In 1984 a medieval necropolis was discovered a few hundred metres from the Castello della Fava, situated in Part'e Sole (fig. 1). The excavation revealed 17 graves (many of them of children), some were pit tombs and others were carved in stone, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries according to the elements which constituted the grave goods.

Fig. 1 - Necropolis of Part'e Sole, (Posada, NU) general plan of the site area (from D’ORIANO et alii 1989, fig. 41).

Since ancient times, the dead have been placed inside tombs together with their grave goods, which consisted of everyday objects (terracotta and glass vases, weapons, jewellery, coins), and which differed according to the era and social status of the deceased. Clothing items (belts, buckles) and devotional objects (tags, rosaries) are often found within Medieval Age burials.

Among the artefacts found in the tombs of the necropolis of Part'e Sole there is a Byzantine Age coin, a tremissis, attributed to Emperor Leo III (figs. 2-3), whose discovery is particularly important because, during the reign of this sovereign, the Sardinian-Byzantine coin issue, which had begun with Constantine IV and is attributable to a mint probably located in Cagliari, ended. These coins are usually marked with the letter S (for Sardinia) on the obverse; this symbol, though, does not seem to be present on the Posada sample, which is in poor condition (fig. 4).

Fig. 2 - Tremissis of Leo III, Syracuse (from http://www.deamoneta.com).

Fig. 3 - Leo III the Isaurian, Emperor of the East from 717 to 741 (from https://lifeondoverbeach.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/the-use-of-sacred-images-in-christian-worship-the-2nd-of-5-posts-on-iconoclasm/).

Fig. 4 - Tremissis of Leo III, found in the necropolis of Part’e Sole (from D’ORIANO et alii 1989, fig. 45).