Nechanice is an extremely interesting settlement complex from the viewpoint of settlement develop... more Nechanice is an extremely interesting settlement complex from the viewpoint of settlement development which, in the High Middle Ages, consisted of a small town with a church, an aristocratic residence and other surrounding settlement units. It is documented in written sources as early as the first half of the 13th century and according to archaeological findings, some settlement activity can be traced back to the second half of the 13th century. However, the recorded traces of buildings do not respect today’s layout of the town with its trapezoidal town square. In 2020, a feature dating from the turn of the 14th century was investigated in the square’s northern part. It was probably the basement of a residential or farm building. The composition of the recovered finds suggests non-agrarian use. It might have been a part of a possible earlier aristocratic residence situated near the church. Its demise may be related to the foundation of the town or to the establishment of a new aristocratic residence, which was built on the opposite bank of the Bystřice River and whose origins can be traced back to the early 14th century, judging from archaeological finds.
This article summarizes the existing information about the evidence of hygiene in the medieval an... more This article summarizes the existing information about the evidence of hygiene in the medieval and early modern-age town of Hradec Králové. The subject of interest is the improvement of public spaces, waste disposal and water supply. The communal hygiene also involved meat shops, hospitals and baths. Finds from Hradec Králové connected with hygiene (combs, scissors, aquamaniles, etc.) make up a small collection.
The article evaluates the so far results of investigations into a high medieval fortification nea... more The article evaluates the so far results of investigations into a high medieval fortification near Šárovcova Lhota, Jičín district. The site was already known to 19th century scholars. Due to its gradual destruction caused by sand mining, it was partially surveyed in 1974 and 1982. The site was delimited by a pair of ramparts, however, only tiny remains of one of them have survived to this day. On the northwestern side of the acropolis, there was situated an (artificial?) hill on which a tower-like structure used to stand. This building consisted mainly of wood and clay and was probably destroyed by fire. After this unfortunate event, construction activities continued within the castle core. The local archaeological record mainly consists of pottery fragments. The existence of this fortification can be dated to the second half of the 13th century, while its final demise probably occurred at the beginning of the 14th century..
The presented study deals with the Hradec Králové hospital complex of St Anthony, which is exempl... more The presented study deals with the Hradec Králové hospital complex of St Anthony, which is exemplary evidence of this type of facility in our medieval towns. Attention is paid to the time and circumstances of its emergence, donations, location, administrative organization of the complex itself and its look, including a 3D reconstruction of its late medieval appearance. Even from the few source documents that we currently have at our disposal, it is possible to reconstruct the medieval history of the complex in its basic features, especially in the context of the history of the city, the East Bohemian region and the milieu of our towns.
V roce 2021 uplynulo 400 let od narození královéhradeckého rodáka Bohuslava Balbína. Tento význam... more V roce 2021 uplynulo 400 let od narození královéhradeckého rodáka Bohuslava Balbína. Tento významný barokní historik ve svém díle uvádí údaje využitelné i pro dnešní archeologické a historické bádání. In 2021, 400 years passed since the birth of Bohuslav Balbín, a native of Hradec Králové. In his writings, this eminent baroque historian described facts that are exploitable for research in archaeology and history even nowadays.
Příspěvek se zabývá stručným vyhodnocením dosavadních středověkých nálezů z Opatovic. Hlavní nápl... more Příspěvek se zabývá stručným vyhodnocením dosavadních středověkých nálezů z Opatovic. Hlavní náplní je popis nálezové situace při stavbě haly v intravilánu obce u kostela sv. Vavřince. Získaný soubor keramiky lze datovat nejspíše do poloviny 13. století.
An amateur metal detector survey conducted in the cadastral territory of Klamoš in 2015/2016 yiel... more An amateur metal detector survey conducted in the cadastral territory of Klamoš in 2015/2016 yielded, among other things, a well-preserved long-sword. Based on the typo-chronological analysis, the sword can be classified as an Oakeshott Type XIIIa, J, 2, and dated to the course of the 14th c. A conservation-restoration survey revealed remains of maker’s marks on the blade and, mainly, rich pommel decoration that is thus far unique. The latter is further discussed in detail in terms of a both formal evaluation and the applied decoration technology, the identification of which has been based on a detailed survey of the weapon and experimental work. A metallographic examination of the blade was finally omitted due to its compact preservation.
Rozsahle stavebni aktivity 18. - 20. stoleti výrazně ponicily archeologicke tereny, a tim omezily... more Rozsahle stavebni aktivity 18. - 20. stoleti výrazně ponicily archeologicke tereny, a tim omezily možnosti naseho poznani.
Plot No. 10/I in Chrudim was partly excavated in 2006 as part of an extensive area of
rescue exc... more Plot No. 10/I in Chrudim was partly excavated in 2006 as part of an extensive area of
rescue excavation, which also included plots No. 14/I and No. 15/I. The investigated
area was mainly adjacent to Hradební Street, but the plot of the house No. 10/I faces
the parallel Rybičkova Street with its front side. At the time of the excavation, it formed
a narrower rectangular strip that filled the area between the two streets, ie the back side was adjacent to Hradební Street. The plot was divided into two parts. Half adjacent to Rybičková Street is built up with a building with medieval roots and a small, irregular courtyard. Half adjacent to Hradební Street was formed by an overgrown unmaintained garden. The excavation found that the garden originally formed a separate town area, mostly filled with a residential house dating back to the second half of the 13th century and with other complex building developments until the Thirty Years’ War, when it disappeared (Fig. 1). It was not restored. This situation showed that the original size of the plot of the house No. 10/I roughly corresponded to the area of the current house and the mentioned courtyard until the Thirty Years’ War. An important part of the discovery situation of the high medieval period were numerous cesspit and refuse pits with finds from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to the 18th century. Their distribution on the excavated plots was uneven, but the possibility to excavate the plot in whole or in part had a significant effect on our knowledge. This is especially true for the plot of the house No. 10/I, from which only a small (eastern) part included was identified, and the construction pit of the project, which triggered the rescue excavation. Therefore, we can relate to the house No. 10/I only one examined cesspit from sector C1 - cesspit 973. An extensive set of finds covering the period from the end of the 14th to the 18th century was
obtained from the cesspit. Like all other objects, this cesspit was examined in natural
layers, allowing to monitor in detail the filling process. Here, too, it was true that the
originally soft backfill of the cesspit sat down closer and the resulting depression was
additionally backfilled. The research of the cess-pit was completed on the last day of the excavation and the deadline could not be exceeded.
