Středověká kožedělná produkce z Litovle

Between 1997 and 2017, an extensive collection of approximately 3,500 leather fragments from the second half of the 13th to the 15th century was obtained from archaeological rescue excavations carried out in the historic core of Litovel. Most of the finds come from public areas of the town. Only a few dozen artefacts have been determined in terms of their original function. All the remaining finds can be classified as primary to secondary waste, among which manufacturing waste was often present, indicating the nearby presence of a craft workshop. In the case of Litovel, this has been demonstrated at two sites, and hypothetically at three others. These are specifically shoemaker or cobbler workshops. The leather artefact assemblage from Litovel contains typical representatives of material culture from the High and Late Middle Ages, most often in the form of shoes (high and low cuts, children’s sizes), clothing accessories (belts), equipment (scabbards) and items rarely found elsewhere including unique objects such as a case for wax writing tablets and a face mask.

Výsledky záchranného archeologického výzkumu na předhradí hradu Tepence v letech 1971–1975

The present study evaluates the medieval component of a rescue excavation carried out in the outer bailey of Tepenec Castle in 1971–1975. The castle, built during the 1330s–40s, ceased to exist due to war events in the early 15th century. A trench intersected the whole area of the fortified complex transversely from the northwest to the southeast (855 sqm). Two remnants of buildings dated to the High Middle Ages were partially examined. An assemblage of pottery and metal finds makes it possible to date both structures – mainly to the second half of the 14th and the early 15th centuries. The built-up area of the outer bailey cannot be considered a lower castle town but rather the so-called “latrán”.

Včasnostredoveké sídlisko v Brne-Medlánkach

The presented article examines the early medieval settlement in Brno-Medlánky. The archaeological finds were evaluated to obtain settlement spatial development and to reveal the practical, social and natural dimension of the settlement after the synthesis of the evidence. The relevance of the site in relation to early medieval Brno was also considered. The large quantity of ceramics, which was essential for this research, was processed using the database of J. Macháček. This enabled me to date the settlement between the 6th/7th to the 9th/10th century and, based on quantification, to characterise the morphological and technological features of the complex. The archaeological material was also compared with the material from other similar sites. The results of this analysis were acquired from data in the graphs, figures and quantification tables. The other findings were processed using descriptive models. Scientific analyses have proven the presence of blacksmithing and iron metallurgy at the site. Agricultural activities and processing of leather and textile were also documented at the site. The typical cumulative structure was evaluated within the framework of spatial analyses, together with the form and spatial development of the settlement. Moreover, the article deals with the complete skeletons of two dogs and one horse, and the human skeleton found in a storage pit. The complete animal skeletons were probably deposited for hygienic reasons; the human skeleton possibly proves an execution.

Poznámky k problematice interiéru nezděných staveb středověkého Brna (konfrontace archeologických poznatků a mikromorfologické analýzy podlahových úrovní vybraných staveb)

The study summarises the basic findings regarding non-masonry buildings in medieval Brno and the prospects for further knowledge. A modern methodological approach in the form of micromorphology in an archaeological context, particularly regarding the interiors of these buildings, was used to add more information. From more than 200 micromorphological samples taken in Brno since 2008, a total of 16 from five sites in the historical centre of the city were selected for this partial study. Temporally, this concerns the period between the early 13th and the mid-14th centuries. The basic outcome of the study is the analysis, interpretation and division of the samples into typological groups. Based on typical features, sunken parts of the structures used for a relatively long time could be divided from the above-ground structures even though in some cases the “floor sandwich” had been partly removed due to ongoing maintenance. Finally, the results were confronted with a macroscopic observation by an archaeologist and with ethnographic knowledge. It was possible to identify the more detailed microstratigraphy of the floor sandwiches than by macroscopic observations in most cases and therefore specify the interpretation of the origin of the floor sandwich.

Jindřich Wankel a vídeňská c. k. Centrální komise pro výzkum a zachování uměleckých a historických památek

Jindřich Wankel’s collaboration with the k. k. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Kunst- und historischen Denkmale is not a widely known area of the scholar’s activities. And yet, in doing so he significantly contributed to the protection of archaeological heritage in Moravia: first as the commission’s correspondent (1883/1884–1885) and later as a conservator (1885–1893). His position enabled him to act in favour of the Olomouc Patriotic Museum Association and the Museum run by them. His activities were hindered by the legal framework of the time. Archaeological finds and sites were considered the property of the landowner and access to such required negotiations with the landowner and calling on their goodwill. This is clearly illustrated by the individual cases in which Wankel was involved.

