There are two Roman denarii that were found during excavations at Säludden this March, reports Forskning.se.
At Säludden there must have been a fishing village from the Middle Ages until the 17th century. Findings of things such as iron tools and pottery at the site are therefore not so surprising, but they are Roman coins. One explanation could be that the coins ended up there after a shipwreck.
“We have to wait for dating and analysis of our new material, but it is clear that Säludden’s history is complex and varied,” says Johan Rönnby, professor of marine archeology at Södertörn University, in a press release.
One coin dates from the time of Emperor Trajan, 98-117, and the other comes from the period when Antoninus Pius was emperor, he died in 161 AD.
There are reports that a lighthouse keeper long ago found a Roman coin on the island, something that was previously doubted. Possibly, the new findings revise history.
The archaeological excavations on Gotska Sandön are a collaboration between Södertörn University, Campus Gotland and the Gotland Museum.