Therefore, the lower part of the filling was selected once in order to obtain its entire
rich finding content. Just above the bottom of the cesspit, a large object of non-ferrous metal was lifted. After preservation, it turned out to be a three-part jar with a lid in the shape of a cloverleaf. Due to the fact, that a larger number of Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV was discovered in the upper parts of the filling, the object was operationally interpreted as a coin box. Thanks to the notification of the Archdeacon of Chrudim, Mr. Jiří Heblt, the subject was redetermined as a jar for chrism oils - the so-called chrismatorium (Fig. 3).
In connection with chrism oils, we encounter three groups of worship utensils. The
first are bottles for chrism oils, the second are ampoules or smaller containers, and finally the last group are the jars for these smaller containers, which are called chrismatoria. Three kinds of chrism oils are used in the Christian liturgy. The first is the oil of catechumens or exorcism (oleum catechumenorum, oleum sanctum), the containers are marked with the abbreviation “O. C.” or “C”. The second is the oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum), which is used to administer the sacrament of anointing (sacramentum sacrae unctionis), for which the name of the last anointing has been adopted since the 7th century.
Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “O. I.” or “I ”. The third type of oil is
cross (sanctum chrisma), which is used for anointing at baptism (forehead), confirmation (forehead), priestly (for hands) and episcopal ordination (for the head). It is also used for the consecration of church inventory (chalices, baptistery, bells, etc.) or parts of the temple (e. g. altar). Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “S. C.” or “S”. There are not many well-dated and published analogous specimens of these jars. In general, a specimen from the Magyar Nemzeti Museum in Budapest is included into the 15th century. An almost exact analogy can be found in the Museum of London collection. The item made from domestic raw materials originating in Cornwall or Devon dates back widely to the period 1300–1500. A jar on three smaller legs is placed in the 16th - 17th century. The well-dated piece comes from the area of the Battle of Berestecko in Ukraine.
As follows from the analysis, a rare liturgical object was discovered at the bottom of
cesspit 973, which should not occur at all in the townsman environment. So we are
faced with the question of where this jar came from and what circumstances could led to its storage in a townsman fecal cesspit? In the immediate vicinity of the excavated plot there was a Dominican monastery, which disappeared in April 1421 during Jan Žižka’s campaign to Eastern Bohemia. We can assume that the ruins of the monastery were looted and thoroughly searched. This fact is evidenced, among other things, by the use of architectural elements evidently originating from monastic buildings. We can therefore assume that the owner of the plot of today’s No. 10/I found a metal chrismatorium in the ruins of the monastery and appropriated it. A hole in the bottom was secondarily drilled into the jar. A set of at least 24 Prague groschen from the reign of Wenceslas IV was scattered in the lower part of the cesspit. This set must have entered the cess-pit accidentally or as a result of an unfortunate event. With regard to the occurrence of a metal box with compartments of the size of a Prague groschen, it is probable that the coins were stored in it. When the “money box” fell into the unconsolidated contents of the cesspit, the coins spilled out and dispersed into several deposits. The nature of the filling more or less precluded a successful attempt to lift them.
Článek stručně informuje o nálezu renesančního odznaku s mytologickým námětem, který byl původně ... more Článek stručně informuje o nálezu renesančního odznaku s mytologickým námětem, který byl původně připevněn na pokrývce hlavy. Předmět má přesné analogie v oblasti Německa. Odznak-renesance-Klášter nad Dědinou The article briefly informs about the finding of a Renaissance badge with a mythological theme, which was originally attached to the headdress. The subject has exact analogies in the area of Germany.
Podle novějsich archeologických výzkumů jsou tzv. zemnice v Hradci Kralove ve skutecnosti suteren... more Podle novějsich archeologických výzkumů jsou tzv. zemnice v Hradci Kralove ve skutecnosti sutereny dřevěných měsťanských domů.
Sondažni zachranný archeologický výzkum v arealu bývaleho pivovaru v historickem jadře Hradce Kra... more Sondažni zachranný archeologický výzkum v arealu bývaleho pivovaru v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove odkryl relikty opevněni z obdobi lužicke kultury a vrcholneho a pozdniho středověku.The salvage excavation in the brewery in Hradec Kralove. Fortifications of the Lusatian Culture-age and Late mediaeaval Age.
Zachranne archeologicke výzkumy v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove - opevněni z mladsi doby bronz... more Zachranne archeologicke výzkumy v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove - opevněni z mladsi doby bronzove, raneho středověku a pozdniho středověku.
Archeologicke nalezy dokladaji postupný vznik kralovehradecke sidelni aglomerace v průběhu raneho... more Archeologicke nalezy dokladaji postupný vznik kralovehradecke sidelni aglomerace v průběhu raneho středověku (9. - 13. stoleti).
