Marian Mazuch

The paper presents the possibilities of specific use of a simple geophysical method in the conditions of an ongoing archaeological excavation. It demonstrates an effective (i.e., quick, inexpensive, and beneficial) method that greatly enhances the knowledge gained from archaeological context analysis and thus contributes to a more accurate interpretation of the excavated portion of the historic strata. For example, field measurements of magnetic susceptibility can help to correctly interpret the genesis of individual layers, to distinguish individual phases in a visually indistinguishable stratum, or to indicate layers (and stone walls) that have undergone heating, etc. A detailed geophysical measurement of magnetic susceptibility was carried out on a section with archaeologically excavated relics of fortifications on the outskirts of the early medieval Mikulčice – Valy hillfort and the results were then critically confronted with the archaeological interpretation. This mutual multidisciplinary approach is also methodologically significant. Geophysics reveals certain information that is invisible to the archaeologist's eye, and may provide important clues to the correct interpretation of the archaeological context. Archaeological research, in turn, provides more precise information on the reasons and possible source of changes in magnetic susceptibility values of different layers and materials.

Great Moravian sites at “Pohansko near Břeclav” and “Valy near Mikulčice” vanished completely in different way. This is shown not only by material evidence, but by what is not preserved vice versa and despite intensive and detailed research we are noticeably lacking. By monitoring the presence and absence of artifacts and comparison of excavation conditions at every single site it is theoretically possible to reconstruct the last moments of locations and activities of the population shortly after catastrophic events.

The paper deals with the issue of continuity or discontinuity of early medieval burial sites in the central part of Great Moravia.
The authors focus mainly on the issue of transformation of burial rites from cremation to inhumation before the origins of the Great Moravia and describe significant changes in the structure of settlement after the collapse of the Great Moravia on the occasion of funerals but also settlements.

The study gives a brief overview of the development of the methods used for documenting archaeological situations. The Mikulčice-Valy site from the 1950s to the present day is used as an example. The study compares all past and present methods of surveying documentation including orthogonal measurement, drawing on millimetre paper, triangulation, polar coordinates (using a theodolite, tape and total station), single and multi-frame photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning. This is the first time that the current archaeological excavation methodology, and the resulting requirements for the type, detail and accuracy of surveying documentation, has been published. By providing specific examples of good practice, the study presents the optimal use of different documentation methods in different environments and at different fieldwork stages. The frequent errors that result from the use of modern technologies without knowledge of the theoretical foundations of geometry, geodesy and other technical disciplines is also highlighted. Through the experiment, we compared various measuring methods used for documentation in archaeological fieldwork in order to verify their efficiency. It turned out that the most modern does not always mean the best. Modern devices and methodologies (e.g. laser scanners, total stations, rangefinders, so-called photoscanners etc.) are significantly more demanding on careful work and an understanding of the theoretical basis of geometry, and on control mechanisms for work that has been undertaken, than traditional tools. Moreover, it is usually difficult to find and correct the measurement errors which occur when using these devices. The study provides information on the development of an internal directive for geodetic documentation for archaeological excavations at the Mikulčice-Valy site, which is the result of many years of collaboration between archaeology and geodesy experts. This directive compensates for the absence of a legislative framework for archaeological surveying and, based on 60 years’ experience of processing data from this site, defines the requirements for the field and office stages of surveying and the subsequent data archiving. The study can serve as a model for defining the general rules of surveying documentation in archaeological and historical disciplines.

Summary of the present state of excavations and archaeological settlement problematic of the early mediaeval power centre at Mikulčice. New excavations at Kopčany in Slovakia support the evidence of settlement on the both banks of the river Morava – the Czechs and Slovaks sides.

Shrnutí stavu terénního výzkumu a sídelně archeologické problematiky aglomerace raně středověkého mocenského centra v Mikulčicích. Nové výzkumy ve slovenských Kopčanech ukazují, že aglomerace se rozkládala na obou stranách řeky Moravy – české i slovenské.

The
paper’s primary objective is to discuss the arrangements of grave pits at the Early Medieval agglomeration
Mikulčice-Valy. They include steps, wooden structures, stone structures and special arrangements. The established
facts about the form, frequency, etc., are then compared with the situation at other central fortified
settlements in Great Moravia (Pohansko near Břeclav and Staré Město – Uherské Hradiště). The second
objective of the book is to critically evaluate the phenomenon of so-called “tombs” at the burial site near
the 3rd church on the acropolis of the Mikulčice fortified settlement. Since the introduction of this term in
archaeological literature by J. Poulík in 1967, these find units have never been comprehensively presented and
their interpretation as tombs with stone structures has not been adequately documented or backed by arguments.
The paper is based on the original documentation of the research in 1956–1957; these find units are
reinterpreted using analysis and comparison of the burial rite attributes of the graves. Based on the analysis
of the find situation, the authors do not consider the term “tomb” as relevant at the Mikulčice agglomeration.

