The aim of the paper is to evaluate the usefulness of dendrochronological analyses in studying complex stratigraphic sequences. The problem is discussed basing on the example of Wrocław, the main town of historic Silesia, where the thickness of medieval layers containing wood ranges between 3 and 5 m. The first attempts to date them using dendrochronology were made at the end of the 1980s. Some dates, or their short series, were then used as a basis for far-reaching conclusions regarding the chronology of the beginnings of settlement or breakthrough events. The preliminary stage of dendrochronological analyses and uncritical acceptance of interpretations ended in Wrocław with the excavations carried out in 2000. Longer series of dendrochronological dates have become one of the basic tools for dating complex correlated being aware of limitations set by both categories of sources and methods of their analysis. It was stated that giving up on an in-depth critique of dendrological samples as a category of sources can result in a considerable distortion of the acquired results. and Cílem článku je hodnocení využitelnosti dendrochronologie při studiu složitých stratigrafických situací, a to na příkladu slezské Vratislavi, kde středověké terény obsahující dřevo dosahují mocnosti 3–5 m. První pokusy o datování archeologických vrstev pomocí dendrochronologie proběhly na konci 80. let 20. století. Některá data nebo jejich krátké série byly využity pro dalekosáhlé závěry o chronologii počátků osídlení či přelomových událostí. Tato etapa poznamenaná nekritickou interpretací získaných dat skončila ve Vratislavi v souvislosti s archeologickými odkryvy v r. 2000. Základním nástrojem pro datování složitých situací se staly početnější řady dendrochronologických dat. Stratigrafická pozorování byla korelována s dendrochronologickými daty s vědomím limitů obou pramenných kategorií a příslušných metod. Opomenutí důkladné kritiky dendrologických vzorků coby samostatné kategorie poznávacích pramenů může vyústit v závažné pokřivení výpovědi dendrochronologické analýzy.
Der Beitrag kommentiert den Aufsatz von Florin Curta in der Archeologické rozhledy 60 und die Grundthese des Forschers, die Bezeichnung „Slawen“ sei eine Konstruktion der Byzantiner für ganz unterschiedliche Gruppen im Norden ihrer Reichsgrenzen. Unter Rückgriff unter anderem auf archäologische Forschungsergebnisse im nördlichen westslawischen Raum wird diese These kritisch betrachtet. and Comments on the article of Florin Curta: The Making of the Slavs (with a special emphasis on Bohemia and Moravia), Archeologické rozhledy 60. The paper comments F. Curtas article in Archeologické rozhledy 60 and the author’s basic thesis, the term „Slavs“ would be a Byzantine construction for different groups in the North of the borders of the Empire. Using amongst others archaeological results from the north western Slavic territories this thesis is considered critically.
At present, the catalogue of early mediaval bridges in the nort-western part of territory with Slavic settlement contains 81 localities: 47 in Germany and 34 in Poland. In some of them more than one bridge (2 to 3 structure) was documented, bringing the total number of bridges to 101. Construction dates, different prhases in the lives of the bridges and dates ranges for when they were reapired were obtained based on dendrochronology and spartial-chronological analysis. The present anaylsis deals with 48 bridges from 37 localities in north-west Slavic territory: 22 in Germany and 16 in Poland. In 16 cases more or less probable reconstructions have been made and four basic types of bridges ascertained., Gerard Wilke., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The subject of this analysis is Bridge No. 1 in Mikulčice, which was discovered during a large-scale archaeological excavation of a former riverbed between the years 1966 and 1968 and revisited in 2012. Although it is the best preserved bridge in Mikulčice, reconstucting it faces a number of limitations. The aim of this article is to define in more detail such limitations as well as possibilities, drawing on previous attempt to reconstuct this bidge. During the processing of the find situation of Bridge No. 1 foru "key questions" regarding reconstruction have been formulated. Our resulting statement says that in the fiven circumstances we cannot exclude the existence of a number of substantial reconstructions of the bridge, or rather the existence of more bridges constucted over time in the same place. Because only the load-bearing parts of the bridge´s construction have been preserved, we know almost nothing about the part above water level. Here we can be inspored especially by mediaeval and modern era bridges in period representations or by bridges of similar constuction that are still standing. There remains the general quetion of the origin of the bridge´s consturction, which has analogies in a nuber of La téne and Roman localities in Western Europe. A possible explanation is that the Classical tradition of engineering may have been mediated by the provinces in the Danube region., Lumír Poláček, Gerard Wilke., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The article presents a brief summary of newly discovered wooden structures in the well-known polycultural site Mohelnice – štěrkovna (also “U cukrovaru” or Za cukrovarem) in the Mohelnice cadastre and its vicinity. Earlier discoveries at this site include Neolithic timbered wells and a sensational find of an oak monoxylon from the La Tène period of the 4th/3rd century BC (dendro 281 or 301 BC). It was found trapped in its home port on the banks of the meandering river Morava and dating has revealed the same age as the absolutely dated simple wooden pole construction. It is the northernmost found monoxylon known in the Czech Republic and also presents the oldest evidence for such use of ships on Czech rivers. The manufacture and use of such ships has been known since the Mesolithic period continuing until modern times. The subsequent exploration of the shores of the Moravičany Lakes banks revealed a number of smaller wooden structures below the water surface, either made up of pointed stakes themselves, or a combination of smaller stakes and branches built into a tapered corridor resembling a structure used for fishing. The latest discovery is a massive oak-fir structure manufactured from stakes, longitudinal and transverse planks and stones, interpretable as a timber trackway, or a bridge. It has been dendrochronologically dated to 1547–1560 and archival sources indicate the structure was repaired in 1645. The structure spans the former meander between Třeština and Mohelnice near one of the mills. The existence of this route is documented on 18th-century maps. Significant discoveries from various times of mainly wooden buildings underscore at least the European significance of the Mohelnice site. It may yield many valuable finds in the future.
