Fl. Mărginean, S. Romat, D. Băcueț-Crișan, K. László, I. Stanciu (eds.), The Power of Fire in the Middle Ages (7th ‒ 14th Centuries). Proceedings of the International Conference „The Power of Fire in the Middle Ages (7th ‒ 14th Centuries), Székeshféhervár, 14th ‒16th October 2022”, 2023
According to archaeological data, starting already from prehistory, the Upper Tisa Basin connecte... more According to archaeological data, starting already from prehistory, the Upper Tisa Basin connected the north-eastern periphery of the Carpathian Basin to the territories situated beyond the north-eastern Carpathians. During the middle or the last third of the 6th century, a new habitation horizon emerged in the entire region (situated in the immediate vicinity of the Gepid Kingdom and later of the Early Avar Khaganate). This habitation followed a new model, diverging from the environments specific to the Late Imperial Roman and the Early Migration Periods, and is commonly attributed to the first Slavs who reached the north-eastern extremity of the Carpathian Basin. The dwellings in the settlements stand out through the presence of stone or clay ovens, whose primary function was to heat dwellings in the cold season. Clay ovens, but also similar stone installations, are known since prehistoric times, spanning distinctive geographical areas and multiple populations. The answer to the question posed in the title is not straightforward, as there are no convincing local precedents. The drastic cooling of the climate during the middle of the 6th century – a change which affected the entire northern hemisphere – could have led to a pragmatic solution to heat dwellings during the cold season, especially in colder regions. Precisely from this date, heated dwellings with such ovens emerge over wide areas of East-Central and Eastern Europe, from the Lower Danube to current day Belarus. Often, the late environment of the Chernyakhov (and post-Chernyakhov) culture is pinpointed as the one in which stone or clay ovens appeared inside sunken dwellings. However, this conclusion was often drawn from sites only partially published or documented, sometimes with disputable chronologies, and thus, the evidence regarding ovens needs to be tested.
Uploads
Papers by Ioan Stanciu
Basin, proved to be a connecting space with the territories beyond the mountains. In older periods, even more so in the 1st millennium AD, this
region received and transmitted further south the effects of cultural interactions, noticeable mainly in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin. Archaeological evidence, but also literary sources, indicate such a phenomenon, sometimes also supported by demographic movements starting from the north of the mountains. After an interval of demographic
regression in the 5th century, in the region of the Upper Tisza (and not only) around the middle of the 6th century, perhaps only in its last third and
towards the beginning of the next century, a new horizon of habitation took place, with a very simple cultural model and which was usually attributed to
the early Slavs. An important aspect is illustrated by the sudden appearance of ovens built of stone or clay, which in the cold season had the main function of heating homes. The assumed stake was to follow possible local precedents, closer or more distant in time for such ovens, but the result of this check is negative. In the area of the Upper Tisza, as
in the entire Carpathian Basin for that matter, the appearance of such ovens (as shown in the variants of types 1 and 2) is not due to a traceable cultural heritage in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, nor in periods more distant. Precursors of such devices can rather be found in the northeast, respectively the late environment of the Cerneahov‒Sântana
de Mureș (and post-Cerneahov) culture. Of course, the connection between the bearers of the mentioned culture and the early Slavs is controversial
and difficult to prove in the last instance. Slower or sudden changes in climate, especially when the temperature suddenly dropped due to natural causes, had direct consequences on the natural environment and the lives of human communities, sometimes even causing demographic movements. Specialist approaches propose the reconstruction of
such a natural phenomenon, namely a large-scale volcanic eruption that would have taken place in the year 536, with serious consequences for the entire northern hemisphere. This event would have caused or contributed to the migration of Slavs and Avars over a short period. The sudden cooling of the climate could determine a pragmatic reaction, namely
the use of ovens to heat the home, but it would be expected that this adaptation process takes place in various areas and different populations, regardless of the form of the fire installation. However, the ovens
we are referring to are identical in all respects, and they have been identified in different areas in the eastern half of Europe, some located at great distances from each other. They are also associated with other elements common to these settlements, recalling only hand-made pottery and the funerary practice of cremation. If at first, such fire installations
could be specific to a certain population of the 5th‒6th centuries, with the usual reference to the early Slavs (controversial subject though), later they
were also adopted for a short time by other communities, so that the possible initial “ethnic label” no longer makes sense.