A part of the Great Moravian settlement and cemetery was excavated in 2010–2015 on the sand dune in the peripheral zone of the early medieval central agglomeration of Mikulčice-Valy. The presented publication provides the results of archaeological fieldwork at the Trapíkov site and an interpretation of the data, which expands the knowledge of the socio-economic relationships of the 9th–10th-century society. Based on the results of the interdisciplinary research (archaeology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, geoarchaeology, radiocarbon dating, isotope analyses and anthropology), the authors present the archaeological model of the relationships between the Great Moravian centres and their economic hinterland and discuss the basic parameters of the rural economy along with the organisational and functional principles of Great Moravia.

Volume IX of Studien zum Burgwall von Mikulčice (SBM) presents for the first time within this publication series the analysis of ‚hard‘ data related to archaeological context of one of the important, naturally delimited part of the early medieval agglomeration in Mikulčice – the extramural settlement (suburbium). Five of eight documented settlement areas of the suburbium are analysed in detail, evaluated and finally compared to each other. This publication, based on the critical post-excavation analysis of both old (1954-1992) and recent archaeological fieldwork complemented by the results of archaeobotanical analysis, brings relevant and relatively representative archaeological picture of the studied extramural settlement in Mikulčice. It contributes to the knowledge of the so-called minor settlement areas of early medieval strongholds, traditionally associated with crafts and partly with agriculture, but generally with provision of services to the power centres.

Kniha přináší stručný přehled nejvýznamnějších archeologických lokalit 9. století v nejbližším okolí slovanského hradiště v Mikulčicích. Mikulčické „Valy“ – přední centrum Velké Moravy – zkoumají pracovníci brněnského Archeologického ústavu Akademie věd již od roku 1954. Paralelně s tímto výzkumem se archeologové z mikulčického detašovaného pracoviště ústavu věnují od roku 1975 intenzivně také velkomoravským lokalitám v prostoru předpokládaného hospodářského zázemí centra. Archeologické výzkumy neopevněných prvků sídelní sítě v okolí centra – sídlišť i pohřebišť – přinášejí neocenitelné informace pro poznání celé velkomoravské společnosti, především její socioekonomické struktury. Protože konkrétních písemných pramenů je málo a jejich výpověď je v tomto směru omezená, klademe si otázku „jak to celé vlastně na Velké Moravě fungovalo?“. Dnes víme, že tato otázka v sobě ukrývá velké množství témat dotýkajících se různých aspektů života populace 9. století. Moderní archeologii spolupracující s řadou exaktních, zejména přírodovědných oborů se otevírají právě na tomto poli zcela nové možnosti poznání.
V předkládaném pátém svazku ediční řady Mikulčice-průvodce se čtenář postupně seznámí s nejlépe prozkoumanými velkomoravskými sídlišti a pohřebišti v okolí Mikulčic, a to v rámci abecedně uspořádaných katastrálních území na české i slovenské straně řeky Moravy. Ještě předtím – v úvodu knihy – se pozornost upře k historické krajině a vývoji bádání od jeho počátků v minulém století až po aplikaci moderních archeologických metod v rámci takzvané krajinné a prostorové archeologie. V závěru knihy čtenář najde interpretační modely, pomocí nichž lze názorně vysvětlit hlavní rysy hospodářských a sociálních vztahů mikulčického centra s jeho hospodářským zázemím.


The book provides a brief overview of the most important archeological sites of the 9th century in the immediate vicinity of the Slavic fortified settlement in Mikulčice. Mikulčice „Valy“ - the leading center of Great Moravia - has been researched by the staff of the Archaeological Institute of Brno of the Academy of Sciences since 1954. Archaeological research of unfortified settlements and burial grounds provides information for understanding the whole Great Moravian society, especially its socio-economic structure. In the book, the reader will gradually get acquainted with the best-explored Great Moravian settlements and burial grounds in the vicinity of Mikulčice, within the alphabetically arranged cadastral areas on the Czech and Slovak side of the Morava River. Even before that - in the introduction to the book - attention is focused on the historical landscape and the development of research from its beginnings in the last century to the application of modern archaeological methods in the so-called landscape and spatial archeology. At the end of the book, the reader will find interpretive models, which can be used to clearly explain the main patterns of economic and social relations of the center of Mikulčice with its economic hinterland.

The book explores the phenomenon of wooden structures in Great Moravian graves at burial sites located near important centres, such as Mikulčice and Pohansko, and in peripheral areas (North Moravia). The objective is to describe and reconstruct grave arrangements and to present a theoretical model of social and economic relationships of individuals buried in different types of graves, economic or religious significance of grave arrangements, and the value of this phenomenon in terms of chronology. In addition to the basic categorisation and quantification of the studied phenomenon in relation to other burial rite attributes (using Dell Statistica on the analytical level and IBM SPSS, using ArcGIS on the geoinformational level), the work applies new research methods focused on mathematical testing of theoretical models, in particular, modelling using structural equations (IBM SPSS AMOS). Given the nature of the processed data, the modelling process uses non-parametric tests of the quality of models (bootstrap simulations).  The objective is to develop stable theoretical models, which can be used to create a meaningful narrative interpretation, and also to discuss the possibilities and limitations of multidimensional reductions of analytical space, such as factor analysis or principal component analysis, which are used in archaeology very frequently, but not always properly. The work is concluded with a narrative model of structure, function (in socio-economic relations), frequency of use and chronology of wooden structures in Great Moravian graves. 



