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Archaeologist Finds Ancient Roman Coins in 12th-Century Japanese Castle
here are plenty of things you’d expect to find in the ruins of a 12-century Japanese castle—old religious relics, perhaps, or royal remnants. Ancient Roman coins are not one of those things, but as CNN’s Emiko Jozuka reports, that’s exactly what one archaeologist found at Katsuren Castle, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Okinawa, Japan.

The bronze and copper coins were found along with a cache of Ottoman-era currency during an excavation of the castle, which was thought to have stood between the 12th and 16th centuries. X-ray technology revealed that the Roman coins dated all the way back to 300 to 400 A.D., while the Ottoman coins were made in 1687. (Smithsonian).

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Hiroki Miyagi, an archaeologist at Okinawa University who helped analyze the find, said that there was no evidence that there was trade between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the West. But, he added, “We know from documents and pottery shards that there was extensive trade with China and Southeast Asia from the 14th to the 19th century.”

The coins, he suggested, arrived in Okinawa via China. “There is a possibility that Chinese traders got the coins from Muslim traders,” Dr. Miyagi said.

The Japan Times reports that an X-ray analysis has found that the coins depict a soldier holding a spear and a portrait of Constantine the Great, a fourth-century Roman emperor. (New York Times).