Researchers in the Netherlands discovered "devil's money," which may reveal insights into a forgotten pagan cult (photo).

Archaeologists in the Netherlands have discovered a pagan worship site where "devil's money" was sacrificed. This find is significant not only for shedding light on the lives of people who inhabited the region during pre-Christian times but also for potentially indicating a shift in eras.

The research has been published in the journal Medieval Archeology. The 7th-century ritual site was uncovered using a metal detector near the village of Hezingen, which is almost at the border with Germany.

During the excavations, researchers found gold coins that circulated in the Roman Empire as well as coins from the Merovingian dynasty. Additionally, Germanic-style pendants, fragments of silver items, and evidence of animal sacrifices were discovered.

The site itself contained 17 wooden posts oriented from east to west, with a massive boulder nearby. Notably, no settlements or burials were found in the vicinity, suggesting that the site held exclusively ritual significance.

We surprisingly know very little about the population of this region in the early Middle Ages, as there are almost no written records, and archaeological finds are quite rare. However, scholars believe that Saxon tribes lived in small villages here. In the 7th and 8th centuries, Frankish missionaries arrived in the region and began actively Christianizing the local population, leading to the conversion of all local rulers by the 9th century.

From later texts, it is known that the local population worshiped at least three gods—Wotan (Odin), Donar (Thor), and Saxnot—who were offered sacrifices. Thus, the coins and other ornaments found in Hezingen were likely intentionally left there as offerings. Some of these items were bent or broken, which may indicate a ritual of "killing" the item, linking it to a transition from the world of humans. Moreover, the high phosphate content in the soil might suggest that animals were also sacrificed there.

The sanctuary ceased to be used around the end of the 8th century. It is known that a certain Oodhelm transferred the lands to the church in 799, and it is possible that he or his ancestors had already renounced the pagan gods.

Many pagan shrines from that era were plundered and destroyed; however, no signs of destruction were found in Hezingen. Scholars speculate that the local elites converted to Christianity, and the sanctuary was simply abandoned.

The term "devil's money" attributed to the discovered coins comes from texts describing the baptism of the Saxons—pagans had to publicly declare their renunciation of worshiping the old gods and making offerings of coins to them. These coins were referred to as "devil's money" in the texts, as Christians sought to equate paganism with devil worship and pagan gods with demons.

As previously reported, scientists have established that grain appeared in the diet of our ancestors as early as 780,000 years ago—half a million years earlier than previously thought.