Diobolgeldæ (The Devil's Money): The Early-Medieval Cult Site of Hezingen, The Netherlands.

WELL-EXCAVATED CULT SITES ARE KEY to identifying and understanding changing ritual behaviour in the Christianisation period. Unfortunately, such sites are rare. Recent metal-detected finds near the hamlet of Hezingen (the Netherlands) prompted archaeological excavations that have brought to light the remains of a 7th-century open-air cult site possibly connected with immigrants. The site consisted of a row of posts and a large boulder situated in a clearing near an ancient road junction, on a prominent elevation in the landscape. Gold coins and jewellery were deposited there at regular intervals over a period of about 100 years. Based on the phosphate analysis, it is likely that animals were sacrificed there as well. Use of the site ceased around the year ad 700, at least half a century earlier than the formal Christianisation of the area. This could indicate that the local elite, with whom the site seems to have been associated, had become Christians at an earlier date, or had at least moved away from collective expressions of paganism. The cult site was probably linked to a nearby high-status settlement with an enclosed cult house or ceremonial building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]