A few notes in the defence of the Great Moravian market system

Michal Hlavica

doi:10.35686/AR.2025.287

Authors

Michal Hlavica Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Brno, Čechyňská 363/19, CZ-602 00 Brno, Czech Republic https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6850-9933

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35686/AR.2025.287

Keywords:

Great Moravia, market system, trade, centres, hinterland, food production

Abstract

The recent text by J. Macháček (in print) attempts to review the debate concerning the nature of the relationship between Great Moravian centres and their hinterlands. Among other points, it also criticises the model of the Great Moravian market system that I originally developed as part of the wider economic, geographic, and political model of the Great Moravian polity (Hlavica 2023). In the following text, I will analyse Macháček’s key arguments and highlight the problematic conclusions on which he bases his position. Additionally, I will point to the grounding of the author’s criticism in an incomplete understanding of certain economic and anthropological concepts. My primary aim is to demonstrate that his criticism of the Great Moravian market model is insufficient to warrant its rejection.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Barfield, T. J. 2001: The shadow empires: imperial state formation along the Chinese-Nomad frontier. In: S. E. Alcock – T. N. D'Altroy – K. D. Morrison – C. M. Sinopoli (eds.), Empires Perspectives from Archaeology and History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 10–41.

Barfield, T. J. 2023: Shadow Empires. An Alternative Imperial History. Princeton – Oxford: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691253282

Bartoňková, D. – Havlík, L. – Hrbek, I. – Ludvíkovský, J. – Večerka, R. (eds.) 1969: Magnae Moraviae fontes historici III. Diplomata, epistolae, textus historici vari. Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyně.

Baug, I. 2015: Quarrying in Western Norway: An archaeological study of production and distribution in the Viking period and Middle Ages. Oxford: Archaeopress. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvr43j4p

Benech, J. 2024: Včasnostredoveké sídlisko v Brankoviciach. Brno: Masaryk University. Unpublished PhD thesis.

Blanton, R. E. – Feinman, G. M. 2024: New views on price-making markets and the capitalist impulse: beyond Polanyi. Frontiers in Human Dynamics 6, 1339903. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2024.1339903

Borzová, Z. – Pieta, K. – Jakubčinová, M. 2020: Poľnohospodárske náradie z hradiska Valy a jeho zázemia. Nitra: Archeologický ústav SAV.

Christaller, W. 1966: Central Places in Southern Germany. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Curta, F. 2025: Origins of the European economy. A debate with Michael McCormick. East central Europe. In: F. Curta (ed.), Medieval Europe from Another Angle. Volume II: Transformations. London – New York: Routledge, 1–8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003619925-1

Dostál, B. 1975: Břeclav-Pohansko IV. Velkomoravský velmožský dvorec. Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyně.

Dostál, B. 1985: Břeclav-Pohansko III. Časně slovanské osídlení. Brno: Univerzita J. E. Purkyně.

Dresler, P. 2016: Břeclav-Pohansko VIII. Hospodářské zázemí centra nebo jen osady v blízkosti centra? Brno: Masarykova univerzita.

Dresler, P. – Beran, V. 2019: Zemědělské nástroje raně středověkého obyvatelstva Pohanska u Břeclavi. Památky archeologické 110, 237–306.

Earle, T. K. 2011: Redistribution and the Political Economy: The Evolution of an Idea. American Journal of Archaeology 115(2), 237–244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.115.2.237

Fernández-Götz, M. – Smith, M. E. 2024: The Archaeology of Early Cities: “What Is the City but the People?”. Annual Review of Anthropology 53, 231–247. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-041222-094823

Galuška, L. 2011: Architektura doby velkomoravské v severní části středního Pomoraví / Architecture of the Great Moravan period in the northern part of the central Morava region. In: J. Mitáček – L. Galuška (eds.), Stopy minulosti / Vestiges of the Past, Brno: Moravské zemské muzeum, 97–127.

Galuška, L. 2014: Staré Město–Uherské Hradiště. In: P. Kouřil (ed.), Great Moravia and the Beginnings of Christianity. Brno: Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Brno, 189–195.

Garraty, C. P. 2009: Evaluating the Distributional Approach to Inferring Marketplace Exchange: A Test Case from the Mexican Gulf Lowlands. Latin American Antiquity 20(1), 157–174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S104566350000256X

Gibson, D. B. 2011: Chiefdom Confederacies and State Origins. Social Evolution & History 10(1), 215–233.

Graeber, D. 2012: On social currencies and human economies: some notes on the violence of equivalence. Social Anthropology 20, 411–428. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8676.2012.00228.x

Graeber, D. – Wengrow, D. 2021: The Dawn of Everything. A New History of Humanity. Dublin: Penguin Books.

