Die awarenzeitliche Siedlung und Keramik von Zillingtal (Teil 1)

The present publication provides an in depth analysis of the early medieval settlement and the ceramic finds of the cemetery excavated in Zillingtal (Burgenland, East-Austria). Since only a small part of the whole settlement area could be excavated, it is not, or only with restrictions possible to draw conclusions about settlement structure or types of settlement features and their use. Thus the analysis of the settlement and the finds concentrates mainly on the ceramic finds, where it was, however, necessary to apply a novel combination of research methods. Although the research of the last two decades, expecially in Hungary, has been engaged in the study of the Avar Period ceramic finds at a high level, the potential of the scientific methods for ceramics analysis has hitherto not been used. In order to apply the methods of mineralogy and petrography for the purpose of archaeological research in an optimal way, it was necessary to find standards, which make it possible to obtain historical information with a maintainable amount of effort and investment. In the present case the traditional antiquarian analysis methods of ceramics were combined with comprehensive archaeometric analysis and a number of experiments. It was, however, not only necessary to allow for the methods of investigation to be applied, the possible ways of publication also had to be considered: The ceramic finds and the results of the analysis should be presented to the full extent, but without unduly burdening the book. The settlement of Zillingtal can also be viewed as a test case for other archaeological settlements projects: it was intended to explore in general what modern ceramics research can contribute to the study of the archaeology and history of a given region. The structure of the present publication follows approximately the research process. It begins with a short summary of the history of the excavations in Zillingtal, followed by the first main chapter about the ceramic finds from the Avar Period. Here first the macroscopic groups of the ceramic finds from the settlement and the cemetery are described, afterwards the experiments and the archaeometric analyses are presented. Considerations about settlement and funeral ceramics and about pottery production in Zillingtal round off this chapter. In the next two chapters the contribution of ceramics analysis results to the interpretation of the settlement and of the cemetery are discussed. Afterwards new information on the relative situation of settlements and cemeteries of the Avar Period in and around Zillingtal is described. The last two chapters provide a comprehensive view of the research on settlements and ceramic finds of the Avar Khaganate. At the end of the main part of the book two contributions on the archaeozoological material from the settlement of Zillingtal are also included. The appendix contains the catalogues and plates of the ceramic finds from the settlement and cemetery of Zillingtal. As loose inserts the book includes three plans of different parts of the excavation and a table with data from the X-ray diffraction analysis.