Coins from the Excavations at Sardis: Their Archaeological and Economic Contexts: Coins from the 1973 to 2013 Excavations

by: De Rose Evans, J.

Sardis, capital city of the Lydian and Persian kings, stronghold of the Seleukid kings, metropolis of Roman Asia, and episcopal see in the Byzantine period, has been the focus of archaeological research since the early 1900s. This monograph focuses on the over 8,000 coins minted in the Lydian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods that were excavated between 1973 and 2013 in the Harvard–Cornell Expedition.

The book places coins within eastern Mediterranean historical, cultural, and economic contexts, in order to better understand the monetized economy of Sardis. It adds important archaeological context to shed light on the uses of coins and the nature of the deposits, with attention paid to the problems of monetary circulation and chronological development of the deposits, especially in the Late Roman period. Statistical analyses, including a new method of analyzing the deposits, help define the nature and chronological horizons of the strata. A catalog of the coins concludes the main body of the study, followed by appendices on countermarks, monograms, and statistical analyses.

List of Tables and Figures*
Editors? Preface
Acknowledgments
Summary
Özet
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. Excavation Coins as Evidence of the Economy and Trade
2.1. The Lydian Period
2.2. The Hellenistic Era: The Late Fourth to Early Third Century BC
2.2.1. Sardis as a Seleucid Mint: The Third and Second Centuries BC
2.2.2. The Problem of the Opening of the Civic Mint for Bronze Coins at Sardis
2.3. The Early Imperial Era: Augustus to the Second Century
2.4. The Third Century
2.5. The Fourth Century
2.5.1. Recalls, Primary Deposits, or Residuals?
2.5.2. AACL/1000 for Fourth- and Fifth-Century Coins at Sardis
2.6. The Fifth Century and Coin Circulation
2.7. The Byzantine Period: The Sixth through Thirteenth Centuries
2.7.1. The Sixth Century
2.7.2. The Seventh Century
2.7.3. Late Seventh and Eighth Centuries
2.7.4. The Ninth through Thirteenth Centuries
3. Archaeological Contexts of Note
3.1. Lydian Contexts
3.2. Late Fourth-/Early Third- to Second-Century BC Deposits
3.2.1. PN Destruction Deposit
3.2.2. Other Early Hellenistic Deposits
3.2.3. Theater Deposits
3.2.4. Second-Century BC Deposits
3.3. Early Imperial Contexts
3.3.1. The Votive Deposit in Field 49
3.3.2. The Wadi B Temple
3.4. Grave Gifts
3.4.1. Hellenistic Burials
3.4.2. Early to High Imperial Burials
3.4.3. Late Roman Burials
3.5. Late Roman Contexts: The Fourth and Fifth Centuries
3.5.1. Fourth-Century Contexts
3.5.2. Fifth-Century Contexts
3.6. Byzantine Contexts: The Sixth through Early Seventh Centuries
3.7. Coins Used as Amulets
3.8. Hoards
Appendices
1. Countermarks
2. Monograms and Control Marks
3. Reverse Descriptions of Late Roman Bronzes
4. Statistical Analysis Formulas
Catalogue of the Coins
Lydian through Roman Coins
Late Roman Coins
Byzantine Coins
Bibliography
Concordance of Field Numbers/M13 Numbers
Index of Names/Geographical Places
General Index
Plates
* List of Tables and Figures
Tables
Table 2.1. Comparison of suggested denominations, Hellenistic period, Sardis mint.
Table 2.2. Byzantine mint production and representation of the mints at Sardis.
Table 3.1. Coins in the PN Domestic Unit XIX and XX Hoard.
Table 3.2. Coins from Hellenistic trash midden, MMS/S 94.2.
Table 3.3. Coins in soil layer within fill, ByzFort 91.17.
Table 3.4. Coins from Field 49 09.1: earthquake cleanup.
Table 3.5. Coins from Early Roman fills in Field 49.
Table 3.6. Coins from the terrace fill for the Wadi B Temple.
Table 3.7. First- and second-century coins found in the excavations of the Wadi B Temple.
Table 3.8. Imperial tomb groups containing coins.
Table 3.9. Late Roman and Byzantine grave gifts of coins.
Table 3.10a. 4th c. Deposit 1: Room 7 of the Late Roman Townhouse, packing.
Table 3.10b. 4th c. Deposit 2: Room 6 of the Late Roman Townhouse, under tile floor.
Table 3.10c. 4th c. Deposit 3: Room (Corridor) 4 of the Late Roman Townhouse.
Table 3.10d. 4th c. Deposit 4: Closure of drain and latrine complex under the lower mosaic of the south portico of MMS/N plaza.
Table 3.11a. 5th c. Deposit 1: Bedding of the lower mosaic of the south portico of MMS/N plaza.
Table 3.11b. 5th c. Deposit 2: Late Roman Townhouse, Room 10 hydraulic feature.
Table 3.11c. 5th c. Deposit 3: Late Roman Townhouse, Room 3, sealed beneath tile floor.
