The North or the South? Early medieval ceramics decorated with a zoned ornament – the result of local changes or interregional contacts?

Justyna Kolenda; Kinga Zamelska-Monczak

doi:10.35686/AR.2021.13

Authors

Justyna Kolenda Ośrodek Badań nad Kulturą Późnego Antyku i Wczesnego Średniowiecza IAE PAN, ul. Więzienna 6, PL-50-118 Wrocław https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0177-2550
Kinga Zamelska-Monczak Ośrodek Studiów Pradziejowych i Średniowiecznych IAE PAN, ul. Rubież 46, PL-61-612 Poznań https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5752-1451

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35686/AR.2021.13

Keywords:

wheel-turned ceramics, zoned vessels, early medieval pottery, southern Greater Poland, Lower Silesia, Bohemia

Abstract

The article underlines the need to re-discuss the prevailing views in archaeological literature on the provenance and transformation stages of completely wheel-turned ceramics decorated with zoned ornament. This class of ceramics was used in the Early Middle Ages (for about 100 years) by communities living in the area of southern Greater Poland and the north-eastern part of Lower Silesia. The previous ideas suggesting a close relationship between zoned ceramics and vessels produced in northern Bohemia are reconsidered, with the internal diversity of zoned ceramics being pointed out. We argue that inspiration in ceramics manufacturing came not only from the south (Bohemia), but also from the north (Pomerania) and the west (the middle Elbe region), and that there were also changes that appeared independently of these impulses in the ceramics production of small, native communities.