nik XXV
t
s
II
Ve
Slovani, naša dediščina
Uredili Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular in Katharina Zanier
Our Heritage: The Slavs
Edited by Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular and Katharina Zanier
nik XXV
t
s
II
Ve
Slovani, naša dediščina
Uredili Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular in Katharina Zanier
Our Heritage: The Slavs
Edited by Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular and Katharina Zanier
Kazalo / Index
© Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije
SLOVANI, NAŠA DEDIŠČINA / OUR HERITAGE, THE SLAVS
Uredili / Edited by: Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular, Katharina Zanier
Vestnik XXVII, 2018
Izdaja / Publisher:
Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije / Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia
Poljanska cesta 40, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Zanj / Publishing Executive:
Jernej Hudolin
Urednica zbirke / Editor of the Series:
Biserka Ribnikar Vasle
Uredili / Edited by:
Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular, Katharina Zanier
Angleški jezikovni pregled / English Proof-reading:
Amidas d.o.o., Proof-reading-service.com
Slovenski jezikovni pregled / Slovene Proof-reading:
Alenka Kobler, Špela Križ
Angleški prevod / English Translation:
Amidas d.o.o.
Slovenski prevod / Slovene Translation:
Amidas d.o.o.
Oblikovanje / Designed by:
Nuit d.o.o.
Tisk / Printing:
Evrografis d.o.o.
Naklada / Copies:
400
Ljubljana, 2018
Naslov uredništva / Editorial Office:
Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, Poljanska cesta 40, SI-1000 Ljubljana, E: biserka.ribnikar@zvkds.si
http://www.zvkds.si/sl/knjiznica/vestnik
Za vsebino in slikovno gradivo posameznih prispevkov so odgovorni izključno avtorji.
The content and visual materials are the sole responsibility of the authors.
CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji
Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana
904(497.4)”653”(082)
930.85(497.4)”653”(082)
930.85(4-191.2)”653”(082)
SLOVANI, naša dediščina = Our heritage: the Slavs / uredili Judita Lux, Benjamin Štular in Katharina Zanier = edited by Judita Lux, Benjamin
Štular and Katharina Zanier ; [angleški prevod, slovenski prevod Amidas]. - Ljubljana : Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije = Institute
for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, 2018. - (Vestnik / Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije ; 27)
ISBN 978-961-6990-36-3
1. Vzp. stv. nasl. 2. Lux, Judita, 1975298780928
2
JERNEJ HUDOLIN
Predgovor / Preface
7
BENJAMIN ŠTULAR, ANDREJ PLETERSKI
Prolog. Zgodnjesrednjeveška arheologija jugovzhodnoalpskega prostora: nekoč, danes, jutri
Prologue. Early Medieval archaeology in the South eastern Alpine area: past, present, future
8
11
ANNA KOTŁOWSKA, ŁUKASZ RÓŻYCKI
The image of Slavs in the work of Theophylact Simocatta
Podoba Slovanov v delu Teofilakta Simokata
16
MITJA GUŠTIN
Raziskovanje preteklosti: zgodnjeslovanski naseljenci ob Muri
Researching the past: early Slavic settlers along the river Mura
28
CHRISTOPH GUTJAHR
Early medieval Slavs in Styria – A first archaeological search for traces
Zgodnji Slovani na avstrijskem Štajerskem – prvo arheološko iskanje sledi
42
BRANKO KERMAN
Arheološka slika slovanske poselitve Prekmurja
Archaeological picture of the settlement of the Slavs in Prekmurje
55
LUKA BEKIĆ
Early Slav pit houses in the area of the Mura, Drava and Sava river and attempt of their reconstruction
Zgodnjeslovanske zemljanke v Pomurju, Podravju ter Posavju in poskus njihove rekonstrukcije
69
KATARINA UDOVČ
Gorjanci, zakladnica arheoloških najdišč
The Gorjanci Hills, a treasure trove of archaeological sites
77
PHILIP MASON
The Empty Quarter: the Early Medieval period in south-eastern Slovenia in the light of recent research
Prazen predel: zgodnjesrednjeveško obdobje v jugovzhodni Sloveniji v luči novejših raziskav
91
GABRIEL FUSEK
Early Medieval Hillfort in Divinka, Northwestern Slovakia
Zgodnjesrednjeveško gradišče v Divinki na severozahodnem Slovaškem
103
Naďa Profantová
New archaeological evidences of traces of pagan rituals in Bohemia
Novi arheološki dokazi sledi poganskih ritualov na Češkem
108
ANA ORNIK TURK
Neobičajna dna zgodnjesrednjeveške in ostale srednjeveške lončenine
Unusual bottoms of early medieval and other medieval pottery
123
ANDREJ MAGDIČ
Zgodnjesrednjeveški pokopi z ostrogami na prostoru slovenskega Podravja
Early medieval graves with spurs in the Slovene part of the Drava Basin
132
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
3
JIŘÍ MACHÁČEK, DAŠA PAVLOVIČ
Spurs of the Bašelj type - evidence of the connection between Carniolan and Moravian elites in the Early
Middle Ages
Ostroge tipa Bašelj kot dokaz povezave med kranjskimi in moravskimi elitami v zgodnjem srednjem veku
140
ANDREJ PRELOŽNIK
Od globalnega stila do lokalne noše: emajlirane zgodnjesrednjeveške fibule z živalskimi motivi z območja
Slovenije
From a global style to local fashion: Enameled early medieval fibulas with animal motifs from the territory of
Slovenia
160
MILAN SAGADIN
Odmevi karolinške in otonske umetnosti v zgodnjesrednjeveškem nakitu v Sloveniji
Echoes of Carolingian and Ottonian art in early medieval jewellery in Slovenia
179
SOŇA HENDRYCHOVÁ
Velikomoravski nakit s Ptuja
The Great Moravian jewellery from Ptuj
199
4
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
5
Jiří Macháček, Daša Pavlovič
Spurs of the Bašelj type - evidence of
the connection between Carniolan and
Moravian elites in the Early Middle
Ages
UDK/UDC: 903/904(497.4)”653”
Abstract: The study deals with a new category of specific archaeological finds originating from the environment of the Slav elites
of the Carolingian East. These are spurs of the Bašelj type, which had until recently been known only in the territory of present-day
Slovenia. New excavations at Pohansko near Břeclav have yielded analogical artefacts from Moravia. They were uncovered in grave
No. 105 at the newly discovered Great Moravian church at Pohansko near Břeclav. In the text the authors summarise the contacts
between the Eastern Alps and Moravia and show the ways in which these exceptional objects could have travelled between the two
regions.
Keywords: Archaeology, Early Middle Ages, Carniola, Great Moravia, spurs, Pohansko near Břeclav, Gradišče above Bašelj
Ostroge tipa Bašelj kot dokaz povezave med kranjskimi in moravskimi elitami v zgodnjem
srednjem veku
Izvleček: Raziskava se ukvarja z novo kategorijo posebnih arheoloških najdb, ki izvirajo iz okolja slovanskih elit na vzhodu
Karolinškega cesarstva. To so ostroge tipa Bašelj, ki so bile še pred kratkim znane samo na ozemlju današnje Slovenije. V okviru
novih izkopavanj na Pohanskem pri Břeclavu so se podobni predmeti pojavili tudi na Moravskem. Našli so jih v grobu št. 105 v
nedavno odkriti velikomoravski cerkvi na Pohanskem pri Břeclavu. V prispevku avtorja povzemata stike med Vzhodnimi Alpami
in Moravsko ter predstavljata, kako bi ti izjemni predmeti lahko potovali med območjema.
Ključne besede: arheologija, zgodnji srednji vek, Kranjska, Velika Moravska, ostroge, Pohansko pri Břeclavu, Gradišče nad Bašljem
Introduction
Early medieval Moravia, Carniola and Carantania together
constituted the eastern periphery of the Carolingian Empire.
Regardless of frequent differences, we find some phenomena
in their histories which suggest the existence of closer contacts
between the Eastern Alps and the Moravian regions, manifested
even in material culture. Our text seeks to highlight a new
category of specific archaeological finds originating from the
environment of the elites of the Carolingian East. They are spurs
of the Bašelj type which had until recently only been known in the
territory of present-day Slovenia. New excavations at Pohansko
near Břeclav have yielded analogical artefacts from Moravia.
It seems that in the Early Middle Ages the elites from the two
regions were interconnected by a network of kinship, ownership
and political bonds as a result of which some exclusive objects
travelled between the two regions.
Relationships between the territory
of Moravia and today’s Slovenia
in the Early Middle Ages based on
historical sources
When the Avar Khaganate was fatally weakened, at the turn
of the 8th and the 9th century, after the military campaigns of
Charlemagne, the process of its rapid disintegration began.
Various groups of mainly Slav origin began to splinter off from
the Khaganate, which was originally established as a polyethnic
conglomerate whose cohesion was guaranteed by the figure of
the Khagan and the strength of his military, political and sacral
power. With this power gone, the Khaganate also disappeared.
