07-04-2021, 08:29 AM
(07-03-2021, 04:17 PM)John1 Wrote: A little before lock down I was lucky enough to be a part of finding a hoard of Roman coins in South Northamptonshire not far from Towcester.Nice find. All I can add is my personal thoughts, which is that a hoard like this probably was buried for safekeeping. In the same way as someone today might put their most valuable items in a safe before going on holiday, someone in the early 5th century, without modern safes would attempt to hide items by burying. But those hoards would be close to, or within houses.
But hiding wealth would be especially true of lone traders. Before going to a dodgy area, the trader would bury their accumulated wealth and proceed with the bare minimum to do business, so that if they were robbed, the bulk of their wealth could be retrieved. Unfortunately, they wouldn't survive all robberies - indeed people died just crossing rivers - and again, if you had to do business on the other side and return, you might bury most of your stash, for fear of losing it on the crossing and then pick it up on return.
Of course, some stashes are clearly religious as they occur around proven sacred sites.
Oh the grand oh Duke Suetonius, he had a Roman legion, he galloped rushed down to (a minor settlement called) Londinium then he galloped rushed back again. Londinium Bridge is falling down, falling down ... HOLD IT ... change of plans, we're leaving the bridge for Boudica and galloping rushing north.
