Original scientific paper
Remains of the Early Medieval Settlement in the Locality of Hlebine – Velike Hlebine
Tajana Sekelj Ivančan
orcid.org/0000-0001-5992-8434
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Within the scope of archaeological excavations conducted on the locality of Hlebine - Velike Hlebine during 2017 the research focused on the remains of the settlement from the Middle Ages (map 1). The paper also presents the form and spatial structure of the three previously researched archaeological entities (picture 1, 2) and analysis of ceramic sources and other collected findings from their fills. The contents of fills with the remains of numerous fragments of ceramic objects, fragments of furnaces and pieces of grinding stone, as well as ceramic vertebrae lead to conclusion that those object were used in domicile function (T. 1. – 8.; Tab. 1), and that the findings of smelting plants and outer walls of smelting furnaces and fragments of coins (picture 3) are a relict of earlier occupation of the same elevated area and that secondary findings were located in those objects. According to collected and analysed fragments of ceramic pots of raw structure, with simple profilation of rims ornamented primarily with comb-like undulation or comb-like horizontal lines on the shoulder and upper part of the belly, as well as on the outer and/or inner side of the rim, it is visible that the content of fills in two of three artefacts showed the same characteristics. During analysis of ceramic sources it was observed that some of the fragments from the entities SJ 120 and SJ 122 were physically connected in construction of the preserved part of the pot (T. 6: 23), or based on their characteristic structure, wall thickness, colour and ornaments it could be inferred that they belonged to the same pot, although they were not physically connected (T. 2: 6). Both fills also contained ceramic of perforated structure (T. 4: 15a, b; T. 5: 19), whereas there were no indications of fine structure with admixture of sand in the clay structure, which could be found only in SJ 131, dating from a somewhat younger time of the developed Middle Ages (picture 4). With reference to analysis of ceramic sources and small mutual distance of the elongated pit SJ 120 and circular pit SJ 122, it is reasonable to think that in case of the formerly mentioned artefacts, it could be the case of a unique settlement of which only the deepest remains were preserved to the present day. If we observe those pits as a single whole with dimensions moving on the line S–J: 6,26 x 3,76 m on the line I–Z, it can be stated that it would encompass the area of 23,53 m2, which represents sufficient area for housing purposes. It is possible that the nearby circular trench SJ 118 also belonged to the respective entity as a possible massive pillar located on the southern part of the structure. This is supported by radiocarbon dating from the two fills, which indicates their synchronicity without any discrepancies in dates (SJ 119: 685–776 /0,97%/; SJ 121: 687–777 /0,94%/), and places them in the time frame from the very end of the 7th century to the third quarter of the 8th century, corresponding to dating of similar mobile findings from other sites in Podravina and the wider area.
Keywords
Hlebine - Velike Hlebine; early Middle Ages; settlement; ceramics
Hrčak ID:
231620
URI
Publication date:
2.12.2019.
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