The Slav element in the Carpathian basin, especially at its margins
and in the adjoining areas, was gaining in strength throughout the
8th century, when according to some the Slav language gradually
Jiří Macháček, machacek@phil.muni.cz, Ústav archeologie a muzeologie, Filozofická fakulta, Masarykova univerzita / Department of Archaeology and
Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Arna Nováka 1, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Daša Pavlovič, Dasa.Pavlovic@nms.si, Narodni muzej Slovenije / National Museum of Slovenia, Prešernova 20, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
140
became prominent as the lingua franca of the entire region (Pohl
1988, 215, 224–225, 236, 325–326). Although this proposition
has been strongly criticised by linguists in recent years (Snoj,
Greenberg 2012, 283), it is a fact that on the periphery of the
former Khaganate a new historical process started, the result of
which was the emergence of new communities with a political
identity of their own. Previously unknown ethnonyms such as
Bohemians, Guduscani (Guduščani), Timochani (Timočani),
Praedenecenti, Croats or Carantanians began to pop up in written
sources. The new early medieval gentes also included Moravians,
mentioned for the first time in the Annals of Fulda from 822,
and Carniolans (Carniolenses), named in the same source from
820 (Štih 1995, 856). Despite the initial regionalisation and the
widening differences, these people maintained (more passively
than actively) something of a shared tradition, which was primarily
manifested in the language and similar habitus. It may have also
contributed to the feeling of belonging together, thanks to which
they partly identified themselves against the surrounding nations
of non-Slav origin (Štih 1995, 855; id. 2012, 167). An example
may be Kocela (Chezil), governor of the Carolingian Pannonia of
Slav origin, who by his own decision began to learn the Glagolitic
script (glagolitsa) and Old Church Slavonic from Constantine
and Methodius (Szöke 2014, 265). Apart from the cultural and
linguistic relationship, the new gentes were also connected by
political bonds, as together they formed a system of principalities
which paid tribute to the Frankish Empire and simultaneously
protected its eastern border (Pohl 1988, 326). At the same time,
they maintained a certain degree of independence. The political
structure which formed in Eastern Central Europe after the
disintegration of the Khaganate was not very stable, and soon
started to metamorphose from the 820s onwards. At that time
the Slavs in the Eastern Alps lost their political independence
and were integrated into the Frankish Empire. New counties
were formed within their territory, governed directly by the
Frankish comes (Štih 1995, 859; id. 2014, 46). In contrast to this,
the Moravians managed to retain their political identity, although
they also paid tribute to the Frankish kings and were formally
their vassals for the entire period of existence of their domain
(Pohl 1988, 327; Lysý 2014; Wihoda 2014, 67, 69; id. 2016, 149).
The Slavs in the Eastern Alps did not form a single political
unit (Štih 1995, 852). North of the Karawanken (Karavanke)
range was the territory of Carantania, while south of this
mountain range a new gens emerged, named after its territory –
Carniolensis (Štih 1995, 857). In contrast to Carantania we have
very few historical reports on Carniola. We are even unaware of
the dynasty (genus ducale) which reigned there, if it existed at
all. It is thought that the Carniolans may have been headed by
Vojnomir the Slav (Wonomyrus Sclavus), who in 795 ravaged the
Avar territory. But even that is not certain. Undoubtedly, they
had their elite, who in later sources are called kosezi or župani
(Štih 2000, 377–381). At any rate, a social elite of Slav origin
is well-known from the surrounding regions. An example is
Carolingian Pannonia, neighbouring in the east with Carantania
and Carniolensis, which was, in the 9th century, controlled by
the Slav magnates Pribina (Priwina) and Kocel (Chezil) from
their residence in Zalavár (Mosapurc). The border point of this
Pannonian duchy (ducatus) was probably Ptuj, situated in the
east of present-day Slovenia (Wolfram 2012, 184).
From the perspective of historical interpretation, the situation in
Moravia is a little simpler, as we know both the ruling dynasty
from written sources and the strata of the local elites on which
the Mojmírid clan was based. They were referred to as principes,
nobiles viri, optimates, knedzi or župane and their archaeological
correlates are found in the richly furnished graves from the Great
Moravian centres (Galuška 2014), or village cemeteries (Štefan
2011, 335–338).
Although the historical trajectories of Carniola, Carantania and
Moravia gradually diverged during the 9th century, we anticipate
something of a close link between these lands. It was shown most
clearly at the very end of the 9th century when probably one of the
members of the Mojmírid dynasty settled in the territory of the
former Carantania. This was Zwentipolch (Svatopluk), described
as “progenie bonae nobilitatis exortus”, or man of noble birth
and excellent pedigree. He appeared in Carinthia in 898, when
he received there an extensive possession from Emperor Arnulf
with its centre in Gurk. He stands at the root of the family tree
of important Carinthian nobility. It is expected that he was
related both to the Luitpold dynasty and the Mojmírids (Dopsch
1971, 134–135; id. 1988; Eichert 2012). It may be no coincidence
that exactly at that time (in 899) the Bavarians withdrew the
pretender whom they had supported from the struggle for the
Moravian Duke’s Chair (Havlík 1963, 70). Historians today
think that regardless of the small time shift, both events could
be interconnected (although improper dating in some of the
sources cannot be ruled out), and that the Moravian Svatopluk
II is identical to the owner of the Carinthian Gurk (Macháček
2015, 483; Wihoda 2016, 154–155). The Mojmírids, and with
them other families of Great Moravian origin (e.g. in Nitra
Pribina/Priwina and his son Kocel/Chezil: Szöke 2010, 9), slowly
integrated into the political system of the Carolingian Empire
and formally became Bavarian nobility of Slav/Moravian origin,
just as several decades earlier the Carantanians and Carniolenses
did. They were bonded with the Bavarians and probably even
among themselves by kinship, forming networks of a new social
elite (Mitterauer 1960; Štih 2014, 49–51).
Relationships between the territory
of Moravia and today’s Slovenia
in the Early Middle Ages based on
archaeological finds
Contacts between Moravians and Slavs from the Eastern Alps
have been traditionally documented by archaeologists with
finds of jewellery of foreign provenance. Within Moravian
territory they were mainly earrings of the so-called “Köttlach”
or “Carantanian” type identified at the cemetery in Dolní
Věstonice in South Moravia by Josef Poulík as early as 1950
(Poulík 1948–1950, 79; id. 1950, 24, 31). His conclusions were
recently thoroughly reviewed by Šimon Ungerman, whereby he
convincingly confirmed that the origins of jewellery from Dolní
Věstonice were more varied than had been expected. However,
the centre of the occurrence of some types which appeared in
Moravia in the 9th century – such as earrings with two globes
one above the other (so-called Krungl type) – really was situated
in the Eastern Alps region interlinked with South Moravia via
the Austrian Danube basin, where they are also encountered.
Nevertheless, the infrequent group of the pieces of jewellery
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
141
does not indicate massive migration from the Eastern Alp
region to South Moravia as researchers used to propose earlier,
but rather testifies to the existence of a single “communication
space” within which ideas, artefacts and people circulated along
the eastern margin of the Frankish Empire (Ungerman 2016,
181–184, 215–216).
In a similar way we might explain the finds of a splendid piece
of female jewellery from the cemetery in Ptuj in Slovenia, which
does not belong to the Eastern Alps but to the adjacent Pannonian
region. The finds comprised several items of the pieces of
jewellery that Paola Korošec identified as the Veligrad type and
attributed to them Great Moravian origin (Korošec 1966; id.
1996; id. 1999). She even connected the richest grave No. 355 with
the hypothetical wife of Kocel/Chezil, son of Pribina from Nitra,
who after his father ruled over the Pannonian centre in Zalavár
and hence Ptuj. However, this interpretation is too speculative.
As Soňa Hendrychová recently showed, close analogies of the
Ptuj jewellery are also found beyond Great Moravia and Zalavár,
for example in Croatia (Hendrychová 2015). The finds from Ptuj
therefore confirm both the circulation of particular people but
most importantly a smoothly operating network which involved
the social elites of the Frankish or Bavarian East.
In our opinion the same kind of explanation can be used for the
newly identified group of artefacts originating from the milieu
of top social strata from Carniola and Moravia sometime at the
end of the 9th century. They are spurs of the Bašelj type recently
uncovered both in Slovenia and in Great Moravian Pohansko
near Břeclav (Figure 1).
The find of spurs of the Bašelj type
at Pohansko near Břeclav (Moravia)
Pohansko near Břeclav – one of the most important centres of
Great Moravia – is located in the south-eastern part of the Czech
Republic, not far from the Czech–Austrian border and close to the
confluence of the Morava and Dyje rivers. The site is in a flood
plain enclosed by the oxbow lakes of the Dyje. Pohansko has been
the subject of systematic research ever since the first excavations
were carried out there in 1958 by a team from Masaryk University
in Brno. Over thirty-five acres have been excavated so far, both
at the site and in its hinterland; more than 1,300 larger settlement
features and 1,000 inhumations have produced a bewildering
quantity and variety of artefacts (including, but by no means
restricted to, such objects as five swords, twenty-two gold and
a large number of silver earrings, five stirrups, dozens of spurs,
silk imprints, etc.). The results of this systematic research have
been duly published, and a relatively abundant body of literature
on Pohansko is now in existence, including nine monographs and
over one hundred studies and other papers (Macháček 2011).