of the Ér / Eriu / Ier Plain, was extensively inhabited over the course of time. In the site located at the spot the locals call “Horó” and from certain point onwards, “Horó Farm” etc., various stray finds were repeatedly reported in the past, subsequent to sand exploitation and various development works entailed by the construction of a farm. Following the discovery of an Early Avar burial, archaeological sondages were conducted in 1965–1966, which yielded finds belonging to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Late Roman Imperial, and Early Medieval habitation. They also yielded an interesting Neolithic burial. The aim of the 1996 sondage was the same, namely the possibility to identify a cemetery or a more restricted group of burials dating to the Early Avar period, and possibly their associated settlement. Beside confirming the site’s simple stratigraphy, the archaeological excavation also pinned down a few prehistoric structures, together with the remains of an Early Medieval house, an inhumation, datable with the aid of a bronze brooch to the Late Roman Imperial period being also investigated. With respect to the Early Avar horizon, together with the burial discovered by chance in 1964, whose grave goods also included an interesting bow brooch, it is likely that other finds are also indicative of a warrior’s grave, and also of another female grave. The entire on‑site situation suggests the presence there of a small group of burials, dated by the turn of the 6th–7th centuries or the first half of the 7th century AD.
with clay pans.
(the recently employed term is “platouri”) and in the older literature they were often interpreted as “portable hearths”. his explanation cannot be supported by more precise observations and is mainly contradicted by the
low strength of their walls, a characteristic that excludes the possibility that they were moved. Still, this possibility cannot be entirely excluded, as sturdier items were sometimes signaled, made of more compact and better ired fabric; at times, though very rarely, they also had transversal oriices at the base. heir connection with ovens made of clay and stone is nevertheless certain, as these roasting trays have been built on top of such ovens on a wattle structure. here are numerous contexts relevant for this, mentioned in settlements dated to the second half of the 6th century and the irst part of the 7th century in the southern part of Wallachian Plain where they are thus attested for the irst time. During the same period they were introduced in the north‑western part of Romania as well, where they were used until the 9th–10th centuries. Like elsewhere, the contexts of discovery indicate the same connection to the ovens inside dwellings but sometimes also to hearths set in the area between the dwellings. he great majority of roasting trays are rectangular in shape, but there are some are also oval or circular ones (those in the latter category are larger and have higher walls than the clay pans per se). Over the entire territory of Romania, the peak presencch containers, probably mainly used for drying cereals, fruite of su, and vegetables, can be set during the 8th–9th centuries. he latest items known from the territory of Romania are
those from settlements on the Lower Danube, dated to the 11th–12th centuries.
Tisa delineates the north-eastern extremity of the Carpathian Basin, which
has given the evolutions taking place there over time specific characteristics. Regardless of the historical period, this area has been a connecting space between the regions north of the Carpathian Mountains and territories situated in the direction of the Superior Danube, but mostly the entire Tisa Plain and the Transylvanian Basin towards the south-east. There are many settlements that can be dated roughly to the second half of the 6th century and the first half of the 7th century, alongside some funerary discoveries. However, there are few sites that were investigated extensively, at least according to current publication records. The inventories of the dwellings and of the few reported graves are lacking in diversity as handmade pottery is the norm. The current examination offers indirect proof of the agricultural activities and the domestic crafts that were undertaken there at the time, which were potentially connected to a certain degree of specialization in tool and iron utensil production, and the manufacturing of the raw matter this required. A simple, autarchic economic model can be reconstructed from the data as there are few indications of external contacts – thus, a model similar to the one
commonly attributed to the Slavs of that period.
life, but also social behaviours, including the perpetuation or abandonment of certain traditions
in this field. Mainly, the present contribution proposes an examination of the changes in the production of early medieval pottery in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin, in connection with the use of the potter’s wheel. The changes in pottery production illustrate only one aspect of the complex and not easily decipherable transformations that took place during the transition period from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. About this process, the opinions expressed regarding the spread of slow-wheel pottery within the Avar Khaganate and its neighbourhoods are commented. The explanation for the association in the same area and in the same location of slow-wheel pottery with the one made on the fast wheel remains obscure, in any case it is about the simultaneous presence of two different technological traditions, both with origens in Late Antiquity. The forms in which the production of pottery was organized over time did not register a linear evolution, they were always influenced by the economic and social organization, as they responded to external impulses. Transitions, especially sudden ones, from one model to another are difficult processes to explain.
