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Ancient treasure find stuns archaeologists
'Exceptional' treasure trove uncovered at site next to former Benedictine Abbey includes gold Islamic coins
![](https://image.connexionfrance.com/100649.webp?imageId=100649&width=960&height=646&format=jpg)
More than 2,000 gold and silver coins are among an 'exceptional' treasure trove of artefacts found by a team of archaeologists working on a site next to Cluny Abbey in the Saône-et-Loire.
The hoard at the former Benedictine Monastery was found by a team of archaeologists and students from the Université Lumière Lyon 2 and CNRS.
The discovery, made in mid-September but only officially announced this week, includes:
- 21 Islamic gold dinars struck between 1121 and 1131 in Spain and Morocco, under the reign of Ali ibn Yusuf (1106-1143);
- More than 2,200 silver deniers and oboles - mostly minted by the Abbey of Cluny and probably dating to the first half of the 12th century - in a cloth bag;
- A gold signet ring with a red intaglio depicting the bust of a god and an inscription that could date the find to the first half of the 12th century;
- A folded sheet of gold foil stored in a case;
- A small circular object made of gold.
A medieval treasure trove of 21 gold coins and 2,200 silver coins, as well as gold jewelry, has been found near the Cluny Abbey in eastern France. https://t.co/wDxuQouHtd pic.twitter.com/3NTNuFukw4
— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) November 15, 2017
Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine, in 910 and was one of the largest abbeys of Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
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