scholarly journals Próba interpretacji zjawiska rytualnego składania ofiar z ludzi na Słowiańszczyźnie Zachodniej

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 373-397
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Pokorski
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Written Sources

The subject matter of the article concerns on ritual sacrificial practices related to human sacrifices among the Western Slavs, including the Polish lands and the Polabia region. The chronological range covers the early Middle Ages, from the 7th to the 12th centuries. Considerations on this subject include the review of anthropological and philosophical disciplines research including R. Girard studies in this aspect, an analysis of written sources, and above all the analysis of the occurrence of victims and sacrificial sites from an archaeological perspective. The aim of the study was to identify archaeological remains related to sacrificial rituals by presenting the occurrence of victims and sacrificial sites at selected archaeological sites. The study aims to discuss the issues with interpretations of various aspects of the human sacrifices from the early medival Western Slavdom territory sites. The work is interdisciplinary, as it takes into account and integrates the results of archaeological research, knowledge in the field of history, philosophy and cultural anthropology. The article presents the effectiveness of interdisciplinary methods in expanding analytical and interpretative possibilities of archeology regarding the rituals of sacrifice and sacrificial sites.

The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-640
Author(s):  
Luc Bourgeois
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Many

The study of places of power in the Merovingian realm has long been focused on cities, monasteries, and royal palaces. Recent archaeological research has led to the emergence of other categories. Four of them are addressed in this chapter. These include the capitals of fallen cities, which continue to mark the landscape in one way or another. Similarly, the fate of small Roman towns during the early Middle Ages shows that most of them continued to host a variety of secular and ecclesiastical powers. In addition, from the fourth century onward, large hilltop fortified settlements multiplied anew. They complemented earlier networks of authority, whether elite residences, artisan communities, or real towns. Finally, from the seventh century onward, the great aristocratic villas of late antiquity were transformed into settlements organized around one or more courtyards and supplemented by funerary and religious structures. The evolution of political spaces and lifestyles explains both the ruptures in power networks that occurred during the Merovingian epoch and the many continuities that can be seen in the four kinds of places studied in this chapter that were marked by these developments.

scholarly journals The daily life of franks according to written sources at the time of Gregory of Tours: clothing, military affairs, urban life and customs

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 165-171
Author(s):  
Igor Valentinovich Kazakov
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Urban Character ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
History Book ◽  
Written Sources

This paper is a logical continuation of our paper The daily life of Franks according to written sources at the time of Gregory of Tours, I: diseases, medicine, hygiene and food. This paper is an attempt to collect and systematize information about the material conditions of life in the Frankish state of the Merovingians in the 6th century in the descriptions of contemporary authors. The choice of the topic is due to the need to compose a complete picture of a persons life from the beginning of the early Middle Ages, which until now has remained poorly researched, unlike the Carolingian period. The sources used are the writings of Gregory of Tours, Venantius Fortunatus, Apollinaris Sidonius, The Chronicle of Fredegar, The History Book of the Franks and others. The paper collects data on the clothes of various population groups, on the weapons and armor of the Franks and the level of military affairs development, on cities and urban life, and some features of the mentality of so far half barbaric society. The collected material allows us to state that: a) the sources of the early Merovingian period, in contrast to the Carolingian era, are distinguished by the extreme scarcity of data in the field of genesis; b) despite a rather primitive look of clothing, it possessed considerable material value, as well as it had a significant essence, c) Roman cities continued to exist on the territory of Gallia, but largely lost their urban character, turning into fortified centers, and c) Christianization had very little influence on the moral character of the Franks; society remained largely barbaric, although some features indicate the beginning of the formation of a new civilization.

