A Late-Roman solidus found at Prełuki (the Upper San River basin)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to publish and discuss the late Roman solidus of Theodosius II (408-450), found in 2018 in the vicinity of the village of Prełuki, Komańcza commune, Sanok County. The coin was found randomly by treasure hunters, eventually recovered and donated to the Historical Museum of Sanok by Robert Fedyk. It is the second find of a late Roman solidus in the Upper San River basin. Several years ago a solidus of Valentinian III (425-455) had been found in Prusiek, Sanok County. Both coins belong to the early Migration Period finds horizon in this area. This consists of few bronze buckles, a sword, and fragments of a Hunnic cauldron finds. In all likelihood, the solidi found their way into the Upper San River basin as a consequence of the Hunnic-Germanic relations. They should be also treated as a part of the latest wave of Roman coins arriving in the present Lesser Poland area in the 5 th century AD.

A newly discovered fragment of a Hunnic cauldron from site 59-60, Sanok, Poland

“…Settlement of the Upper San River Basin in the 5 th c. AD is confirmed by finds of late Roman coins (Bodzek 2009, 155-204;Bodzek, Pohorska-Kleja 2011;Bulas 2019;Bodzek et al 2019), including two solidi, which are certain to have been minted in the 5 th c. AD and which both were discovered by chance, outside any welldefined archaeological context. The first one, a solidus of Emperor Valentinian III minted between 430 and 455 AD, was found in Prusiek, municipality of Sanok (Madyda-Legutko 1996, no.…”

“…It can definitely be concluded that ancient communities living in the San River Basin took part in the redistribution of goods obtained by the Hunnic empire as a result of its policies, including its expansion. Particularly strong evidence in support of this conclusion is offered by the aforementioned golden coins, which originally may have been part of tributes paid to the Huns in exchange for refraining from attacking the Roman Empire (Bodzek 2009, 175-176) and later redistributed among the nomads' Germanic allies (Bodzek et al 2019).…”

“…586, 657;2004, 81;Bodzek, Pohorska-Kleja 2011, 153-162). The second one was minted in Constantinople during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II, in 424-425 AD (Bodzek et al 2019). Solidi dating to that period are also uncovered in the regions south of the Carpathians, which were controlled by the Huns (Bodzek 2009, 172, Masek 2017).…”

Late Roman Period and Early Migration Period in the Upper San River basin

“…Without the proper context and analogy for the find, the dating of this buckle should be considered as uncertain.8 Recently another golden solidus (of Theodosius II), was discovered in Prełuki, Sanok County. This coin will be covered in separate studies in this volume(Bodzek et. al.…”