The latest research activities here started in the north-eastern
suburb after the unexpected and surprising discovery of an
early medieval rotunda, which is the second Early Mediaeval
church to be uncovered at Pohansko (Macháček et al. 2014).
The new research activities in the north-eastern suburb can be
divided into three main excavation areas – the Great Moravian
rotunda, the church cemetery and the adjoining residential and/
or manufacturing precinct of the entire settlement area.
There was an extensive cemetery situated around the rotunda
142
where 152 graves were gradually uncovered in the course of
five campaigns (Macháček et al. 2016). They were relatively
well preserved, also thanks to the fact that after the collapse of
the early medieval centre Pohansko was not resettled. The most
important discovery awaited us in the interior of the rotunda.
Two men from the category of adultus (20–35 years) and senilis
(over 55 years) and three children aged 18 months to 12 years
were laid under the floor of the existing building (Figure 2).
The present state of knowledge allows us to state that an elite
group of people initially probably headed by the old man buried
in the rotunda lived and buried their dead in the north-eastern
suburb at the end of the 9th and possibly in the first decades of the
next century. The man could have originally been the governor of
a ducal castle, surrounded by members of his familia. This man
could have been in possession of some landed property and real
estate, such as possibly the curtis in the suburb, but certainly the
church in which he was himself buried.
Artefacts were found in the cemetery around the rotunda at
Pohansko in 66 graves, which represent 43% of all 154 burials.
However, we can mark objects from only 61 graves (39.6 %) as
intentional gifts or part of the costume of the deceased individual,
supposing we disregard more or less random finds from the grave
pit fill. The most valuable finds include jewellery – in particular
earrings. In the church cemetery of the north-eastern suburb at
Pohansko we found 38 earrings, or temple rings, 18 of them made
of silver and 20 of bronze (in five cases gilded bronze), originating
from 16 graves. From the typological-chronological and material
point of view the earrings can be classified into three groups:
magnificent silver or bronze gilded jewellery of the so-called
Veligrad type (earlier also described as Byzantine-Oriental),
simpler bronze jewellery of the Danubian type and silver temple
rings. Typical Great Moravian jewellery is represented by
globular buttons/gombiks. Men’s grave goods tend to include
weapons and parts of riding gear. Among the important Great
Moravian necropolises, the cemetery at the rotunda in the northeastern suburb at Pohanska is somewhat below average with
regard to such finds. None of the graves yielded a sword and
militaria is represented solely by two axes (Macháček et al. 2016,
65–139).
In three graves the spurs were originally situated in a functional
position on the feet of the dead. They were complemented by
metalwork from the spur belt fittings. In one other grave the
spurs were laid out of their working position. According to the
traditional scheme, the spurs from the cemetery near the rotunda
can be classified into two basic categories: the majority belong to
the common type IA (9th century) according to Darina Bialeková
(Bialeková 1977, 132), but one pair represents a chronologically
important group of spurs with long pricks (Dostál 1966, 76–77;
Kavánová 1976, 54–60). Spurs with pricks of extraordinary
length (4.3–5 cm) from grave H 105 in the north-eastern suburb
at Pohansko are exceptional in other aspects as well. In the grave
they were combined with a nomadic axe. Apart from the prick
set into the arch of the yoke, which is the longest of all the Great
Moravian examples known to us, they also feature unique plates
(ends of yokes) of slim shield-like or triangular shape, decorated
with moulded ribs. Strap ends of a similar form obviously made
up a single set with the spurs, and were made together with
them. The spurs from Grave H 105 in the north-eastern suburb
of Pohansko are exceptional in other respects too. They were
the only ones in the cemetery to have the rivets backed up with
washers of non-ferrous sheet metal, and as the X-ray image
shows, even rings of filigree wire (Figure 3–5).
So far there has not been any parallel known from Great Moravian
territory. We have, however, good analogies in Slovenia – from
the hillfort at Gradišče above Bašelj and from Gradišče above
Trebenče. Because of the first discovery of this particular type of
spurs we call them the Bašelj type.
The find of spurs of the Bašelj type
in Slovenia
The eponymous site at Gradišče above Bašelj yielded three
examples of the type of spurs under discussion (Cat. Nos. 1 and
2: inv. Nos. S 2903, S 2904, Cat. Nos. 3 and 4: inv. Nos. S 2832,
S 2803). In addition, the finds incorporated a belt loop with a
triangular widening, having a similar form and decoration to
the plates of the spurs, probably originating from a single set of
equestrian equipment.
Gradišče above Bašelj is one of the most important early
medieval sites in Slovenia (Knific 2007; Karo, Mlekuž 2015). It
is situated at the foot of Mount Storžič on a naturally protected
elevation at 873 m above sea level, above the Bašelj municipality
north of Kranj. The archaeological site extends over an area of
approximately 100 x 50 m. The upper part of the stronghold is
rocky and it descends in terraces towards the south (Figure 6).
The settlement was fortified by a wall on three sides, the eastern
side being delimited by the steep wall of the Pekel gorge (Knific
1999, 55). Thanks to the attractive and plentiful finds the site
has drawn attention since the beginning of the 20th century.
The first systematic excavations were carried out there by the
custodian of the National Museum of Slovenia, Dr Rajko Ložar,
in 1939 (Ložar 1939, 195–200; Knific 1999, 56–62). Since in the
1990s the danger of illegal treasure hunters with metal detectors
became more imminent, the ZRC SAZU institute initiated new
mapping of the site in 1992. In 1998 archaeological field research
was launched on the site by the National Museum of Slovenia
under the leadership of Dr Timotej Knific (Knific 1999, 63).
The results of the research have so far only been published in
a preliminary report (Knific 1999), while complete evaluation
of all finds is currently in preparation. Nevertheless, a number
of the artefacts from Gradišče above Bašelj have already been
processed and published a number of times, mainly in works by
Timotej Knific (1999) and Špela Karo (Karo 2007; Karo, Mlekuž
2015).
Earlier and more recent research has established that it is a
Late Antiquity hill-top fortified settlement from the 5th and 6th
centuries destroyed by fire. It was settled again in the Early
Middle Ages, probably as a fortress protecting a strategic point
or the position of power of the military aristocracy of early
medieval Carniola (today Kranjska). In our opinion we cannot
exclude a spiritual function of the place which might have been
similar to Klášťov in Moravia or Bojná in Slovakia, where in a
particular period numerous hoards and individual objects used
to be deposited in the locations of earlier, prehistoric and early
medieval fortifications (Pieta et al. 2006; Geisler, Kohoutek
2014). This also applied to Gradišče above Bašelj where frequent
metal artefacts – mainly parts of harnesses, stirrups, spurs, strap
ends and unique censers – were stashed away in the Early Middle
Ages. Some of these objects were made to a high standard of
workmanship, including gilding and tin plating (Knific 2007,
317–322). Based on typological analysis of the items and
radiocarbon dating (790–990 AD with 95% reliability) these
Early Medieval finds belong to the 9th and up to the first half of
the 10th century (Karo 2012, 309; Karo, Mlekuž 2015, 257).
Although the finds of the spurs from Gradišče above Bašelj were
studied back in the 1950s by Jože Kastelic (Kastelic 1952–53,
104–105), all of the three representatives of the new type were
uncovered much later during professional excavation in 1998.
The most illustrious example is a pair of spurs inv. Nos. S
2903 and S 2094 (Cat. Nos. 1 and 2). They were part of a hoard
uncovered by Timotej Knific inside the settlement during the
excavation (Knific 2011, 86–87, 89–90, 91, 95). Even the details
are identical to items from Pohansko near Břeclav. They have
similar decoration of the plates, yokes and pricks with moulded
ribs, and the same shape and length of the prick (4.2–4.4 cm).
The unique shield-like or triangular plates with three rivets in a
crosswise groove are also identical (Knific 2011, 91; Karo 2012,
330–331) (Figure 7–8).
Gradišče above Bašelj yielded another spur with a long prick
and triangular plates, which was broken into two parts (inv. No.
S 2832, cat. No. 3; inv. No. S 2803, cat. No. 4). Unlike the spurs
above, it was not decorated (Figure 7, 9–10). It was found in the
destruction (fire) layer in a test dig at the western gate of the
settlement. The belt loop with a triangular widening (inv. No.
S 2714, cat. No. 5) comes from the debris layer (Figure 11).
The group of finds that this article deals with includes the find
of a spur from the Gradišče above Trebenče site (kept in the
National Museum of Slovenia, inv. No. S 3420). Although the
spur was dug out by an amateur treasure hunter, the find context
is relatively well known (Knific, Nabergoj 2016, fig. 101).
Trebenče is a municipality situated 460 m above sea level in the
Cerkno Hills. It lies on the northern slope of the Zapoška stream
valley, 2 km north of Cerkno (Oražen Adamič et al. 1995).
