Jan Zavřel

Followers

Following

Public Views

Nicolas Flament

University of Wollongong

Nick Roberts

British Geological Survey

Hugo Beraldi

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Mahmoud M Mekkawi

National Research Institute Of Astronomy And Geophysics Nriag

Michel Gregoire

Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier

Ramazan Demirtaş

Ankara University

Christopher Scotese

University of Texas at Arlington

Federico Farina

Université de Genève

Fernando F Alkmim

Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto

John Valley

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Interests

Uploads

Papers by Jan Zavřel

Stříbrná Praha

Archeologické rozhledy, Sep 1, 2019

V práci jsou prezentovány archeologické nálezy dokládající metalurgii neželezných kovů raně střed... more V práci jsou prezentovány archeologické nálezy dokládající metalurgii neželezných kovů raně středověkého stáří získané při výzkumech na Malé Straně v Praze. Patří k nim zejména tavicí kelímky (tyglíky) a miskovité střepy běžné keramiky využité druhotně v metalurgii. Méně běžné jsou další druhy nálezů a situace svědčící o práci s neželeznými kovy (prubířské kameny, kadlub ad.). Část souboru byla podrobena EDS-SEM analýzám. Vyhodnocení jejich výsledků přispělo k poznání druhů získávaných a zpracovávaných neželezných kovů, resp. jejich slitin, i k částečnému objasnění postupů využívaných při jejich výrobě či testování kvality rudních surovin a hutnických meziproduktů. neželezné kovy-stříbro-metalurgie-raný středověk-kuchyňská keramika-střepy Lichtenštejnský palác, Malostranské nám. čp. 258/III, výzkumy NPÚ v Praze č. 8/90-93 a č. 1/02 Lichtenštejnský palác tvoří západní frontu Malostranského náměstí (obr. 1: 258). Areál objektu s pro storným nádvořím, severním dvorem a západní zahradou vznikl v 17. století a ukončil 300 let trvající proces postupného skupování původních gotických městišť vytyčených v roce 1257. Při rozsáhlé rekonstrukci paláce zde od roku 1990 probíhal několikaletý archeologický výzkum vedený autory příspěvku. Ve 27 sondách rozličného rozsahu (obr. 2: a) bylo zdokumentováno 458 m 2 řezů terénem a archeologicky rozebráno 130 m 3 zeminy. Další větší akce proběhly v areálu v letech 2002 (plošný výzkum č. 1/02 ve sklepě v jižní části areálu) a 2014 (výzkum č. 2014/27 ve sklepě v severovýchodním nároží areálu). Hartigovský palác, Tržiště čp. 259/III, výzkum NPÚ v Praze č. 12/93 Dům čp. 259/III je dnes sídlem rektorátu AMU. Jeho parcela leží mezi Malostranským náměstím a uli cí Tržiště (obr. 1: 259) a přímo sousedí s Lichtenštejnským palácem. Záchranný archeologický výzkum zde probíhal pod vedením autorky roku 1993 při zřizování nové kanalizace. V místnosti u náměstí byla zastižena dřevěná roubená konstrukce, dle souvislostí nejspíše pozůstatek paty mostu, snad s věžovou stavbou (

Download

Hradiště u Mařína (okr. Svitavy) a jeho širší zázemí ve světle kovových artefaktů z 6.–10. století / Hillfort near Mařín (East Bohemia) and its broad hinterland in light of metal artefacts from the 6th to 10th century AD

Archeologické rozhledy

The article evaluates the results of systematic metal detector surveys from the borderland betwee... more The article evaluates the results of systematic metal detector surveys from the borderland between east Bohemia and northwest Moravia over the past fifteen years, supplemented with a geophysical survey of early medieval hillfort near Mařín (Svitavy district). The conducted surveys have produced imports of Byzantine and Carolingian origin (strap ends, loops, spear tip) from the 7th to 9th century, with cast ornaments of the Late Avar type from the 8th century occurring in the greatest numbers. The spatial distribution of early medieval artefacts outside the traditional settlement territory shows ties to defunct roads preserved in the form of sunken lanes.

Download

Early medieval glass smoothers as a manifestation of the spread of Christianity in Mainland Europe

Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 2022

Archaeology has been attempting to explain the purpose of medieval hemispherical artefacts called... more Archaeology has been attempting to explain the purpose of medieval hemispherical artefacts called glass smoothers, found in much of Europe, for a century and a half. The oldest and most widespread opinion considers them to be tools designed for the care of clothing. This article presents the results of SEM observations of the surface of selected specimens. The identification of streaks of non-ferrous, especially precious metals, shows that they were intended for another purpose. After discussing the anthropological contexts, including burial finds, the authors conclude that glass smoothers were developed and primarily intended for gilding murals with metal leaves. The inertness of glass to mercury also made it possible to use these artefacts in another method of gilding – amalgamation. It was the contact with precious metal that justified the transformation of a glass smoother on the occasion of a funeral from a working tool into an object with symbolic value. Therefore, the occurre...

