The Ayies Paraskies/1962 hoard

The hoard under discussion was found at Ayies Paraskies near Herakleion in 1962 and is now exhibited in the Historical Museum of Herakleion. It consists of ninty- eight histamena, ten are of Nicephorus II and the rest of Basil II and Constantine VIII. It is noteworthy the existence in the hoard of new varieties. Among the coins of Basil IPs and Constantine VIII's joint reign an unpublished type has been identified. It might have been issued during the first year of the young emperor's sole reign. The Cretan hoard it seems to represent the ready cash of a person or body involved in direct and continuous monetary dealings. The existence of rare classes confirms the regularity of its increase.The lack of issues from the intervening reign of John I Tzimisces raises questions concerning the circulation of gold coinage in the period. The hoard was concealed at a time when DOC Class III was still in production. Its deposition should be dated shortly before 1014, since Class IV, with the crown suspended over Basil's head, might have been introduced after the resounding Byzantine victory over the Bulgarians in that year. It is difficult to determine the circumstances in which the Cretan hoard was concealed. It presumably reflects the habits of a new social class in Crete, whose members, very possibly immigrants to the land newly acquired by the Arabs, endeavoured to acclimatize and to consolidate their economic status. Ayies Paraskies, close to the island's new capital in a strategic location on the road network in the province of Pediada, which was still known as Kastro in the period of Venetian, perhaps attracted the interest of the island's new Byzantine inhabitants after the defeat of the Arabs. The discovery of the hoard here supports such a hypothesis, which may well be corroborated in the future by other archaeological finds.