L'ORO DEL RENO. LA RISCOPERTA DI UN ECCEZIONALE DEPOSITO DELLA PRIMA ETÀ CAROLINGIA

• Published in: Archeologia medievale Vol. 47; p. 61
• Main Author: Gil, Joan Pinar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Catalan; English; Italian
• Published: Florence Archeologia Medievale 01.01.2020
• Subjects: 9th century; Archaeology; Coins; Geopolitics; Gold; Grave goods; Jewelry; Italy; Emilia Italy; Carolingian Empire
• ISSN: 0390-0592
• DOI: 10.36153/am47.2020.04

From 1758 to 1910, a large amount of gold objects were discovered in different locations along the Reno river near Bologna: these consisted of an arm band and a finger ring, both made of solid gold, together with about one hundred coins, mostly Byzantine and Arabic. An examination of the oldest reports on the discoveries and their topographic background suggests that all of these items were deposited together, along the river bank, in all likelihood in connection with funerary structures dating to the early 9th century. The hypothesis of reconstruction of a single deposit is supported by the consistence of the objects that were found. They refer to a very specific chronological, typological and social framework, corresponding to the most exclusive aristocratic milieus in Charlemagne's Europe. The assemblage contributes to our knowledge of a number of general trends in the circulation and accumulation of gold objects, as well as a range of related phenomena: elite networking, exchanges between different geopolitical regions, persistence of ancient status symbols and relations between central places and peripheral areas. The historical background corresponds to the settlement of important representatives of the Carolingian power in Northern Italy. From this perspective, the "Reno gold" represents for the Emilia region a much older proof of the presence of counts in Bologna than the first written mentions.