Four ancient Roman coins and other items have been unearthed by archaeologists in Japan.
The ruins of Katsuren Castle in Okinawa Prefecture were being excavated by archaeologists who discovered four peculiar items that suggest some sort of link between the Western World and the Asian nation.
The Board of Education in the city of Uruma disclosed the discovery, which consists of four copper coins that are believed to be from third and fourth centuries, displaying the image of Emperor Constatine I and a solider carrying a spear.
The coins are 0.6 inches x 0.8 inches in diameter apiece. The castle existed about 1,000 years after the coins were in use, between the 12th and 15th centuries.
“The Chinese ceramics and coins that we found date back at least 600 to 700 years and we’d like to analyze those objects in tandem with these coins to work out how the coins may have ended up here,” archaeologist Hiroki Miyagi said.
A 17th century coin from the Ottoman Empire and other precious items were found at the dig. It is believed the coins were brought via trade routes from the West to Asia.
The UNESCO heritage site revealed the coins, which can be examined closely via X-rays. “I’d come to analyze artifacts like Japanese samurai armor that had been found there when I spotted the coins,” researcher Toshio Tsukamoto told CNN.
