A Paradigm Shift in the Making: The Case of North African and Italian Bronzes in the Northeastern Adriatic

A significant change in the nature of the evidence for the presence of bronze coins of primarily North African and Italian origin in the northeastern Adriatic coastal region and its hinterland has occurred lately. Hitherto almost all the evidence for this phenomenon came from hoards, mainly found in the mountainous hinterland, but recently the emphasis has shifted towards the coastal area and isolated finds. Some new interpretative frameworks have been devised in order to accommodate and explain this new data, but these approaches remain highly speculative and appear not to be substantiated by the available evidence. Until a new explanatory framework that would satisfactorily interpret both old and new evidence has been formulated, one cannot properly speak of a paradigm shift. As far as current evidence allows, it can only be suggested that the coinage in question represented an as yet unidentified form of 'special-purpose' money.