Статистически и хронологически анализ на монетите от средновековната крепост „Ряховец“

Statistical and chronological analysis of the coins from Ryahovets medieval fortress

Abstract

The Medieval fortress of Ryahovets is located about 7 km north of the Metropolitan town of Tarnovgrad and 3 km west of the modern town of Gorna Oryahovitsa. It rises on the northern slopes of Tarnovo heights.
After 23 years long pause, in 2015 the archaeological research was renewed. More than 500 coins were found there and alongside the stratigraphic observations they provide new data on the chronology of the site.
The work here presented discusses the coins from the Ryahovets fortress alone. 1028 coins have been analyzed coming both from the new and the older archaeological excavations. On the grounds of their provenance, they have been distinguished in 6 groups: the eastern gates, northern gates, western gates, northern fortress wall, interior of the fortress and church N 1 (Tabulation 1 inside the text). Considering the chronological indication, the following categories have been also differentiated: I. Antique ones and II. Medieval ones, 10th – 14th c., further on divided into sub-categories: I.1. pre-Roman and I.2. Roman, 2nd – 6th c.; II.1. Byzantine, 9th – 12th c.; II.2. Bulgarian imitations; II.3. Latin imitations; II.4. Cut and damaged, 13th c.; II.5. Nicaean and Thessaloniki Emperies; II.6. Medieval Bulgarian coins; and II.7. Coins from the 14th c.
The data obtained mark two main periods of intense life in the fortress: 3rd – 5th c. and the late 12th – first half of the 13th c. (Fig. 2 inside the text).
The 81 Roman coins found are dating from the 2nd to the 5th c. and represent the coinage of 22 emperors. Available numismatic data mark the most intensive commodity exchange period between the 4th and 5th c. (Fig. 3 inside the text).
The second main period of life is dating from the late 12th c. to 1260ies. The statistical data compared to the Metropolitan Tarnovgrad and some other larger towns show similar nature of coin circulation.
Data from the coins from the two successive phases of habitation studied show: Later phase A – the second quarter of the 13th c. to 1257; and Earlier phase B – the late 12th – the second quarter of the 13th c. The phases of this medieval period of habitation are relatively short (Fig. 1 inside the text).
The problem of life in the fortress after the mid 13th c. has not been fully elucidated at this stage of research. Despite single coin finds from the second half of the 13th and 14th c., the interruption of life in the fortress during the last decades of the 13th c. was also noted by the first investigators. These conclusions are complemented by the latest archaeological studies proving the abrupt ending of the residential life in the fortress about 1257.