14 DAY TRIAL // Archaeologists carrying out excavations in Israel say they have recently discovered several coins and pieces of gold jewelry dating to Byzantine times.
The artifacts were found close to the remains of the ancient city of Arsuf, which some prefer calling Apollonia.
During the fifth, the sixth and the seventh centuries, which coincide with the late Byzantine period, this urban area was called Sozousa.
In those days, Christians and Samaritans were its chief inhabitants.
Given the fact that, in Byzantine times, agricultural practices were thriving both in the city of Arsuf and on its outskirts, the archaeologists were not surprised to find traces of wine and olive presses that were once up and running in these regions.
However, they were a tad taken aback when they stumbled upon coins and, bronze and gold jewelry.
More so given the fact that, as Live Science reports, these Byzantine artifacts were lying at the bottom of a garbage dump measuring roughly 98 feet (30 meters) in diameter.
Information shared with the public says that, along with these coins and pieces of jewelry, this trash pit contained fragments of jars, cookware, tableware, animal bones and glass vessels.
While it makes perfect sense for the latter to have ended up in the garbage dump once they were no longer of any use, archaeologists are having difficulties understanding why anyone would want to throw away money and jewelry.
What baffles them is the fact that, as far as they can tell, both the coins and the jewelry were in good condition and therefore usable at the time they were disposed of.
Several Samaritan lamps, some of which were intact and looked as if they had never been used, were also found in this trash pit.
Archaeologists are presently trying to figure out why these items were thrown away together with the coins and the pieces of jewelry.