Nechanice is an extremely interesting settlement complex from the viewpoint of settlement develop... more Nechanice is an extremely interesting settlement complex from the viewpoint of settlement development which, in the High Middle Ages, consisted of a small town with a church, an aristocratic residence and other surrounding settlement units. It is documented in written sources as early as the first half of the 13th century and according to archaeological findings, some settlement activity can be traced back to the second half of the 13th century. However, the recorded traces of buildings do not respect today’s layout of the town with its trapezoidal town square. In 2020, a feature dating from the turn of the 14th century was investigated in the square’s northern part. It was probably the basement of a residential or farm building. The composition of the recovered finds suggests non-agrarian use. It might have been a part of a possible earlier aristocratic residence situated near the church. Its demise may be related to the foundation of the town or to the establishment of a new aristocratic residence, which was built on the opposite bank of the Bystřice River and whose origins can be traced back to the early 14th century, judging from archaeological finds.
This article summarizes the existing information about the evidence of hygiene in the medieval an... more This article summarizes the existing information about the evidence of hygiene in the medieval and early modern-age town of Hradec Králové. The subject of interest is the improvement of public spaces, waste disposal and water supply. The communal hygiene also involved meat shops, hospitals and baths. Finds from Hradec Králové connected with hygiene (combs, scissors, aquamaniles, etc.) make up a small collection.
The article evaluates the so far results of investigations into a high medieval fortification nea... more The article evaluates the so far results of investigations into a high medieval fortification near Šárovcova Lhota, Jičín district. The site was already known to 19th century scholars. Due to its gradual destruction caused by sand mining, it was partially surveyed in 1974 and 1982. The site was delimited by a pair of ramparts, however, only tiny remains of one of them have survived to this day. On the northwestern side of the acropolis, there was situated an (artificial?) hill on which a tower-like structure used to stand. This building consisted mainly of wood and clay and was probably destroyed by fire. After this unfortunate event, construction activities continued within the castle core. The local archaeological record mainly consists of pottery fragments. The existence of this fortification can be dated to the second half of the 13th century, while its final demise probably occurred at the beginning of the 14th century..
The presented study deals with the Hradec Králové hospital complex of St Anthony, which is exempl... more The presented study deals with the Hradec Králové hospital complex of St Anthony, which is exemplary evidence of this type of facility in our medieval towns. Attention is paid to the time and circumstances of its emergence, donations, location, administrative organization of the complex itself and its look, including a 3D reconstruction of its late medieval appearance. Even from the few source documents that we currently have at our disposal, it is possible to reconstruct the medieval history of the complex in its basic features, especially in the context of the history of the city, the East Bohemian region and the milieu of our towns.
V roce 2021 uplynulo 400 let od narození královéhradeckého rodáka Bohuslava Balbína. Tento význam... more V roce 2021 uplynulo 400 let od narození královéhradeckého rodáka Bohuslava Balbína. Tento významný barokní historik ve svém díle uvádí údaje využitelné i pro dnešní archeologické a historické bádání. In 2021, 400 years passed since the birth of Bohuslav Balbín, a native of Hradec Králové. In his writings, this eminent baroque historian described facts that are exploitable for research in archaeology and history even nowadays.
Příspěvek se zabývá stručným vyhodnocením dosavadních středověkých nálezů z Opatovic. Hlavní nápl... more Příspěvek se zabývá stručným vyhodnocením dosavadních středověkých nálezů z Opatovic. Hlavní náplní je popis nálezové situace při stavbě haly v intravilánu obce u kostela sv. Vavřince. Získaný soubor keramiky lze datovat nejspíše do poloviny 13. století.
An amateur metal detector survey conducted in the cadastral territory of Klamoš in 2015/2016 yiel... more An amateur metal detector survey conducted in the cadastral territory of Klamoš in 2015/2016 yielded, among other things, a well-preserved long-sword. Based on the typo-chronological analysis, the sword can be classified as an Oakeshott Type XIIIa, J, 2, and dated to the course of the 14th c. A conservation-restoration survey revealed remains of maker’s marks on the blade and, mainly, rich pommel decoration that is thus far unique. The latter is further discussed in detail in terms of a both formal evaluation and the applied decoration technology, the identification of which has been based on a detailed survey of the weapon and experimental work. A metallographic examination of the blade was finally omitted due to its compact preservation.
Rozsahle stavebni aktivity 18. - 20. stoleti výrazně ponicily archeologicke tereny, a tim omezily... more Rozsahle stavebni aktivity 18. - 20. stoleti výrazně ponicily archeologicke tereny, a tim omezily možnosti naseho poznani.
Plot No. 10/I in Chrudim was partly excavated in 2006 as part of an extensive area of
rescue exc... more Plot No. 10/I in Chrudim was partly excavated in 2006 as part of an extensive area of
rescue excavation, which also included plots No. 14/I and No. 15/I. The investigated
area was mainly adjacent to Hradební Street, but the plot of the house No. 10/I faces
the parallel Rybičkova Street with its front side. At the time of the excavation, it formed
a narrower rectangular strip that filled the area between the two streets, ie the back side was adjacent to Hradební Street. The plot was divided into two parts. Half adjacent to Rybičková Street is built up with a building with medieval roots and a small, irregular courtyard. Half adjacent to Hradební Street was formed by an overgrown unmaintained garden. The excavation found that the garden originally formed a separate town area, mostly filled with a residential house dating back to the second half of the 13th century and with other complex building developments until the Thirty Years’ War, when it disappeared (Fig. 1). It was not restored. This situation showed that the original size of the plot of the house No. 10/I roughly corresponded to the area of the current house and the mentioned courtyard until the Thirty Years’ War. An important part of the discovery situation of the high medieval period were numerous cesspit and refuse pits with finds from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to the 18th century. Their distribution on the excavated plots was uneven, but the possibility to excavate the plot in whole or in part had a significant effect on our knowledge. This is especially true for the plot of the house No. 10/I, from which only a small (eastern) part included was identified, and the construction pit of the project, which triggered the rescue excavation. Therefore, we can relate to the house No. 10/I only one examined cesspit from sector C1 - cesspit 973. An extensive set of finds covering the period from the end of the 14th to the 18th century was
obtained from the cesspit. Like all other objects, this cesspit was examined in natural
layers, allowing to monitor in detail the filling process. Here, too, it was true that the
originally soft backfill of the cesspit sat down closer and the resulting depression was
additionally backfilled. The research of the cess-pit was completed on the last day of the excavation and the deadline could not be exceeded.
