LEAD COMMERCIAL SEALING FROM KOVACHEVSKO KALE

Abstract

As a result of the three-month campaign in 2021, an early Christian basilica was discovered at the Kovachevsko kale fortress. It was built in the eastern part of the late Roman balneum, dated shortly after the Gothic Wars of Valens. During the excavation of via sagularis (between the fortress wall and the basilica) seven coins (dated from the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century), iron ring, small bronze chain and one lead sealing were found in proximity. The lead sealing is in the shape of a truncated cone with a diametre of 11 – 13 mm. A three-line inscription in Greek is preserved on the obverse: ΣΕΒ/ΑΣ[...]/Ν. Cities called Sebastón/Sebastopolis are known from throughout the Roman Empire, but our focus is mainly on the cities of the Late Antiquity period in Asia Minor, which were major producers and exporters of various goods. A complete coincidence in terms of the period and other features is found with Elaiussa Sebaste (Ἐλαιοῦσα Σεβαστή), also called Σεβαστηνῶν πόλις or simply Σεβαστῶν. The peak of the city’s economic development is recorded at the very end of the 4th to 7th centuries, focusing on the production of wine, olive oil and glassware. These data testify to the arrival of goods (probably through intermediaries) from the significant Mediterranean centre to the Late Roman fortress of Kovachevsko kale at the end of the 4th – first half of the 5th century.