Hladík, M. – Mazuch, M. – Látková, M. 2022: Great Moravian Settlement in Mikulčice-Trapíkov and Economic Hinterland of the Power Centre. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno.

Hlavica, M. 2020a: Značky na dnech velkomoravských keramických nádob jako nástroj poznání ekonomicko-politické komplexity Velké Moravy. Brno: Masaryk University. Unpublished PhD thesis.

Hlavica, M. 2020b: Decentralised Economic and Power Relations in Great Moravia. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Great Moravian Elites from Mikulčice. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 86–87.

Hlavica, M. 2023: Fragmenty Velké Moravy. Hrnčířské značky jako nástroj výzkumu společenské a politické komplexity Moravy 9. století. Brno: Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47382/arub2023-05

Hlavica, M. in print: Did Iron Come from the Moravian Utmark? Reconsidering the Economic and Political Context of Early Medieval Iron Production. In: Š. Krupičková – Š. Ungerman – R. Procházka (eds.), Early medieval elite culture in supra-regional perspective: society, centres, artefacts, Brno: Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Brno.

Hlavica, M. – Bárta, P. 2021: The evolution of early medieval Moravian axe-shaped currency bars through the perspective of an archaeological experiment. Přehled výzkumů 62(2), 11–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47382/pv0622-01

Hlavica, M. – Bárta, P. – Merta, O. 2020: Příspěvek experimentální produkce velkomoravských sekyrovitých hřiven k pochopení jejich funkce v raně středověké ekonomice. Archeologia technica 31, 15–27.

Hlavica, M. – Procházka, R. 2020a: Market System. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Great Moravian Elites from Mikulčice. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 79–81.

Hlavica, M. – Procházka, R. 2020b: Basic Principles of the Great Moravian Economy. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Great Moravian Elites from Mikulčice, Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 75–78.

Hlavica, M. – Kouřil, P. – Mikulec, R. 2022: Moravian iron money: Model of the 9th-century axe-shaped bars’ genesis and its testing with the assemblage from Staré Zámky near Brno-Líšeň. Slovenská archeológia 70, 327–350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/slovarch.2022.70.14

Hlavica, M. – Přichystal, A. – Procházka, R. – Gadas, P. 2023: Svorové ruly z Čučic. Zdroj raně středověkých žernovů na Moravě. Archeologia technica 34, 57–66.

Hlavica, M. – Slavíček, K. – Valášková, L. – Petřík, J. – Všianský, D. 2024: Pottery as a witness of commercialization: The case of 9th-century ‘Great Moravia’. Praehistorische Zeitschrift 99, 994–1017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pz-2023-2012

Hlubek, L. – Šlézar, P. 2014: Doklady zpracování železa v raném středověku na území Uničovska a Litovelska. Archaeologia historica 39, 583–607.

Hodges, R. 2012: Dark Age Economics. A New Audit. London: Bristol Classical Press.

Iversen, F. 2017: The urban hinterland. Interaction and law-areas in Viking and medieval Norway. In: Z. T. Glørstad – K. Loftsgarden (eds.), Viking-Age Transformation. Trade, Craft and Resources in Western Scandinavia. London – New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315548197-13

Kalhous, D. 2025: Michal Hlavica. Fragmenty Velké Moravy. Hrnčířské značky jako nástroj výzkumu společenské a politické komplexity Moravy 9. století (review). Český časopis historický 123, 289–295.

Kalousek, F. 1955: Velkomoravské hradisko ve Znojmě-Hradišti na Moravě. Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity C, Řada historická 4(2), 9–30.

Klanica, Z. 1974: Práce klenotníků na slovanských hradištích. Praha: Academia.

Klír, T. – Štefan, I. 2025: Market exchange and rural communities in the medieval Czech lands (ca. 900–1400). In: M. Ødegaard – K. Loftsgarden – C. Theune (eds.), Ruralia XV: Farmers' Trade and Markets. Social and Economic Interaction in the Medieval and Early Modern European Countryside. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 123–135.

Košta, J. – Hošek, J. 2014: Early Medieval Swords from Mikulčice. Brno: Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno.

Kouřil, P. 2020: Ostentatious spurs from Mikulčice. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Great Moravian Elites from Mikulčice. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 255–267.

Kristiansen, K. 2016: Bronze Age Vikings? A Comparative Analysis of Deep Historical Structures and their Dynamics. In: L. Melheim – H. Glørstad – Z. T. Glørstad (eds.), Comparative Perspectives on Past Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration. Sheffield: Equinox, 177–186.

