Archaeologists have unearthed a hoard of gold and silver coins offered as diobolgeldæ, or "devil's money", at a medieval cult site in the Netherlands, shedding more light on the rituals of pre-Christian groups in this part of Europe.

The Netherlands, northern Germany and Britain have yielded fewer cult sites compared to the Nordic world, whose pre-Christian rituals are much better understood.

Findings from pre-Christian pagan cult sites in the Nordic region don't always apply to the rest of the Germanic-Nordic world. But the coin hoard found in Hezingen in eastern Netherlands provides valuable insights into cult rituals in the area, researchers say.

The Hezingen site first came to light around five years ago after metal detectors found numerous gold and silver coins. Archeologists found that it consisted of three sites, including a large circular feature made of wooden posts surrounding an unusually shaped building.

One of the sites contained a single gold coin while another had nearly two dozen fragmented and complete gold coins as well as a gold pendant and a silver earring.

The third site contained gold coin fragments and a small pendant, according to a new study published in the journal Medieval Archaeology.

To read the complete articles, see:
Medieval Dutch site may have hosted 'devil's money' cult rituals(https://ca.news.yahoo.com/medieval-dutch-may-hosted-devils-112306018.html?guccounter=1)
Diobolgeldæ (The Devil's Money): The Early-Medieval cult site of Hezingen, the Netherlands(https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/diobolgeld%C3%A6-the-devils-money-the-early-medieval-cult-site-of-hezi)