The Uncertainty of Sailing: "Hidden" Coin Hoards from Late Imperial Roman Shipwrecks

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Innovative Approaches to Finding Agency in Objects" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

When reading first-hand accounts of shipwrecks in the late Imperial Roman world, the authors describe the apparently common custom of tying their wealth around their necks as a vessel founders. Therefore, one might expect non-religious coin hoards to be a rare find on shipwrecks from this date. However, not only have coin hoards been recovered from several wrecks but, in some cases, they were found in “hidden” locations, under the ceiling planking and inside pots full of pitch. Late Roman and Early Byzantine legal documents make it clear that passengers could have entrusted their possessions to the captain, but these “hidden” coin hoards make it clear that sometimes those on board preferred hide their valuables. Careful analysis of the coins and their archaeological context combined with anthropological approaches can help identify who might have hidden these coins and why.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Innovative Approaches to Finding Agency in Objects

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 1009