[ad_1]
A study from the University of Cambridge indicates that the discovery of the medieval Chinese coin dating from the beginning of the 11th century is a real find. The 25mm copper alloy coin was discovered at Buriton, near Petersfield, and archaeologists have now confirmed that this ancient coin dates from the period of the Northern Song Dynasty.
This is now the second such coin found in England, with an earlier example unearthed in Cheshire in 2018.
The pair adds to a wealth of other Chinese currencies discovered in England dating from somewhat later periods.
Both 11th-century objects were found in areas associated with other medieval finds.
These included two Roman coins, weights from the medieval and post-medieval period, pieces of medieval copper alloy casting waste, and objects dating from the 16th to the 18th century, including coins from Elizabeth I .
READ MORE: Knights Templar: The Lost Secrets Of The Crusaders Who ‘Carried The Holy Grail’
Dr Caitlin Green of the University of Cambridge wrote: “All in all, the post-Roman findings at the site suggest relatively mundane activity at the site from around 1300 to 1750, with nothing else to suggest a deposit. deliberate exotic or a loss of a parish priest. collection.”
The presence of two similar pieces corroborates the evidence of their authenticity.
The Chinese Northern Song Dynasty minted these coins in such quantities that they remained in circulation long after the dynasty ended in the 1120s.
There is growing evidence that travelers from East Asia were present in Britain and Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.
When the 2018 coin was discovered in Cheshire, the archaeologist suggested that several pieces of documentary evidence pointed to an interaction between Britain and East Asia during medieval times.
In 2018, the Portable Antiquities Scheme described the worn Cheshire coin as a cast copper alloy coin minted during the reign of Xining.
They wrote: “It is unlikely that this was a true medieval find (i.e. present in the country due to trade and accidentally lost) but more likely a more recent loss. of an organized collection.
However, Dr Green suggested that the “loss of an organized collection” explanation for the unusual finds is unsatisfactory.
She wrote: “While the possibility of a loss of an organized collection certainly cannot be ruled out, it may perhaps be overused to explain ‘surprising’ findings – as Martin Biddle observed, “ the proverbial distracted college don or canon of the cathedral, dropping objects from his collection here, there and everywhere … has never seemed to be a very convincing figure, ” and in recent years, the hyper-skepticism regarding discoveries of at least a few exotic pieces in Britain have subsided somewhat.
Dr Green added that she decided to find out “whether it is possible that such a piece arrived in Britain in medieval times and to review the evidence of Asian contacts from the East and Britain during this period, whatever our conclusion.
Much of the evidence she found for these Chinese coins to be true finds comes from texts.
One of the most famous accounts concerns the Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer William of Rubruck, who met an Englishman named Basil while Rubruck during a visit to Mongolia in 1254.
[ad_2]
Source link