International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

TRADE ROUTES IN THE BALKAN PENINSULA: 
THE NUMISMATIC EVIDENCE (10
TH
–15
TH
 CENTURIES)
Conveners:
 Vasiliki Vasso Penna
, 
George Kakavas
Vasiliki Vasso Penna
, 
Trade Routes in the Balkan Peninsula: The Numismatic Evidence (10
th
-15
th
Century)
George Kakavas, 
Trade Routes in the Balkan Peninsula: The Numismatic Evidence (10
th
-15
th
Century)
Zhenya Zhekova – Ivan Jordanov
, 
Trade Routes of the Lower Danube (10
th
– 11
th
Century) 
According to the Archaeological, Numismatical and Sigillographical Data
Yannis Stoyas
, 
Following the Money in Relation to the Route Taken 
by the Catalan Company during the Years AD 1305-1310
Vangelis Maladakis
, 
Venetian and Frankish Coinages in Lower Macedonia: Tracing the Trade Routes Network

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357
Vasiliki Vasso Penna
University of Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece; 
[e-mail]
Trade Routes in the Balkan Peninsula: 
The Numismatic Evidence (10
th
-15
th
Century)
Quite often the concealment of coin hoards is connected with certain historical events and 
particularly with enemy raids. The session entitled “Trade Routes in the Balkan Peninsula: The 
Numismatic Evidence (10
th
-15
th
century)”, based mostly on hoard studies, aims at illustrating more 
aspects of the coin circulation, attempting to emphasize the multifaceted character of the causes 
that put money in motion.
It is necessary to have a better picture of the use of money in this whole region, to detect the 
routes of money, either as means of commercial transactions, or as indications of residential or 
productive remains, or even as traces of military operations, within a broader perspective. Certain 
intriguing case studies are to be discussed, as for example, after the incorporation of Bulgaria in 
the Byzantine Empire (11
th
century), the role of money in tracing new roads, in connection with 
commercial activities; in an analogous fashion, the 12
th
-13
th
century hoards found in mailand 
Greece and the Aegean need further analysis and reassessment for the original reason of the money’s 
presence there. The studies contributing in this session adopt a similar perspective and hopefully 
will form the basis for a more comprehensive take on the problems at hand.
It would be necessary in the long run to develop distinct and detailed mapping of the numismatic 
data, both of the coin hoards and the stray finds, by establishing a pilotical scientific collaboration 
project among organizations (universities, museums, institutes, etc). A Balkan cooperation network 
could advance further the exploitation of material, poorly published or still unpublished, towards 
this direction.