Krupičková, Š. 2024: Gombíky from Mikulčice and their Regional and Supraregional Context. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47382/arub2024-02

Kühtreiber, K. 2019: The pottery from the early medieval settlement at Pellendorf/Gaweinstal (Lower Austria) and its relationship to the Great Moravian sites on the River March. Archeologické rozhledy 71, 435–474. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35686/AR.2019.19

Látková, M. 2017: The Archaeobotany of Mikulčice. Food Supply to the Early Medieval Stronghold. Brno: Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno.

Lebsak, M. – Kapusta, J. 2024: Large-scale ironworking in Early Medieval protourban settlements: A case study from Mikulčice-Valy, Czech Republic. Přehled výzkumů 65(2), 51–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47382/pv0652-01

Lebsak, M. – Hlavica, M. in print: Die Mühlen von Mikulčice mahlen langsam, aber trefflich fein? – Ein Lokalisierungsversuch frühmittelalterlicher Großtechnik im Mährerreich. In: Band der Bamberger Schriften zur Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit / AMANZschriften 10.

Lewis, C. 2005: Utmark, settlement, marginality and power in medieval lowland England. In: I. Holm – S. Innselset – I. Øye (eds.), ‘Utmark’. The Outfield as Industry and Ideology in the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. Bergen: University of Bergen, 119–136.

Ling, J. – Earle, T. – Kristiansen, K. 2018: Maritime Mode of Production. Raiding and Trading in Seafaring Chiefdoms. Current Anthropology 59, 488–524. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/699613

Loftsgarden, K. 2021: Seasonal iron production in the mountains of Viking Age and medieval Scandinavia. In: P. Dixon – C. Theune (eds.), Seasonal Settlement in the Medieval and Early Modern Countryside. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 221–228.

Macháček, J. 2001: Studie k velkomoravské keramice. Metody, analýzy a syntézy, modely. Brno: Masarykova univerzita.

Macháček, J. 2010: The Rise of Medieval Towns and States in East Central Europe: Early Medieval Centres as Social and Economic Systems. Leiden – Boston: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004182080.i-562

Macháček, J. 2012: «Great Moravian State» - a controversy in Central European medieval studies. Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana 11(1), 5–26.

Macháček, J. 2015: O Velké Moravě, archeologii raného středověku i o nás samých. Archeologické rozhledy 67, 464–494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35686/AR.2015.25

Macháček, J. 2024: Prehistory to History: A New Archaeological Approach to Knowledge Transmission and the Inception of Literacy in Central Europe. Journal of World Prehistory 37, 27–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-024-09184-y

Macháček, J. in print: Great Moravian agglomerations: Central places with agricultural hinterlands, local marketplaces, or autarkic settlements oriented towards agricultural primary production? Archeologické rozhledy.

Macháček, J. – Berner, M. – Dresler, P. – Drtikolová Kaupová, S. – Přichystalová, R. – Sládek, V. 2021: Arms-bearers in separate graves from Great Moravia and the emergence of the Early Medieval military-aristocratic organization in East-Central Europe. Praehistorische Zeitschrift 96, 248–285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pz-2021-0020

Merta, O. 2019: Známé nálezy raně středověkých železářských naseknutých lup z území Moravy. Archeologia technica 30, 3–13.

Merta, O. – Hlavica, M. – Lebsak, M. – Přichystal, M. – Mikulec, R. 2022: Známé nálezy raně středověkých železářských naseknutých lup z území Moravy 2. Archeologia technica 33, 3–8.

Měřínský, Z. 2014: The Staré Zámky near Brno-Líšeň. In: P. Kouřil (ed.), Great Moravia and the Beginnings of Christianity. Brno: The Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, 200–208.

Mikulec, R. – Hlavica, M. – Kmošek, M. 2022: Archaeological Evidence of Independent Iron Production from the 9th-century Rural Settlement of Bořitov (Blansko District, Czechia). Archaeologia historica 47, 763–794. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5817/AH2022-2-14

Minc, L. D. 2006: Monitoring regional market systems in prehistory: Models, methods, and metrics. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 25, 82–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2005.09.003

Ohler, N. 1989: The Medieval Traveller. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press.

Øye, I. 2005: Introduction. In: I. Holm – S. Innselset – I. Øye (eds.), ‘Utmark’. The Outfield as Industry and Ideology in the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. Bergen: University of Bergen, 9–20.

Piaskowski, J. 1964: Metaloznawcze badania przedmiotów żelaznych z Wyżnego Kubina i Pobedimia (Słowacja). Acta Archaeologica Carpathica 6, 133–140.

Plattner, S. 1989: Markets and Marketplaces. In: S. Plattner (ed.), Economic Anthropology. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 171–207.

Poláček, L. 2003: Landwirtschaftliche Geräte aus Mikulčice. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Studien zum Burgwall von Mikulčice V. Brno: Archäologisches Institut der Akademie der Wissenschaften der Tschechischen Republik Brno, 591–709.