The evolution of early medieval Moravian axe-shaped currency bars through the perspective of an archaeological experiment

The presented text attempts to assess the possibilities and limitations of processing Great Moravian currency bars (by domestic archaeologists traditionally called axe-shaped hryvnias) into the form of an end product – a tool in the form of an axe – using an archaeological experiment. In this manner, it is also testing the possibilities of the axe-shaped bars to remain in circulation as tokens of general-purpose money. The present experiment shows that the processing of these bars is considerably loss-making, which means that in the case of their circulation as tokens, their withdrawal from circulation for the purpose of their practical utilization would be unlikely. The text also attempts to model the genesis of axe-shaped currency, seeing their roots in Moravian social currency, which probably originally had the form of real axes. During the social and political changes of the Great Moravian period, this currency acquired the form of stylised semi-finished products and were probably also integrated in anonymous market transactions at least in part of Great Moravian territory.

Pravěké osídlení v okolí velkomoravského kostela ve Starém Městě – „Špitálkách“

A rescue excavation was carried out in the Staré Město – “Špitálky” location in 1949–1950 by J. Poulík who examined an enclosed sacral area with the remnants of a Great Moravian church and a smaller inhumation cemetery containing more than 40 graves. The church and the immediate surroundings later became part of a national cultural monument. A new evaluation excavation took place there in 2020 in connection with its complex revitalisation and focused on the area north of the church’s foundations. The survey proved that although neither the ecclesiastical area nor the cemetery continued in this direction, it did document intensive prehistoric occupation. Besides the settlement features (Moravian Painted Ware culture – MPWC, Urnfield culture – UFC), two graves were also discovered. Based on the inventory and funeral rite, one grave can be dated to the final phase of the Corded Ware culture while the other is represented probably by a UFC pit cremation burial. The study assesses the newly uncovered archaeological situations set in the context of the settlement structure in the Staré Město area in the individual prehistoric periods.

Sampling and its effect on the composition of archaeobotanical assemblages from the Roman Period

The subject of the presented study is taken from a dissertation project by one of the authors who focused on the processing of archaeobotanical assemblages from the Roman Period. The main aim of the research was the reconstruction of selected aspects of the subsistence strategy of the population in the given period based on the evaluation of archaeobotanical data from various chronological and cultural contexts in a designated region, available to author. The analysed sets were obtained during field excavations primarily conducted in the last third of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Uniform methods of archaeobotanical sampling were not applied in the acquisition of these assemblages. Source information on the origin of the samples was considerably heterogeneous and, in many cases, distinctly fragmentary. This was the impulse behind the investigation into the question as to whether, and to what extent, the method of sampling affects the interpretive value of the investigated dataset and what are the limitations of the analysis of such a dataset. The principal aim of this study is not the archaeobotanical evaluation of samples, but rather to investigate a possible effect of their formal properties on the composition of archaeobotanical finds. The formal properties studied include the volume and the number of collected samples, and the spatial stratification of samples (context/feature). Intuitively, it would appear that the heterogeneous quality of this information may have a certain impact on the interpretive value of an archaeobotanical assemblage. We discuss the effect of the chosen method of sampling on the composition of macro-remains in archaeobotanical samples and assemblages with the use of statistical models.

Protektorátní počátky brněnské odbočky Archeologického ústavu

When Karl Hucke assumed the directorship of the Moravian Museum including its Department of Prehistory in November 1941, he very soon attempted to transfer administrative authority over the archaeological heritage care in Moravia from the Institute of Archaeology in Prague in order to take control over Moravian Prehistoric research and to emancipate it from the influence of the Reichsdeutsche archaeologists active in Bohemia. His proposal presented in December of 1941 to the Office of the Reichsprotektor and to the president of Moravia (governor) conceived the transfer of the competences of the Institute of Archaeology to the Department of Prehistory of the Moravian Museum. However, the Reichsprotektor office had no interest in decentralisation of archaeological heritage protection and, therefore, Hucke’s proposal ended up being substantially reworked. Based on an idea of a Reichsprotektor office staffer, Wolf von Both, the Brno branch of the Institute of Archaeology was established in the summer of 1942 as a de facto detached institution with some autonomy. Its establishment was therefore a compromise between Hucke’s original plan and the effort of maintaining the central role of the Institute of Archaeology as stipulated by the 1941 Government decree on archaeological heritage.

Časně eneolitické depozitum v Bílých Karpatech na moravsko-slovenském pomezí

In 2017, a relatively small copper artefact hoard was found using a metal detector just a few metres from the border between the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. This was on a distinctive slope on the Moravian side of the White Carpathians, at a relatively high altitude (746 m) in the cadastral area of the municipality of Lopeník. The hoard was lent for documenting by the finder and then returned to them. It contained three flat Jordanów type axes, a Şiria type hammer axe (only the second find in Moravia) and, most probably, raw material in a unique form of two discs of flat copper strip coiled into the shape of a pyramidal spiral. Some of the items were made of pure copper (with the presumed source in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin), some of a material similar to Nógrádmarcal antimony copper, forwhich a Slovak origin is considered. Based on the presence of several Jordanów type axes, we date the hoard to the Early Eneolithic and link it to the bearers of the Jordanów culture. Due to its location, the hoard is further distinctive evidence of transport corridors passing from the Carpathian Basin via the White Carpathians, where most parallels to the artefacts under study have been found. The presence of the two “strip material” discs is completely atypical.