Amongst the materials and layers of silt filling the bell-shaped cistern, we found some fragments of common pottery on which some bronze coins had oxidised (fig. 1), so abraded that the two sides could not be read so no dating was possible.

Fig. 1 - Bronze oxidised coins on a ceramic surface (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

Of the various interpretations proposed, one person considered them fragments of money boxes (fig. 2). In the same layers we found some treasures for a total of 56 coins datable between the I and V century (fig. 3).

Fig. 2 - Imperial period example from the Archaeological Museum of Ptoj – Slovenia (da http://badwila.net/pottery/salvadanai/index.html).

Fig. 3 - Bronze coins belonging to the so-called “money closets” (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

The hypothesis is that the finds were hidden in the cistern at a time of danger, to be protected against theft. That kind of find is called “money closet” and is a practice documented in several contexts.