La ceca de Ilduro: (29 Archaeopress Roman Archaeology)

The minting of coinage in a territory without previous monetary history or tradition reflects a series of political, social and cultural changes that took place in order to make it possible. Such changes can be traced in the archaeological record thanks to elements apparently as different as coins, ceramics, epigraphy, funerary rites or architecture; these changes thus emerge as some of the most significant points in the colonization process that took place throughout the second century B.C. and at the beginning of the next century in the valley of Cabrera de Mar (ancient Ilduro) and the Laietani territory. This book is exclusively devoted to the mint of Ilduro, its main goal being to study not only the issues produced by the workshop in detail, but also the role that this coinage had in the monetarization of a changing society, that of the Laietani, which had never previously needed to use coinage. To do so, the author of this study endeavours to answer the following questions in as much depth as possible: Who minted the coins? Why? What for? How? Where? When? How many? With the aim of answering the aforementioned questions, this volume has been organized into ten chapters divided in three broader sections dedicated to studying, specifically, each one of the aspects involved in the production of this mint. The chapters considering the location of the workshop and the legends used are fundamental to answer the questions of who minted the coins and where. On the other hand, aspects such as metrology, typology and the technique (metallographic analysis) used by the mint are essential to understand how the coins were minted, and also to put forward a hypothesis as regards the use given to the coin issues discussed in the present study. Finally, the chapters dedicated to the production, classification and chronology of the issues should answer such important questions as when and how much money was put into circulation. This is a book that, in addition to increasing our knowledge of Iberian numismatics, brings us closer to the evolution and production of the coin issues minted in present-day northeastern Spain in general and to the Ilduro workshop in particular.

Table of Contents:
PRÓLOGO ; 1 INTRODUCCIÓN ; 2 HISTORIOGRAFÍA DE LA CECA ; 3 UBICACIÓN DE LA CECA ; 4 LA LEYENDA ; 5 TIPOLOGÍA ; 6 ASPECTOS TÉCNICOS DE LA PRODUCCIÓN ; 7 METROLOGÍA Y DENOMINACIONES ; 8 PRODUCCIÓN Y VOLUMEN DE EMISIÓN ; 9 DISPERSIÓN ; 10 CRONOLOGÍA Y ORDENACIÓN DE LAS EMISIONES ; 11 CONCLUSIONES ; SUMMARY ; BIBLIOGRAFÍA ; CATÁLOGO ; LÁMINAS

About the Author :
Prof. Alejandro G. Sinner holds a B.A. degree in History, and M.A. degree in Archaeology and a Ph.D. in Society and Culture (2014) from the University of Barcelona. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Roman Art and Archaeology in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Victoria. Prof. Sinner’s research focuses on the social and cultural history of Roman Spain and the western provinces. His main research lines include Iberian Numismatics and epigraphy, identity construction, cultural change, and pre-Roman languages in the Iberian Peninsula. Despite being at an early stage in his academic career, Prof. Sinner’s publication record includes two books and over a dozen articles in national and international journals. Since 2006 he has been involved in the excavations of the ancient site of Ilduro in Cabrera de Mar (Catalonia) where he is currently directing a research project and leading an international archaeological field school.

Review :
This monograph is undoubtedly a fundamental contribution that goes beyond the study of an Iberian mint to offer an in-depth analysis of the evolution of indigenous monetary issues in their final period. - Víctor Revilla (2018): PYRENAE