A large medieval treasure has been unearthed during excavations last September at the Abbey of Cluny, a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France.
The discovery has already been named the largest cache of silver deniers discovered, numbering 2,200 deniers and oboles, in addition to 21 Islamic gold dinars, a signet ring and several other objects made from gold. The treasure was buried in fill where it seems to have stayed for 850 years.
Anne Baud, an academic at the Université Lumière Lyon 2, and Anne Flammin, a CNRS engineer—both from the Laboratoire Archéologie et Archéométrie led the archaeological investigation, in collaboration with a team of 9 students from the Université Lumière Lyon 2 and researchers from the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux
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A spokesman for the discovery stated “This is an exceptional find for a monastic setting and especially that of Cluny, which was one of the largest abbeys of Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It includes items of remarkable value: 21 gold dinars and a signet ring, a very expensive piece of jewelry that few could own during the Middle Ages.