Therefore, the lower part of the filling was selected once in order to obtain its entire
rich finding content. Just above the bottom of the cesspit, a large object of non-ferrous metal was lifted. After preservation, it turned out to be a three-part jar with a lid in the shape of a cloverleaf. Due to the fact, that a larger number of Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV was discovered in the upper parts of the filling, the object was operationally interpreted as a coin box. Thanks to the notification of the Archdeacon of Chrudim, Mr. Jiří Heblt, the subject was redetermined as a jar for chrism oils - the so-called chrismatorium (Fig. 3).
In connection with chrism oils, we encounter three groups of worship utensils. The
first are bottles for chrism oils, the second are ampoules or smaller containers, and finally the last group are the jars for these smaller containers, which are called chrismatoria. Three kinds of chrism oils are used in the Christian liturgy. The first is the oil of catechumens or exorcism (oleum catechumenorum, oleum sanctum), the containers are marked with the abbreviation “O. C.” or “C”. The second is the oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum), which is used to administer the sacrament of anointing (sacramentum sacrae unctionis), for which the name of the last anointing has been adopted since the 7th century.
Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “O. I.” or “I ”. The third type of oil is
cross (sanctum chrisma), which is used for anointing at baptism (forehead), confirmation (forehead), priestly (for hands) and episcopal ordination (for the head). It is also used for the consecration of church inventory (chalices, baptistery, bells, etc.) or parts of the temple (e. g. altar). Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “S. C.” or “S”. There are not many well-dated and published analogous specimens of these jars. In general, a specimen from the Magyar Nemzeti Museum in Budapest is included into the 15th century. An almost exact analogy can be found in the Museum of London collection. The item made from domestic raw materials originating in Cornwall or Devon dates back widely to the period 1300–1500. A jar on three smaller legs is placed in the 16th - 17th century. The well-dated piece comes from the area of the Battle of Berestecko in Ukraine.
As follows from the analysis, a rare liturgical object was discovered at the bottom of
cesspit 973, which should not occur at all in the townsman environment. So we are
faced with the question of where this jar came from and what circumstances could led to its storage in a townsman fecal cesspit? In the immediate vicinity of the excavated plot there was a Dominican monastery, which disappeared in April 1421 during Jan Žižka’s campaign to Eastern Bohemia. We can assume that the ruins of the monastery were looted and thoroughly searched. This fact is evidenced, among other things, by the use of architectural elements evidently originating from monastic buildings. We can therefore assume that the owner of the plot of today’s No. 10/I found a metal chrismatorium in the ruins of the monastery and appropriated it. A hole in the bottom was secondarily drilled into the jar. A set of at least 24 Prague groschen from the reign of Wenceslas IV was scattered in the lower part of the cesspit. This set must have entered the cess-pit accidentally or as a result of an unfortunate event. With regard to the occurrence of a metal box with compartments of the size of a Prague groschen, it is probable that the coins were stored in it. When the “money box” fell into the unconsolidated contents of the cesspit, the coins spilled out and dispersed into several deposits. The nature of the filling more or less precluded a successful attempt to lift them.
Článek stručně informuje o nálezu renesančního odznaku s mytologickým námětem, který byl původně ... more Článek stručně informuje o nálezu renesančního odznaku s mytologickým námětem, který byl původně připevněn na pokrývce hlavy. Předmět má přesné analogie v oblasti Německa. Odznak-renesance-Klášter nad Dědinou The article briefly informs about the finding of a Renaissance badge with a mythological theme, which was originally attached to the headdress. The subject has exact analogies in the area of Germany.
Podle novějsich archeologických výzkumů jsou tzv. zemnice v Hradci Kralove ve skutecnosti suteren... more Podle novějsich archeologických výzkumů jsou tzv. zemnice v Hradci Kralove ve skutecnosti sutereny dřevěných měsťanských domů.
Sondažni zachranný archeologický výzkum v arealu bývaleho pivovaru v historickem jadře Hradce Kra... more Sondažni zachranný archeologický výzkum v arealu bývaleho pivovaru v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove odkryl relikty opevněni z obdobi lužicke kultury a vrcholneho a pozdniho středověku.The salvage excavation in the brewery in Hradec Kralove. Fortifications of the Lusatian Culture-age and Late mediaeaval Age.
Zachranne archeologicke výzkumy v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove - opevněni z mladsi doby bronz... more Zachranne archeologicke výzkumy v historickem jadře Hradce Kralove - opevněni z mladsi doby bronzove, raneho středověku a pozdniho středověku.
Archeologicke nalezy dokladaji postupný vznik kralovehradecke sidelni aglomerace v průběhu raneho... more Archeologicke nalezy dokladaji postupný vznik kralovehradecke sidelni aglomerace v průběhu raneho středověku (9. - 13. stoleti).
In 2013 an archaeological excavation was carried out on
the grounds of the castle in the village... more In 2013 an archaeological excavation was carried out on
the grounds of the castle in the village of Zdechovice
(Pardubice District) which was associated with the
construction of a sewage system. The most interesting
discovery was the unearthing of part of a 13thcentury
inhumation cemetery in the area of the socalled
cour
d'honneur, south of the castle (Fig. 3, Fig. 4). Apart from
the inhumation cemetery, the archaeological excavation
in the area of the cour d'honneur also exposed a number
of archaeological situations, usually associated with a later
fortified house, the castle building and its numerous
alterations. These situations are only briefly described in
the publication and only mentioned in cases when they
influenced the state of preservation of the cemetery and
the individual human skeletons.
