AEB_A07d Material culture knowledge in the early Middle Ages

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Renáta Přichystalová, Ph.D. (lecturer), Mgr. Šimon Ungerman, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Šimon Ungerman, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Renáta Přichystalová, Ph.D.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Šibíčková
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
It is recommended to combine the seminar with the courses AEB_A14f Early Middle Ages in Central Europe and AEB_A15f Early Middle Ages in Central Europe - workshop
Courses complement each other very well.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The goal of the seminar is to familiarize the students with typical inventory of Early Middle Ages from the 6th to the 11th century AD. Examples of finds will be demonstrated in the chronological order to illustrate either the sequence of development or discontinuity of the early medieval material culture.
In the seminars the student will acquire knowledge of individual “functional” groups of material culture (jewellery, garment components, weapons and military equipment, vessels, manufacturing tools, etc.), and within each group a detailed overview of individual types and variants of items.
Students will learn the special terms used for denomination of the objects and their parts; typological classification of the items, their dating, construction, manufacturing techniques applied etc. Students should acquire an orientation in archaeological literature and an ability to apply the acquired knowledge in their own work with artefacts.
Learning outcomes
After the course, students will be able to:
- orientate in early medieval cultural spheres of Central Europe (geographic scope, chronology, their synchronous or subsequent occurrence)
- describe the similarities and differences in their material culture
- recognize artefacts and know their name and function
- describe their parts, production technology applied, dating and cultural affiliation/ethnicity
Syllabus
  • The course outline:
  • 1) The definition of “material culture”. Periodisations in use. The technical basis of jewellery production.
  • 2) - 6) Early medieval jewellery: earrings, lock-rings, beads, pendants, bracelets, neck-rings, finger-rings, buttons. Decoration techniques: granulation, filigree, chip-carving, niello, damascening.
  • 7) - 9) Warrior's and equestrian's equipment: sword, sabre, axe, spear, bow and arrow, spurs, protective armour. Belt fittings.
  • Parts of horse harness: stirrups, rein guides, strap mounts, saddle.
  • 10) Tools for daily use: knife, whetstone, strike-a-light, flint, needle case, needle, awl, spindle-whorls.
  • Agricultural tools: sickle, scythe, blade, coulter.
  • Pottery: Prague type, Danubian type, nomadic pottery, Great Moravian pottery (Blučina, Morava, Mikulčice and Dolní Věstonice types); antique-shape pottery; graphite tempered pottery.
  • Objects made from organic materials (wood, leather, antler, bone).
  • 11) - 12) Educational excursion to the Moravian Museum
Literature
    required literature
  • MĚŘÍNSKÝ, Zdeněk. Morava na úsvitě dějin. V Brně: Muzejní a vlastivědná společnost, 2011, 655 s. ISBN 9788072750887. info
  • MĚŘÍNSKÝ, Zdeněk. České země od příchodu Slovanů II (Czech lands after arrival of the Slavs). 1st ed. Praha: Libri, 2006, 967 pp. ISBN 80-7277-105-1. info
  • MĚŘÍNSKÝ, Zdeněk. České země od příchodu Slovanů po Velkou Moravu I (Czech lands from the comming the Slavs to the Great Moravia I). Praha: LIBRI, 2002, 564 pp. LIBRI, I. ISBN 80-7277-104-3. info
  • LUTOVSKÝ, Michal. Encyklopedie slovanské archeologie v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku. 1. vyd. Praha: Libri, 2001, 431 s. ISBN 8072770543. info
  • DOSTÁL, Bořivoj. Slovanská pohřebiště ze střední doby hradištní na Moravě. 1962, 151 s. info
    recommended literature
  • BERANOVÁ, Magdalena and Michal LUTOVSKÝ. Slované v Čechách : archeologie 6.-12. století. 1. vyd. Praha: Libri, 2009, 475 s. ISBN 9788072774135. info
  • KLANICA, Zdeněk. Nechvalín, Prušánky : čtyři slovanská pohřebiště. Brno: Archeologický ústav Akademie České republiky Brno, 2006, 293 s. ISBN 8086023753. info
  • KLANICA, Zdeněk. Počátky slovanského osídlení našich zemí. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, 1986, 259 s. info
  • NEKUDA, Rostislav. Typologie a chronologie keramiky 10.-15. století na Moravě. Edited by Bořivoj Dostál. 1979, 197 s. info
  • MICHNA, Pavel. Vývoj otopného zařízení u moravských Slovanů na základě památek hmotné kultury. Edited by Bořivoj Dostál. 1966, 176 s. info
Teaching methods
lectures, a museum or depository visit
Assessment methods
Written test
Requirements for the course-unit credit:
active participation in the seminar; masterful knowledge of material culture; orientation in the early medieval development trends.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on completion of the course: Informace o ukončení viz sylabus.
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/AEB_A07d