Monedele arpadiene din necropola de la Vălcani
Arpadian coins from the Vălcani necropolis

Summary/Abstract: The early medieval funerary sites near Vălcani have been unearthed beside other archaeological features from the Neolithic to the Modern Ages. In the case of the earliest funerary site, 37 graves have been registered, the main characteristic of them was the heterogeneity of orientations (E–W, NE–SW, NNE–SSW, W–E, SSW–NNE). It was the first time that Early Avar Age archaeological research was conducted in graves with niches south of the Aranca/Aranka River. On the base of the material culture, the funerary site (Szentes type Páhipuszta subtype earring, wire bracelet with a prolated end, beads) can be dated to the second third of the 7th century.The funerary site from the 10–11th centuries has been much more varied than the former one and is the biggest one in Banat. The 197 graves uncovered here constitute the biggest funerary site in the western part of today’s Romania. The majority of the graves are orientated – with minor differences – in the W–E direction, but in some cases, we registered E–W orientations too. The deceased, primarily their arms were found in very heterogeneous positions. Burials with horses were documented in 10 cases, in four cases only the horse trappings were deposited in the burials (stirrups, bits, harness buckles). As food preparation, some parts of the animals were placed in the graves (probably sheep bones).The material culture, like the ritual practices, are very heterogeneous: jewelry was registered (earrings, lock rings, finger rings, bracelets), weapons (bows, quivers, arrowheads), horse trappings (pear- and trapeze shaped stirrups, horse bits, harness buckles), tools (needle case, needle, strike-a-lights), coins (Arpadian-issues). Some aspects of the material culture have connections with the material culture of the Late Avar Age (for example the needle case).In this article we have analyzed the Arpadian coins issued in the 11th century found in the necropolis – Stephen I (2), Andrew I (1), Solomon (3), unidentified (1) – and their analogies in the area of Banat, but also in the region extending to the north, delimited by the Criș River. While they correspond to previous finds in cemeteries in which the most recent coins are from the reign of Solomon (1063–1074), similarly to those finds, they do not provide new answers to the existing questions regarding the exact chronology or chronological sequence of the encountered monetary types of 11th century Hungarian coins.

• Details
• Contents