The penny's dropped

Renegotiating the contemporary coin deposit

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2391055
AutoresCeri Houlbrook (0000-0003-2965-8853, University of Manchester, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen20
Número2
Páginas173-189
Fecha de publicación2015-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1359183515577120
OpenAlexW2158995838
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas19

This article examines the status of coins as contemporary deposits in the British Isles. With a focus on both historical and contemporary sites, from the Neolithic long barrow of Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire, to the plethora of wishing-wells and coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, it demonstrates the popularity of coins as ritual deposits. The author considers how they are perceived and treated by site custodians, and concludes with a case study of an archaeological excavation, the 2013 Ardmaddy Wishing-Tree Project, which recovered a large amount of contemporary coin deposits. This article does not aim to locate itself within the debates of site custodianship and accessibility, nor does it propose to address the broader dilemmas of a site's ritual continuity or resurgence. Instead, its aim is to encourage archaeologists to consider the contemporary deposit as an integral part of the ritual narrative of a site, rather than as disposable 'ritual litter

Archaeology · Art · Custodians · Excavation · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Popularity · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Law