https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/archaeologists-find-literal-pot-of-gold-but-its-not-in-ireland/
Archaeologists Find Literal Pot of Gold, but it’s Not in Ireland
By Andy Corbley – Aug 8, 202
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It’s one of the best things an archaeologist can hope to find: a hoard of gold coins. One was dug up recently in a terracotta pot, meaning that, if one sustains the pun, they found a pot of gold.
They didn’t find it at the end of a rainbow, however, but it was at the ‘end’ of something—Asia—as the Ancient Greeks would have considered it.
Excavations among the ruins of Notion, an ancient city-state in modern-day Turkey, turned up the foundations of a house dating to the Achaemenid Persian Empire buried under another house built from the Hellenistic Period, or about 180 years later.
“The coins were buried in a corner of the older building,” Dr. Christopher Ratté, lead archaeologist on the project, told the New York Times. “We weren’t actually looking for a pot of gold.”
The coins are known as darics, which stems from the name of the Emperor Darius I, or from ‘dari-‘ the root word for gold in the Persian language. Dating to the 5th century BCE, it was a time of great upheaval as Greek city-states fought against each other, against Persia, and sometimes on behalf of Persia against other Greeks, when mercenary soldiers made up key components of many major armies in Asia Minor.
The running hypothesis as to the coins’ provenance is that they were buried with the full intention of recovering them later. They probably represented savings, as each daric would be around one month’s pay. However, the fact that they were never dug up from their little hole in the corner of the house suggests the worst.
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For a number of reasons, I loved this story. Sad for the original owner who never was able to retrieve his stash. Wondering about any reward for the discoverers. Curious how much they are worth.
Mine aren’t buried, but could be if need arises.
There is something practical about having stashes and caches in turbulent times.
As usual, the politicians and bureaucrats of the Gooferment want everything they can steal so stash and cache are two prudent strategies for dealing with the modern day equivalent of pirates.
Argh!
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Reinke Faces Life 