The rescue excavation in the courtyard of the brewery
and in the area of the cour d'honneur exposed an extensive
cultural layer containing 10th to 12/13th century finds.
The inhumation graves were dug into this cultural layer
– perhaps as early as the late 12th century, but certainly
during the 13th century. A total of 104 graves with the
remains of 113 individuals were documented there – in
a pattern of deposition ranging from one up to three
layers. All the bodies were stretched out on their backs,
and their orientation was, with several minor divergences,
west – east (with heads to the west). Coffins were observed
in at least 17 cases (Table 1). Some of the grave pits were
lined with stones and at least 4 graves were covered by
tombstones. Grave pits were identified in 23 cases in the
cemetery. They were always rectangular in shape and their
corners were rounded (Fig. 7: 1–5). The length of the grave
pits were also influenced by the body height of the buried
person. The widths of the pits ranged between 35 and 60 cm,
the average being 50 cm. The lengths of the pits ranged
between 105 and 195 cm, the average being 141.8 cm.
However, the pit of grave 6 was different. It was an
irregular oval pit with a length of 238 cm which expanded
in a lobelike
fashion on the eastern side, next to the feet
of the buried person.
Due to a poor degree of preservation or small amounts
of skeletal material, it was only possible to determine in
some cases whether the individual buried in the grave was
adult or immature. Age was more precisely determinable
in 68 cases (Table 6). It was also possible to determine
the gender of 39 adult individuals. The ratio between
men and women at the cemetery was almost equal.
Pavel Horník – Radek Bláha – Petra Sehnoutková – Martin Mazáč
Zdechovice – medieval burial ground
Most graves contained no grave goods. Only grave 45
yielded a silver coin and a bronze finger ring (Fig. 9:5)
which was found on one of the fingers of the right hand.
Under the fingers, on the pelvis, a silver coin was placed
(Fig. 9:7, Fig. 44:1), which has been determined as a
middlesized
bracteate struck under Ottokar II of Bohemia
(1253–1278).15 It is a type from the years 1265–1267(?),
Cach 820b. Although the whole palm has not survived,
it is obvious that this means of payment had intentionally
been placed in the hand of the buried person and served
as the socalled
Charon's obol (Brádle–Horník 2014, 3–6),
i. e. as a means for providing for the needs of the deceased
in afterlife. Another finger ring was found in the cultural
layer between graves 26, 27 and 28. This open finger
ring with pointed ends (Fig. 9:6) was made from tape wire.
Its upper part is hammered out and decorated with a group
of mutually intersecting lines. Its dating is complicated,
but the 13th century cannot be ruled out. A small, but
from the viewpoint of dating the excavated situations very
important, assemblage consists of four temple rings (Fig.
9:1–4). The temple ring is a typical piece of jewellery
during the late phase of the Early and the beginning of the
High Middle Ages, i.e. the 10–13th centuries. Three temple
rings were found in test pit 2 (Fig. 9:1–3). Unfortunately,
their precise contexts could not be determined because
the jewellery was part of an accumulation of bones which
arose due to the collapse of the southern section of the
test pit. Two temple rings have an identical diameter of
35.9 mm (Fig. 9:1–2) and the third one even of 41.4 mm
(Fig. 9:3). All of them are made from a thin wire of onecomponent
brass16 with a diameter of 1.4–1.6 mm. The
fourth, somewhat more robust temple ring with a smaller
diameter (Fig. 9:4) comes from grave no. 54. However,
not even its precise location could be determined. The
grave was identified in the northern wall of test pit 5 and
part of the skeletal remains including the temple ring were
recovered only after the collapse of the excavation's wall.
It is made of copper and its surface is refined with silver
plating. Its diameter slightly exceeds 30 mm and amounts to
31.2 mm. The diameter is actually very important for dating
S-shaped temple rings. Pieces with a diameter of more
than 30 mm appeared sometime during the 12th century
(Štefan 2009, 182) and during the following century, temple
rings disappeared from grave goods (Nechvátal 1999,
124–125, compare Čechura 2010, 115). Settlement finds,
too, seem to confirm the dying away of this piece jewellery in the 13th century (Richter–Vokolek 1995, 80).
The temple rings in our assemblage can therefore be dated
to the advanced 12th century, with a possible overlap into
the following century.
A link between the cemetery and a sacral building is
questionable. We can rule out a direct link to the originally
Romanesque church of Saint Peter and Paul, which is
approximately 400 m distant from the excavation area.
The test pits dug in the cour d'honneur did not identify
any remains of a sacral building, which, however, can
only be due to the extent of excavation works. It is also
necessary to mention that there is the castle chapel in
the immediate southern vicinity of the excavation area,
but it is of Baroque origin and there is no evidence or
indication to allow us to speculate about an earlier sacral
building in its place.
The current state of research does not enable us to
establish the reasons for the cemetery's demise. There could
have been a number of causes, such as spatial conditions,
the cemetery’s location close to a water course (Červený
brook), etc. A possible reason could also be a change in
ownership and the emergence of a fortified noble residence
(or hypothetically its 'relocation' further from the church
of Saint Peter and Paul). Regardless of whether there was
an immediate cause or not, after the area stopped serving
as a cemetery, a fortified house with a moat was built. It
is first mentioned in written sources in 1373 (Rosůlek
1909, 116; Sedláček 1931, 244). The foundation of the
fortified house certainly preceded the first written account,
for the written sources of that time did probably not
record its very beginnings. Its construction at the close
of the 13th or in the first half of the 14th century therefore
cannot be ruled out, with respect also to its preserved
elements incorporated into the current castle building. The
construction of the fortified house with a moat probably
also resulted in damage to a section of the cemetery. Some
graves could also have been destroyed during the conversion
of the fortified house into a castle.
