Le monete in sepoltura: oltre “l’obolo per Caronte” (nel tempo e nello spazio)

The aim of the paper is to analyse the deposition of coins in graves in a diachronic view and in a dynamic and intercultural perspective. The first part (From Charon’s obolus to death coin) deals with the incorrect definition as Charon’s obolus of all the coins found in Greek and Roman tombs, highlighting the multiple forms and meanings that such a deposition can assume with respect to literary allusions to the fee required by the infernal ferryman. The second section (Coins and death between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages in Italy) discusses the continuity of coin deposition in the transition phase from the pagan to the Christian world, from Roman to Roman-Barbarian society, with a specific focus on the evidence offered by Ostrogotich and Lombard graves. The third part (Coins in Low Medieval graves: saints and sinners) examines the presence of coins in Medieval burials of saints and common people, questioning their possible ritual function or their accidental presence as they were originally hidden in the clothes of the deceased. The last short section (The Imploration of Franceschino da Brignale) illustrates a 14th century bas-relief from Naples where coins become a symbol of the wealth thanks to which Man hopes - but in vain - to escape his mortal destiny.