Archaeological sources provide a wide range of information to help understand the social structure of human society in the past. In this paper, the authors deal with the information potential of grave pit modifi cations and wooden structures in graves at burial sites in the central region of Great Moravia (southeast Moravia, southwest Slovakia). The goal at this point is to defi ne the basic hypotheses and describe the methodological basis along with the research methodology. The authors treat the sources holistically, which means that one of the methodological foundations is the claim that the properties of the whole are not a simple sum of its parts. This means that all recognized elements of the funeral rite and their mutual relations and functions are the center of attention of this research. The primary basis for the research is the assumption that the presence of various wooden structures or wooden burial receptacles in the graves of the Great Moravian period is a common cultural occurrence. It further tests the hypothesis that there was intent behind choosing of these different wooden structures and grave pit modifi cations and their usage, as well as a potential differentiation based on age or gender in the frequency, quality and selection of these modifi cations/arrangements and structures. The main methodological tools are statistical and GIS analysis and the results are compared with published fi ndings from the wider Central European region., Marian Mazuch, Marek Hladík., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Úvodem autor shrnuje současné vědomosti o časovém a prostorovém rozšíření ozdob zhotovených ze schránek mořských mlžů druhu Spondylus gaedoropus L. Dále informuje o spondylových špercích nalezených v hrobech neolitického lidu s lineární keramikou fáze Ib až IIa podle třídění R. Tichého (1962a) a Z. Čižmáře (1998) v tratích „Široká u lesa“ (celkem 96 hrobů) a „Za dvorem“ (dosud celkem 8 hrobů) v lokalitě Vedrovice, okr. Znojmo. Z obou nekropolí pochází celkem 194 kusů spondylových ozdob, 585 kusů ozdob mramorových, 7 kusů ozdob kostěných, 301 provrtaných ulit břichonožců druhu Lithoglyphus naticoides (C. Pfeifer) a 4 jelení špičáky – „grandle“. Vyskytly se následující typy spondylových ozdob: „medailony“, náramky, závěsky: obloukovité, příp. lunicovité, terčovité, čtyřúhelníkovité, trojúhelníkovité, prosté tyčinkovité či „kapkovité“, ploché oválné a v podobě „L“ a korálky: drobné kotoučovité, dvojkonické či „soudkovité“ a nejčastěji válečkovité různých velikostí; korálky se najdou seskupené do celých náhrdelníků, příp. čelenek, nebo i jednotlivě. Spondylové ozdoby byly zpravidla součástí prestižní posmrtné výbavy mužských pohřbů. and In the introduction, the author presents the current state of knowledge concerning the chronological and geographic distribution (figure 1) of decorative objects made from the shells of the marine bivalve Spondylus gaedoropus L. (Willms 1985; Todorova 2000; Kalicz – Szénászky 2001). The author then provides information on jewelry made from Spondylus shells found in Neolithic graves dating to Linear Pottery culture phases Ib and early IIa, based on classifications by R. Tichý (1962a) and Z. Čižmář (1998), from the sites of „Široká u lesa“ (a total of 96 graves) and „Za dvorem“ (a total of 8 graves thus far), near the village of Vedrovice in the Znojmo District (southern Moravia, Czech Republic) (Figure 3). Materials recovered from these two cemeteries include a total of 194 items of Spondylus jewelry, 585 pieces of decorated marble, 7 pieces of decorated bone, 301 drilled shells of the freshwater snail Lithoglyphus naticoides (C. Pfeiffer) and 4 red deer canine teeth (table 1). The following types of Spondylus jewelry were found (figure 2): „medallions“ (2: 16, 17), bracelets (2: 18), pendants: arched or lunate (2: 10, 13, 15), target–like (2: 6), quadrangular (2: 7), triangular (2: 8, 9), simple and rod–shaped (2: 12) or „drop–shaped“ (2: 14), flat and oval (2: 5) and L–shaped (2: 11), and beads: small, disc–shaped (2: 1, 2), biconic or „barrel–shaped“ (2: 3) and, most commonly, variously sized cylinders (2: 4, 19). Beads were found grouped together into entire necklaces or headbands as well as individually. Spondylus jewelry was normally included in the funerary goods accompanying prestigious male burials.