Does the hoard from Velestino in Thessaly belong to the Pagan-Slavic or Christian-Byzantine culture? Discussion on the occasion of the book by F. Curta and B. S. Szmoniewski, The Velestino Hoard. Casting Light on the Byzantine ‘Dark Ages’ (palgrave macmillan, 2019. pp. 237) (original) (raw)

The motive for a detailed presentation of this book comes as a necessity for me, first because the finds from the Velestino hoard have been a subject of research literally during my whole professional career. The second reason is that my articles i.e. the interpretations presented within them take on a prominent place in this publication, with the authors repeatedly mentioning them, discussing them and giving their own thoughts and opinions. In this article I will try to express my thought and remarks on this book and the insights presented within it, which, given the breadth and importance of the topic, will certainly not be the last. I hope that my research so far on the specific objects from this hoard, presented in different separate publications, will soon be rounded up in one monograph, directed primarily towards their mythological-religious aspects. An important part of it will certainly be the new and very valuable information and thoughts by Curta and Szmoniewski presented in this book. The remarks I direct towards them will also be explained and argumented in more detail within it, but also my own interperations on the content and meaning of the objects that comprise the Velestino hoard.