FF:AEA_25 Slavs in Central Europe - Course Information

AEA_25 Slavs in Central Europe

Extent and Intensity

2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

prof. Mgr. Jiří Macháček, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Měřínský, CSc.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Dobešová
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts

Timetable

Tue 10:50–12:25 KOM 409

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Archaeology (programme FF, B-GE)
• Archaeology (programme FF, B-HI) (2)
• Archaeology (programme FF, B-HS)

Course objectives

The lecture will familiarize the students with the issues of Early Medieval Slavic settlement of the Czech-speaking countries and Slovakia from the 5th to the turn of the 12th/13th centuries, with a view to other ethnic constituents in the marginal areas that have influenced the Slavic development (the Avars, the Hungarians, the Germans). Its goal is to provide critical information on the basic written sources, periodization of the studied epoch, milestones and criteria of periodization, the history of the research of the topic and the state of solution of the fundamental historical questions (economic and social development); streams of thinking and culture affecting these countries; etatisation; Christianisation; political orientation in the individual stages of development etc.). The focus of the lecture is the characteristic of archaeological sources in their entire factual and interpretation scope (types of burial grounds, settlements and fortified settlements; residential, production, economic and sacral settlement features; deposits; pottery; armour and equipment; personal ornament; agricultural and craftsmen tools etc.), in their territorial and spatial variety (within Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia and separately in the early, middle and late fortified settlement period). The instruction will be targeted at the key issues of their classification, development and dating. Attention will be paid to the primary industries (agriculture, animal husbandry and other related activities) and the craftsmen specializations (metallurgy, blacksmithing, iron founding, jewel-making etc., incl. the manufacturing technology of some finds) being formed, with their paleoecological and demographic consequences, as well as the questions of barter, means of payment and trade routes. The goal of the seminar is to enhance the lecture by some theoretical knowledge and practical experience related to the studied topic. The students will be familiarized with the basic monographs and studies focusing at archaeology and history, and also with editions of the written sources from which samples will be selected for reading and comments. Attention will also be paid to the most significant Slavic sites and a detailed classification of material relics including the methodology, in the form of essays and seminary works.

Syllabus

• 1. Goal and programme of the lecture. Basic literature - compulsory and recommended. Archaeological and written sources. Classification of the written sources. 2. Overview of the research on the Slavic past of the Czech speaking countries; basic development stages; relation to the all-European state of Slavonic Studies. 3. The Slavic period division within the territory of the ČR a SR. Classification (Dobrovský, Palacký, Píč, Niederle, Schránil, Červinka, Eisner, Poulík, Dekan, Bialeková). Issues of periodization. 4. Issue if the Slavonic ethnogenesis; arrival of Slavs into our territory; historic sources to this question. 5. The structure of the Slavonic society at the time of expansion. Written and archaeological proofs. 6. Question of waves of the Slavonic expansion. Influences of the Przeworsk, Černjachov and Zarubintsy cultures. 7. Material culture of the period of expansion; the Prague-type pottery (the question of genesis, dating, and disappear of the Prague type). The opinions of Šimek, Borkovský, Werner, Rybakov. The most recent state of research. 8. Slavonic settlements and burial grounds from the period of expansion. Economical and social circumstances of the period. 9. The Avars – history, social structure, way of living. Military organization. Share of the Avars in the Slavonic expansion; the Slavic-Avar symbiosis. 10. Samo's Empire – history and sources. Economic and social situation of the Samo's Empire and the early fortified settlement period. Treasures and deposits. 11. Settlements, fortified settlements and burial grounds of the Slavic-Avar period. Barrows with cremation graves. Slavic-Avar skeletal burial grounds. Contacts of cremation and skeletal graves; issues of the origins of skeletal undertaking. The oldest fortified settlements and the question of Vogastisburg. 12. Pottery of the Slavic-Avar period; the issue of the so-called Danubian type of pottery; Potiská (nomadic) pottery. Yellow and grey pottery; the question of their origin. 13. Belt fittings and ornaments of the Slavic-Avar period. Pressed and cast mounts, their relation and development. Iconography and dating. Female personal ornaments of the Slavic-Avar period. 14. Equestrian equipment of the Slavic-Avar period. Weapons; fight tactics. The Slavs in this country after the fall of the Avar Khaganate. 15. History of Great Moravia. Christianization and church organization of Great Moravia. Sacral architecture of the Great Moravian period. 16. Great Moravian society and its economic foundations. 17. Settlements of the Great Moravian period. Fortified settlements, their division, significance and function. 18. Burial grounds of the Great Moravian period, their classification. Demographical conclusions. 19. Great Moravian personal ornament (female, male). Danubian type; Byzantine-oriental style. Issues of dating of the Veligrad horizon. 20. Great Moravian armour and equipment. Warcraft, retinue. 21. Great Moravian pottery and other vessels made of various materials (wood, metal etc.). 22. Domestic and specialized manufacture at the settlements; social relations; means of payment; trade, market places; trade routes. 23. Perishing of Great Moravia and Moravia in the 10th century; outliving of Great Moravian influences in other territories (Bohemia, Austria, Poland, and Slovakia). 24. Outset of the Czech state of the Přemyslids; joining of Moravia and the further historical development; church organization. 25. Settlement development from the 10th to the 1st half of the 13th century; fortified settlements; burial rite; burial grounds and sacral architecture. 26. Development in Slovakia and in the Carpathian Basin in the 10th to 12th centuries; Old Hungarian culture, Belobrdska culture. 27. Slavic culture of the 10th to the 1st half of the 13th century; pottery. 28. Slavic culture of the 10th to the 1st half of the 13th century; iron items, weapons and personal ornaments.

Literature

• KLANICA, Zdeněk. Počátky slovanského osídlení našich zemí. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, 1986, 259 s. info

Teaching methods

lectures, discussions to chosen topics

Assessment methods

Requirements for the examination: a sound orientation in the historical issues of the Early Middle Ages in the territory of the Czech speaking countries and Slovakia with a view to Central Europe; a perfect knowledge of the material culture sources of the studied period and territory; knowledge of the terminology, history of the research, periodization, chronology of the individual groups of relics incl. the relevant literature. Requirements for the course-unit credit: an adequate participation at the work in the seminar; drawing up the required essays; seminary work of 20-30 pages according to the relevant standard (for those who will not submit a seminary work in the Seminar of the Prehistory Period).

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
General note: Je-li vypsán, absolvovat v 1. r. st. a zakončit PZk. Posl. 1-obor. st. musí mít 2 PZk (min. 1 z pravěku), posl. 2-obor. st. 1 PZk v I. cyklu.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2012, recent)
  
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