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1.Introduction
coinsweremanufacturedinourregionduringAntiquity.Thus,anyimitation
presentinthediscussedgroupofcoinfinds(andanyancientcopies,notrecorded
sofar)musthavebeenintroducedfromoutsidetheregion.Themainaimofthis
studyistospecifythetime,causes,circumstancesanddirectionsoftheimport
ofRepublicancoinagetothestudyarea,andtodetermineitsusesinthisregion.
ItisworthnotingthattheRepublicancoinsdiscussedhereareonlyasmall
segmentofthetotalnumberofancientcoinsrecoverednorthoftheSudetesand
theCarpathians.ThereisamuchlargergroupofRomanImperialcoinsfoundin
thisarea.ItmaybeestimatedthatRomanRepublicancoinfindsfromsouthernand
centralPolandcompriseabout5%ofalltheRomancoinsfoundoutsidehoards.
1
The
correspondingvalueinnorthernPolandandinBelarusisdefinitelylessthan1%,
whereasforUkrainewehavenoreliabledatainthisrespect,butwedoknowthat
thecoinfindsfromthisareaaredominatedbyRomancoinsfromtheperiodofthe
Empire.Eventhoughthisisthecase,studiesontheinfluxandusesofRepublican
coinageintheregionstudiedmaycontributesubstantiallytoourunderstandingof
historicalprocessesunfoldinginEast-CentralEuropeinAntiquity.
TheprincipalsourceofinformationabouttheinfluxandusesofRomancoinage
intheterritoryoutsidetheRomanstatearethecoinfindsthemselves.Asrepeatedly
pointedoutinearlierpublications,
2
theRomancoinfindsknowntoresearchersfrom
theregionstudiedhereareonlyaportionoftheRomancoinsactuallyrecovered
intheregion.Onewaytoaddressthisproblemistoexamineitusingtheterms
introducedtotheliteraturebyHansJürgenEggers:‘livingculture’,‘deadculture’
and‘rediscoveredculture’.
3
Inthecaseofthecoinfinds,whichconstituteaspecific
and,moreimportantly,aplentifularchaeologicalsource,itisnecessarytoadd
afourthcategoryinadditionto‘rediscoveredculture’,namelywhatmaybetermed
‘recordedculture’.
4
Byfar,mostoftheRomancoins,includingtheRepublicanones,
foundinEast-CentralEuropenorthoftheSudetesandtheCarpathianswerenot
recoveredfromthegroundduringregulararchaeologicalresearch5whichmeans
thatmostoftheirfinderswerenotprofessionalarchaeologists.Inpracticeitisonly
rarelythatthediscoveryofacoinwasroutinelyrecordedbyresearchers.6Thus,
inthestudyofthecoinfindstherepresentativenessofthe‘recordedculture’vis
avistheKdeadculture”,andsubsequently,the‘livingculture’mustbeconsidered
notfromtheangleofthelevelofanarchaeologicalinvestigationofagivenarea,
butmuchmoreimportantly,fromtheangleoftheleveloftherecordingoffinds
1Cf.Dymowski2011a,pp.14-229;Dymowski2011b,p.133-140.
2Kunisz1969a,p.16;Wielowiejski1984,pp.88-89;Bursche1996,pp.52-57;Kolendo1998d,
pp.13-14;Dymowski2011a,pp.25-28.
3Eggers1951,pp.23-25;seealsoKolendo1998d,pp.5-6andWielowiejski1998,p.193.
4Dymowski2011a,p.25;cf.Bursche1996,pp.36-37;Kolendo1998d,p.13;Wielowiejski
1998,p.193.
5ToconfirmthisitisenoughtoexaminethefindcircumstancesgivenintheCatalogueoffinds
publishedhere.Cf.alsoDymowski2011a,pp.25-43.
6Cf.Kolendo1998d.pp.10and13.
