronze and silver working, were restricted to certain parts of the site. If the denarii were to be regarded exclusively as raw material, one would expect them to have the same distribution over the site as the metalworking remains. However they do not. The coins appear to be evenly distributed over the whole excavation area. Also in the "king's hall" at Gudme many denarii were scattered over the area, as was also the case with the small pieces of cut gold. Thus they could not be interpreted as belonging to a dispersed board or as workshop waste, but are more likely to reflect that means of payment circulated at the site.

It is single and scattered finds of Roman coins in particular that can give the impression of coins in circulation, because they were usually lost accidentally. For this reason they can be assumed to be a very accurate selection of the total coins in circulation, unlike the hoards, which no doubt were usually a subjective selection.

Examination of the spectra of single finds from different parts of Denmark and from some areas further south (figs. 7-10) showed that in areas where it can be supposed that there were direct trade contacts with the Roman Empire (i.e. in areas close to the limes and along the important trade routes, fig.10), can be seen

1) a high proportion of bronze and copper coins among the single finds,

2) the presence of the more debased denarii from after Septimius Severus, and the Antonine denarii that were introduced by Caralla and had a very low silver content.

The fact that in these areas coins that were nearly valueless in precious metal content were in circulation, is best explained as being because they could be used as means of payment in direct exchange with the Roman provinces.

If the spectra from the Danish regions are examined one by one, it is found that the pattern in Funen is not at all suggestive of such direct contacts (fig. 8, diag. 1). Here good quality gold and silver coins were found almost exclusively. Moreover the spectrum of the single finds of denarii was similar to that observed in many denarius hoards in "Germania libera", which also contained exclusively the older, better quality coins. Outside the Empire these coins remained extremely long in circulation. In the case of Funen it may be supposed most of the coins were not imported until the 4th century, when Gudme and Lundeborg had their heyday.

The pattern in Jutland is surprisingly similar to that found at the mouth of the Weser (fig. 9). It is therefore possible that Jutland had closer contacts with the south, including the Roman Empire, than has hitherto been supposed from its share of the imported Roman luxury goods.

It is equally surprising that the coin spectrum of Zealand fails to reflect the central function which the island would seem from its imports to have enjoyed in the Later Roman period, especially in period C1b. The numismatic composition clearly does not confirm the hypothesis of direct sea­going trade between Zealand and the Roman Rhine provinces, bypassing Jutland.

Carsten Korthauer