Stručni rad
Early Medieval Structure in Sušine, Virje
Tajana Sekelj Ivančan
orcid.org/0000-0001-5992-8434
; Institut za arheologiju, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Along with the remains of a La Tene settlement and a settlement dating back to the High Middle Ages, a structure with different characteristics was examined as part of rescue archaeological excavations carried out during 2014 at the Virje – Sušine site (Fig. 1). The paper presents the form of the examined archaeological feature, marked as stratigraphic unit SU 436/437 (Fig. 2), as well as the analysis of small finds from the backfill. The structure, with its area of ca 12 m2, was filled with dark grey sandy soil, which contained numerous pottery fragments, some millstone fragments and several iron pieces, one of which was identified as being a small iron knife (T. 4: 26). The findings of some slag and daub are interpreted to be secondary findings within the structure which probably arrived there by accident through the mixing of layers since the structure was close to the location where the smelting of iron ore was carried out in earlier periods. Many pieces of coal were collected from the backfill of the structure, whose analysis showed that oak tree and ash tree prevail within the structure.
The most data on the basis of which it is possible to reach a more precise conclusion on the time when this structure existed is provided by the fragments of medieval pottery, out of which at least 25 different pots (T. 1–3, 4 : 25) and at least three bakers (Fig. 4; T. 3: 23, 24) were identified. All the pots have a simple profilation of the rim, which can to a lesser or higher degree face outwards and be rounded (T. 1: 9; T. 2: 13, 14, T. 3: 17), then sharply cut off (a shape which is most common in this structure) and finally have a more developed shape with emphasized outer side of the lip (T. 1: 2, 3). Most pots are of extremely coarse texture, while some pot base fragments have a visible circular depression on the lower surface used for standing, as well as subsequently smoothed out inner walls (T. 1: 6; T. 2: 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; T. 3: 18, 19), all of which points to the fact that most of the pots were made on a slow potter's wheel. The most common pot decoration motif from this stratigraphic unit is a series of combed wavelines or single combed wavelines, whether located on the rim (T. 2: 15), the shoulder (T. 1: 1, 8; T. 2: 10, 13, 15, 16; T. 3. 18, 19) or the belly of the pot (T. 3: 20, 21). Only a couple of pots that stand out due to their finer texture from the usual pottery repertoire found in this structure are also marked with some other distinctive elements, such as a one-fold waveline (T. 1: 4) or one-fold horizontal lines (T. 2: 12), but also a more developed rim (T. 1: 2, 3) or a ring-shaped bottom (T. 1: 1), which points to the fact that those items were made by quicker spinning.
The intensive archaeological investigations carried out on several sites in the vicinity of the village of Torčec, which is situated 20 kilometres from this site in the Drava basin valley, provided the basis and analogies for defining the details of pottery from this structure. Parallels show that the pottery which was examined here is mostly connected with the Torčec II phase which dates back to a period from the middle of the 7th century to mid-8th century and in part to the Torčec IIIa phase, dating back to the period from the second half of the 8th century to the beginning of the 9th century. Such a datation, obtained on the basis of comparisons with similar material from close early medieval sites, was also confirmed by a radiocarbon analysis which puts this structure into the frame of the 8th century.
Ključne riječi
Virje-Sušine; Early Middle Ages; settlement; pottery
Hrčak ID:
200499
URI
Datum izdavanja:
28.12.2017.
Posjeta: 872 *