TY - JOUR
T1 - Large Imperial Gold Medallions from the Fourth Century
T2 - Reflections on the Distribution and Use of Roman Medallions in Barbaricum – The Medallions from the Vindelev Hoard, Denmark
AU - Horsnæs, Helle
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Just a few days before Christmas 2020 one of the most outstanding finds from Denmark in recent years appeared during a private metal detecting session of a field at Vindelev, eastern Jutland, c.10 km northeast of the later Viking Age center at Jelling. The total find is a ploughed-up gold hoard consisting of four Roman medallions, thirteen Nordic gold bracteates, some of which are the largest specimens so far known, a large gold pendant with glass inlays, and a scabbard mount (Pl. X, 1). The total weighed almost one kilo of gold. The scabbard mount is the heaviest and latest item of the hoard. It dates the deposition of the hoard no earlier than c. AD 500–550. During subsequent emergency excavations on the site just a single fragment of a Nordic gold bracteate was recovered, but the excavations revealed evidence of extensive settlement remains and thus add important information about the local context. This presentation, however, will focus on the four Roman gold medallions from the hoard and the distribution of finds of similar medallions inside and outside the Roman empire, and their important role as evidence of élite connectivity on a European scale. The four Roman medallions from Vindelev were produced between AD 335 and 375, during the reigns of the emperors Constantine the Great, Constans, Valentinian I, and Gratian. Both individually and as a closed context they are of great interest for, among other things, the study of cultural interaction in the crucial time from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval period. There are two large and two medium-sized medallions in the hoard; this presentation will therefore focus on large and medium-sized medallions. Medium-sized medallions are here defined as medallions with an estimated weight of 2.5 to 3.5 solidi, while medallions with an estimated weight of 4 solidi or more are described as large. This is necessarily an approximation as the added rims and loops allow no precision. The more common small medallions often referred to as multiples of 1½ and 2 solidi will not be considered in detail.
AB - Just a few days before Christmas 2020 one of the most outstanding finds from Denmark in recent years appeared during a private metal detecting session of a field at Vindelev, eastern Jutland, c.10 km northeast of the later Viking Age center at Jelling. The total find is a ploughed-up gold hoard consisting of four Roman medallions, thirteen Nordic gold bracteates, some of which are the largest specimens so far known, a large gold pendant with glass inlays, and a scabbard mount (Pl. X, 1). The total weighed almost one kilo of gold. The scabbard mount is the heaviest and latest item of the hoard. It dates the deposition of the hoard no earlier than c. AD 500–550. During subsequent emergency excavations on the site just a single fragment of a Nordic gold bracteate was recovered, but the excavations revealed evidence of extensive settlement remains and thus add important information about the local context. This presentation, however, will focus on the four Roman gold medallions from the hoard and the distribution of finds of similar medallions inside and outside the Roman empire, and their important role as evidence of élite connectivity on a European scale. The four Roman medallions from Vindelev were produced between AD 335 and 375, during the reigns of the emperors Constantine the Great, Constans, Valentinian I, and Gratian. Both individually and as a closed context they are of great interest for, among other things, the study of cultural interaction in the crucial time from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval period. There are two large and two medium-sized medallions in the hoard; this presentation will therefore focus on large and medium-sized medallions. Medium-sized medallions are here defined as medallions with an estimated weight of 2.5 to 3.5 solidi, while medallions with an estimated weight of 4 solidi or more are described as large. This is necessarily an approximation as the added rims and loops allow no precision. The more common small medallions often referred to as multiples of 1½ and 2 solidi will not be considered in detail.
KW - Roman archaeology
KW - Roman numismatics
KW - Scandinavia Iron Age
KW - gold medallions
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0078-2696
VL - 183
SP - 169
EP - 188
JO - Numismatic Chronicle
JF - Numismatic Chronicle
ER -