Speaker
Description
Excavations of St. Michael church in Heitenried (Fribourg, Switzerland) brought in 440 coins and 32 religious medals.
Numerous graves were dug around and inside the church. One question that arises is whether a link can be established between the large quantity of small coins and the presence of numerous burials of perinatal deaths (respite sanctuary?). Indeed, most of the coins are small denominations, most likely to represent offerings.
Almost 86% of the coins were issues of the city of Fribourg from 1435 to the late 18th century. This provides an opportunity to review the dating of some of these issues.
The study of this material in relation to the well-dated stages of the church architecture history will make it possible to draw up a monetary map which is quite meaningful in terms of the use of money over several centuries.