North of the village high above the Zapoška stream valley is the
location called Gradišče (v Gradišah), where a rural farmstead
is situated (kmetija pri Gradišarju) (Savnik 1968, 80). Davorin
Vuga described this location as an undulating plain, which
ends in a steep crevice in the southeast and a hardly visible dry
stonewall lining the edge of a wood in the north. On the southern
edge of the platform are elevations where the local inhabitants
quarried stone. Standing on a rock spur southwest of the platform
is Saint Judoc’s Church. According to local legend a pot full of
gold was found there (Vuga 1979, 345–346).
The National Museum of Slovenia acquired the spur from
Gradišče above Trebenče together with other objects of a
similar age. Within a broader framework they can be dated to
the Carolingian period (from the 9th to the 10th century). All the
objects were uncovered within a relatively small area extending
south of Saint Judoc’s Church. The objects were dispersed over
two smaller elevations separated by a depression (Figure 12). The
finds clearly tended to be more concentrated in the depression
and it is there that the spur with inv. No. S 3420 originates
(Figure 13). In 2004 Timotej Knific and Polona Bitenc specified
the topography in greater detail when they surveyed the ditch
after the illegal treasure hunter in the depression. Hence, the
location of the finds is relatively reliable.
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
143
By its structure the set of finds from the Carolingian period from
this site is very similar to the finds from Gradišče above Bašelj.
The prevalent items are arrowheads with wings and a socket,
some with a twisted neck. The artefacts can be classified into
several groups by their function: part of rider’s equipment and
horse tackle (spurs, stirrups, strap dividers and horseshoes),
weapons (arrowheads and knife sheath fittings), tools (saw, adze,
hammer, pincers and knives) and objects of everyday use (pan
with handle, bucket handles, keys, strike-a-light and jingle-bells).
Dating of the spurs of the Bašelj
type
For the dating of the spurs of the Bašelj type grave 105 from
Pohansko near Břeclav is of particular significance (Macháček
et al. 2016, 140–169).
Grave H 105 of a juvenile individual combines two late
elements – a Magyar war axe/fokos and spurs with a very long
prick (Figure 3–4). The small axe testifies to the penetration of
nomadic cultural elements into the Great Moravian environment,
which could not have happened earlier than at the end of the 9th or
beginning of the 10th century, but probably even a little later. Its
form and size makes it significantly different from the battle axes
of the Great Moravians. It has a very short blade, but a relatively
high trapezoid body and a straight symmetrical edge. The axe’s
length is merely 10.6 cm. X-ray imaging revealed that it was
richly decorated on the surface. Given its shape and dimensions
we might call it fokos – a specific type of nomadic axe. From
the 10th century onwards weapons of a similar nature appeared
in Eastern Europe or even further where they travelled together
with Euro-Asian nomads. Geographically the closest parallels
to axes with a short trapezoid body can be found among the
archaeological heritage of the Carpathian basin, where they are
considered weapons from the period of the Magyar conquest of
the land (Kouřil 2006; id. 2008).
In Moravia a similar item occurred in grave 786 in Mikulčice.
This axe was almost equal in size (length: 10.8 cm) to the weapon
from the north-eastern suburb (Kouřil 2006, 69, 74). Pavel
Kouřil assumes that these objects from the nomadic cultural
circle penetrated into some Great Moravian centres before the
downfall of Great Moravia, some time at the end of the 9th and
the beginning of the 10th century (Kouřil 2008, 117–118). Magyar
axes from the eastern Tisza basin have a similar shape. Their
body is usually very short and trapezoid, either with a straight or
curved edge. Based on the accompanying finds from the graves
they are dated to the beginning of the 10th century, but they could
have occurred up until the year 1000. Compared to the fokos
from Pohansko they have a different butt, which is extended into
a long blade, terminating in a short edge. As a result they are
termed “Nackenblattäxte” (Fodor 1981, 153, 155, 164; Kovács
1989, 172, 176; Révész 2007, 309, 322–324).
Outside the Carpathian basin territory these weapons have been
found at two locations – at the Gars-Thunau stronghold in Austria
and at Stará Kouřim in Bohemia. At Gars the nomadic axe was
uncovered in grave 76 together with a set of two magnificent
knives, decorated on the blade with non-ferrous metal inlays,
a granulated silver globular button (gombik), a bronze ring and
144
most significantly, spurs with an extended prick (prick length:
3.6 cm). With the assistance of the radiocarbon method the grave
has been dated to the end of the 9th century. It is among the three
richest male graves in the cemetery from a magnate’s court
where members of the local elite were interred. This is confirmed
by a fragment of silk velvet cloth. Elisabeth Nowotny classifies
the axe into the group of nomadic warrior axes from the Magyar
environment (Nowotny 2018, 91–93; id. 2013, 444–456).
According to Miloš Šolle, the axe from grave 79 from the
ducal cemetery at Stará Kouřim was also linked to the Magyar
environment, at least on the conceptual level. It had a short
shovel-like body and a very long butt, which was pointed, and
served rather for stabbing than cutting. In the grave, it was
combined with a Moravian bearded axe and spurs with a long
prick (see above). From the stratigraphic relationships the grave
belongs to the later layer of the cemetery. Based on the spurs it is
dated to the first half of the 10th century, probably to the twenties
or the thirties (Šolle 1959, 390–396).
The finds of nomadic axes from Pohansko, Mikulčice and other
sites in Slovakia, Austria and Bohemia prove that some time at
the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century
elements of nomadic culture penetrated into the Slav environment
and were also adopted by members of the local elite. The
equipment of the warrior buried in grave H 105 at the rotunda
combined both eastern/Magyar elements (so-called fokos), and
those of Eastern Alps provenance represented by spurs with
plates and their belt fittings. As a result a remarkable syncretism
of cultural influences from different corners of Eastern Central
Europe developed at the eastern margin of the Late Carolingian
Empire at the turn of the 9th and the 10th centuries.
The late dating of grave H 106 is underpinned by the form of
spurs of the Bašelj type with extreme pricks up to 5 cm long.
This is quite common in spurs from the 10th century in Bohemia
and Germany, but very unusual in Great Moravian examples
from the 9th century. Spurs having similar parameters are so far
unknown at any Great Moravian site (Figure 14).
The lengthening of the prick is an obvious and temporally
determined trend (Kavánová 1976, 54–60; Gabriel 1984, 126;
Goßler 1998, 529; Kouřil, Tymonová 2013, 143). This parameter
has undoubtedly great importance for the dating of early
medieval spurs, although this development should in no way be
taken as a linear process (Kind 2002, 288).
Around the year 900 the extended prick was to have reached a
length of 3.0 to 3.3 cm (Gabriel 1984, 126). The spurs excavated
from grave H 105, where pricks measured 4.3–5 cm, extend far
beyond this limit. Therefore, we can undoubtedly consider them
a clear representative of another elementary type – spurs with
long pricks (Dostál 1966, 76–77; Kavánová 1976, 54–60). Spurs
with a prick longer than 4 cm do not belong to the Carolingian
but to the Ottonian world. The standard length of the prick in
the 10th century varied somewhere around 5 cm (Goßler 1998,
511; Kind 2002, 288). And it is these parameters that spurs from
the Bohemian sites in the 10th century exhibit. The oldest known
example of spurs with a long prick in Bohemia is from Stará
Kouřim (Šolle 1966, 259, fig. 43). It is a pair from grave 49a
(prick length 5.5 cm), which was superimposed over a grave with
jewellery of the Great Moravian tradition (Mařík 2009, 133),
and, above all, spurs of a boy (grave No. 79) from a later layer of
the Kouřim cemetery (prick length 4.3 cm), where they appeared
in a single set together with a Magyar axe (Profantová 2013, 61).
This combination is surprisingly similar to what we know from
grave H 105 at Pohansko (see above), where spurs with a long
prick were also combined with a nomadic axe (Šolle 1966, 150,
262–263, fig. 38). The spurs from grave H 105 at Pohansko differ
from the Bohemian examples from the 10th century by their
plates, both in their shape and greater size. However, in Europe
we also know of examples of spurs with a long prick and large
plates – e.g. spurs from the Wallburg-Gaulskopf stronghold near
Warburg-Ossendorf or from Basel (Best 1997, 170–172).
Surprisingly, grave H 105, which based on a typologicalchronological point of view appears to be one of the latest on
the entire site, belongs to the earlier graves within the group of
graves dated by the radiocarbon method (Figure 15). But the
radiocarbon data does not exclude the possibility that the young
man buried there could have died as late as the 10th century. Given
the shape of the calibration curve it could have been within the
interval of the years 875–903 cal AD (25.1 %) or 918–965 cal AD
(39.0%) at a probability level of 68.2%.
The dating of the spurs of the Bašelj type is also supported by
artefacts from Slovenian sites, although their find context was not
ideal. The majority of the early medieval objects from Gradišče
above Bašelj were found in a massive destruction (fire) layer
overlying earlier Late Antiquity ruins, where it is impossible
to identify earlier and later artefacts from the find context. A
better understanding of the chronological development of the
site is also prevented by the numerous illegal digs left behind by
treasure hunters. As a result most of the finds are dated there to
the entire long interval of the existence of the settlement or based
on analogies from other sites.
