engleski

Roman coins found during archaeological excavations of the amphitheatre of the military legion camp at Burnum (2003 – 2009)

As natural karst valley was used for building of the amphitheatre at Burnum (province Dalmatia), it was necessary to prepare and adjust the terrain for building separate architectural parts. The terrain was leveled by cutting and hewing bedrock and also by filling up larger cavities and leveling certain areas with soil, which will become rich source of archaeological finds. That is why there is compact cultural layer in front of the entrance and underneath the stands and outer embankment of the auditorium which is very rich in small archaeological finds. About 200 coins have been found in this stratigraphically clearly defined formation, which is satisfying amount for making reliable conclusions. Almost all discovered coins were analyzed and preserved. Most coins can be dated to the beginning of the Empire, i.e. mainly copper and bronze sestertii (sestertius), dupondii (dupondius), asses (as) and quadrantes (quadrans) were found, coined from August until Claudius. Emperor August's aureus (minted 19-18 BC) was found in the cultural layer in front of the southern entrance and it presents a special rarity. Few coins from the Republican period were also found, silver denarii (denar) and quinarii (quinarius), which were quite worn out because they were in use for a long time owing to their quality and constant value. Coins from later Imperial period and Dominate are rare and as they were found at the surface, i.e. in the shallow deposit formed above the original walking surface, they are not relevant for determination of the building chronology.

Burnum; legionary camp; amphitheatre; Roman coins

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