In 2012, rescue excavations were carried out in front of the front facade of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in Denisova Street in Olomouc. The original Middle- and Late-Hillfort terrain was removed. Layers containing pottery dated mainly to the 10th century also turned up fragments of mortar, plaster, bricks and roofing, which indicates the presence of an Early Medieval church in close proximity. “Monk-and-nun” roof tiles of antique type probably come from an older Roman construction. Early Medieval occupation layers adjoined a ditch, a remain of the fortification between Předhradí and the town, which was established as early as Early Middle Ages and was used till the 14th century. Another remain of the original fortification of Předhradí is the find of stone romanesque masonry with north-south orientation. The excavations also uncovered remains of stone constructions of an original Minorite church.
Článek představuje nález cášského keramického rohu z prostoru zaniklé středověké vsi Rakousky, dnes k. ú. Kralice na Hané, okr. Prostějov, který disponuje spolehlivým nálezovým kontextem. Jedná se o první bezpečně rozpoznaný exemplář tohoto specifického druhu artefaktu z území Moravy a jeden z mála kusů pocházejících z českých zemí vůbec. Jeho publikace rozšiřuje dosud známé spektrum devocionálií (nejen) cášského původu a v rovině obecné ilustruje zbožnost, a především vysokou mobilitu středověkého člověka. and The article presents the find of a ceramic pilgrim horn from the deserted medieval village of Rakousky in the cadastre of Kralice na Hané, Prostějov district, Central Moravia, a site that provides a reliable find context. The artefact is the first positively identified specimen of its kind in Moravia and one of the few from the Czech lands as a whole. The publication of the find expands the known spectrum of devotional (and other) artefacts of Aachen origin and, on a general level, illustrates the piety and, above all, the high mobility of medieval man.
In 2019, a metal-detector find of an exceptionally well-preserved weapon was made in the complex of Ždánice Forest. We can classify it as a long-sword of Type XVIa, H1, 1b (according to Oakeshott 1964; Głosek 1984, 39–40, Fig. 4) and date it to the turn of the 15th century. Its blade was marked on both sides with three marks taking the form of a forked cross, a diagonal consisting of three equilateral crosses and, finally, a bishop's crosier. The weapon was assembled from a blade of Passau provenance and hilt-components characteristic of the wider Central European region. These and other facts concerning the sword were obtained through detailed analysis, which this study introduces.
Středověcí hrnčíři používali na Moravě grafit k výrobě keramiky od 9. století. Běžná užitková grafitová keramika mizí z trhu v průběhu 13. století, poté byly vyráběny prakticky jen masivní zásobnice. Zvětraliny obsahující grafit byly těženy v okolí výskytů grafitu. Hruběji zrnité grafitové vločky spolu s úlomky hornin se stávaly součástí ostřiva, jemnozrnný grafit spolu s organickou příměsí byl součástí pojiva. Na úlohu grafitu při výrobě a použití keramiky neexistuje jednotný názor. Použijeme-li k hodnocení požadavky na moderní grafitové tyglíky, zjistíme, že vysoká tepelná vodivost, objemová stálost a hydrofobie grafitu byly hlavními vlastnostmi ovlivňujícími pozitivně (technologicky a ekonomicky) sušení, výpal i využívání grafitové keramiky. and Medieval potters in Moravia began using graphite to produce pottery in the ninth century. Common utilitarian graphite pottery disappeared from the market during the course of the thirteenth century, with further production essentially limited to large storage vessels. Sediments containing graphite were collected in the vicinity of the occurrence of graphite. Coarse-grained graphite flakes along with fragments of minerals were used as temper, while fine-grained graphite and organic material were used as binders. There is no consensus on the role of graphite in the production and use of pottery. If demands on modern graphite crucibles are used as evaluation criteria, it can be seen that the high thermal conductivity, volume stability and hydrophobic nature of graphite were the main qualities with a positive impact (technologically and economically) on the drying, firing and use of graphite pottery.
Jedním z témat archeologické antropologie je studium vztahu člověka a artefaktu. Z tohoto hlediska je také možné studovat problematiku rekonstrukce středověkých opevnění. Výzkumu raně středověkých opevnění se věnovala řada badatelů, ale jen v některých případech interpretace dospěla až do stádia návrhu celkové kresebné rekonstrukce fortifikace. Z hlediska hájitelnosti těchto zařízení lze posuzovat rekonstrukce z pohledu vztahu hradby a lidského těla. Na některých kresebných rekonstrukcích podoby vrcholně a pozdně středověkých opevnění se na náspu objevují opevňovací prvky v podobě palisády. Ty nejsou spolehlivě doloženy a jejich existence by byla z hlediska obranyschopnosti kontraproduktivní. and One of the subjects of archaeological anthropology is the study of the relationship between man and artefacts. From this perspective it is also possible to study questions surrounding the reconstruction of medieval fortifications. A number of researchers have studied Early Medieval fortifications, but only in several instances has the interpretation reached the stage of drafting the overall graphic reconstruction of these fortifications. From the perspective of the defensibility of these structures, it is possible to assess the reconstruction from the point of view of the relationship of the walls and the human body. Fortifying elements in the form of palisades appear on the ramparts in several of the graphic reconstructions of the High and Late Middle Age fortifications. These are not reliably documented, and their existence from a defence perspective would be counterproductive.
Between 2014 and 2015, a rescue excavation was carried out in the course of evaporative drying of the masonry of St. Procopius Church in Loštice. It complemented the knowledge acquired by a construction-history investigation in 1993, concerning above all the Romanic phase of the edifice. The extent and aspect of the church were also made clearer by geophysical research conducted here in 2018. The original church was elongated, flat-roofed, single-nave building closed by semi-circle apse. Its founder was Petr from Loštice in the first quarter of the 13th century, the son of castle manager and cupbearer Bohuta from Bílina. Petr had his manor, possibly a court later substituted by medieval stronghold, built in Loštice close to the church.
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”.