al vieții economice, dar și comportamente sociale, inclusiv perpetuarea sau abandonarea anumitor tradiții în acest domeniu. În principal, prezenta contribuție propune o examinare a schimbărilor în producția de ceramică medievală timpurie din partea de est a Bazinului Carpaților, în legătură cu utilizarea roții olarului. Schimbările în producția de ceramică ilustrează doar un aspect al transformărilor complexe și greu descifrabile care au avut loc în perioada de tranziție de la Antichitate la Evul Mediu. În legătură cu acest proces sunt comentate opiniile exprimate cu privire la răspândirea ceramicii cu roată lentă în Kaganatul Avar și zonele apropiate. Explicația asocierii în aceeași zonă și în aceeași locație a ceramicii cu roată lentă cu cea realizată pe roată rapidă rămâne obscură, în orice caz este vorba despre prezența simultană a două tradiții tehnologice diferite, ambele cu origeni în Antichitatea Târzie. Formele în care sa organizat producția de ceramică de-a lungul timpului nu au înregistrat o evoluție liniară, ele au fost întotdeauna influențate de organizarea economică și socială, deoarece au răspuns la impulsuri externe. Tranzițiile, în special cele bruște, de la un model la altul, sunt procese dificil de explicat.
Basin, proved to be a connecting space with the territories beyond the mountains. In older periods, even more so in the 1st millennium AD, this
region received and transmitted further south the effects of cultural interactions, noticeable mainly in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin. Archaeological evidence, but also literary sources, indicate such a phenomenon, sometimes also supported by demographic movements starting from the north of the mountains. After an interval of demographic
regression in the 5th century, in the region of the Upper Tisza (and not only) around the middle of the 6th century, perhaps only in its last third and
towards the beginning of the next century, a new horizon of habitation took place, with a very simple cultural model and which was usually attributed to
the early Slavs. An important aspect is illustrated by the sudden appearance of ovens built of stone or clay, which in the cold season had the main function of heating homes. The assumed stake was to follow possible local precedents, closer or more distant in time for such ovens, but the result of this check is negative. In the area of the Upper Tisza, as
in the entire Carpathian Basin for that matter, the appearance of such ovens (as shown in the variants of types 1 and 2) is not due to a traceable cultural heritage in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, nor in periods more distant. Precursors of such devices can rather be found in the northeast, respectively the late environment of the Cerneahov‒Sântana
de Mureș (and post-Cerneahov) culture. Of course, the connection between the bearers of the mentioned culture and the early Slavs is controversial
and difficult to prove in the last instance. Slower or sudden changes in climate, especially when the temperature suddenly dropped due to natural causes, had direct consequences on the natural environment and the lives of human communities, sometimes even causing demographic movements. Specialist approaches propose the reconstruction of
such a natural phenomenon, namely a large-scale volcanic eruption that would have taken place in the year 536, with serious consequences for the entire northern hemisphere. This event would have caused or contributed to the migration of Slavs and Avars over a short period. The sudden cooling of the climate could determine a pragmatic reaction, namely
the use of ovens to heat the home, but it would be expected that this adaptation process takes place in various areas and different populations, regardless of the form of the fire installation. However, the ovens
we are referring to are identical in all respects, and they have been identified in different areas in the eastern half of Europe, some located at great distances from each other. They are also associated with other elements common to these settlements, recalling only hand-made pottery and the funerary practice of cremation. If at first, such fire installations
could be specific to a certain population of the 5th‒6th centuries, with the usual reference to the early Slavs (controversial subject though), later they
were also adopted for a short time by other communities, so that the possible initial “ethnic label” no longer makes sense.
of the Ér / Eriu / Ier Plain, was extensively inhabited over the course of time. In the site located at the spot the locals call “Horó” and from certain point onwards, “Horó Farm” etc., various stray finds were repeatedly reported in the past, subsequent to sand exploitation and various development works entailed by the construction of a farm. Following the discovery of an Early Avar burial, archaeological sondages were conducted in 1965–1966, which yielded finds belonging to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Late Roman Imperial, and Early Medieval habitation. They also yielded an interesting Neolithic burial. The aim of the 1996 sondage was the same, namely the possibility to identify a cemetery or a more restricted group of burials dating to the Early Avar period, and possibly their associated settlement. Beside confirming the site’s simple stratigraphy, the archaeological excavation also pinned down a few prehistoric structures, together with the remains of an Early Medieval house, an inhumation, datable with the aid of a bronze brooch to the Late Roman Imperial period being also investigated. With respect to the Early Avar horizon, together with the burial discovered by chance in 1964, whose grave goods also included an interesting bow brooch, it is likely that other finds are also indicative of a warrior’s grave, and also of another female grave. The entire on‑site situation suggests the presence there of a small group of burials, dated by the turn of the 6th–7th centuries or the first half of the 7th century AD.
with clay pans.