The oldest early medieval finds from Gradišče above Bašelj
include e.g. Carolingian strap ends (Karo 2012, 453, cat. No.
456) or a fragment of an iron stirrup with a twisted neck (Karo
2012, 454, cat. No. 416). Both artefacts appear from as early as
the end of the 8th century. However, the greater part of the objects
evaluated so far fall into the period from the beginning of the
9th to the middle of the 10th century (Karo 2012, 309). The other
finds from Gradišče above Bašelj, such as pieces of jewellery
or other parts of attire (e.g. needles and jingle-bells), glass,
instruments for cloth weaving or wool processing, parts of the
inner furnishing of houses or aids for personal hygiene are of
similar age (Veršnik 2009, 63–67). Other rare finds, e.g. a bit
(horse tack – see below) or the head of a Petersen type X sword,
suggest that the site survived into the 10th century, possibly even
the 11th century (Veršnik 2009, 65; Karo 2012, 307; Karo, Knific
2015, 289, 290, 293)
The pair of spurs of the type under discussion from the eponymous
site was part of a hoard (Knific 2011, 86–87, 89–90, 91, 95),
together with one IAa type stirrup according to A. Bartošková
(Bartošková 1986, 8–9, 81–83), or I/2 type according to A.
Ruttkay, who dates it to the 9th century (Ruttkay 1976, 353), and a
complete bit with rod-shaped moulded sidepieces. Typologically
identical sidepieces were also found at Pohansko in the southern
suburb and in the ruins of the rotunda in the north-eastern suburb,
not far from grave H 105 (Vignatiová 1992, 62–64; Macháček et
al. 2014, 104–105). They belong to the 2nd variant of sidepieces
according to A. Ruttkay (Ruttkay 1976, 357), who primarily
connects them with the Magyar environment (Trensentypus I-2),
although earlier occurrence cannot be ruled out. In Moravia they
were also found in Troubky, Staré Město near Uherské Hradiště
and in Mikulčice (Kouřil 2008, 119–120). We assume that it is
not necessary to date the hoard to the broad interval from the end
of the 8th to the beginning of the 10th century, as had been done
by Špela Karo given the age of the whole site (Karo 2012, 301),
but the period of its burial in the ground can be narrowed down
to the first half of the 10th century.
Given the local conditions at the second Slovenian site – Gradišče
above Trebenče – from where the other spur of the Bašelj type
originates, this find is also impossible to date more precisely.
An amateurish approach to excavation by the treasure hunter
prevents interpreting the site both from a chronological and a
functional point of view. More exact dating is only possible based
on analogies from other territories where we have complete and
professionally investigated find contexts from the Carolingian
period available.
The first to date the Gradišče above Trebenče site was Špela
Karo, based on artefacts from the 9th and the first half of the
10th century (Karo 2007, fig. 68). However, Špela Karo did not
examine the spur under discussion any more closely. She paid
greater attention to the round stirrups from the site (Karo 2004,
fig. 7, 170, 172; inv. No. S 3428). In her classification of stirrups
from the territory of present-day Slovenia she assigned them to
type 5, representatives of which are known, for example, from
the sites of Tabor near Tomaj and Gradišče above Vintarjevec
(Karo 2007, 197). According to Alexander Ruttkay (Ruttkay
1976, 353–354) round stirrups of this type occur primarily in
Eastern Europe. The examples from Gradišče above Trebenče
belong to Ruttkay’s type IV and are commonly encountered in
Magyar graves from the 10th to the beginning of the 11th century.
Within the territory of present-day Slovenia, round stirrups do not
occur in graves. All were found in strongholds. Unfortunately, in
most of them we do not know the find context from which they
originate. The above-mentioned concentration of objects in the
depression on the Gradišče above Trebenče site thus remains
the only more precisely described find context. It is likely that
in this case they are the remains of a single hoard. Thanks to
this discovery the finds from Gradišče above Trebenče can
be compared with sites from the Balkans where typologically
similar stirrups occurred in hoards of iron objects from hilltop
settlement (Bugarski, Ivanišević 2013). Round stirrups, similar
to the examples from Gradišče above Trebenče, were parts
of the hoards from Rujkovac in South Serbia and Streževo
in South Macedonia (Bugarski, Ivanišević 2013, fig.1: 5; fig.
3: 9, 11, 19). Ivan Bugarski and Vujadin Ivanišević date these
wartime hoards from the second half of the 10th to the mid-11th
century. Interestingly, some of the published Balkan hoards,
e.g. Gamzigrad, Ada Ciganlija, Jelica or Pontesa and Devič,
are similar in structure to the Slovenian finds. Bugarski and
Ivanišević also highlighted the similarity between the structure
of the hoards of iron objects from the central Balkans with the
other hoards from Southeast Europe, as published, for example,
by Joachim Henning (Henning 1987, fig. 12) and Florin Curta
(Curta 1997; id. 2011), whereby they dated them from the 8th
to the 10th century. After all, the hoards with iron objects from
Slovenian territory are dated in a similar way (Bitenc, Knific
2015, 121). However, it now seems that at least a part of the
Balkan (and probably even Slovenian) hoards is a little younger.
The important aspects for the later dating of the hoards from
the central Balkans (second half of the 10th century to the mid11th century) are not just the round stirrups with good analogies
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
145
in Magyar and Bulgarian sites, but equally bits of the Csorna
type or the procession cross from the Streževo hoard (Bugarski,
Ivanišević 2013, fig. 2).
Gradišče above Trebenče also yielded a bucket handle (Karo
2007, fig. 68: 14), analogies of which appeared in the Gamzigrad
I hoard where they were accompanied by a sword cross-guard
dated to the 10th and the 11th centuries (Bugarski, Ivanišević
2013, 137, 146, fig. 134: 112). Pointing towards a later dating of
Gradišče above Trebenče is the find of a rod-like socket, which
is reminiscent of parts of an arrow quivers that we know from
graves of the Magyar period (Karo 2007, 186–187, fig. 168: 113).
According to all of the analogies it seems that the dating of the
artefacts from Gradišče above Trebenče is a little broader than
used to be assumed. It falls within the period from the 9th to the
mid-11th century. The spur of the Bašelj type which originally
may have been found in the vicinity of the round stirrup and
might have been part of the same hoard can therefore be dated
to the 10th century, just as it is at Pohansko near Břeclav. This
conclusion can be elaborated in greater detail after the publication
of all finds from the site under discussion.
If we summarise the data presented above, we will arrive at the
relatively convincing conclusion that the spurs of the Bašelj type
were used in the territory of Moravia and Carniola in the 10th
century, most likely in its first half.
Social aspects of the find of spurs of
the Bašelj type in Moravia
Grave H 105 in the north-eastern suburb of Pohansko was used
to inter a juvenile individual furnished, apart from the spurs of
the Bašelj type with a complete set of belt fittings and a nomadic
axe, with two knives, which make it the richest male grave from
the whole cemetery. The young warrior was clad in linen and
woollen cloths (Březinová, Přichystalová 2014, 167, 169).
Within the cemetery at the 2nd church at Pohansko grave H
105 enjoyed a special position. In addition to the gifts this is
supported by its location in the necropolis (Figure 2). It was
part of a group of four graves (group M), situated in the middle
of an empty space in the farthest southern end of the cemetery
enclosure (Macháček et al. 2016, 177–179). The area free of any
graves which surrounded group M may have been related to the
pathway passing through the cemetery towards the rotunda.
Neighbouring grave H 105 is the grave of a child (infans Ib),
which contained a pair of gilded and decorated globural buttons
(gombiks). Identical gombiks were found in the north-eastern
suburb at Pohansko with only two buried individuals. They must
have belonged to the category of luxury jewellery. In addition,
the group comprised the burial of an older woman and a child
from the infans Ia category interred in the fill of the grave of the
young warrior. The (adults’) grave pits of the discussed group
are some of the deepest in the entire cemetery (average depth
of 64 cm), and are distinguished from the majority by a slightly
different orientation – they are a little more deviated to the south.
No wood or stone were used in their construction.
With regard to finds they are relatively rich graves. It is all the
more surprising that this group is separated in the corner of the
cemetery enclosure at a great distance from the church. Given the
146
finds of foreign provenance in grave H 105, we assume that the
people may have been integrated into the local community, but
differed in their origin. They could have been exiles or refugees
from remote areas or noble hostages as commonly appeared in
the courts of Moravian dukes (such a hostage from the Eastern
March was, for example, Isanrik, son of Arbo: cf. Wihoda 2016,
153). Alternatively, they could have been repatriates returning
from abroad. They may have retained their original social status,
but they did not become fully-fledged members of the familia of
the church founder and the lord of the adjacent court. As a result
they were not buried next to the church, in the space reserved for
the closest relatives of the church’s founder and owner, but in a
remote corner of the Christian cemetery.