The investigation of medieval settlement features at Zdechovice (Pardubice District). Within the ... more The investigation of medieval settlement features at Zdechovice (Pardubice District). Within the grounds of the primary school at Zdechovice (Pardubice District), the employees of the archaeological department conducted a small-scale archaeological excavation. The route of utility lines cut through three archaeological features dating from the 13th century. Settlement – Middle Ages – 13th century
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Papers by Radek Bláha
it is possible to reconstruct the medieval history of the complex in its basic features, especially in the context of the
history of the city, the East Bohemian region and the milieu of our towns.
In 2021, 400 years passed since the birth of Bohuslav Balbín, a native of Hradec Králové. In his writings, this eminent baroque historian described facts that are exploitable for research in archaeology and history even nowadays.
rescue excavation, which also included plots No. 14/I and No. 15/I. The investigated
area was mainly adjacent to Hradební Street, but the plot of the house No. 10/I faces
the parallel Rybičkova Street with its front side. At the time of the excavation, it formed
a narrower rectangular strip that filled the area between the two streets, ie the back side was adjacent to Hradební Street. The plot was divided into two parts. Half adjacent to Rybičková Street is built up with a building with medieval roots and a small, irregular courtyard. Half adjacent to Hradební Street was formed by an overgrown unmaintained garden. The excavation found that the garden originally formed a separate town area, mostly filled with a residential house dating back to the second half of the 13th century and with other complex building developments until the Thirty Years’ War, when it disappeared (Fig. 1). It was not restored. This situation showed that the original size of the plot of the house No. 10/I roughly corresponded to the area of the current house and the mentioned courtyard until the Thirty Years’ War. An important part of the discovery situation of the high medieval period were numerous cesspit and refuse pits with finds from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to the 18th century. Their distribution on the excavated plots was uneven, but the possibility to excavate the plot in whole or in part had a significant effect on our knowledge. This is especially true for the plot of the house No. 10/I, from which only a small (eastern) part included was identified, and the construction pit of the project, which triggered the rescue excavation. Therefore, we can relate to the house No. 10/I only one examined cesspit from sector C1 - cesspit 973. An extensive set of finds covering the period from the end of the 14th to the 18th century was
obtained from the cesspit. Like all other objects, this cesspit was examined in natural
layers, allowing to monitor in detail the filling process. Here, too, it was true that the
originally soft backfill of the cesspit sat down closer and the resulting depression was
additionally backfilled. The research of the cess-pit was completed on the last day of the excavation and the deadline could not be exceeded.
Therefore, the lower part of the filling was selected once in order to obtain its entire
rich finding content. Just above the bottom of the cesspit, a large object of non-ferrous metal was lifted. After preservation, it turned out to be a three-part jar with a lid in the shape of a cloverleaf. Due to the fact, that a larger number of Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV was discovered in the upper parts of the filling, the object was operationally interpreted as a coin box. Thanks to the notification of the Archdeacon of Chrudim, Mr. Jiří Heblt, the subject was redetermined as a jar for chrism oils - the so-called chrismatorium (Fig. 3).
In connection with chrism oils, we encounter three groups of worship utensils. The
first are bottles for chrism oils, the second are ampoules or smaller containers, and finally the last group are the jars for these smaller containers, which are called chrismatoria. Three kinds of chrism oils are used in the Christian liturgy. The first is the oil of catechumens or exorcism (oleum catechumenorum, oleum sanctum), the containers are marked with the abbreviation “O. C.” or “C”. The second is the oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum), which is used to administer the sacrament of anointing (sacramentum sacrae unctionis), for which the name of the last anointing has been adopted since the 7th century.
Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “O. I.” or “I ”. The third type of oil is
cross (sanctum chrisma), which is used for anointing at baptism (forehead), confirmation (forehead), priestly (for hands) and episcopal ordination (for the head). It is also used for the consecration of church inventory (chalices, baptistery, bells, etc.) or parts of the temple (e. g. altar). Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “S. C.” or “S”. There are not many well-dated and published analogous specimens of these jars. In general, a specimen from the Magyar Nemzeti Museum in Budapest is included into the 15th century. An almost exact analogy can be found in the Museum of London collection. The item made from domestic raw materials originating in Cornwall or Devon dates back widely to the period 1300–1500. A jar on three smaller legs is placed in the 16th - 17th century. The well-dated piece comes from the area of the Battle of Berestecko in Ukraine.
As follows from the analysis, a rare liturgical object was discovered at the bottom of
cesspit 973, which should not occur at all in the townsman environment. So we are
faced with the question of where this jar came from and what circumstances could led to its storage in a townsman fecal cesspit? In the immediate vicinity of the excavated plot there was a Dominican monastery, which disappeared in April 1421 during Jan Žižka’s campaign to Eastern Bohemia. We can assume that the ruins of the monastery were looted and thoroughly searched. This fact is evidenced, among other things, by the use of architectural elements evidently originating from monastic buildings. We can therefore assume that the owner of the plot of today’s No. 10/I found a metal chrismatorium in the ruins of the monastery and appropriated it. A hole in the bottom was secondarily drilled into the jar. A set of at least 24 Prague groschen from the reign of Wenceslas IV was scattered in the lower part of the cesspit. This set must have entered the cess-pit accidentally or as a result of an unfortunate event. With regard to the occurrence of a metal box with compartments of the size of a Prague groschen, it is probable that the coins were stored in it. When the “money box” fell into the unconsolidated contents of the cesspit, the coins spilled out and dispersed into several deposits. The nature of the filling more or less precluded a successful attempt to lift them.
Odznak-renesance-Klášter nad Dědinou
The article briefly informs about the finding of a Renaissance badge with a mythological theme, which was originally attached to the headdress. The subject has exact analogies in the area of Germany.
it is possible to reconstruct the medieval history of the complex in its basic features, especially in the context of the
history of the city, the East Bohemian region and the milieu of our towns.