Table 3.11d. 5th c. Deposit 4: House west of the Late Roman Townhouse, floor.
Table 3.11e. 5th c. Deposit 5: Late Roman Townhouse, Room 23, packing for floor.
Table 3.11f. 5th c. Deposit 6: Mosaic bedding from the Late Roman domestic complex in PN.
Table 3.11g. 5th c. Deposit 7: Late Roman building complex, under floor.
Table 3.11h. 5th c. Deposit 8: Roman building, floor with Hoard 4 underneath.
Table 3.12a. 6/7th c. Deposit 1: Late Roman Townhouse, Room 3, under plaster bedding for floor.
Table 3.12b. 6/7th c. Deposit 2: MMS-II 85.1 well.
Table 3.12c. 6/7th c. Deposit 3: Bedding of the upper mosaic of the south portico of MMS/N plaza.
Table 3.12d. 6/7th c. Deposit 4: Tile fall on top of the upper mosaic of the south portico of MMS/N plaza.
Table 3.13. Hoard 1: Late Roman Townhouse, Room 10.
Table 3.14. Hoard 8: Field 49 11.1.
Table 3.15. Comparative hoards of copper-alloy coins closed in mid- to late fifth or early sixth century from the eastern Mediterranean.
Table App. 1.1. Countermarks on Hellenistic coins.
Table App. 1.2. Countermarks on Seleucid coins.
Table App. 1.3. Countermarks on Roman Provincial coins.
Table App. 2.1. Monograms on Hellenistic city coins.
Table App. 2.2. Seleucid control marks.
Table App. 2.3. Late Roman monograms.
Table App. 2.4. Lead seals.
Table App. 3.1a. Reverse types, 324–348 AD.
Table App. 3.1b. Reverse types, 324–364 AD.
Table App. 3.1c. Reverse types, 364–450 AD.
Table App. 3.1d. Reverse types, 450–498 AD.
Table App. 4.1. Periodization for AACL/1000 calculations.
Table App. 4.2a. Chi-Square Goodness of Fit test results for “normal” cities, periods 1–8.
Table App. 4.2b. Chi-Square Goodness of Fit test results for “normal” cities, periods 9–17.
Figures (Plates 7–19)
Figure 1.1. Map of Sardis.
Figure 2.1. Average Annual Coin Loss/1000 for cities in the Roman East, Augustus through the Tetrarchy, all cities tested with Chi-Square Goodness of Fit test.
Figure 2.2. Average Annual Coin Loss/1000 for cities in the Roman East, Augustus through the Tetrarchy, cities with “normal” profile.
Figure 2.3. Average Annual Coin Loss/1000 for cities in the Roman East, Late Roman to Early Byzantine periods, all cities tested with Chi-Square Goodness of Fit test.
Figure 2.4. Average Annual Coin Loss/1000 for cities in the Roman East, Late Roman through Early Byzantine periods, cities with “normal” profile.
Figure 2.5. Comparative cities for Average Annual Coin Loss/1000 calculations.
Figure 2.6. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, end of the fourth to beginning of the third century BC, with major roads.
Figure 2.7. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, ca. 280–200 BC.
Figure 2.8. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, 200–100 BC.
Figure 2.9. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, 100–31 BC.
Figure 2.10. Diameters of Herakles/Apollo and Apollo/club coins in millimeters.
Figure 2.11. Weight of Herakles/Apollo and Apollo/club coins in grams.
Figure 2.12. Weights of Seleucid bronze issues from Sardis and Pergamum, compared to Herakles/Apollo and Apollo/club bronzes.
Figure 2.13. Comparison of diameters of Seleucid and Attalid coins, with Herakles/Apollo and Apollo/club bronzes.
Figure 2.14. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, Augustan era.
Figure 2.15. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, Julio-Claudian and Flavian eras.
Figure 2.16. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, first half of the second century AD.
Figure 2.17. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, second half of the second century AD.
Figure 2.18. Distribution of mints represented in the Sardis excavation coins, 200–270 AD.
Figure 2.19. Percentages of coins from mints of Justin II from the Sardis excavation coins.
Figure 3.1. Percentage of coins from unstratified (NoEx) and stratified contexts in Sardis.
Figure 3.2. Schematic layout of graves in HoB Mausoleum, with grave gifts and coins.
Figure 3.3. Mean Coin Date of fourth- to early seventh-century deposits: percentage of coins in deposit falling below the MCD.
Figure 3.4. Percentages of coins by minting date from contexts in MMS/N.
Figure 3.5. Percentages of coins by minting dates from fifth-century hoards at Sardis.

Coins from the Excavations at Sardis: Their Archaeological and Economic Contexts: Coins from the 1973 to 2013 Excavations

by: De Rose Evans, J.

• ISBN-13: 9780674987258 / 978-0-674-98725-8
• ISBN-03: 067498725X / 0-674-98725-X
• Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2018