The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not survived. The information gained through digital imaging revealed not only the amulet bearer's name but also a number of yet unknown and personalized magic formulae destined to protect the bearer of the artefact unattested elsewhere.
Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schnei... more Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schneidereit, K. Wallenwein, 'Gedächtnis - Materialität - Schrift. Ein Erinnerungskulturelles Modell zur Analyse schrifttragender Artefakte', Saeculum 69/II (2019) 181-244.
w/ Hans Ammerich, Martin Armgart, Jürgen Keddigkeit. Reworked excerpts from my M.A. thesis (analy... more w/ Hans Ammerich, Martin Armgart, Jürgen Keddigkeit. Reworked excerpts from my M.A. thesis (analysis of excavations in the convent's west wing).
A lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription was discovered in 2014 during regular investiga... more A lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription was discovered in 2014 during regular investigations of the ploughed land and eroded wooded hillsides of the multicultural hillfort at the Na Dřevíči site (Rakovník district). Without parallels thus far in the Bohemian environment, the artefact was identified on the basis of comparisons with finds of lead tablets with Latin texts from German and Scandinavian sites of the 11 th –13 th century, which were usually unfolded after their discovery for the purpose of reading. This article presents the circumstances and context of the find, the results of microscopic observations, the description of the amulet and the results of material analyses, including the creation of model visualisations of the structure of the lead tablet, a translation and commentary of the Latin text and its placement into the broader context of parallel finds from Europe. The conducted analyses also raise the issue of the non-destructive investigation of singular finds. The usual methods for unfolding the lead sheet are invasive and do not permit the preservation of the authenticity of the artefact in its original folded form.
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schnei... more Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schneidereit, K. Wallenwein, 'Gedächtnis - Materialität - Schrift. Ein Erinnerungskulturelles Modell zur Analyse schrifttragender Artefakte', Saeculum 69/II (2019) 181-244.
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
Křesťanske magicke amulety z olova se teprve v posledni době těsi zajmu vědecke veřejnosti. Nový ... more Křesťanske magicke amulety z olova se teprve v posledni době těsi zajmu vědecke veřejnosti. Nový nalez z hradistě Dřevic, objevený v roce 2015, představuje jeden z vzacných nalezů tohoto typu. V ramci workshopu byly představeny okolnosti nalezu, archeologický kontext, přirodovědne analýzy a castecne zněni latinskeho textu.
V roce 2014 byl při pravidelných průzkumech stavu orane plochy a erodovaných zalesněných svahů po... more V roce 2014 byl při pravidelných průzkumech stavu orane plochy a erodovaných zalesněných svahů polykulturniho hradistě Na Dřevici u Kozojed (o. Rakovnik, obr. 1) nalezen detektorem kovů olověný amulet s vyrytým latinským textem. Tento předmět nema v ceskem prostředi dosud srovnatelne analogie a jeho urceni proběhlo až na zakladě porovnani s nalezy olověných desticek s latinskými texty z německeho a skandinavskeho prostředi z 11 . – 13. stoleti, jež byly ve větsině připadů za ucelem přecteni „rozvinuty“. V tomto přispěvku prezentujeme, okolnosti a kontext nalezu, výsledky mikroskopickeho pozorovani, popis amuletu a výsledky materialových analýz, vcetně vytvořeni modelových vizualizaci struktury olověne tabulky, překlad a komentař latinskeho textu a jeho zasazeni do sirsiho kontextu analogických nalezů z Evropy, paleografický rozbor. Provaděne analýzy zaroveň oteviraji dosud problematiku nedestruktivniho zkoumani artefaktů výjimecných svým provedenim. Obvykle postupy rozvinuti olověne...
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...
The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...
Fundsache Speyer. Vom Stadtrand bis zum Domplatz, 2018
Short summary of my master thesis and later works on rescue excavations at the defunct convent of... more Short summary of my master thesis and later works on rescue excavations at the defunct convent of St. Trinitatis / Allerheiligen in Speyer, Germany. The overall publication consists of more recent and mostly unpublished excavation work undertaken in Speyer by GDKE Rheinland-Pfalz since 1990.
Spektrum der Wissenschaft SPEZIAL. Archäologie - Geschichte - Kultur, 2016
Magische Worte, wohl verwahrt am Körper getragen, sollten die Menschen vor den alltägli-chen Gefa... more Magische Worte, wohl verwahrt am Körper getragen, sollten die Menschen vor den alltägli-chen Gefahren des Lebens bewahren. Ein Vergleich der Praktiken in Antike und Mittelalter zeigt überraschende Parallelen auf.
The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not survived. The information gained through digital imaging revealed not only the amulet bearer's name but also a number of yet unknown and personalized magic formulae destined to protect the bearer of the artefact unattested elsewhere.
Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schnei... more Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schneidereit, K. Wallenwein, 'Gedächtnis - Materialität - Schrift. Ein Erinnerungskulturelles Modell zur Analyse schrifttragender Artefakte', Saeculum 69/II (2019) 181-244.
w/ Hans Ammerich, Martin Armgart, Jürgen Keddigkeit. Reworked excerpts from my M.A. thesis (analy... more w/ Hans Ammerich, Martin Armgart, Jürgen Keddigkeit. Reworked excerpts from my M.A. thesis (analysis of excavations in the convent's west wing).
A lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription was discovered in 2014 during regular investiga... more A lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription was discovered in 2014 during regular investigations of the ploughed land and eroded wooded hillsides of the multicultural hillfort at the Na Dřevíči site (Rakovník district). Without parallels thus far in the Bohemian environment, the artefact was identified on the basis of comparisons with finds of lead tablets with Latin texts from German and Scandinavian sites of the 11 th –13 th century, which were usually unfolded after their discovery for the purpose of reading. This article presents the circumstances and context of the find, the results of microscopic observations, the description of the amulet and the results of material analyses, including the creation of model visualisations of the structure of the lead tablet, a translation and commentary of the Latin text and its placement into the broader context of parallel finds from Europe. The conducted analyses also raise the issue of the non-destructive investigation of singular finds. The usual methods for unfolding the lead sheet are invasive and do not permit the preservation of the authenticity of the artefact in its original folded form.
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schnei... more Full title: B. Allgaier, K. Bolle, N. Jaspert, K. Knauber, L. Lieb, E. Roels, R. Sauer, N. Schneidereit, K. Wallenwein, 'Gedächtnis - Materialität - Schrift. Ein Erinnerungskulturelles Modell zur Analyse schrifttragender Artefakte', Saeculum 69/II (2019) 181-244.
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
Křesťanske magicke amulety z olova se teprve v posledni době těsi zajmu vědecke veřejnosti. Nový ... more Křesťanske magicke amulety z olova se teprve v posledni době těsi zajmu vědecke veřejnosti. Nový nalez z hradistě Dřevic, objevený v roce 2015, představuje jeden z vzacných nalezů tohoto typu. V ramci workshopu byly představeny okolnosti nalezu, archeologický kontext, přirodovědne analýzy a castecne zněni latinskeho textu.
V roce 2014 byl při pravidelných průzkumech stavu orane plochy a erodovaných zalesněných svahů po... more V roce 2014 byl při pravidelných průzkumech stavu orane plochy a erodovaných zalesněných svahů polykulturniho hradistě Na Dřevici u Kozojed (o. Rakovnik, obr. 1) nalezen detektorem kovů olověný amulet s vyrytým latinským textem. Tento předmět nema v ceskem prostředi dosud srovnatelne analogie a jeho urceni proběhlo až na zakladě porovnani s nalezy olověných desticek s latinskými texty z německeho a skandinavskeho prostředi z 11 . – 13. stoleti, jež byly ve větsině připadů za ucelem přecteni „rozvinuty“. V tomto přispěvku prezentujeme, okolnosti a kontext nalezu, výsledky mikroskopickeho pozorovani, popis amuletu a výsledky materialových analýz, vcetně vytvořeni modelových vizualizaci struktury olověne tabulky, překlad a komentař latinskeho textu a jeho zasazeni do sirsiho kontextu analogických nalezů z Evropy, paleografický rozbor. Provaděne analýzy zaroveň oteviraji dosud problematiku nedestruktivniho zkoumani artefaktů výjimecných svým provedenim. Obvykle postupy rozvinuti olověne...
The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription.... more The subject of this article is the discovery of a lead amulet with an engraved Latin inscription. It was found in Rękawczyn (the eastern part of Greater Poland) in 2018 during research conducted by the District Museum in Konin. This artefact is the first and so far only find of its kind in a Polish context. It was identified by comparing it to similar finds from Germany and Bohemia from the 11th-13th centuries that bear apotropaic Latin inscriptions. The text on the amulet consists of 24 lines, which are barely legible and which contain a long quotation from the Gospel of John followed by an apotropaic formula with magical words. The reconstruction of the text is accompanied by a tentative interpretation and commentary. The palaeographical analysis of the script (Gothic minuscule) dates the amulet to the second half of the 14th century. The study presents the amulet in the wider context of similar inscriptions of European origin.
The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...
The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provo... more The discovery of a singular magical leaden artefact from the Middle Ages in Central Bohemia provoked the ambition to visualize and decipher the text hidden inside while still keeping the object in its original folded state. To fulfil this goal, several X-ray tomographic scans were done in conjunction with advanced data processing. Though parts of the text still remain inaccessible or unclear, the Dřevíč amulet is the first medieval object of its kind ever to have been successfully virtually unfolded and read. Leaden amulets are still very rare and under-researched finds in the archaeological record, with just over a hundred surviving examples mainly found in Southern Scandinavia and Central Germany. They are testimonies to the once widespread practice of Christian curative magic with roots in older pagan traditions. Comparable charms and blessings are extant in countless medieval manuscripts, while similar amulets written on parchment and most other organic materials have not surviv...
Fundsache Speyer. Vom Stadtrand bis zum Domplatz, 2018
Short summary of my master thesis and later works on rescue excavations at the defunct convent of... more Short summary of my master thesis and later works on rescue excavations at the defunct convent of St. Trinitatis / Allerheiligen in Speyer, Germany. The overall publication consists of more recent and mostly unpublished excavation work undertaken in Speyer by GDKE Rheinland-Pfalz since 1990.
Spektrum der Wissenschaft SPEZIAL. Archäologie - Geschichte - Kultur, 2016
Magische Worte, wohl verwahrt am Körper getragen, sollten die Menschen vor den alltägli-chen Gefa... more Magische Worte, wohl verwahrt am Körper getragen, sollten die Menschen vor den alltägli-chen Gefahren des Lebens bewahren. Ein Vergleich der Praktiken in Antike und Mittelalter zeigt überraschende Parallelen auf.
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