In 2021, 400 years passed since the birth of Bohuslav Balbín, a native of Hradec Králové. In his writings, this eminent baroque historian described facts that are exploitable for research in archaeology and history even nowadays.
rescue excavation, which also included plots No. 14/I and No. 15/I. The investigated
area was mainly adjacent to Hradební Street, but the plot of the house No. 10/I faces
the parallel Rybičkova Street with its front side. At the time of the excavation, it formed
a narrower rectangular strip that filled the area between the two streets, ie the back side was adjacent to Hradební Street. The plot was divided into two parts. Half adjacent to Rybičková Street is built up with a building with medieval roots and a small, irregular courtyard. Half adjacent to Hradební Street was formed by an overgrown unmaintained garden. The excavation found that the garden originally formed a separate town area, mostly filled with a residential house dating back to the second half of the 13th century and with other complex building developments until the Thirty Years’ War, when it disappeared (Fig. 1). It was not restored. This situation showed that the original size of the plot of the house No. 10/I roughly corresponded to the area of the current house and the mentioned courtyard until the Thirty Years’ War. An important part of the discovery situation of the high medieval period were numerous cesspit and refuse pits with finds from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to the 18th century. Their distribution on the excavated plots was uneven, but the possibility to excavate the plot in whole or in part had a significant effect on our knowledge. This is especially true for the plot of the house No. 10/I, from which only a small (eastern) part included was identified, and the construction pit of the project, which triggered the rescue excavation. Therefore, we can relate to the house No. 10/I only one examined cesspit from sector C1 - cesspit 973. An extensive set of finds covering the period from the end of the 14th to the 18th century was
obtained from the cesspit. Like all other objects, this cesspit was examined in natural
layers, allowing to monitor in detail the filling process. Here, too, it was true that the
originally soft backfill of the cesspit sat down closer and the resulting depression was
additionally backfilled. The research of the cess-pit was completed on the last day of the excavation and the deadline could not be exceeded.
Therefore, the lower part of the filling was selected once in order to obtain its entire
rich finding content. Just above the bottom of the cesspit, a large object of non-ferrous metal was lifted. After preservation, it turned out to be a three-part jar with a lid in the shape of a cloverleaf. Due to the fact, that a larger number of Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV was discovered in the upper parts of the filling, the object was operationally interpreted as a coin box. Thanks to the notification of the Archdeacon of Chrudim, Mr. Jiří Heblt, the subject was redetermined as a jar for chrism oils - the so-called chrismatorium (Fig. 3).
In connection with chrism oils, we encounter three groups of worship utensils. The
first are bottles for chrism oils, the second are ampoules or smaller containers, and finally the last group are the jars for these smaller containers, which are called chrismatoria. Three kinds of chrism oils are used in the Christian liturgy. The first is the oil of catechumens or exorcism (oleum catechumenorum, oleum sanctum), the containers are marked with the abbreviation “O. C.” or “C”. The second is the oil of the sick (oleum infirmorum), which is used to administer the sacrament of anointing (sacramentum sacrae unctionis), for which the name of the last anointing has been adopted since the 7th century.
Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “O. I.” or “I ”. The third type of oil is
cross (sanctum chrisma), which is used for anointing at baptism (forehead), confirmation (forehead), priestly (for hands) and episcopal ordination (for the head). It is also used for the consecration of church inventory (chalices, baptistery, bells, etc.) or parts of the temple (e. g. altar). Containers with this oil are marked with the letter “S. C.” or “S”. There are not many well-dated and published analogous specimens of these jars. In general, a specimen from the Magyar Nemzeti Museum in Budapest is included into the 15th century. An almost exact analogy can be found in the Museum of London collection. The item made from domestic raw materials originating in Cornwall or Devon dates back widely to the period 1300–1500. A jar on three smaller legs is placed in the 16th - 17th century. The well-dated piece comes from the area of the Battle of Berestecko in Ukraine.
As follows from the analysis, a rare liturgical object was discovered at the bottom of
cesspit 973, which should not occur at all in the townsman environment. So we are
faced with the question of where this jar came from and what circumstances could led to its storage in a townsman fecal cesspit? In the immediate vicinity of the excavated plot there was a Dominican monastery, which disappeared in April 1421 during Jan Žižka’s campaign to Eastern Bohemia. We can assume that the ruins of the monastery were looted and thoroughly searched. This fact is evidenced, among other things, by the use of architectural elements evidently originating from monastic buildings. We can therefore assume that the owner of the plot of today’s No. 10/I found a metal chrismatorium in the ruins of the monastery and appropriated it. A hole in the bottom was secondarily drilled into the jar. A set of at least 24 Prague groschen from the reign of Wenceslas IV was scattered in the lower part of the cesspit. This set must have entered the cess-pit accidentally or as a result of an unfortunate event. With regard to the occurrence of a metal box with compartments of the size of a Prague groschen, it is probable that the coins were stored in it. When the “money box” fell into the unconsolidated contents of the cesspit, the coins spilled out and dispersed into several deposits. The nature of the filling more or less precluded a successful attempt to lift them.
Odznak-renesance-Klášter nad Dědinou
The article briefly informs about the finding of a Renaissance badge with a mythological theme, which was originally attached to the headdress. The subject has exact analogies in the area of Germany.
the grounds of the castle in the village of Zdechovice
(Pardubice District) which was associated with the
construction of a sewage system. The most interesting
discovery was the unearthing of part of a 13thcentury
inhumation cemetery in the area of the socalled
cour
d'honneur, south of the castle (Fig. 3, Fig. 4). Apart from
the inhumation cemetery, the archaeological excavation
in the area of the cour d'honneur also exposed a number
of archaeological situations, usually associated with a later
fortified house, the castle building and its numerous
alterations. These situations are only briefly described in
the publication and only mentioned in cases when they
influenced the state of preservation of the cemetery and
the individual human skeletons.
