Romos monetų radiniai Dzūkijoje

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Romos monetos; Dzūkija; Lobiai; Roman coins; Dzūkija; Hoards.

ENThe findings of coins is the most important source of the history of numismatics and economy. Also, it is often the background of Archaeology and other disciplines of history. Nonetheless, the value of coin findings as a source of history was evaluated relatively late. Previously, the treasures of the coins became the object of Law. For the first time such treasures were spoken about in the second Statute of Lithuania published in 1566. The treasures of old coins from various countries dating from 1392 to 1799 were found in 41areas of Dzūkija; however, this publication describes only the coin findings from the former Roman Empire. In 1931 the archaeologist Petras Tarasenka mentioned 2 locations of the Roman coin findings when describing the areas of Alytus County. In 1937 the newspaper ‘Lietuvos Aidas’ wrote about the findings of Roman coins dating from the IVth century in Punia. In 2000 the publication of the Lithuanian National Museum Numizmatika wrote that in 1930-1935, while ploughing a potato field in Mankūnai (Miroslavas Parish, Alytus County), a brass Roman coin was found which, a few years ago, was in the hands of a local Ethnography researcher, a former Head of the Saulė collective farm, J. Juravičius. In 1985 J. Juravičius handed this coin over to the museum. The coin found in Mankūnai is Mark Aurelius’s (161 – 180 A.D.) sestertius. The findings of the Roman coins in Užnemunė show the importance of the Nemunas as an internal trade route for the Lithuanian population. It is likely that it was along the Nemunas River that Roman coins were brought to Užnemunė from Western Lithuania, whose inhabitants maintained close ties with the provinces of the Roman Empire. The Mankūnai finding is also valuable in other aspects. It completes the knowledge about the Užnemunė settlement in the 1st century AD.It can be assumed that there existed a settlement in the Miroslavas neighbourhood at that time which has not been recorded by the archaeologists yet. The publication also presents the memoirs of the collector J. Juravičius: ‘Marcus Aurelius Takes Me as a Disciple’ (Markus Aurelijus priima mane mokytis) where he describes how the Roman coin helped him become a student at Vilnius University. [From the publication]