Gifts to the gods? : votive deposition in north-eastern France from 250 BC to the age of Augustus : a numismatic perspective

• Main Author: Wellington, Imogen Jane
• Published: Durham University 2005
• Subjects: 930.16
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.411446

This thesis examines the use of coinage on votive sites of the later Iron Age and earliest Roman period in the north-east of France. Moving beyond numismatic studies, it evaluates the archaeological contexts in which Iron Age coins have been found, and seeks to use a single artefact type to consider the nature of centralised votive deposition in this area. Previously, a single type of votive deposition has been assumed to exist in the study area based on the presence of an archaeologically visible votive tradition in western Picardy. This study reviews the archaeological evidence from a wider area, and considers the extremely regional nature of votive deposition from the point of the numismatic deposits. It also looks chronologically at developments in the deposition of artefacts on votive sites, and reviews the changing nature of votive deposition over time. The development of oppida is also entwined with votive sites, many in the study area also having votive foci, and large ritual deposits of coinage. The appearance of coinage is closely related to an increasingly complex society, including the appearance of oppida and centralised votive sites, and reasons for this are suggested. The function of coinage in later Iron Age societies is considered. In the later Iron Age coinage was produced in large quantities on votive sites, and was deposited in the immediate locality. The evidence suggests that coins were produced primarily for votive deposition in parts of the study area, a trend which begins with early potin and silver, and increases after the Gallic Wars in the middle of the first century BC.