Hutnický region Říčansko

Region při východnim okraji Prahy poskytl data pro zkoumani vztahu hutnických a sidelnich aktivit... more Region při východnim okraji Prahy poskytl data pro zkoumani vztahu hutnických a sidelnich aktivit v casovem useku celeho železařskeho pravěku, tj. v době halstatske, ale zejmena latenske a řimske. Publikace s autorskými přispěvky V. Culikove, D. Dreslerove, M. Gregerove, M. Hložka, L. Kovacikove, R. Kyseleho, M. Malkovskeho, F. Marka, L. Peskeho a J. Zavřela přinasi přehled dosavadnich nalezů tohoto obdobi s vyhodnocenim významných souborů, mj. i makrobotanických a osteologických, a orientacně i přehled aktivit středověkých. Hutnicka komponenta byla studovana přirodovědnými metodami, ktere identifikovaly pravděpodobne různorode zdroje železa v regionu, a zvažovano bylo take ekonomicke a ekologicke hledisko výroby železa.

Touchstones in graves from the Avar and Great Moravian periods

Archaologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 2016

Mithilfe eines Elektronenmikroskops haben die Autoren des vorliegenden Artikels Spuren eisenfreie... more Mithilfe eines Elektronenmikroskops haben die Autoren des vorliegenden Artikels Spuren eisenfreier Metalle – einschlieslich Edelmetalle – auf ausgewahlten Steinartefakten aus Grabern der awarischen und grosmahrischen Zeit (7.-10. Jh.) entdeckt. Die Funde, ursprunglich als Schleifsteine identifiziert, dienten eigentlich als Probiersteine – Werkzeuge, mit denen man die Beschaffenheit eines bestimmten Metalls untersucht. Die Autoren interpretieren Probiersteine in fruhmittelalterlichen Grabern als einen Hinweis auf den Zugang der bestatteten Person zu Edelmetallen. Zusatzlich zur Frage nach der sozialen Gliederung innerhalb der fruhmittelalterlichen Gesellschaft eroffnen die Probiersteine ein weites Feld fur die Archaometallurgie: Die chemische Mikroanalyse erlaubt die Bestimmung der Zusammensetzungen der Legierungen, welche im vorliegenden Aufsatz diskutiert werden.

Download

Hrad Rabí – doposud opomíjené poznatky ze starších průzkumů z Geofondu Praha

Tismice jako produkční a nadregionální centrum Čech 8. a 9. století Tismice as a Production and Supra-Regional Centre of Bohemia in the 8th and 9th Centuries

Památky archeologické, 2020

The central Bohemian hillfort-type site in Tismice is one of the largest (20–22 ha) in Bohemia fr... more The central Bohemian hillfort-type site in Tismice is one of the largest (20–22 ha) in Bohemia from the Early to Middle Hillfort period (8th–9th century) and has been studied for years using non-destructive methods. The study, which presents the results of the complete geophysical survey of the site as well as the results of small-scale trenching from 2013, is focussed on an analysis of non-ferrous metal ornaments (c. 170 pcs., mostly belt and horse harness decorations) and analyses of evidence of craft production – jewellerymaking, metalsmithing and metal casting (ingots, blanks). It presents the earliest evidence of work with gold in early medieval Bohemia (2018 excavation) as well as natural science radiocarbon and magnetic absolute dates, which supplement dating on the basis of Carolingian coin and imports. The internally divided hillfort was an elite residence (gilded ornaments, spurs, coin) and for a short time served as a supra-regional centre that not only received and redis...

Download

Nové archeometalurgické nálezy z areálu Klementina v Praze

Archaeologia historica, 2019

Rescue archaeological research carried out in the territory of a pre-location agglomeration in Pr... more Rescue archaeological research carried out in the territory of a pre-location agglomeration in Prague and contexts dated to the 11th-13th centuries have been yielding an increasing number of finds confirming the production and processing of non-ferrous metals. In 2017, a relatively small test pit in the cadastral zone of the Old Town, within the Klementinum complex, brought to light another series of archaeometallurgical finds associated with non-ferrous metallurgy. SEM-EDS analyses of selected samples confirmed specialized production activity on the site-the production of pewter bronze.

Download

Metal-touching tools from ancient graves: The case of a Roman period royal burial

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

As is the case in countless prehistoric and early medieval burials in Europe and the Near East, t... more As is the case in countless prehistoric and early medieval burials in Europe and the Near East, the richly furnished burial of Germanic rulers from the second century AD, uncovered near the Roman army camp at Mušov (Czech Republic), also contained typical stone artefacts. Following the results of a chemical microanalysis of traces of precious and other non-ferrous metals on their surface, the authors discuss the original function of the artefacts. The observed streaks bring forward the issue of ancient metallurgy (an alloy of arsenic and silver), speisses (nickel), and document the testing of minerals (cinnabar). As this royal burial contained also representative forging tongs, it provides an occasion to illustrate the weakness of the still-popular social, or even "professional", interpretation of burials based on the tools they are furnished with, which reflects the dependence of today's archaeology on ideas from the first half of the nineteenth century, when the discipline was being established.

