ON THE QUESTION OF THE BASIC PERIODIZATION OF IMITATIONS OF THE ROMAN IMPERIAL DENARII IN THE CHERNYAKHIV CULTURE AREA: THE CONCEPT OF TWO «WAVES»

  • Olexandr Kasperovich numismatist, researcher (Berdyansk, Ukraine)
  • Gintautas Yushkauskas numismatist, researcher (Uman, Ukraine)
Keywords: imitations of Roman imperial denarii, area of Chernyakhiv culture, typology, periodization, two «waves» of imitations.

Abstract

Imitations of Roman coins, the findings of which are very numerous and diverse in Ukraine, have already attracted the attention of researchers. The material accumulated over the last two decades, when taking into account its scale and diversity, allows us to state that imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture, is an unique and large-scale phenomenon, visible on the imaginary «map» of ancient numismatics. In this context, the growing number of new findings of imitations actualizes the task of more detailed and meaningful categorization of the accumulated material, in order to create a certain integral «canvas» of such a phenomenon as the imitations of Roman coins from the area of Chernyakhiv culture.

The article is devoted to the improvement of the existing typology and periodization of imitations of Roman imperial denarii, which were made in the area of Chernyakhiv culture during the II - IV centuries. To solve this problem, the authors proposed and used an analytical scheme, consisting of a set of classification parameters for the typology of imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture. The use of this scheme allowed to form «profiles» and to substantiate the presence in the general set of imitations of two large, non-intersecting groups («waves») of imitations.

Further analysis allowed to describe and compare these two «waves» of imitation in more detail. It was found that the first «wave» refers to the period of gradual entry of the Roman silver coins into the area of Chernyakhiv culture (II - early III century), which significantly clarifies the common view, according to which all imitations belong to the second half of the III century or even later. The second «wave» of imitations really refers to the second half of the III - early IV century, as it was established in the literature.

Thus, the results of the study substantiated a comprehensive approach to the classification of imitations of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhiv culture and significantly clarified the chronological framework of their production. In the future, the concept of two «waves» and the analytical scheme proposed by the authors may contribute to a more accurate classification and periodization of the whole array of imitations of Roman coins, which were made in the area of Chernyakhiv culture

References

Anokhin O.V. (2015). Falshivomonetnichestvo u varvarskikh plemen na territorii sovremennoi Ukrainy i Moldovy [Counterfeiting of barbarian tribes on the territory of modern Ukraine and Moldova]. Dnepropetrovsk: Seredniak T.K. [in Russian].

Anokhin O.V. (2018). Do pytannia chasu karbuvannia ta obihu varvarskykh nasliduvan. [On the question of the time of minting and circulation of barbaric imitations] Tezy dopovidei V mizhnarodnoi naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii «Aktualni problemy numizmatyky u systemi spetsialnykh haluzei istorychnoi nauky», 21–22 chervnia 2018 r. (Abstracts of papers) (pp. 35-38). Medzhybizh – Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi – Kropyvnytskyi – Kyiv, 2018. [in Ukrainian].

Burshe A., Myzgin K. (2017). K voprosu o tekhnologii proizvodstva rannikh varvarskikh podrazhanii rimskim monetam (po rezultatam metallograficheskikh analizov ) [On the issue of the production technology of early barbaric imitations of Roman coins (according to the results of metallographic analyzes)]. Numizmaticheskie chteniia Gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia 2017 goda. (Abstracts of papers) (pp. 40-43). Moskva [in Russian].

Myzgin K. (2009). «Varvarskie» podrazhaniya rimskim monetam na territorii chernyahovskoj kul'tury [«Barbarian» imitations of Roman coins on the territory of Chernyakhov culture] // Drevnosti 2009. Har'kovskij istoriko-arheologicheskij ezhegodnik. – Vyp. 8. — Har'kov. [In Russian]/

Nadvirniak, O., & Pohorilets, O. (2019). «Falshyvomonetnytstvo», «neofitsiini imitatsii» chy «neofitsiine monetne vyrobnyytstov»? Do pytannia prysutnosti «lytykh» denariiv I-III stolittia na «varvarskykh» terytoriiakh Pivdenno-Skhidnoi Yevropy (za materialamy mezhyrichchia serednoho Dnistra ta Pivdennoho Buhu). [«Counterfeiting», «unofficial imitations» or «unofficial coinage»? On the question of the presence of «cast» denarii of the I-III centuries in the «barbaric» territories of South-Eastern Europe (according to the interfluve of the Middle Dniester and the Southern Bug)] Ukrainskyi numizmatychnyi shchorichnyk – The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, 3, 28-41. [In Ukrainian]

Published
2021-12-30
How to Cite
Kasperovich, O., & Yushkauskas, G. (2021). ON THE QUESTION OF THE BASIC PERIODIZATION OF IMITATIONS OF THE ROMAN IMPERIAL DENARII IN THE CHERNYAKHIV CULTURE AREA: THE CONCEPT OF TWO «WAVES». The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual, (5), 121-135. https://doi.org/10.31470/2616-6275-2021-5-121-135