Space and Material Culture of a Medieval Town: Archaeological Research in Tulln

In recent years, new approaches in archaeological research stimulated methodological advances in the study of spatial structures and material culture. The sociology of architecture deals with the built environment and ensembles of buildings, and the sociology of space defines space as a relational structure in a general sense. Based on these categories and contexts, urban development can be interpreted in a new way. Research on material culture inspired by anthropology explores questions such as the biography of objects, the meaning of artefacts for producers and consumers and the social and cultural connotations of material culture. The Lower Austrian town Tulln is one of the best archaeologically documented towns in Austria. Since the 1970s, several excavation campaigns revealed large parts of the roman- and medieval-period settlement. The excavation campaigns carried out since 2005 provided additional data, which because of their quantity and excellent preservation lend themselves to the study of space and material culture. The excavations revealed large parts of the western suburbs of the medieval town, almost the entire medieval market place and several parcels of the medieval quarter south of it. Modern excavation methods were used, which make the excavated material suitable for analysis. Based on the categories "space" and "material culture", specific areas of the medieval town will be examined and subsequently brought into context. Through this, a systematic analysis of bigger connections and issues of urban development will be achieved. The medieval market place ("Grabung Hauptplatz") and the location of a pottery workshop in the medieval suburbs ("Grabungen Ehemalige Landesfeuerwehrschule und Schießstattgasse") are representative sections of the extensive excavations. Both sections provide ideal conditions for the described method of analysis. The examination of the market place under consideration of space sociology will show the relation of the market place to the space of the town, the space of trading, the space of production and to other historical and archaeological sources. The focus of research will be the construction of the market, its functional, economical and social aspects, as well as questions related to town planning. The location of the pottery workshop will be researched from the perspective of "material culture studies". Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the kilns and ceramics will answer questions regarding the technological development in the medieval period and give insights into social perspectives of producers and consumers. Thus, the objective of the proposed research project, the investigation of the urban development of Tulln, including town extensions, the organization of a market and other production centres, will be achieved. The proposed research aims to systematically analyse the excavated data from new theoretical perspectives in archaeology.

The research project Space and Material Culture in the medieval town: Archaeological Research in Tulln examined two research topics of the extensive excavations in the town of Tulln an der Donau for the first time. The research focused on the pottery production and the medieval market place of the town. These investigations were undertaken by methods based on theoretical ground. The well-documented pottery complex excavated offered the unique possibility to gain new insights in the organization of medieval ceramic production on the basis of socio-cultural and economical structures. Nine pottery kilns and surrounding rubbish pits fulfilled with a huge amount of medieval ceramics represent the basis for the analyses. According to written sources the western suburb was razed in 1465 so the ceramic material can be dated not later than the first half of the 15th century.To deal with more than one ton of medieval pottery sherds a new approach to the ceramic material was defined. Under the aspect of Material Culture Studies, which focus on the reciprocity of people and things, socio-cultural and economical structures were analysed within the ceramic material. As a first step the production process of the pottery material was defined. By using a chane opératoire or operational sequence, a detailed description of the manufacturing process starting with the raw material up to the final product was created. This sequence helped to discover so-called technical choices decisions taken by the producer independent of raw material and production sequences. Technical choices are reflected in the ceramic material of Tulln in different types of decoration and different types of fixing handles. Filtering these different technical choices identified different production groups at Tullns suburban production area in the late 14th and beginning 15th century.The organization of the production seems to be more centralized than individual, as the production process for the main part of the ceramic material shows only little and small scale deviation. The raw material for the ceramic material derived from only one clay source. Furthermore the concentration of pottery kilns and production in the western suburban town promotes agglomeration economies. The centralized organization of the late medieval ceramic production in the suburb of Tulln maybe in the form of a guild seems to be obvious. The contexts at the market place were examined with the help from methods of sociology of space and architecture. Sociology of space concerns spatial processes of occupation at the market, the spatial use of the market from 11th - 20th century AD and the design of the market in connection with the urban development. With the help of architectural sociological methods the physical design, organization, function, economic, social and symbolic relations of the market buildings were studied. Therefore, medieval and early modern pictorial and written sources from Central Europe were consulted to compare with the archaeological evidence. Sociology of space also was used to expound the problems of topics like place of market (place or street) or the function of the market (daily, weekly, and fair). The market practice, the agency of market users, was studied by analysing the findings with methods of consumer research. As a result, it was obvious that certain commodities were always sold at distinct places. For late medieval times there were traces for a butchers stall, and tables and benches for the sale of linen, bread or Kramwaren. Market architecture, which was built as wooden structures up to the modern period, followed a consequent change. In early medieval times mobile structures like tables, racks or tents were predominant, but in late medieval period a more organised market used spatial fixed architecture as benches and massive tables. A central open space was one of the most significant elements of the market, which has not changed a lot over the centuries. It was used as a place for selling moveable commodities and for selling goods from the chariot. Stalls with hinged loadings and shutters (Kram), well know from written and pictorial sources, left on the other hand no traceable archaeological signs. Nevertheless they are an often used market structure until now. A representative function of market architecture is also only traceable in (early) modern times. Further there is evidence for the use of space as working areas (furnaces) or the deposition of waste at the market. An important result of research is the understanding of the use of the market place for cultural, religious, political and social purposes, such as festivals, processions, assemblies, and games, which is documented by findings and contexts. Thus the archaeological sources revealed a view at a spatial arranged, but mutable market, which changed its mobile or spatial fixed architecture in behalf of the different needs of the market and the town. This space sociology inspired interpretation encouraged us to understand the market as a multifunctional space, also in archaeological sources.