Münzen aus der Arpadenzeit in siebenbürgischen Kirchenfriedhöfen
The presence of the Arpadian coins discovered in the churchyard cemeteries from TRANSYLVANIA

Summary/Abstract: The goal of the paper is to provide an inventory and an analysis of the coins discovered during the archaeological excavations on medieval churchyards located in Transylvania. So, at this research stage, a differentiation between churchyards from north central Transylvania and those from southern Transylvania stands out, an exception being emphasized by the region of Haţeg Land. The the first case brought to light arpadian coins from the 11th century, the second case revealed that the oldest coins are from the time of Geza II. In our analysis, we observe that in the 11th and the 12th centuries’ cemeteries, most of the coins are placed on the mouth, rarely, put in the hand. There are no concrete cases in which the coin had been layed on the sternum. Another feature of those churchyards is the dominance of the graves without inventory, also the rarity of the burials with coins. We have observed that the anonymous denars dominate the monetary horizon of the 12th century. We should also note the case of Geoagiu de Jos, where a big number of coins issued by Coloman have been found. The coin presence in graves as Obolus is more rarely beginning with the mid-13th century. The coins from the second half of the 13th century are almost missing. It is also noted that some coins from graves were cut or torn; it is possible that these have been prepared as such to be part of the funeral ritual, which is highly to be understood as a symbolic destruction of the object.

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