Conclusion
The young man buried in grave No. 105 at the newly uncovered
Great Moravian church at Pohansko near Břeclav was equipped
with a special type of spur. The closest analogy comes from early
medieval Carniola – the land of the Eastern Alp Slavs – where they
occur in a greater number in at least two sites – Gradišče above
Bašelj and Gradišče above Trebenče. In other parts of Central
Europe we have not recorded similar spurs so far. We therefore
assume that the spurs were made in the Eastern Alps, some time
at the beginning of the 10th century. The way they travelled from
the territory of the Eastern Alp Slavs to Great Moravian Pohansko
is unknown to us and we can only speculate about it. A valid point
has been proposed by the Czech historian Martin Wihoda, who
after a repeated study of the written sources comes forward with
the idea that the Moravian ruling dynasty of the Mojmírids need
not have died out at the beginning of the 10th century as had been
thought until now. The kinship bonds in Eastern Bavaria, Carinthia
and around Salzburg formed a safety net for them which saved
them and provided a “new” lease of life for the Moravian dukes
after the collapse of their domain. It is also possible that some
individuals from their surroundings attempted a return to their
old homeland in Moravia and brought with them the spurs which
were finally buried in a grave at Pohansko near Břeclav (Wihoda
2016, 157–158). Neither is the fact that in Moravia and Slovakia
spurs of the Bašelj type are variously combined with objects of
Magyar origin ( fokos or round stirrups) surprising. For a certain
period Slav warriors co-operated with the newly arriving nomads,
and with their help they also attempted to thwart the power status
quo in Eastern Central Europe. This is confirmed, for example, by
Moravians and Magyars joining forces in campaigns against the
Bavarians at the beginning of the 10th century (Kouřil 2016, 105).
In the end, after a short and turbulent period, former allies became
deadly enemies. But that is part of another history.
Catalogue of spurs of the Bašelj type
1. Gradišče above Bašelj (SLO), National Museum of Slovenia,
inv. No. S 2903: iron spur, complete; parabolic yoke of pentagonal
cross-section; yoke terminating in plates of triangular shape; on
the plates in the spot where they join the yoke there are 3 rivets
with washers of bronze sheet metal in a cross-wise groove; long
prick of orthogonal cross-section is conically terminated; prick
and yoke of the spurs decorated with oblique moulded ribs;
dimensions: max. length 14.8 cm; max. width 10.5 cm; prick
length 4.4 cm (Figure 7, 8).
2. Gradišče above Bašelj (SLO), National Museum of Slovenia,
inv. No. S 2904: iron spur, complete; parabolic yoke of pentagonal
cross-section; yoke terminating in plates of triangular shape; on
the plates in the spot where they join the yoke there used to be 3
rivets with washers of bronze sheet metal in a cross-wise groove;
long prick of orthogonal cross-section is conically terminated;
prick and yoke of the spurs decorated with oblique moulded ribs;
dimensions: max. length 15.2 cm; max. width 10.2 cm; prick
length 4.2 cm (Figure 7, 8).
3. Gradišče above Bašelj (SLO), National Museum of Slovenia,
inv. No. S 2832: iron spur, incomplete, right-hand part of the yoke
with plate missing; parabolic yoke of pentagonal cross-section;
surviving end of yoke terminating in plate of triangular shape
with two rivets in the spot where the plate joins the yoke; external
top of plates reinforced; long prick is smooth, polygonal crosssection, spur not decorated, only in the spot where prick joins
yoke two small moulded rolls; dimensions: max. length 15.4 cm,
prick length 3.92 cm (Figure 7, 9, 10).
4. Gradišče above Bašelj (SLO), National Museum of Slovenia,
inv. No. S 2803: part of iron spur; fragment of right-hand part
of yoke; part of yoke terminating in triangular plate with two
rivets in the spot where plate joins yoke; external top of plates
reinforced; spur not decorated; dimensions: fragment length 5.9
cm, plate width 2.15 cm. Fragment belongs to incomplete spur
inv. No. S 2832 (Figure 7).
5. Gradišče above Bašelj (SLO), National Museum of Slovenia,
inv. No. S 2714: iron belt loop; belt loop has triangular form,
decorated with oblique moulded ribs, loop soldered with copper
solder; dimensions: length 2.25 cm, width 1.81 cm, height 1.53
cm (Figure 7, 11).
6. Gradišče above Trebenče (SLO), National Museum of
Slovenia, inv. No. S 3420: iron spur, incomplete; left-hand plate
broken off; parabolic yoke of triangular cross-section is slightly
asymmetrical; yoke richly decorated with dense oblique incisions,
forming the motif of a laurel wreath, decoration accompanied
by silver and copper thread inlays; yoke terminates in triangular
plates, decorated with oblique incisions; on the plates in the spot
where they join the yoke 3 rivets in a cross-wise groove serving
to fix the strap; prick relatively long with circular cross-section;
prick divided crosswise by moulded rolls and decorated with
small notches, prick conically terminated; dimensions: max.
length 10.2 cm; max. width 10.5 cm; plate width 2.4 cm, prick
length 3 cm (Figure 7, 13).
7. Pohansko near Břeclav / North-eastern suburb (CZ),
Institute of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University
Brno, Grave H 105, inventory number P243609: iron spur,
damaged complete; parabolic yoke of triangular cross-section;
extremely long prick; prick shape cylindrical pointed; yoke with
moulded decoration of oblique moulded ribs; plate of slim shieldlike triangular form; plate decorated with oblique moulded ribs;
at the straight edge of the plate in the spot where it joins the yoke
there are 3 rivets with washers from non-ferrous metal in a cross-
wise groove; dimensions: max. length 16 cm; max. width 9.4 cm;
max. thickness 0.7 cm; yoke length 10. 6 cm; prick length 4.3 cm;
weight 50 g (Figure 3: 4).
8. Pohansko near Břeclav / North-eastern suburb (CZ), Institute
of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University Brno, Grave
H 105, inventory number P243613: iron spur, damaged; parabolic
yoke of triangular cross-section; extremely long prick, decorated
with cross-wise grooves; prick shape cylindrical, terminating in
a pyramid; yoke with moulded decoration of oblique moulded
ribs; plate of slim shield-like triangular form; plate decorated
with oblique moulded ribs; at the straight edge of the plate in
the spot there used to be 3 rivets with washers from non-ferrous
metal in a cross-wise groove; dimensions: max. length 16.4 cm;
max. width 10.4 cm; max. thickness 0.7 cm; yoke length 11.5 cm;
prick length 5 cm; weight 50 g (Figure 4: 8).
Acknowledgments
This work has benefited from the support of the Czech Science
Foundation (Grantová agentura České republiky), Project
Nr.18-08646S: The emergence of early medieval aristocracy
in East-Central Europe: An archaeological-historical view and
(co)financed from the national budget pursuant to the contract
between the Slovenian Research Agency and the National
Museum of Slovenia (research programme P6-0283).
References
BARTOŠKOVÁ, A. 1986, Slovanské depoty železných předmětů v
Československu. – Studie Archeologického ústavu Československé
akademie věd v Brně roč 13/2, Praha.
BEST, W. 1997, Die Ausgrabungen in der frühmittelalterelichen
Wallburg Gaulskopf bei Warburg.Ossendoorf, Kr. Höxter: Vorbericht.
– Germania 75/1, 159–192.
BIALEKOVÁ, D. 1977, Sporen von slawischen Fundplätzen in Pobedim
(Typologie und Datierung). – Slovenská archeológia 25, 103–160.
BITENC, P., T. KNIFIC 2015, Zgodnjesrednjeveški zakladi železnih
predmetov z Gorjancev, Starega gradu nad Uncem in Ljubične nad
Zbelovsko Goro. – Arheološki vestnik 66, 103–146.
BŘEZINOVÁ, H., R. PŘICHYSTALOVÁ 2014, Úvahy o textilní výrobě
na Pohansku na základě analýzy nálezů textilních fragmentů a předmětů
souvisejících se spřádáním a tkaním. – Památky archeologické 105/1,
155–214.
BUGARSKI, I., V. IVANŠEVIĆ 2013, Ranosrednjovekovna ostava
gvozdenih predmeta iz Rujkovca i slini nalazi sa područja centralnog
Balkana. – Starinar LXIII, 131–152.
CURTA, F. 1997, Blacksmiths, warriors and tournaments of value:
dating and interpreting early medieval hoards of iron implements in
Eastern Europe. – Ephemeris Napocensis 7, 211–268.
CURTA, F. 2011, New Remarks on Early Medieval Hoards of
Iron Implements and Weapons. – In: J. Macháček, Š. Ungerman
(eds.), Frühgeschichtliche Zentralorte in Mitteleuropa, Studien zur
Archäologie Europas, Bonn, 309–332.
DOPSCH, H. 1971, Die Stifterfamilie des Klosters Gurk und ihre
Verwandtschaft. Carinthia. – Zeitschrift für geschichtliche Landeskunde
von Kärnten 161/1, 95–123.
