Monede, castre şi schimburi comerciale în peninsula Balcanică (sec. VI – începutul sec. VII)
Coins, Hillforts and trade in Balkans (6th - beginning of 7th c.)

Summary/Abstract: The nature of settlements in the 6th century Balkans is a matter of current debate.Amphorae and hoards of iron implements and weapons have been discussedin relation to that controversy. The archaeological evidence, particularly thatof amphorae and lead seals, points to the great significance of the quaesturaexercitus, an administrative unit created in 536 by means of combining richprovinces overseas (islands in the Aegean Sea, Caria, and Cyprus) with borderprovinces such as Moesia inferior and Scythia Minor, in order to secureboth militarily and financially the efficient defense of the Danube frontier.Conspicuously missing from this discussion of military sites, amphorae,and commerce is the numismatic evidence. To be sure, a great number of 6thcentury hoards of copper are known from hilltop sites, including those thathave also produced hoards of iron implements. So far, however, single coinsfrom hilltop sites have rarely been treated as archaeological finds. Single findsof coins remain a category of archaeological evidence commonly neglectedin discussions of the 6th century economy in the Balkans. The article takes adetailed look at some of the most important archaeological contexts with 6thcentury coins. Whether or not one can, therefore, talk about the economy ofthe 6th century Balkans, coins served primarily to facilitate exchanges resultingfrom the state-run distribution of food and goods. The circulation of coinswas connected with the quaestura exercitus implemented in 536, and the smallcopper denominations discovered on hilltop sites in the Balkans were notobtained on the market (none existed in any of the many hilltop sites known sofar), but piggybacked on transports of annona.

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