Bone Remains from Archaeological Sites in the Podravina Area with Traces of Metallurgical Activity

2021 ◽  
pp. 227-232
Author(s):  
Snježana Kužir ◽  
Lucija Bastiančić ◽  
Nikolina Škvorc
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Primary Analysis ◽  
Species Determination ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Bone Remains

The studied material includes animal remains from the four archaeological sites in the Podravina region of Croatia. The animal remains originate from sites with traces of metallurgical activity as well as from some settlement features which were also investigated. According to C14 analysis, and comparison with archaeological finds excavated in the vicinity of Torčec, the majority of the finds date from the period of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. At all four sites, the animal remains were damaged, sporadic findings, which made a complete archaeozoological analysis impossible. A descriptive primary analysis (element representation and taxonomic interpretation) was carried out. At all sites the remains were mainly from domestic mammals. One fragment of a bird bone was also found, but species determination was not possible. Particular attention was paid to the taphonomic effects on the bones.

scholarly journals The Middle Ages in Pollen-Analytical Research on the Territory of the Czech Republic

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlasta Jankovská
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Analytical Perspective ◽  
Analytical Research

Abstract An orientation survey of mostly the author’s own results of pollen analyses of medieval sediments from archaeological sites in the Czech Republic is presented. The aim of the several-year-long cooperation with archaeologists was to find out whether, and to what extent, the results of pollen analysis are able to specify more exactly the outcomes of archaeological research. Existing pollen-analytical results confirmed their potential to contribute to interdisciplinary archaeological-archaeobotanical research. From a pollen-analytical perspective it was possible to distinguish early medieval material from high medieval material, particularly in the area of larger medieval towns. Selected finds of palynomorphs (pollen grains, spores and Non-Pollen-Palynomorphs) are mentioned in more detail in the chapters “Botany and pharmacy”, “Hygiene and social situation”, “Problems of the age, function and/or disappearance of some archaeological features and situations” and “Pollen analysis and history”.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
pp. 4-26
Author(s):  
Kriston R. Rennie
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

The history of monastic exemption in France gives witness to a rich and lively institutional story of freedom and protection. This opening chapter frames the subject, its historiographical traditions, and methodological challenges, advancing the argument for a Roman tradition whose origins and development date firmly to the early Middle Ages.

OSSETIAN EPIC AND ARCHAEOLOGY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
А.А. Туаллагов
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Traditional Image ◽  
Written Sources

Статья посвящена проблеме появления в Нартовском эпосе осетин редкого образа ящерицы. Данный образ практически неизвестен в осетинских мифологических, этнографических и фольклорных материалах, что соответствует положению и у других кавказских народов. Указанное положение определяет актуальность предложенной к анализу темы. Научная новизна исследования заключается в анализе материалов осетинского эпоса в свете древнеиранских религиозно-мифологических представлений и археологических памятников. Целью исследования является определение источника и условий появления соответствующего зооморфного образа в аланских древностях и эпическом наследии осетин. В ходе исследования применялись метод комплексного анализа нарративных и археологических источников на основе принципа историзма и системности изложения. В результате проведенного исследования удалось выявить общий круг археологических и письменных источников, позволяющих определиться с источником появления образа ящерицы в осетинском эпосе. Данный зооморфный образ проникает к аланам в раннем средневековье через посредничество населения Северо-Западного Кавказа, испытывавшего на себе непосредственно влияние зороастризма за счет вхождения данной территории в состав Сасанидской Персии. Не исключено, что прототипом самого изображения мог служить один из местных видов ящериц. Но, если здесь образ ящерицы непосредственно соответствовал образам зороастрийских сил зла , то у алан он был переосмыслен в русле собственных мифологических представлений. Время его появления определяется соответствующими находками зеркал в аланских памятниках. Но образ ящерицы не смог заменить или потеснить традиционный образ змеи, представленный и в эпосе. В эпосе он только пополнил ряд образов гадов в сюжете о волшебной чаше. The article is devoted to the problem of the appearance of a rare image of a lizard in the Narts epic of the Ossetians. This image is practically unknown in Ossetian mythological, ethnographic and folklore materials, which corresponds to the situation in other Caucasian peoples. The specified position determines the relevance of the topic proposed for analysis. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the analysis of the materials of the Ossetian epic in the light of ancient Iranian religious and mythological representations and archaeological monuments. The aim of the study is to determine the source and conditions for the appearance of the corresponding zoomorphic image in the Alanian antiquities and the Ossetian epic heritage. In the course of the study the method of a comprehensive analysis of narrative and archaeological sources based on the principle of historicism and systematic presentation was applied. As a result of the study, it was possible to identify a common circle of archaeological and written sources, allowing to determine the source of the appearance of the image of a lizard in the Ossetian epic. This zoomorphic image penetrates to the Alans in the early Middle Ages through the mediation of the population of the North-West Caucasus, who experienced the direct influence of Zoroastrianism due to the entry of this territory into Sasanian Persia. It is possible that one of the local species of lizards could serve as the prototype of the image itself. But, if here the image of the lizard directly corresponded to the images of the Zoroastrian forces of evil , then among the Alans it was reconsidered in line with its own mythological ideas. The time of its appearance is determined by the corresponding finds of the mirrors in the Alanian monuments. But the image of a lizard could not replace or displace the traditional image of a snake, presented in the epic. In epic, it only replenished a number of images of reptiles in the plot of the magic cup.

