Trade and technology transfer in central and south-eastern Europe in the Carolingian and Ottonian period: Production and distribution of special ceramic wares and 'common ceramics'

Dr Hajnalka Herold

These projects investigated high-quality specialised ceramic wares (e.g. so-called ‘polished yellow ceramics’) and lower quality ‘common ceramics’ from the Carolingian and Ottonian periods in central and southeastern Europe (9th–10th centuries AD). Data was collected and analysed from a number of important early medieval centres in these regions: Zalavár (Hungary), Mikulčice, Uherské-Hradiště, Břeclav-Pohansko (Moravia, Czech Republic), and Pliska (Bulgaria). The results suggest that while socio-cultural preferences concerning the ‘proper appearance' of ceramic vessels may have been shared at a supra-regional level, the exchange of actual ceramics seems only to have occurred within particular regions (e.g. Moravia).

Herold, H. 2010, ‘The Ceramic “Tableware” of the Carolingian Period in Zalavár, South-West Hungary’, Antaeus, Communicationes ex Instituto Archaeologico Academiae Scientiarum Hungariae 31-32, Budapest, 155–172.

Herold, H. 2008, ‘Frühmittelalterliche Prunkkeramik aus Mikulčice, Mähren – Archäometrische Analysen und ihre Interpretation’ (Early Medieval High Quality Ceramics from Mikulčice, Moravia: Archaeometric analysis and its interpretation – in German), in L. Poláček (ed.), Das wirtschaftliche Hinterland der frühmittelalterlichen Zentren, Internationale Tagungen in Mikulčice 6, Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno 31, Brno, 299–311, 428–429.