The Late Roman Solidus Hoard from Lienden (Prov
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NICO ROyMANS · STIJN HEEREN THE LATE ROMAN SOLIDUS HOARD FROM LIENDEN (PROV. GeLDERLAND / NL) A WINDOW ON ROMANO-FRANKISH Contacts IN THE MID-5TH CENTURy LOWER RHINE REGION DISCOVERY OF THE HOARD In 2016 the Netherlands passed new legislation, in which metal detection is allowed under certain condi tions (see epilogue below). In the summer of 2016, coinciding with the change in legislation, the Vrije Uni versiteit Amsterdam opened a national reporting point – PAN (Portable Antiquities of the Netherlands) – for archaeological fnds discovered by private individuals using metal detectors 1. In the very frst month of the PAN project, we received a report of a remarkable fnd of 23 Late Roman gold coins recovered that year in an orchard at »Den Eng« in the village of Lienden, in Buren municipality, Gelderland province (fig. 1). We Fig. 1 Topographical location of Lienden in the province of Gelderland (NL). – (Map B. Brouwenstijn, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 47 · 2017 397 Fig. 2 Overview of the Lienden gold hoard (prov. Gelderland / NL). – (Photo Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen). were also contacted by two other detectorists who had collected eight Late Roman gold coins at precisely the same spot in 2012 when mechanical diggers were preparing the feld for the planting of an orchard. One year earlier, in 2011, a gold coin of Constantine III had been found at the same site in Lienden 2. We continued the search in the archives. It emerged that gold coins almost certainly belonging to the same hoard had been discovered on that same plot of land in the 1840s. N. C. Kist, a clergyman, reported in his 1846 publication that when visiting Lienden he was shown a number of gold coins recovered from the »Den Eng« site. He mentioned three Valentinian, three Constantine and two Honorius coins 3. Several years earlier, in 1842, L. J. F. Janssen, curator of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, had sighted a solidus of emperor Majorian that had come from Lienden 4 . The exact fndspot was not named, but it was reported that the coin was in the possession of Baron van Brakell, who owned the land at »Den Eng« where the 1840s fnds and the recent fnds were discovered 5. Again, in 1905, a gold coin of Valentinian III was found at the site where the coins mentioned by N. C. Kist had been discovered earlier 6 . Unfortunately, none of these coins recorded in the archives can be traced. Some of them are thought to have ended up in the col lection of the local antiquarian G.-J. Brenkman in Tiel following the death of van Brakell. That collection was lost in the Second World War. COMPOSITION AND DATING OF THE HOARD All the coins – 42 in total – are Roman solidi from the late 4th and 5th centuries (figs 2-5). This is a minimum number, however, because the hoard is almost certainly incomplete. We do not know how many coins were 398 N. Roymans · S. Heeren · The Late Roman solidus from Lienden Fig. 3 Lienden gold hoard (prov. Gelderland / NL), solidi of Valentinian II and Honorius. The numbers correspond to tab. 2. – (Photos R. Reijnen, PAN). – Scale 3:2. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 47 · 2017 399 Fig. 4 Lienden gold hoard (prov. Gelderland / NL), solidi of Honorius, Constantine III and Jovinus. The numbers correspond to tab. 2. – (Photos R. Reijnen, PAN). – Scale 3:2. 400 N. Roymans · S. Heeren · The Late Roman solidus from Lienden Fig. 5 Lienden gold hoard (prov. Gelderland / NL), solidi of Johannes and Valentinian III. The numbers correspond to tab. 2. – (Photos R. Reijnen, PAN). – Scale 3:2. found in the years 1840-2016 and were not reported emperor no. in the literature 7. This collection of at least 42 solidi Valentinian II 375-392 5 from Lienden spans a long period from 375 to 461 Honorius 395-423 10 Constantinus III 407-411 13 (tabs 1-2). 30 coins were struck in the late 4th or Jovinus 411-413 1 early 5th century: fve by Valentinian II, ten by Hono Johannes 423-425 1 rius, 13 by Constantine III, and one each by Jovinus Valentinian III 425-455 8 and Johannes. For three Valentinian coins, the exact Valentinian II / III 3 emperor they were minted by cannot be specifed. Majorian 457-461 1 There are also nine coins from the second or third total 42 th quarter of the 5 century: eight of Valentinian III and Tab. 1 The composition of the Lienden solidus hoard (prov. Gel the terminal coin of Majorian. The Valentinian III derland / NL). Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 47 · 2017 401 no. emperor date RIC weight mint year of NUMIS PAN (g) discovery / source 1 Valentinian II 383393 RIC IX 8(a)/9(a) 4.59 Milan 2012 1129480 8915 2 Valentinian II 388392 RIC IX 90a 4.48 Trier 2016 1129444 8871 3 Valentinian II 388392 RIC IX 90a 4.48 Trier 2016 1129450 8872 4 Valentinian II 388392 RIC IX 90a 4.42 Trier 2016 1129458 8873 5 Valentinian II 388392 RIC IX 90a 4.48 Trier 2012 1129479 8916 6 Valentinian I / II / III Kist 1846 7 Valentinian I / II / III Kist 1846 8 Valentinian I / II / III Kist 1846 9 Honorius 394-402 RIC X 1206 4.43 Milan 2016 1129448 8874 10 Honorius 394-402 RIC X 1206 4.44 Milan 2016 1129453 8875 11 Honorius 394-402 RIC X 1206 4.46 Milan 2012 1129474 8917 12 Honorius 402-403/405-406 RIC X 1287 4.48 Ravenna 2016 1129442 8876 13 Honorius 402-403/405-406 RIC X 1287 4.45 Ravenna 2016 1129443 8877 14 Honorius 402-403/405-406 RIC X 1287 4.44 Ravenna 2016 1129455 8878 15 Honorius 402-403/405-406 RIC X 1287 4.42 Ravenna 2016 1129459 8879 16 Honorius 402-403/405-406 RIC X 1287 4.47 Ravenna 2016 1129452 8880 17 Honorius 395-423 Kist 1846 18 Honorius 395-423 Kist 1846 19 Constantine I / II / III Kist 1846 20 Constantine I / II / III Kist 1846 21 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1512 4.51 Lyon 2012 1129476 8918 22 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.47 Trier 2016 1129449 8881 23 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.47 Trier 2016 1129451 8882 24 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.48 Trier 2016 1129456 8883 25 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.47 Trier 2016 1129461 8884 26 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.48 Trier 2012 1129478 8919 27 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.52 Trier 2012 1129481 8920 28 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1514 4.45 Trier 2011 1126316 29 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1515 4.46 Trier 2012 1129477 8921 30 Constantine III 408-411 RIC X 1521 4.49 Arles 2016 1129460 8885 31 Constantine III 408-411 Trier Kist 1846 32 Jovinus 411-413 RIC X 1701 4.49 Trier 2016 1129454 8886 33 Johannes 423-425 RIC X 1901 4.48 Ravenna 2016 1129439 8887 34 Valentinian III 426-430 RIC X 2010 4.45 Ravenna 2016 1129440 8892 35 Valentinian III 426-430 RIC X 2010 4.46 Ravenna 2016 1129446 8888 36 Valentinian III 426-430 RIC X 2010 4.41 Ravenna 2016 1129447 8889 37 Valentinian III 426-430 RIC X 2011 4.45 Ravenna 2016 1129457 8890 38 Valentinian III 430-445 RIC X 2018 4.46 Ravenna 2016 1129445 8891 39 Valentinian III 425-455 Ravenna Heuff 1906 1130403 40 Valentinian III, imitation 439-455 RIC X 3715 4.44 2012 1129475 8922 41 Valentinian III, imitation 439-455 RIC X 3715 4.49 2016 1129441 8893 42 Majorian 457-461 Kramer-Clobus 1043873 1978, 484 Tab. 2 Description of the solidi from the Lienden hoard (prov. Gelderland / NL). – The numbering of the coins corresponds to figs 3-5. 402 N. Roymans · S. Heeren · The Late Roman solidus from Lienden coins include two imitations (tab. 2; fig. 5, 40-41), which were minted in the years 439-455, probably by the Visigoths in southern Gaul 8. The coins from the hoard were therefore struck by different emperors over a period of some 80 years. This mixed composition appears typical of all Late Roman solidus hoards (tab. 3). It is remarkable that all the solidi were minted by emperors from the Western Roman Empire (tab. 2), whereas almost all other 5thcentury hoards also contain coins minted by emperors from the Eastern Empire 9. The Lienden fnd belongs to the group of medium-sized solidus hoards from the Lower Rhine region (see tab. 3) and appears to be the latest Roman coin hoard currently known from this area. The terminal coin is of emperor Majorian, who reigned from 457 to 461, which means that the hoard was most likely buried in the late 450s or 460s. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT Following the gold fnds reported to us, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Rijksdienst voor het Cul tureel Erfgoed organised a control excavation, which uncovered an area of approx. 75 m2 at the site where the coins were discovered (figs 6-7) 10. The landowner and tenant granted access to the plot, although working in an orchard would entail digging tight rows of small trenches. First, we wanted to know whether part of the hoard was still in the ground, and secondly, whether the fnds had been buried in a jar, pouch or some other container. Lastly, there was the question of the hoard’s archaeological context.