AEA_58 Material Culture of early Middle Age

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2013
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Šimon Ungerman, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Měřínský, CSc.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Šibíčková
Supplier department: Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 9:10–10:45 J21
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 35 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/35, only registered: 0/35
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The goal of the seminar is to familiarize the students with the typical inventory of Early Middle Ages from the 6th to 11th century. 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 the individual “functional” groups of material culture (personal ornament, items of garment, weapons and military equipment, vessels, manufacturing tools etc.), and within each group a detailed overview of the concrete 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 the archaeologic literature and an ability to apply the acquired knowledge in their own work with artifacts.
Syllabus
  • The definition of “material culture”. Periodizations in use. Early medieval personal ornament: earrings, lock-rings, beads, pendants, bracelets, neck-rings, finger-rings, buttons. Decoration techniques: granulation, filigree, chip-carving, niello, damascening. Armour: sword, saber, axe, spear, bow and arrow. Military equipment: spurs, protective armour. Fittings of the belt. Parts of horse harness: stirrups, rein, strap mounts, saddle. Tools for daily use: knive, 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 of organic materials (wood, leather, antler, bone).
Literature
  • 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
Teaching methods
lectures, visit of the museum or depository
Assessment methods
Requirements for the course-unit credit: active participation at 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)
Study Materials
Information on completion of the course: Informace o ukončení viz sylabus.
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2013, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2013/AEA_58