Tibe

rius

II 5

78-5

82

569

600

700

714

650

Just

in II

56

5-57

8

Mau

rice

582

-602

Phoc

as

602-

610

Her

acliu

s 6

10-6

41

Byzantine Notes:641 Constantin III, Heraklonas

Cons

tans

II

641-

668

Cons

tant

ine

IV

668-

685

just

inia

n II

(1)

685

-695

Leon

tios

695

-698

Tibe

rius

III

698-

705

Just

inia

n II

(2)

705-

711

Just

inia

n I

527-

565

569-

586

Leo

vigi

ld

586-

601

Rec

care

d

601-

603

Liu

va II

603-

610

Witt

eric

610-

612

Gun

dem

ar

612-

621

Sis

ebut

621-

631

Sw

inth

ila

631-

636

Si

sena

nd

636-

640

Ch

intil

a64

0-64

1 T

ulga

641-

653

Ch

inda

swin

th

Visigothic Notes:621 Reccared II (brief reign)Scale is approximate

653-

672

Re

cces

win

th

672-

680

Wam

ba

680-

687

Er

wig

687-

702

Eg

ica

702-

710

Witt

iza

710

R

oder

ic/A

chill

a II

FRANKS-MEROVINGIAN

BYZANTINE

OSTROGOTHS -553 LANGOBARDS

Selected bibliography:

General Type 3 General Type 4

General Type 5 General Type 6

Constans II (642-668) Erwig (680-687)

Buckle, c. 500-550

Buckle, c. 550-600

THE VISIGOTHIC PERIOD IN SPAIN

VISIGOTHIC TREMISSES

COMPARATIVE TIMELINE Only the period in which Visigothic kings minted coins under their own name is considered.

CAN PORTABLE WEALTH OBJECTS SPEAK FOR AN ELITE?

VISIGOTHIC BUCKLES

LATE ROMAN ICONOGRAPHY

HOW CAN WE KNOW?

This research is centered in the Visigothic periodin Spain to focus on a specific example of theEarly Middle Ages, although several examplesare drawn from contemporary societies.Portable objects are the basis of this study as their very movable nature made them perfect message conveyors to everybody that used, had, or even saw them. Coinage and objects ofpersonal adorment (buckles, fibulae, belt fittings,etc.) are presented in their historic and icono-graphic context.

Gold tremisses from the Visigothic period arewell represented in the archaeological record,with enough information to observe mintingregions, common iconography and generalstyles.

Tremisses of the general types 3,4,5 and 6 (after Heiss),minted under the king’s name and departing from clear Byzantine prototypes.

Portable wealth objects liven within a context fullof iconography; the Western Roman Empire’s legacy, the Byzantine influences, Germanictraditions and local original developments. Theseall formed part of a ‘visual vocabulary’ that musthave carried certain meanings to those whocould afford to possess such objects and thosewho saw those objects.

Burial practices in Visigothic-era cemetaries changed over the course of the roughly two centuries that this Germanic group is attested in the literary record to have ruled over theSpanish peninsula. Objects in graves became scarcer and simpler over this period and this can suggest to a changed perception of what buried portable wealth meant to thepopulace and the ruling party, two meanings that cannot be separated. Moreover, archaeological exploration in Visigothic-era cemetaries in Spain has only recently been carriedout with the sufficient dilligence so as to extract all the information possible from objects found in burials, leaving the record with many objects with no provenance or archaeological context. However, an analysis of the whole corpus of objects attributable to this period has suggested time frames and correlations between them. objects like fibulae, coins and buckles certainly point to a conscious desire, through their materials and manufacture, to convey specific messages about whoever possesed,acquired or commissioned them. Placing this group of Visigothic period portable objects within the same type of objects in other contemporary groups and societies can point tocommon themes and it will be interesting to observe if that, in turn, could point to other historical realities of the late 6th and 7th century.

Coin illustrations courtesy of Ars Numismatica, Beast Coins. Buckle images; Ariadne Galleries, Walters Art Museum. Map; Spruner 1865. Watercolour and line illustrations made by author.

Visual elements, such as these presented, canbe observed in the sparse archaeological record securely dated to the Visigothic period inSpain. It will be interesting to know and comparehow this iconography sits within the generalWester European tradition of the Early MiddleAges.Can this common iconogpahy then be:Part of an elite vocabularyPart of an ambition to belong?Part of symbols of trade and inclusion?What messages can be inferred?.

Careful observation of these coins, buckles and fibulae, within the context of the sculptural and decorative environment of the time, will suggest certain themes:Christian icons (a and o are quite frequent, as well as crosses) herringbone patterns and floral decorations can be observed, albeit in a transformed manifestation in portable objects and sometimes even in coins. This visual elements are indeed common in Wester Europe during this period so more detailed examples and specific correlations must belooked for. Byzantine coins found in the Spanish peninsula, as well as contemporary objects from Frankish, Langobards or Byzantine contexts should be compared in time and space to search for relationships and patterns of influence and distribution. Past Ostrogothic and Wester Roman traditions must also be identified as the common ground for allthese new elements. Ultimately, the question will be asked; can this common iconography point to a common message?Basing the research in the historical context of the period, comparing portable objects of wealth to contemporary examples, both in the peninsula and in the Western European region and Byzantium’s region of influence, an attempt to answer this question will be made.

A comparison between contemporary (taking into account the communications of the time)coins indeed place Visigothic coinage within certain visual libraries.

The larger size and lavish possibilities that beltbuckles offered result in a wide variety of typesthat, through typology classification, can becomparatively dated. Nevertheless, examplesfrom the 6th century show a mixture of Germanic traditions in their metal and glasswork, and Roman and Byzantine techniques andsymbols..

Comparing these buckle types with securely dated examples from earlier Merovingian burialswill try to help understand the elements that werechosen in their manufacture and their reasons..

COLLINS, R., 2006. The Visigoths, 409-711. Oxford, Blackwell; HEISS, A., 1872. Descripción General de las Monedas de los Reyes Visigodos de España. Madrid, Cayón (1978 reprint); PALOL, P., 1968. Arte Hispánico de la Época Visigoda. Barcelona, Poligrafía; RIPOLL, G., 1998. Toréutica de la Bética. Barcelona, Real Academia de Bones Letres.

Portable Wealth After the Fall of the Western Roman EmpireJavier Williamsjgw10@le.ac.uk

School of Archaeology and Ancient History