DOPSCH, H. 1988, Hemma von Gurk - Eine Stifterin zwischen Legende
und Wirklichkeit. – In: P. G. Tropper (eds.), Hemma von Gurk. Katalog
der Ausstellung auf Schloß Straßburg/ Kärnten 14. Mai bis 26. Oktober
1988, Klagenfurt Universitätsverlag Carinthia, 11–23.
DOSTÁL, B. 1966, Slovanská pohřebiště ze střední doby hradištní na
Moravě. – Praha.
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
147
EICHERT, S. 2012, Frühmittelalterliche Strukturen im Ostalpenraum.
Studien zu Geschichte und Archäologie Karantaniens. – Aus Forschung
und Kunst 39, Klagenfurt.
FODOR, I. 1981, Honfoglaláskori sír Doroszlón Communicationes
archaeologicae Hungariae 1981, 149–164.
GABRIEL, I. 1984, Starigard/Oldenburg. Hauptburg der Slawen
in Wagrien I: Stratigraphie und Chronologie (Archäologische
Ausgrabungen 1973–1982). – Offa-Bücher 52, Neumünster.
GALUŠKA, L. 2014, Rex, Principes, Optimates: The Elites Of Great
Moravia. – In: P. Kouřil (ed.), Great Moravia and the Beginnings of
Christianity, Brno, 54–65.
GEISLER, M., J. KOHOUTEK 2014, Vysoké Pole - Klášťov: inventář
hromadných nálezů železných předmětů a shrnutí terénních výzkumných
sezon 2005–2007 = Vysoké Pole – Klášťov: inventory of mass finds
of metal items and summary of field surveys in 2005–2007. – Pravěk.
Supplementum, Brno.
GROβLER, N. 1998, Untersuchungen zur Formenkunde und
Chronologie mittelalterlicher Stachelsporen in Deutschland (10. –14.
Jahrhundert). – Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 79,
479–664.
HAVLÍK, L. 1963, Staří Slované v rakouském Podunají v době od 6. do
12. století (The old Slavs of the Austrian countries on the Danube from
the 6th to the 12th cent.). – Rozpravy Československé Akademie věd.
Řada společenských věd, Praha.
HENDRYCHOVÁ, S. 2015, Šperky velkomoravského charakteru z
Ptuje. – Slovanský jih XV/4, 3–8.
HENNING, J. 1987, Südosteuropa zwischen Antike und Mittelalter:
archäologische Beiträge zur Landwirtschaft des 1. Jahrtausends u.Z. –
Schriften zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 42, Berlin.
KARO, Š. 2004, Die Typologie der frühmittelalterlichen Steigbügel aus
slowenischen Fundorten. – In: Zborník na počesť Dariny Bialekovej,
Nitra, 165–173.
KARO, Š. 2007, Ozemlje današnje Slovenije med avarskimi vojnami in
madžarskimi vpadi v luči arheoloških najdb. – Unpublished PhD thesis,
Faculty of Arts University of Ljubljana.
KARO, Š. 2012, Oprema jahača i konja s Gradišča nad Bašljem
(Slovenija). – Dani Stjepana Gunjače 2, 297–315.
KARO, Š., T. KNIFIC 2015, Gradišče above Bašelj in the early medieval
Carniola (Slovenia). – In: D. Callebaaut, H. V. Cuyck (eds.), The Legacy
of Charlemange 814 – 2014, Ename, 285–296.
KARO, Š., D. MLEKUŽ 2015, The Archaeological Image of the Land
Along the Upper Sava River in Late Antique and Early Medieval
Periods. A View in Space. – In: M. Vicelja-Matijašić (ed.), Swords,
Crowns, Censers and Books. Francia Media – Cradles of European
Culture, Rijeka, 249–272.
KASTELIC, J. 1952–1953, Najdbe zgodnjega srednjega veka v Gojačah
pri Gorici. – Zgodovinski časopis 6–7, 89–109.
KAVÁNOVÁ, B. 1976, Slovanské ostruhy na území Československa. –
Studie Archeologického ústavu Československé akademie věd v Brně
4/3, Praha.
KIND, T. 2002, Archäologische Funde von Teilen der Reitausrüstung
aus Europa und ihr Beitrag zur Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte der
Ottonenzeit. – In: J. Henning (ed.), Europa im 10. Jahrhundert.
Archäologie einer Aufbruchszeit, Mainz, 283–300.
KNIFIC, T. 1999, Arheološko najdišče Gradišče nad Bašljem. – In: T.
Roblek (ed.), Predvor v času in prostoru, Predvor 55–67.
KNIFIC, T. 2007, Zgodnjesrednjeveški pozlačeni predmeti z Gradišča
nad Bašljem (Slovenija). – Prilozi Instituta za arheologiju u Zagrebu
24, 317–326.
KNIFIC, T. 2011, Early mediaeval hoards of iron items in Slovenia. –
Archaeologia Adriatica 4, 85–99.
KNIFIC, T., T. NABERGOJ 2016, Srednjeveške zgodbe s stičišča svetov.
Katalog razstave. – Ljubljana.
KOROŠEC, P. 1966, Problem der großmährischen Elemente auf der Burg
von Ptuj. – Sborník Národního muzea, řada A - Historie 20, 179–189.
KOROŠEC, P. 1996, Grob številka 355 z grajske nekropole v Ptuju. Tomb
number 355 from castle necropolis in Ptuj. – Ptujski Zbornik 6, 405–415.
KOROŠEC, P. 1999, Nekropola na ptujskem gradu: turnirski prostor.
– Ptuj.
KOUŘIL, P. 2006, Zu einigen Äußerungen der materiellen Nomadenkultur
auf dem Mikulčicer Burgwall. – Přehled výzkumů 47, 69–76.
148
KOUŘIL, P. 2008, Archeologické doklady nomádského vlivu a zásahu
na území Moravy v závěru 9. a v 10. století. – In: T. Štefanovičová
(ed.), Bitka pri Bratislave v roku 907 a jej význam pre vývoj stredného
Podunajska, Bratislava, 113–135.
KOUŘIL, P., M. TYMONOVÁ 2013, Slovanský kostrový mohylník ve
Stěbořicích. – Spisy Archeologického ústavu AV ČR Brno, Brno.
KOUŘIL, P. 2016, Staří Maďaři a jejich podíl na kolapsu a pádu Velké
Moravy aneb Spojenci, sousedé, nepřátelé. – In: J. Macháček, M.
Wihoda (eds.), Pád Velké Moravy aneb Kdo byl pohřben v hrobu 153 na
Pohansku u Břeclavi, Praha, 102–143.
KOVÁCS, L. 1989, A nagyhalász-zomborhegyi 10. századi magyar
temetörészlet. – Communicationes archaeologicae Hungariae 1989,
165–176.
LOŽAR, R. 1939, Staroslovansko in srednjeveško lončarstvo v Sloveniji.
– Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo 20, 180–225.
LYSÝ, M. 2014, Moravania, Mojmírovci a Franská ríša. Štúdie k
etnogenéze, politickým inštituciám a ústavném zriadeniu na území
Slovenska vo včasnom stredoveku. – Bratislava.
MACHÁČEK, J. 2011, Fünfzig Jahre archäologische Ausgrabungen
in Pohansko bei Břeclav. – In: J. Macháček, Š. Ungerman (eds.),
Frühgeschichtliche Zentralorte in Mitteleuropa, Studien zur
Archäologie Europas, Bonn, 15–33.
MACHÁČEK, J., A. BALCÁRKOVÁ, P. ČÁP, P. DRESLER, A.
PŘICHYSTAL, R. PŘICHYSTALOVÁ, E. SCHUPLEROVÁ, V.
SLÁDEK 2014, Velkomoravská rotunda z Pohanska u Břeclavi. –
Památky archeologické 105/1, 87–153.
MACHÁČEK, J. 2015, O Velké Moravě, archeologii raného středověku
i o nás samých. – Archeologické rozhledy 67/3, 464–494.
MACHÁČEK, J. ,P. DRESLER, R. PŘICHYSTALOVÁ, V. SLÁDEK
2016, Břeclav - Pohansko VII. Kostelní pohřebiště na Severovýchodním
předhradí. – Brno.
MAŘÍK, J. 2009, Libická sídelní aglomerace a její zázemí v raném
středověku. – Dissertationes archaeologicae Brunenses/Pragensesque
7. Praha.
MITTERAUER, M. 1960, Slawischer und bayerischer Adel am Ausgang
der Karolingerzeit. – Carinthia I. Mitteilungen des Geschichtsvereins
für Kärnten 150/4, 693–726.
NOWOTNY, E. 2013, Repräsentation zwischen Karolingerreich und
Großmähren: das Beispiel des Gräberfeldes von Thunau am Kamp,
Obere Holzwiese. – In: M. Hardt, O. Heinrich-Tamáska (eds.), Macht
des Goldes, Gold der Macht: Herrschafts- und Jenseitsrepräsentation
zwischen Antike und Frühmittelalter im mittleren Donauraum,
Akten des 23. Internationalen Symposiums der Grundprobleme der
Frühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im Mittleren Donauraum, Quellen
und Funde aus Spätantike und Mittelalter 2, Weinstadt, 439–459.
