Money And Currency In Medieval Greece 229
regards Sparta, which, apart from a downturn in the central medieval period,
remains impressively active until the early 15th century. Other Peloponnesian
sites show obvious contractions, Zaraka as the result of its abandonment by
the Cistercian monks in the later 13th century; Corinth in 1312 as the result of
a Catalan raid; Argos a bit later, threatened by an early Turkish wave; and even
Glarenza, whose 15th-century phase may not have been as fully developed as
that of nearby Patras, for which no numismatic data are extant. In the eastern
mainland, there is a decidedly mixed picture. Thebes, Eutresis, and the ancient
city of Krisa near Delphi (modern Chrisso) all ran smoothly from the 12th into
the 13th century, but petered out dramatically around 1300. The evidence from
the first of these is particularly disturbing since it affects a city which is usu-
ally considered of utmost importance even in the Catalan period. Perhaps its
main area of activity which, even in the 13th century, may no longer have been
the so-called Kadmeia, shifted to a position which has yet to be investigated.
There are clear signs, for instance at Delphi and Panakto, that it was precisely
in the early 14th century that new areas were opened up to habitation and
economic exploitation.
Hoards complement the picture of coin finds. More than 200 hoards can
be assembled for the period and area of consideration. Again, these are often
the product of archaeological investigations, and there is a heavy empha-
sis on the usual sites of Athens and Corinth, Sparta and Argos, Thebes and
Arta. Also modern habitation and the kinds of activities it brings with it will
often produce hoards, and there are concentrations around Ioannina, Larissa,
Agrinio, and Patras. Even the smallest archaeological investigation, also if its
main target is the classical period, can produce a medieval hoard. Countless
examples can be provided for this, from Eleusina and Delphi on the mainland,
to Epidauros, Troizina, and Berbati in the Argolis, and Nemea and Messene
in the remainder of the Peloponnese, to cite just a few. Many hoards—about
50 per cent of the total—have been found by private people in the more or less
open countryside, that is to say away from any modern or contemporary habi-
tation. These finds have been handed over to or confiscated by the authorities,
or they have found their ways onto the antiquities market and have sometimes
entered international collections. This material is of great statistical impor-
tance since it overcomes the historical vicissitudes of single locations, and it
also underlines the pervasive nature of coin hoarding in the period concerned.
Hoards are easier to find than single pieces and they provide their finders with
a much greater impetus to either try to sell off illegally, or to declare. Further,
once in the safekeeping of a collection or auction house, such hoards pres-
ent a much more attractive prospect of study and publication than badly pre-
served single finds. For all of these reasons, in addition to those already cited in