Fortified Settlements in Central Europe, 9-10th Centuries AD

The proposed project deals with the fortified settlements of the 9th - 10th centuries AD, which served as seats for the Early Medieval social elites of Central Europe. Social elites are referred to in this context as persons or groups of persons who - based on their social status - possessed the power, influence and means to act on a supra-regional level. Their seats, the fortified settlements, have received less attention in the Early Medieval archaeology of Central Europe than the cemeteries of this period. This is also due to the fact that the analysis of the excavations at the fortified settlements, having lasted usually for several decades, represents a serious challenge for archaeology. The aim of the present project is to show that the interpretation and publication of such excavations is - with the application of interdisciplinary methods - possible and brings meaningful results. These results provide new and exclusive insights into the study of the Early Medieval Period in Central Europe. In the first phase of the present project excavations at the fortified settlement of Gars-Thunau (Lower Austria) are going to be analysed. The site of Gars-Thunau serves in this project as a case study for an excavated seat of the Early Medieval social elites of Central Europe. The excavations in Gars-Thunau (1965-2003) represent a prestige project of the Department of Prehistoric and Medieval Archaeology of the University of Vienna. These have been the largest excavations in the field of prehistoric and medieval archaeology in Austria. The geographical location of the site in the east of the East-Frankish Empire, in the border region to Bohemia and Moravia offers excellent opportunities first of all for the study of intercultural relations. Because of various reasons the processing and interpretation of the Early Medieval features and finds could only begin after the last excavation campaign at the site in 2003. In the present project excavated features, small finds and ceramic finds from Gars-Thunau are going to be analysed. Ceramic finds are, in addition to the archaeological investigations, also going to be examined with archaeometric methods. The excavations at Gars-Thunau have yielded a large number of wood samples, to be dated with dendrochronology and 14C in the proposed project. Since the start of the excavations in 1965 this project provides the first opportunity to publish a monograph presenting the contribution of Gars-Thunau to the study of the Early Middle Ages. In the second phase of the project the results from the investigations of Gars-Thunau are going to be integrated into their Central-European context. Earlier research results of the applicant on Gars-Thunau are going to be combined with the results from the first phase of the present project. Results from research of the applicant on related topics are also going to be integrated (e. g. research on ceramic finds from the sites of Zalavar/Mosaburg, Mikulcice, Breclav-Pohansko, Uherske-Hradiste). On the basis of these research results, complemented by a critical study of literature and by consulting international cooperation partners, a synthesis is going to be worked out. The aim of this synthesis is to answer questions on the way of living of Early Medieval elites in Central Europe and to explore their economic and cultural networks.

This project investigated fortified settlements of 9th and 10th-century central Europe, a territory situated in the border region of the Carolingian and the Byzantine realm. An important part of the project has been to reflect upon, and go beyond, current national narratives of the investigated period and to develop possible interpretative frameworks for the entire central European region. The analysis of excavations from the site of Gars-Thunau in Lower Austria constituted the starting point of these investigations. The large scale excavations at this site, spanning almost four decades, represent a prestige project of the Department of Prehistoric and Medieval Archaeology of the University of Vienna. In the second phase of the project, the results from the investigations of Gars-Thunau were integrated into their wider European context. Project results have so far been published in articles, which are placed in peer-reviewed journals and in an edited volume, including an open access article in the journal Medieval Archaeology (Fortified Settlements of the 9th and 10th Centuries AD in Central Europe: Structure, Function and Symbolism, vol. 56, 2012, 60-84). The complete monographic publication of the project results is currently in preparation. The schedule of the project was modified, as the project leader was awarded a Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Bonn, Germany), which she spent at the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg (Germany) and at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom). The research topic that she pursued during this 18-month fellowship was The Archaeology of the Frankish Empire and its Successor States as a Basis for the Analysis of their South-Eastern Border Region. The project at the Austrian Science Fund paused for the duration of the fellowship, from October 2010 until March 2012. The Humboldt fellowship enriched the Austrian Science Fund project with new perspectives and opportunities for co-operation. Results of the project were presented by the project leader in several invited talks as well as at conferences, including the International Medieval Congress, Leeds (UK, 2011 and 2013), the Medieval Archaeology Seminar, University of Oxford (UK, 2012), the Medieval History Seminar, All Souls College, Oxford (UK, 2013), the Medieval Research Seminar, University of Exeter (UK, 2013), the Institute of Archaeology, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg (Germany, 2011), the Department of Prehistoric and Medieval Archaeology, J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main (Germany, 2009), the GWZO Centre for the Humanities in East Central Europe, University of Leipzig (Germany, 2009), the International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo (USA, 2010), the Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame (USA, 2010), the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Buffalo (USA, 2010), and the European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting (Plzen, Czech Republic, 2013).