NOWOTNY, E. (2018), Thunau am Kamp - Das frühmittelalterliche
Gräberfeld auf der oberen Holzwiese (mit Beiträgen von Karina
Grömer, Martin Ježek, Mathias Mehofer, Erich Nau, Gabriela RußPopa und Sirin Uzunoglu-Obenaus). - Mitteilungen der Prähistorischen
Kommission 87, Wien.
ORAŽEN ADAMIČ M., D. PERKO, D. KLADNIK (eds.) 1995,
Krajevni leksikon Slovenije 1995, Ljubljana.
PIETA, K., A. RUTTKAY, M. RUTTKAY 2006, Bojná. Hospodárské a
politické centrum nitrianskoho kniežatstva. – Nitra.
POHL, W. 1988, Die Awaren. Ein Steppenvolk in Mitteleuropa 567–822
n. Chr. – München.
POULÍK, J. 1948–1950, Jižní Morava - země dávných Slovanů. – Brno.
POULÍK, J. 1950, Výsledky výzkumu na staroslovanském pohřebišti u
Dolních Věstonic. – Archeologické rozhledy 2/1–2, 22–31.
PROFANTOVÁ, N. 2013, Gräber mit Sporen aus Böhmen. – In:
F. Biermann, T. Kersting, A. Klammt (eds.), Soziale Gruppen und
Gesellschaftsstrukturen im westslawischen Raum, Beiträge der Sektion
zur slawischen Frühgeschichte des 20. Jahrestagung des Mittel- und
Ostdeutschen Verbandes für Altertumsforschung in Brandenburg
(Havel), 16. bis 18. April 2012, Langenweißbach, 57–76.
RÉVÉSZ, L. 2007, Landnahmezeitliches Gräberfeld in TiszavasváriAranykerti Tábla. – Acta archaeologica Academiae scientiarum
Hungaricae 58/2, 295–339.
RUTTKAY, A. 1976, Waffen und Reiterausrüstung des 9. bis zur
ersten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts in der Slowakei (II.). – Slovenská
archeológia XXIV, 245–395.
SAVNIK R. (ed.) 1968, Krajevni leksikon Slovenije 1 1968, Ljubljana.
SNOJ, M., M. L. GREENBERG 2012, O jeziku slovanskih prebivalcev
med Donavo in Jadranom v srednjem veku (pogled jezikoslovcev). –
Zgodovinski časopis 66/3–4, 276–305.
SZÖKE, B. M. 2010, Mosaburg/Zalavár und Pannonien in der
Karolingerzeit. – Anteus 31–32/1, 9–52.
SZÖKE, B. M. 2014, Mosaburg/Zalavár. – In: P. Kouřil (ed.)., Great
Moravia and the Beginings of Chrisitianity, Brno, 262–267.
ŠOLLE, M. 1959, Knížecí pohřebiště na Staré Kouřimi. – Památky
archeologické L/2, 353–506.
ŠOLLE, M. 1966, Stará Kouřim a projevy velkomoravské hmotné
kultury v Čechách. –Monumenta archaeologica 15, Praha.
ŠTEFAN, I. 2011, Great Moravia, Statehood and Archaeology. – In:
J. Macháček, Š. Ungerman (eds.), Frühgeschichtliche Zentralorte in
Mitteleuropa, Bonn, 333–354.
ŠTIH, P. 1995, Carniola, patria Sclavorum. – Österreichische Osthefte
37/1, 845–861.
ŠTIH, P. 2000, Strukture današnjega slovenskega prostora v zgodnjem
srednjem veku. – In: R. Bratož (ed.), Slovenija in sosednje dežele med
antiko in karolinško dobo: Začetki slovenské etnogeneze/Slowenien
und die Nachbarländer zwischen Antike und karolingischer Epoche:
Anfänge der slowenischen Ethnogenese I., Ljubljana, 355–394.
ŠTIH, P. 2012, Slowenisch, Alpenslawisch oder Slawisch zwischen
Donau und Adria im Frühmittelalter. – In: W. Pohl, B. Zeller (eds.),
Sprache und Identität im frühen Mittelalter, Forschungen zur Geschichte
des Mittelalters 20, Wien, 171–184.
ŠTIH, P. 2014, Die Integration der Karantanen und anderer Aplenslawen
in das fränkisch-ottonische Reich: einige Beobachtungen. – Carinthia
I 204, 43–59.
UNGERMAN, Š. 2016, Tzv. karantánské náušnice ve středním
Podunají. – Památky archeologické CVII, 181–236.
VERŠNIK, N. 2009, Gradišče nad Bašljem v luči drobnih vsakdanjih
predmetov in nakita. Unpublished master thesis, Faculty of Humanities
University of Primorska.
VIGNATIOVÁ, J. 1992, Břeclav - Pohansko II. Slovanské osídlení
jižního předhradí. – Brno.
VUGA, D. 1979,Trebenče. – Varstvo spomenikov 22, 345–346.
WIHODA, M. 2014, Großmähren und seine Stellung in der Geschichte.
– In: P. Sikora (ed.), Zentralisierungsprozesse und Herrschaftsbildung
im frühmittelalterlichen Ostmitteleuropa, Studien zur Archäologie
Europas 23, Bonn, 61–91.
WIHODA, M. 2016, Druhý život mojmírovských knížat. – In: J.
Macháček, M. Wihoda (eds.), Pád Velké Moravy aneb Kdo byl pohřben
v hrobu 153 na Pohansku u Břeclavi, Praha, 144–165.
WOLFRAM, H. 2012, Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum:
das Weißbuch der Salzburger Kirche über die erfolgreiche Mission in
Karantanien und Pannonien. – Ljubljana.
1. Map of archaeological sites with finds of spurs of the Bašelj type
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
149
2. Břeclav – Pohansko, Church cemetery in the North-eastern suburb. Plan with the marked position of graves with spurs of the
Bašelj type
150
3. Břeclav – Pohansko, North-eastern suburb. Skeleton and finds from grave H 105. Grave goods: 105:1, 2 – P243607, P243608, knife;
105:3 – P243606, axe; 105:4 – P243609, spur; 105:5, 9 – P243610, P243615, buckle; 105:6 – P243611, loop; 105:7 – P243612, strap-end,
all iron
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
151
4. Břeclav – Pohansko, North-eastern suburb. Skeletons and finds from grave H 105. Grave goods: 105:8 – P243613, spur; 105:10 –
P243614, loop; 105:11 – P243616, strap-end, all iron
5. Břeclav – Pohansko, North-eastern suburb. Spur of the Bašelj type (Institute of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University
Brno, inv. No. P243609 and P243613, Photo J. Špaček)
152
6. Topographic map of the Gradišče above Bašelj site (according to Knific 1999, fig. 7)
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
153
8. Gradišče above Bašelj. Spurs of the Bašelj type (National Museun of Slovenia, inv. No. S 2903 and S 2904) (according to Knific
2013,23, cat. No. 10)
9. Gradišče above Bašelj. Spurs of the Bašelj type (National Museum of Slovenia, inv. No. S 2832, photo: D. Pavlovič)
7. Spurs of the Bašelj type from Slovenia. Gradišče above Bašelj (1–5) and Gradišče above Trebenče (6). Iron (drawing: Dragica Knific
Lunder: 1,2, Ida Murgelj: 3–6)
154
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
155
10. Gradišče above Bašelj. Spurs of the Bašelj type (National Museum of Slovenia, inv. No. S 2832, photo: D. Pavlovič)
12. Approximate location of early medieval objects at the Gradišče above Trebenče site (photo: © Agencija RS za okolje, drawing: D.
Pavlovič).
11. Gradišče above Bašelj. Loop from the spur belt fittings
(National Museum of Slovenia, inv. No. S 2714, photo: D.
Pavlovič).
13.
156
Gradišče above Trebenče. Spur of the Bašelj type (© National Museum of Slovenia, inv. No. S 3420, photo: T. Lauko).
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
157
15. Břeclav – Pohansko, North-eastern suburb. Radiocarbon dating. Combined date for grave H 105
14. Spurs with long pricks from the cemetery in the north-eastern suburb at Pohansko (grave H 105) and their analogues: 1–2:
Pohansko, North-eastern suburb – grave H 105; 3–4: Gradišče above Bašelj (Karo 2012, 300); 5: Pohansko, Magnate court, first
church – grave H 338 (Kavánová 1976, Tab. XVI); 6: Pohansko, Southern suburb – half-sunken hut No. 412 (Vignatiová 1992, 232); 7–8:
Mikulčice – settlement layer (Kavánová 1976, Tab. XVI); 9–10: Stará Kouřim – grave 49a, 79 (Kavánová 1976, Tab. XVII; Šolle 1966, 150);
11: Libice – Kanín – grave 54 (Mařík 2009, 198); 12: Wallburg – Gaulskopf (Best 1997, 171)
158
Vestnik XXVII Slovani, naša dediščina / Our Heritage: The Slavs
159