Sutri (Sutrium) (Notes on Southern Etruria, 3)

1958 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 63-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Original Work ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Town

The modern town of Sutri lies 50 km. north of Rome, beside the Via Cassia, on the site of the ancient Sutrium (pl. X, a, b). It was already in existence in Etruscan times, passed to the Romans at the beginning of the fourth century b.c., was twice colonised by them and reached a peak of prosperity under the early Empire. It continued to flourish in the early Middle Ages, but a rapid decline set in after the fourteenth century and the town to-day is comparatively modest and unimportant.The following report is concerned mainly with the ancient town and with a typical area of the surrounding countryside (7 km. × 12 km. in extent), as it was in Etruscan and Roman times (fig. 1, p. 64). It is chiefly a record of the archaeological remains found in the area during five months' fieldwork in the winter and spring, 1957–1958, undertaken as part of the British School's current programme of survey in southern Etruria, which is designed to record permanently such remains before they disappear for ever, as they are fast doing.The antiquities of the ancient town itself are already well known and have been described several times in the past. But, apart from occasional references to isolated finds and an attempt towards the end of the last century to map the ancient roads, the countryside outside the town has never been properly explored. The bulk of the original work, therefore, lies in sections III and IV. The Etruscan and the Roman roads have been located, as far as is possible, and all the sites which are still to be found have been recorded. In certain areas present-day woodland concealed a few, notably round the small town of Bassano di Sutri and towards the summit of M. Calvi, south of Sutri, and cultivation in the immediate vicinity of the modern towns may have destroyed a few more, especially near Ronciglione; but at the most it is probable that only about 20 sites were lost or missed in this way, as opposed to a total recorded of some 220. Except for woodland, all the ground within the limits of the area chosen was walked over and examined.

scholarly journals The archaeological potential of Durham University's Sudan Archive

Antiquity ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (354) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Ward
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Personal Communications ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Recent Project ◽  
Relevant Material ◽  
Untapped Resource

Durham University's Sudan Archive was founded in 1957 by former members of the Sudan Government under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, and by staff from Durham University, including the first director of the Oriental Museum, T.W. Thacker (Cory & Forbes 1983). Since the initial call for donations, the Sudan Archive has now collected 800 boxes of documents and photographs, mainly from former Sudan Government officials. This material now forms an integral part of Durham University Library's special collections (Sudan Archive Catalogue). The archive holds a wide variety of documents, from personal communications and photographs, to official reports mainly pertaining to political and social issues from early twentieth-century Sudan and neighbouring countries. It also includes a wealth of material relevant to the archaeology of both the Sudan and neighbouring countries (e.g. Egypt, Israel, Syria) (Figure 1), yet only a limited amount of the potentially relevant material has been used by archaeologists. The Sudan Archive remains a largely untapped resource for archaeological research. This situation is probably to be explained partly by the description of the archive as a historical and political collection; moreover, a search of the existing catalogue for the term ‘archaeology’ returns only four results, whereas about 700 documents are directly relevant to the subject. An additional problem is that the spellings of both archaeological sites and locations are inconsistent; for example, Meroë also appears asMeroe, MeroweandBakarwiyyeh. To remedy these issues and to make the material more accessible, a recent project has identified over 1000 individual references to archaeological sites or themes and catalogued them in a database (Figure 2).

