Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2017.1
Gradišće in Turčišće, Međimurje, a Hillfort/Motte of the High Middle Ages
Marijana Krmpotić
orcid.org/0000-0002-1050-2173
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Andrej Janeš
orcid.org/0000-0003-0683-3364
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Petar Sekulić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3117-0419
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
During 2014, alongside historical and archival research, archaeological excavations were carried out on the mediaeval hillfort/motte at the site of Gradišće, in Turčišće. They were conducted as part of the Turčišće-Goričan Archaeological Park programme, fnanced by the Croatian Ministry of Culture. Gradišće is situated east of today’s village of Domašinec, in the Međimurje lowlands, and lies at the confluence of the River Trnava and the Crni Jarak stream. It is made up of an elevated central plateau protected by an earthwork and ditches that were once flled with water, and it measures 50 m in diameter. On the central plateau, remains were found of a medieval above-ground building. Archaeological excavations revealed elements of the structure to be of a form transitional between construction with dug-in posts and halftimber work. More specifcally, the wooden structure of the building was supported by wooden posts dug into the ground at the corners and horizontal beams stretching between them. The walls were flled with wattle daubed with clay soil, while the floor in the interior was of trodden earth. Given its structural characteristics, the building on the central plateau in Gradišće points to an early phase of development of traditional half-timber architecture that has survived to this day in the Međimurje region as šopane hiže [thatched cottages]. In the course of archaeological excavations in the southwest portion of the Gradišće
earthwork, a wooden post was found dug into the ground; it was presumably used to support a wooden bridge that provided access to the central plateau. Results of radiocarbon analyses of samples taken from charred wooden parts of the central-plateau building, as well as a typological analysis of movable fnds, indicate that Gradišće was inhabited in the period from the mid-12th to the mid-13th century. In the mid-13th century, Gradišće burned down in a fre, after which life was never restored. The historical and archival research conducted enabled us to link the settlement to the noble family of Domaša, recorded in the name of the present-day village of Domašinec. The family of Domaša, or Damaša, were members of the Međimurje gentry, and their name is mentioned in surviving documents dating from the early to the mid-13th century. No subsequent mention of them is found after the mid-13th century, the time when life disappeared from Gradišće, in Turčišće.
Keywords
hillfort; motte; High Middle Ages; archaeological excavation; Turčišće; Domašinec; Međimurje
Hrčak ID:
192454
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2017.
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