Poulík, J. 1948–1950: Jižní Morava. Země dávných Slovanů. Brno: Studijní a plánovací ústav v Brně.

Prišťáková, M. 2016: Žarnov ako ukazovateľ života a zániku. Postdepozičné procesy, metóda výskumu a ich vplyv na kartografickú analýzu na príklade lokalít Valy u Mikulčic a Pohansko u Břeclavi. Studia Archaeologica Brunensia 21, 113–132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5817/SAB2016-1-5

Renfrew, C. 1977: Alternative Models for Exchange and Spatial Distribution. In: T. K. Earle – J. E. Ericson (eds.), Exchange Systems in Prehistory. New York: Academic Press, 71–90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-227650-7.50010-9

Reuter, T. 2012: The Annals of Fulda. Ninth Century Histories, Volume II. Manchester: Manchester University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526112736

Schortman, E. M. – Urban, P. A. 2004: Modeling the Roles of Craft Production in Ancient Political Economies. Journal of Archaeological Research 12, 185–226. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JARE.0000023712.34302.49

Skinner, W. G. 1964: Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China: Part I. The Journal of Asian Studies 24, 3–43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2050412

Smith, C. A. 1976: Regional Economic Systems: Linking Geographical Models and Socioeconomic Problems. In: C. A. Smith (ed.), Regional Analysis. New York: Academic Press, 3–63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-652101-6.50008-5

Smith, M. E. 2024: How do archaeologists study early urban life? Institutions, generative processes, and urban order. Discover Cities 1, 26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-024-00026-2

Spencer, C. S. 2010: Territorial expansion and primary state formation. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences 107, 7119–7126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002470107

Spufford, P. 2002: Power and Profit. The Merchant in Medieval Europe. London: Thames & Hudson.

Stark, B. L. – Garraty, C. P. 2010: Detecting Marketplace Exchange in Archaeology: A Methodological Review. In: B. L. Stark – C. P. Garraty (eds.), Archaeological Approaches to Market Exchange in Ancient Societies. Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 33–58.

Szmoniewski, B. S. 2022: The Axe-Shaped Iron Bars from the Middle Volga and Kama River Basins from 4th and 5th centuries A.D. Materiały Archeologiczne 43, 7–16.

Šenk, M. 2023: Michal HLAVICA, Fragmenty Velké Moravy: Hrnčířské značky jako nástroj výzkumu společenské a politické komplexity Moravy 9. století, Brno, Archeologický ústav AV ČR 2023, 179 s., ISSN 1804-1345 (review). Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica 26, 147–151.

Šlézar, P. 2018: Olomouc between the Great Moravian and Přemyslid Duchies. In: P. Kouřil – R. Procházka (eds.), Moravian and Silesian Strongholds of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries in the Context of Central Europe. Brno: The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 115–135.

Štefan, I. 2011: Great Moravia, Statehood and Archaeology. The 'Decline and Fall' of One Early Medieval Polity. In: J. Macháček – Š. Ungerman (eds.), Frühgeschichtliche Zentralorte in Mitteleuropa. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 333–354.

Štefan, I. 2014: Mocní náčelníci od řeky Moravy? Poznámky ke struktuře raných států. Archeologické rozhledy 66, 141–176.

Theuws, F. – Bruin, J. – Bakels, C. 2021: Oegstgeest, a riverine settlement in the early medieval world system. In: J. Bruin – C. Bakels – F. Theuws (eds.), Oegstgeest, a riverine settlement in the early medieval world system. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 426–463.

Třeštík, D. 1973: "Trh Moravanů" – Ústřední trh staré Moravy. Československý časopis historický 21, 869–892.

Třeštík, D. 2010: Vznik Velké Moravy. Moravané, Čechové a střední Evropa v letech 791–871. Praha: Nakladelství Lidové noviny.

Unger, J. 2024: Michal Hlavica: Fragmenty Velké Moravy. Hrnčířské značky jako nástroj výzkumu společenské a politické komplexity Moravy 9. století (review). Archeologické rozhledy 76, 114–115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35686/AR.2024.6

Ungerman, Š. 2020: Earrings as Typical Representants of the “International” Fashion. In: L. Poláček (ed.), Great Moravian Elites from Mikulčice. Brno: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Brno, 273–277.

Urbańczyk, P. 2008: Trudne początki Polski. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego.

Varadzin, L. 2005: Značky na dnech keramických nádob ve středověku. Studia Mediaevalia Pragensia 5, 165–199.

Varadzin, L. 2010: Hrnčířská výroba ve východní části střední Evropy 6.–13. století v archeologických pramenech. Archeologické rozhledy 62, 17–71.