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Three early - medieval stashes of gold and silver pieces , alongside hundreds of coin , have been discovered at a " religious cult site " in the Netherlands . The 1,300 - yr - previous finds may be " devil ’s money " — coin or worthful treasures offered to pagan Supreme Being — that were oppose by early Christian missionaries in the region , a new newspaper publisher reports .
" The people here were doubtless Teutonic , " aver written report lead writer and excavation leaderJan - Willem de Kort , an archeologist at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands . The site was on land traditionally seen asSaxon territory , but the topical anaesthetic may not have called themselves Saxons . " Probably this is more a term by which outsiders refer to the pleasure seeker as a group , " he tell Live Science .
Archaeologists have now found deposits of gold coins and other valuables at the site, which they think were buried as pagan offerings — known to Christians as the “devil’s money."
The finds were made near the Dutch small town of Hezingen , about 80 miles ( 130 km ) eastern United States of Amsterdam and near the border with Germany . This area was just north of theLower German Limes , which determine the bound of theRoman Empireuntil theGermanic invasionsin the fifth hundred . According to de Kort , some local hoi polloi had antecedently attend to as allied soldiers ( " auxilia " in Latin ) to maintain the Roman frontier . But the Romans had been driven from the region hundreds of old age before the internet site was used for pagan fad offerings in the 6th and 7th 100 .
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Metal detection
Metal detectorists first found gold and atomic number 47 coins at the internet site in 2020 and 2021 , de Kort said . The detectorists then told the local confidence , who coordinated with archaeologists to dig up the loose - air site in the lead of a planned landscaping labor there .
The monetary value of the hoarded wealth has yet to be determine , but it ’s likely significant . The find let in more than 100 Au and silver coin of various types ; gold jewelry , include pendent and earring ; and large pieces of atomic number 79 and silver , some of which may have beenhacksilver(or " hacksilber " ) that was valued as money for its weight . The researchers also found geochemical evidence in the soil showing that bones had decayed there , which hints at animal sacrifices .
Several of the coins are exceedingly rare . Some were made at various sight throughout theFrankish Empirein the first half of the seventh century . One piece of jewelry is adorn in thedistinctive Germanic animal stylus , while another features a portraiture remindful of popish jewelry , according to the field , which was published Dec. 24 , 2024 , in the journalMedieval Archaeology .
(Image credit: Jan-Willem de Kort)
De Kort said the treasure seems to have been buried in several deposits , which implies it was a " fad website " where offerings to pagan gods were made . Although it ’s unclear which gods were hero-worship there , one possibility is a form of Wodan , the original Germanic version of theNorse god Odin , he said .
Some of the atomic number 79 coin find in buried deposits at the site are very rare , including some that were made in Frankish mints throughout their early mediaeval empire in northern Europe .
The site near the Netherlands ' eastern border with Germany was discovered when alloy detectorists unearth gold and ash gray coin there in 2020 and 2021 .
(Image credit: Jan-Willem de Kort)
The archaeologists also found a row of 14 postholes array to the due east and Dame Rebecca West at the situation ; the posts in the holes have now moulder away , and the central spot are record here in a Reconstruction Period .
Pagan offerings
Such pagan offer seem to have been comparatively common in the pagan Germanic demesne at this sentence , de Kort said . They were opposed , however , by other Christian missionaries in the realm , who called them " devil ’s money . " According to a 9th - C copy of a " baptismal hope " for Saxon convert to Christianity , they were ask to resile Wodan and other gods and to abdicate the oblation of " diobolgeldæ , " or " devil ’s gold " — apparently a Latinization of a Germanic Good Book .
De Kort said the mining near Hezingen had also revealed a line of 14 posthole aligned to the E and west ; some of the metal offering were establish in the hole , although no situation now remain . The central post may also have featured a " holy column " ( a " stapol " in the early Germanic language ) that early Christian informant report were used by pagans to map their god . The alignment suggest the line of post was bear on to thespring and fall equinox , and may have served to mark the beginning of these important husbandry season , he said .
archaeologist think this was a pagan " rage internet site " where valuable offerings and perhaps animal sacrifice were made to ancient Germanic gods in the 6th and 7th centuries .
(Image credit: Jan-Willem de Kort)
This 19th - century German house painting depicts the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne supervise the submission of a radical of Saxons to Christianity and the destruction of a wooden " holy pillar " that portray a pagan god .
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(Image credit: Jan-Willem de Kort)
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According to the study , the oblation may have been made to the holy pillar at sunrise and sunset on the equinoxes , possibly to ask the gods to cede fertility to the nearby farmlands .
The spread of Christianity northward and eastward from the Frankish territories may have triggered a more pronounced accent on quondam custom and frame of gentile worship at the site , the authors added .
(Image credit: Hermann Wislicenus)
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