Download

Domestic pottery sherds used in non-ferrous metalworking: a study from early medieval Prague

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019

Download

Carbon tape microsampling for non-destructive analyses of artefacts

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2017

Recent advances in analytical tools enable more effective investigation of archaeological artefac... more Recent advances in analytical tools enable more effective investigation of archaeological artefacts, artwork and objects of cultural heritage. Obtained information may reveal possible manufacturing methods as well as important data on distribution, usage and discard of the artefacts. For example, Raman microscopy (Clark 2007) is one of the recent methods contributing to this field. SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopyenergy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) is one of the most promising methods enabling to study very small samples. Although there are some early attempts aimed at application of these methods (Freestone and Middleton 1987), their true utilisation is quite recent due to broader availability of the techniques in research institutions. Therefore, this powerful analytical tool is used to examination of large family of objects ranging from prehistoric shell tools (Tumung et al. 2015), archaeometallurgical materials (Ashkenazi et al. 2011; Ashkenazi et al. 2013; Ashkenazi et al. 2012; Iles and Lane 2015) and ceramic fragments (Medeghini et al. 2016; Nagy et al. 2015; Weiss et al. 2016) to medieval illuminated parchments (Duran et al. 2014). In this text, we reveal our approach to collection of microsamples from surfaces of early medieval moulds for casting ingots found at Vyšehrad castle which together with Prague castle constituted supreme Bohemian fortified central places in 10–12 century. The moulds represent highly valuable artefacts due to the fact that they are the only ones found so far from the region and period of the emerging Czech state. For this reason, to understand what metals were casted in these artefacts, we aimed at applying only non-destructive analysis. However, as proportions of most of archaeological artefacts usually do not fit in the chambers of commonly available electronmicroscopes and shapes of the artefacts are frequently too curvy to applying scanning methods, the scientists are forced to decide whether to destroy them or leave them out of the particular analysis. Formerly, we were facing exactly the same problem because the direct measurements by electron microscope we had conducted before applying the approach handled below allowed us only to collect data from lateral sections of the working areas of one of the moulds that could provide probably only incomplete results [5]. Our technique is useful in the first place for the SEM-EDS analyses as we demonstrate but may be applied also for various other analytical tools operating with micro-amounts.

Pražský vrch Petřín /

ABSTRACT

Slag remains from the Na Slupi site (Prague, Czech Republic): evidence for early medieval non-ferrous metal smelting

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2015

Archaeological investigation of the Na Slupi site in the central part of Prague (the capital of t... more Archaeological investigation of the Na Slupi site in the central part of Prague (the capital of the Czech Republic) and located in the vicinity of Vysehrad Castle has demonstrated the presence of early medieval (12th century) large-scale smelting of non-ferrous metals. This study is focused on the investigation of smelting remains (Pb-rich red and black slags) using a combination of geochemical and mineralogical methods in order to understand the technologies and processes used at this site. Glassy red slags are composed of high-temperature Ca-, K- and Pb-rich silicates (wollastonite, larnite, kalsilite, melilite) and Pb-bearing glass, and are associated with less abundant litharge fragments/red-slag-impregnated furnace walls composed of litharge/massicot (PbO) and Cu2PbO2. They indicate that the cupellation process in small furnaces, rather than in crucibles (open-vessels) was used for Ag refining at the studied site. The black slags, found in much lower quantity at this site, are composed of maghemite, fayalite, clinopyroxene, melilite and glass and are S-poor. We believe that they correspond to waste products from the first stage of Ag purification (prior to final cupellation), where slagging additives such as Fe-rich material, silica sand or ashes could be added to remove impurities. The Pb isotopic composition of both types of slags is similar to the isotopic signature of Pb–Zn ores from the vicinity of Cracow (Poland) and supports the hypothesis that Pb was probably traded between Prague and Poland in the 12th century and used for refining precious metals in metallurgical workshops.

The oldest Czech fishpond discovered? An interdisciplinary approach to reconstruction of local vegetation in mediaeval Prague suburbs

Hydrobiologia, 2014

Rises and Falls of a Regional Power Center An Overview of the Current State of Knowledge of the Prehistoric Fortified Area at Vladar in Western Bohemia

Pamatky Archeologicke

The paper provides a summary of existing information on the Vladar archa eological site collected... more The paper provides a summary of existing information on the Vladar archa eological site collected during the course of two successive grant projects. The work provides information on the unpublished results of an archaeological excavation at the acropolis; in addition to new information on the dating of the peripheral fortifications of the settlement suburb, the paper also presents the first results of an excavation of well-preserved cisterns in the suburb. The dendrochronological dating of the oak beams from the timber retaining wall of the cistern places the structure in the first half of the 5th century BC. The interdisciplinary study of the site utilises the broadest possible spectrum of approaches and methods. A key role is played by palaeoenvironmental methods, the application of which is enabled by the exceptionably favourable conditions at the site. The extraordinary occurrence of stratified wetland contexts at the acropolis and in the settlement suburb makes Vladar an archa...