The rescue excavation in the courtyard of the brewery
and in the area of the cour d'honneur exposed an extensive
cultural layer containing 10th to 12/13th century finds.
The inhumation graves were dug into this cultural layer
– perhaps as early as the late 12th century, but certainly
during the 13th century. A total of 104 graves with the
remains of 113 individuals were documented there – in
a pattern of deposition ranging from one up to three
layers. All the bodies were stretched out on their backs,
and their orientation was, with several minor divergences,
west – east (with heads to the west). Coffins were observed
in at least 17 cases (Table 1). Some of the grave pits were
lined with stones and at least 4 graves were covered by
tombstones. Grave pits were identified in 23 cases in the
cemetery. They were always rectangular in shape and their
corners were rounded (Fig. 7: 1–5). The length of the grave
pits were also influenced by the body height of the buried
person. The widths of the pits ranged between 35 and 60 cm,
the average being 50 cm. The lengths of the pits ranged
between 105 and 195 cm, the average being 141.8 cm.
However, the pit of grave 6 was different. It was an
irregular oval pit with a length of 238 cm which expanded
in a lobelike
fashion on the eastern side, next to the feet
of the buried person.
Due to a poor degree of preservation or small amounts
of skeletal material, it was only possible to determine in
some cases whether the individual buried in the grave was
adult or immature. Age was more precisely determinable
in 68 cases (Table 6). It was also possible to determine
the gender of 39 adult individuals. The ratio between
men and women at the cemetery was almost equal.
Pavel Horník – Radek Bláha – Petra Sehnoutková – Martin Mazáč
Zdechovice – medieval burial ground
Most graves contained no grave goods. Only grave 45
yielded a silver coin and a bronze finger ring (Fig. 9:5)
which was found on one of the fingers of the right hand.
Under the fingers, on the pelvis, a silver coin was placed
(Fig. 9:7, Fig. 44:1), which has been determined as a
middlesized
bracteate struck under Ottokar II of Bohemia
(1253–1278).15 It is a type from the years 1265–1267(?),
Cach 820b. Although the whole palm has not survived,
it is obvious that this means of payment had intentionally
been placed in the hand of the buried person and served
as the socalled
Charon's obol (Brádle–Horník 2014, 3–6),
i. e. as a means for providing for the needs of the deceased
in afterlife. Another finger ring was found in the cultural
layer between graves 26, 27 and 28. This open finger
ring with pointed ends (Fig. 9:6) was made from tape wire.
Its upper part is hammered out and decorated with a group
of mutually intersecting lines. Its dating is complicated,
but the 13th century cannot be ruled out. A small, but
from the viewpoint of dating the excavated situations very
important, assemblage consists of four temple rings (Fig.
9:1–4). The temple ring is a typical piece of jewellery
during the late phase of the Early and the beginning of the
High Middle Ages, i.e. the 10–13th centuries. Three temple
rings were found in test pit 2 (Fig. 9:1–3). Unfortunately,
their precise contexts could not be determined because
the jewellery was part of an accumulation of bones which
arose due to the collapse of the southern section of the
test pit. Two temple rings have an identical diameter of
35.9 mm (Fig. 9:1–2) and the third one even of 41.4 mm
(Fig. 9:3). All of them are made from a thin wire of onecomponent
brass16 with a diameter of 1.4–1.6 mm. The
fourth, somewhat more robust temple ring with a smaller
diameter (Fig. 9:4) comes from grave no. 54. However,
not even its precise location could be determined. The
grave was identified in the northern wall of test pit 5 and
part of the skeletal remains including the temple ring were
recovered only after the collapse of the excavation's wall.
It is made of copper and its surface is refined with silver
plating. Its diameter slightly exceeds 30 mm and amounts to
31.2 mm. The diameter is actually very important for dating
S-shaped temple rings. Pieces with a diameter of more
than 30 mm appeared sometime during the 12th century
(Štefan 2009, 182) and during the following century, temple
rings disappeared from grave goods (Nechvátal 1999,
124–125, compare Čechura 2010, 115). Settlement finds,
too, seem to confirm the dying away of this piece jewellery in the 13th century (Richter–Vokolek 1995, 80).
The temple rings in our assemblage can therefore be dated
to the advanced 12th century, with a possible overlap into
the following century.
A link between the cemetery and a sacral building is
questionable. We can rule out a direct link to the originally
Romanesque church of Saint Peter and Paul, which is
approximately 400 m distant from the excavation area.
The test pits dug in the cour d'honneur did not identify
any remains of a sacral building, which, however, can
only be due to the extent of excavation works. It is also
necessary to mention that there is the castle chapel in
the immediate southern vicinity of the excavation area,
but it is of Baroque origin and there is no evidence or
indication to allow us to speculate about an earlier sacral
building in its place.
The current state of research does not enable us to
establish the reasons for the cemetery's demise. There could
have been a number of causes, such as spatial conditions,
the cemetery’s location close to a water course (Červený
brook), etc. A possible reason could also be a change in
ownership and the emergence of a fortified noble residence
(or hypothetically its 'relocation' further from the church
of Saint Peter and Paul). Regardless of whether there was
an immediate cause or not, after the area stopped serving
as a cemetery, a fortified house with a moat was built. It
is first mentioned in written sources in 1373 (Rosůlek
1909, 116; Sedláček 1931, 244). The foundation of the
fortified house certainly preceded the first written account,
for the written sources of that time did probably not
record its very beginnings. Its construction at the close
of the 13th or in the first half of the 14th century therefore
cannot be ruled out, with respect also to its preserved
elements incorporated into the current castle building. The
construction of the fortified house with a moat probably
also resulted in damage to a section of the cemetery. Some
graves could also have been destroyed during the conversion
of the fortified house into a castle.