Práce zkoumá fenomén úprav hrobových jam a dřevěných konstrukcí ve velkomoravských hrobech pocházejících z pohřebišť ležících v okolí významných center jako Mikulčice a Pohansko, jakož i z pohřebišť v periferních oblastech (severní Morava). Cílem je popsat a rekonstruovat podobu dřevěných konstrukcí a předložit teoretický model sociálních a ekonomických vztahů jedinců pohřbených v jednotlivých typech hrobových konstrukcí, posoudit ekonomický či religiózní význam dřevěných konstrukcí, jakož i o výpovědní hodnotu tohoto fenoménu z hlediska chronologie. Kromě základní kategorizace a kvantifikace úprav hrobových jam a dřevěných konstrukcí ve vztahu k jiným atributům pohřebního ritu (v analytické rovině s použitím softwarů Dell Statistica a IBM SPSS, v geoinformačních rovině s použitím softwaru ArcGIS) jsou v práci aplikovány nové výzkumné metody, které jsou zaměřeny na matematické testování teoretických modelů. Jde především o modelování pomocí strukturálních rovnic (software IBM SPSS AMOS). V procesu modelování jsou vzhledem k charakteru dat, se kterými je pracováno, využity neparametrický testy kvality modelů (bootstrapové simulace). Kromě cíle budovat stabilní teoretické modely, na jejichž základě je smysluplné tvořit narativní interpretaci, je významnou pohnutkou tohoto postupu diskuze o možnostech a omezeních v archeologii dosud velmi často, ale ne vždy korektně, používaných vícerozměrných redukcí analytického prostoru, jako jsou například faktorová analýza či analýza hlavních komponentů. V závěru práce je prezentován narativní model vlastních konstrukcí, funkce (v socioekonomických relacích), frekvence užívání, jakož i chronologie dřevěných konstrukcí ve velkomoravských hrobech.

The case study is focused on understanding the socio-economic interactions between the Mikulčice  agglomeration and its economic hinterland, and on understanding the interactions of the settlement structure and the natural environment. The concept of the research is based on the settlement areas theory and the central place theory. Given the large number of exploratory analyses and GIS analyses (PCA, FA, APM, centrality analyses) from the recent years, the theories developed about interactions become increasingly complex.  Therefore, we need a tool to grasp this complexity and to answer the following questions: How stable is the exploratory model? How do cultural-historical models correspond with the data? Which environmental and socio-economic factors primarily determined the centre’s interaction with its surroundings and how did these factors change over time? Are reductions of a multidimensional space correct? Does the APM-defined causality correlate with the causality in the live culture environment? We used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) (IBM AMOS) to answer these questions.
SEM performs quantitative tests of theoretical models. Creating a theoretical model is one of the most challenging research steps. In the search for answers to questions, we have used two data sets, which cumulated our knowledge of profane and sacral space of the past. This was a database of component of settlement network and databases of the individual elements of a funeral rite of the selected burials. We first performed a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and we used its bootstrapping algorithms to simulate missing data. The second step was to test a more comprehensive structural equation analysis model. The model combined the CFA with the Path Model.
SEM confirmed many of the findings of the exploratory analyses and the validity of the structural equation analysis model. However, the CFA revealed problems with the reduction of a multidimensional space. In multiple cases, the bootstrapping algorithms changed the nature of latent variables. The application of SEM allowed us to build a more stable theoretical model. The research has shown the potential of SEM when interpreting causal relationships in the past.

A large number of historical structures from the first millennium CE have been preserved in the cultural landscape around the middle reaches of the Morava River. The landscape palimpsest offers wide-ranging possibilities for studying ethnic and cultural traditions – the core of modern Central European society. Since the start of the 1st century, events in the studied area of the middle course of the Morava River were accompanied by processes resulting in the origin and stabilisation of medieval state units. This trend may be observed across Europe in regions originally located on the  border of the Roman Empire. During the 1 st. millennium, settlement activities of several ´ethnic´(´tribal´) groups were documented in the studied area, which left traces of their presence in archaeological sources. Therefore, it is possible to analyse changes in the burial rite, in the settlements patterns and in the subsistence strategies in relation to the ethnic and geopolitical situation.

The aims of our project are the detection, detailed study and protection of historical landscape features using modern interdisciplinary methods (spatial and landscape archaeology, GIS, LiDAR and geophysics), and to present it primarily through interactive web application.