(the recently employed term is “platouri”) and in the older literature they were often interpreted as “portable hearths”. his explanation cannot be supported by more precise observations and is mainly contradicted by the
low strength of their walls, a characteristic that excludes the possibility that they were moved. Still, this possibility cannot be entirely excluded, as sturdier items were sometimes signaled, made of more compact and better ired fabric; at times, though very rarely, they also had transversal oriices at the base. heir connection with ovens made of clay and stone is nevertheless certain, as these roasting trays have been built on top of such ovens on a wattle structure. here are numerous contexts relevant for this, mentioned in settlements dated to the second half of the 6th century and the irst part of the 7th century in the southern part of Wallachian Plain where they are thus attested for the irst time. During the same period they were introduced in the north‑western part of Romania as well, where they were used until the 9th–10th centuries. Like elsewhere, the contexts of discovery indicate the same connection to the ovens inside dwellings but sometimes also to hearths set in the area between the dwellings. he great majority of roasting trays are rectangular in shape, but there are some are also oval or circular ones (those in the latter category are larger and have higher walls than the clay pans per se). Over the entire territory of Romania, the peak presencch containers, probably mainly used for drying cereals, fruite of su, and vegetables, can be set during the 8th–9th centuries. he latest items known from the territory of Romania are
those from settlements on the Lower Danube, dated to the 11th–12th centuries.
Tisa delineates the north-eastern extremity of the Carpathian Basin, which
has given the evolutions taking place there over time specific characteristics. Regardless of the historical period, this area has been a connecting space between the regions north of the Carpathian Mountains and territories situated in the direction of the Superior Danube, but mostly the entire Tisa Plain and the Transylvanian Basin towards the south-east. There are many settlements that can be dated roughly to the second half of the 6th century and the first half of the 7th century, alongside some funerary discoveries. However, there are few sites that were investigated extensively, at least according to current publication records. The inventories of the dwellings and of the few reported graves are lacking in diversity as handmade pottery is the norm. The current examination offers indirect proof of the agricultural activities and the domestic crafts that were undertaken there at the time, which were potentially connected to a certain degree of specialization in tool and iron utensil production, and the manufacturing of the raw matter this required. A simple, autarchic economic model can be reconstructed from the data as there are few indications of external contacts – thus, a model similar to the one
commonly attributed to the Slavs of that period.
life, but also social behaviours, including the perpetuation or abandonment of certain traditions
in this field. Mainly, the present contribution proposes an examination of the changes in the production of early medieval pottery in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin, in connection with the use of the potter’s wheel. The changes in pottery production illustrate only one aspect of the complex and not easily decipherable transformations that took place during the transition period from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. About this process, the opinions expressed regarding the spread of slow-wheel pottery within the Avar Khaganate and its neighbourhoods are commented. The explanation for the association in the same area and in the same location of slow-wheel pottery with the one made on the fast wheel remains obscure, in any case it is about the simultaneous presence of two different technological traditions, both with origens in Late Antiquity. The forms in which the production of pottery was organized over time did not register a linear evolution, they were always influenced by the economic and social organization, as they responded to external impulses. Transitions, especially sudden ones, from one model to another are difficult processes to explain.
al vieții economice, dar și comportamente sociale, inclusiv perpetuarea sau abandonarea anumitor tradiții în acest domeniu. În principal, prezenta contribuție propune o examinare a schimbărilor în producția de ceramică medievală timpurie din partea de est a Bazinului Carpaților, în legătură cu utilizarea roții olarului. Schimbările în producția de ceramică ilustrează doar un aspect al transformărilor complexe și greu descifrabile care au avut loc în perioada de tranziție de la Antichitate la Evul Mediu. În legătură cu acest proces sunt comentate opiniile exprimate cu privire la răspândirea ceramicii cu roată lentă în Kaganatul Avar și zonele apropiate. Explicația asocierii în aceeași zonă și în aceeași locație a ceramicii cu roată lentă cu cea realizată pe roată rapidă rămâne obscură, în orice caz este vorba despre prezența simultană a două tradiții tehnologice diferite, ambele cu origeni în Antichitatea Târzie. Formele în care sa organizat producția de ceramică de-a lungul timpului nu au înregistrat o evoluție liniară, ele au fost întotdeauna influențate de organizarea economică și socială, deoarece au răspuns la impulsuri externe. Tranzițiile, în special cele bruște, de la un model la altul, sunt procese dificil de explicat.