Lokalita Mokré louky u Třeboně je rozsáhlé, dnes uměle odvodněné rašeliniště. V roce 1998 odtud bylo vyzvednuto cca 50 kmenů dubu letního (Quercus robur) o délce až 10 m a maximálním průměru 120 cm. Z 31 kmenů byly odebrány vzorky pro dendrochronologickou analýzu, která prokázala, že úhyn většiny dubů spadá do krátké periody počátku 20. let 10. století. Za účelem studia okolností, za kterých se dubový les na lokalitě vyskytoval a za kterých došlo k jeho zániku, byl proveden plošný odkryv. Na jeho místě byla studována stratigrafie a odebrány vzorky na pylovou a makrozbytkovou analýzu.V době, kdy se na ploše rašeliniště vyskytoval vzrostlý dubový les, nacházela se lokalita i její okolí v čistě přírodním stavu. Příčiny zániku lesa počátkem 10. stol. nelze zatím s jistotou určit, roli mohly hrát klimatické příčiny v kombinaci s lokálními faktory. Později, během vrcholně středověké kolonizace, došlo k prvnímu významnému zásahu do krajiny Třeboňské pánve. Zakládána byla pole, pastviny a louky, regionální lesní porosty ustupovaly, nebo alespoň degradovalo jejich přirozené složení. and The Mokré louky (lit. „Wet Meadows“) area near Třeboň is an extensive, today artificially drained, peat bog. In 1998, around 50 trunks of Sessile (Durmast) Oak (Quercus petrea) were removed from here, each around 10m in length and with a maximum diameter of 120 cm. Samples were withdrawn from 31 trunks for dendrochronological analysis, which showed that the deaths of most had taken place in a short period at the beginning of the 920’s AD. As part of a study of the events leading to the establishment of the oak wood on the site, and those which led to its demise, a larger area was opened for examination. The stratigraphy of the site was studied, and samples were taken for analyses of pollen and macro–remains. For the period in which woodland occupied what is now a bog, the site and its surroundings were in an entirely natural state. The causes of the woodland’s demise at the beginning of the 10th century are unclear, but an important role may have been played by climatic factors in combination with other external stimuli. Later, during the colonisation in the High Middle Ages, regional woodland growth receded, or their natural components were at least degraded.
Dvojdílné hradiště v Praze-Královicích náleží do skupiny velkých vícedílných středočeských hradů raného středověku. Vzdálenost 17 km od Pražského hradu dovoluje uvažovat o tom, že plnilo funkci důležitého strategického bodu kontrolujícího přístup do Pražské kotliny od východu. Kvůli antikvovanému datování do 11. a 12. století se ale dosud nacházelo na periferii archeologického zájmu. V průběhu posledních čtyř let proběhlo v lokalitě několik archeologických aktivit, které zařadily vznik hradiště do doby prvních Přemyslovců. Text prezentuje výsledky výzkumu vnějšího opevnění. Poměrně přesné datování jeho vzniku se může opřít o dendrodatum získané z roštové konstrukce. V závěrečné části se pokoušíme o zařazení hradiště do historického kontextu a zvažujeme socioekonomické implikace transportu obrovského množství kamene na stavbu čelní kamenné plenty ze vzdálenosti nejméně 9,5 km. and The bipartite stronghold in Prague-Královice is part of a group of large, multipartite early medieval strongholds in central Bohemia. The fact that the stronghold is located a mere 17 km to the southeast of Prague Castle raises the question of whether it served as an important strategic point controlling access to the Prague basin from the east. However, due to its antiquated dating to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the stronghold has remained until now on the periphery of archaeological interest. Several archaeological activities conducted at the site over the past four years have dated the construction of the stronghold to the period of the first Přemyslids. The text presents the results of the outer fortification excavation. The relatively precise dating of its founding is supported by a dendrochronological date acquired from the wooden frame of the rampart. In the final part of the paper an attempt is made to place the stronghold in a historical context, and the authors speculate on the socioeconomic implications of the transport of enormous amounts of stone for the construction of the front screen wall from a distance of at least 9.5 km.