On the last day the EoS organized session ‘Coins in Churches: New Perspectives on Archaeological Finds in Medieval Scandinavian Churches’ took place, with ten international papers. Presentations on money-offerings in the monastery of Nonneseter in Bergen, Bunge church on Gotland and coin finds in and about English, Northern Norwegian and Finnish churches provided insight into the potentials for comparison and shared analysis.
What can be considered the common factors for the distribution of coin finds in churches in respective regions? Were members of congregations everywhere equally concerned with money offerings? Is the archaeological evidence to be interpreted in similar ways for churches in Jutland as for those on Åland? The paper Artefacts in Church Floors - Why and How They Got There suggests a range of important issues that have to be taken into consideration and discussed when utilizing this material. As archaeologists and numismatists often look at the universe from below, the paper Economy of Salvation presented the issue from a ‘top-down’ perspective.
The session was attended by c.40 scholars. Many thanks to Jon Anders Risvaag and Håkon Roland for organizing and chairing the session.
Programme
Coins in Churches: New Perspectives on Archaeological Finds in Medieval Scandinavian Churches
Session Organizers: Jon Anders Risvaag and Håkon Roland
13 September 2014 Saturday
Allen, M. (Cambridge), Coins in Churches: Comparative Data from Medieval England
Moesgaard, J.C. (Copenhagen), Coins in Churches vs Coins in Society
Rensbro, H. (Copenhagen), Artefacts in Church Floors - Why and How They Got There
Eikje, L. (Stockholm), Coin Hoards in Christian Contexts
Gullbekk, S.H. (Oslo), The Power of Gifts to the Church: Money Offering, Meanings and Mechanisms in the 12th and 13th centuries
Gasper, G.E.M., Economy of Salvation
Risvaag, J.A. (Trondheim), On the Edge of Christianity: Coin Offerings in the Churches of Northern Norway
Hommedal, A.T. (Bergen), Coins in Norwegian Monasteries. The Religious and Their Economy of Salvation (read by G.Gasper)
Kilger, C. (Visby), Investments for Afterlife. The Contextual Evidence of Coins from Parish Churches on Gotland
Ehrnsten, F. (Helsinki), Money, Gifts and the Church: Contexts and Possibilities The Church, the Coins and the Common People
Campbell, S. (Glasgow), Hoarding and Deposition in Medieval Scotland; Religious Beliefs and Ritual Practice