scholarly journals The daily life of the Francs according to written sources at the time of Gregory of Tours: diseases, medicine, hygiene and food

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-151
Author(s):  
Igor Valentinovich Kazakov
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Time Diversity ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
History Book ◽  
Scarce Data ◽  
Written Sources ◽  
Composition Of Products

This paper is an attempt to collect and systematize information about the material conditions of life in the Frankish state of the Merovingians in the 6th century. The choice of the topic is due to the need to compose a complete picture of a persons life from the beginning of the early Middle Ages, which until now has remained poorly researched, unlike the Carolingian period. The sources used are the writings of Gregory of Tours, Venantius Fortunatus, Apollinaris Sidonius, The Chronicle of Fredegar, The History Book of the Franks and others. The paper contains data on the diseases and epidemics that were widespread during the mentioned period, methods of their treatment and the state of medicine in general, hygiene in the Frankish society, as well as the diet and composition of products. The collected material says that: a) the sources of the early Merovingian period are extremely scarce data in the field of life descriptions; b) the Frankish society was very vulnerable to a wide variety of diseases, and the priority of faith over medicine did not allow them to resist; c) ideas about the absence of elementary hygiene in the early Middle Ages are greatly exaggerated, and d) the set of consumed products was distinguished by simplicity and at the same time diversity with rudimentary skills in cooking.

scholarly journals Enterramientos Infantiles Altomedievales en La Cabilda, Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid. Early Middle Ages infant burials in La Cabilda, Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid (Spain)

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Rosario Gomez Osuna
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Granite Rock

Se presentan tres inhumaciones infantiles documentadas en el yacimiento Altomedieval de La Cabilda, Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid, en la campaña de excavaciones del año 2017. Tienen la peculiaridad de localizarse asociadas a una estructura no funeraria, habitacional y de carácter auxiliar. El yacimiento de La Cabilda es un asentamiento aldeano rural situado en el pie de la Sierra de Guadarrama, con cronologías del siglo VII d.C. Cuenta con 23 estructuras de habitación y productivas, y con enterramientos dispersos en sepulturas excavadas en roca granítica, de tipo ovalado, en las proximidades de los edificios. Para la interpretación de las tumbas infantiles aparecidas y del espacio funerario elegido, se realiza un análisis de datos conocidos sobre este tipo singular de enterramientos y se incluyen ejemplos de inhumaciones infantiles de similar cronología de los yacimientos Altomedievales de la Sierra de Guadarrama.Results of the study of three infant burials located in the Early Middle Ages archaeological site of La Cabilda, Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid (Spain), as found during the excavation campaign of 2017. The burials have the peculiarity of being linked to an auxiliar dwelling structure, not associated with funerary purposes.The La Cabilda archaeological site, in Hoyo de Manzanares, corresponds to a farming settlement dated in the 7th century CE and located at the hem of Madrid’s Guadarrama Mountain Range. The site is comprised of 23 farming and housing building structures with additional scattered burials, oval-shaped and excavated in granite rock, located in the vicinity of the buildings.In order to interpret the infant burials and their associated funerary area, we perform an analysis of known data on this type of sepultures, including examples of other, similarly dated, infant burials found in Early Middle Ages archaeological sites in the Guadarrama Mountain Range.

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