Books by Ladislav Varadzin
The book deals with the central residential area of the hillfort of Vyšehrad that, during the Mid... more The book deals with the central residential area of the hillfort of Vyšehrad that, during the Middle Ages, constituted a prominent political and power centre of the Czech state and for nearly three quarters of a century also the location of the ruler's residence. It results from a comprehensive treatment of extensive, but hitherto unexploited sources obtained through large-scale archaeological excavations since 1924. The book consists of 22 original chapters written by specialists in prehistoric and medieval archaeology, bioarchaeology, historical metallurgy, and geology. After an introductory part (Part I) which introduces the circumstances of the formation of the corpus of material sources, there are analytical chapters devoted to the finds from prehistory (Part II) and the Medieval and Modern periods (Part III). The final part (Part IV) presents a synthesis of the findings and evaluates them in a broader archaeological and historical context. Besides the very first systematic treatment of remains of prehistoric occupation at Vyšehrad (Early and Middle Eneolithic), the monograph offers an insight into the earliest phase of existence of the medieval hillfort (ca. 980–1070) and portrays the architectonic and urbanistic appearance of the subsequent early Romanesque residence of the Přemyslids (ca. 1070–1140), which preceded the building of a stone palace at the Prague Castle by more than half a century. Furthermore, it provides a detailed characterization of the architectonic appearance and symbolism of the palatial complex renewed by the Luxembourg dynasty (1348–1420) and captures the main traits of its subsequent degradation in the post-Hussite period. An emphasis is put on the material culture, social and economic aspects of life at the acropolis, and other topics. The text is amply illustrated by photographic and drawn documentation.
Kniha pojednává o ústředním areálu vyšehradského hradiště představujícího v 11. a 12. století pře... more Kniha pojednává o ústředním areálu vyšehradského hradiště představujícího v 11. a 12. století přední politické a mocenské centrum českého státu, na němž se téměř tři čtvrtě století nacházela panovnická rezidence. Vychází z komplexního zpracování rozsáhlých, avšak dosud nevyužitých pramenů získaných plošnými archeologickými výzkumy od r. 1924 do současnosti.
Sestává z 22 původních kapitol připravených specialisty na pravěkou a středověkou archeologii, bioarcheologické obory, historickou metalurgii a geologii. Po úvodní části (část I), přibližující okolnosti formování korpusu hmotných pramenů, jsou zařazeny analytické kapitoly věnované nálezům z pravěku (část II) a středověku až novověku (část III). Poslední část (část IV) předkládá syntézu a vyhodnocení poznatků a jejich zasazení do širšího archeologického a historického rámce.
Vedle vůbec prvního systematického zpracování pozůstatků pravěkého osídlení na Vyšehradě (starší a střední eneolit) tato monografie nabízí vhled do nejstarší etapy existence středověkého hradiště (cca 980–1070) a vykresluje stavební a urbanistickou podobu následné raně románské přemyslovské rezidence (cca 1070–1140), která o více než půl století předchází vznik kamenného paláce na Pražském hradě. Dále předkládá detailní charakteristiku stavební podoby a symboliky palácového okrsku obnoveného zde Lucemburky (1348–1420) a postihuje hlavní rysy jeho následné degradace v pohusitském období. Důraz je kladen na hmotnou kulturu, sociální a ekonomické aspekty života na akropoli i na další témata. Text doprovází rozsáhlá fotografická a plánová příloha.
Chapters in books and edited volumes by Ladislav Varadzin
Václav Moucha, Bořivoj Nechvátal, Ladislav Varadzin et al.: Vyšehrad. Knížecí a královská akropole. Svědectví archeologie/Vyšehrad. PPrincely and royal acropolis. Testimony of archaeology. Praha, 2015
Among finds from 1924-1936 and 1968-1991 an overwhelming number of remains of silver and other no... more Among finds from 1924-1936 and 1968-1991 an overwhelming number of remains of silver and other non-ferrous metallurgy was identified which escaped attention of previous archaeologists. Morphological and functional classification and SEM-EDS analyses of various categories of finds attest to mainly massive silver production which was to a lesser extent accompanied by gold and copper-alloy metalworking. Spatial distribution, find context and typological classification of the finds clearly show existence of a large production zone situated within the ruler´s residence and working during late 10th and early 11th centuries. One of the most important findings is that the early medieval Bohemian rulers HAD access to silver ore (of whatever form it was) and that they were not dependent solely on Arabic silver coins exchanged for slaves etc. as supposed by historiographic mainstream until now. We further hypothesize that these workshops were part of a broader silver economy system of the incipient Bohemian state, which comprised issues of the first Czech coins as well as production of other types of valuables and which was organized and directly controlled by the rulers of the Přemyslid dynasty.
Václav Moucha, Bořivoj Nechvátal, Ladislav Varadzin et al.: Vyšehrad. Knížecí a královská akropole. Svědectví archeologie./VYšehrad. The Princely and Royal Acropolis. The Testimony of Archaeology. Praha., 2015
At Prague-Vyšehrad, once a major seat of Bohemian medieval rulers, pottery is one of the key tool... more At Prague-Vyšehrad, once a major seat of Bohemian medieval rulers, pottery is one of the key tools for dating of find situations and reconstruction of exchange of common consumers´ goods during the Middle Ages. The chapter gives a thorough overview of the current typological dating scheme of Early-High medieaval pottery in central Bohemia which is used for dating of several key assemblages collected at the site. In addition, the chapter presents new evidence of regional, inter-regional and supraregional pottery exchange at and around Vyšehrad in the form of identical potter´s marks and finds of exogenous pottery from 10th century onwards. The chapter is written in Czech but has rasumé and captions in English and German.
Desert and the Nile. Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara Papers in honour of Fred Wendorf, Nov 2018
In the autumn of 2014, the Czech interdisciplinary mission directed by the Czech Institute of Egy... more In the autumn of 2014, the Czech interdisciplinary mission directed by the Czech Institute of Egyptology (Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague) resumed its fieldwork at Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank) explored for remains of prehistoric occupation since 2011. The attention of the mission focused on the site of Sphinx (SBK.W-60), one of this region’s most significant Mesolithic settlements located on a granite outcrop in an embayment in the north-western slope of the jebel. Three weeks of the 2014 field campaign were devoted to a detailed exploration of a comparatively small area (Sounding 5 of 7.5 m2) with a view to elaborating the stratigraphic excavation method and to contributing to the topical discussion in prehistoric archaeology of the central Sudan as to the possibilities and limitations of the understanding of the original cultural stratigraphies and the post-depositional processes affecting the prehistoric cultural deposits. In addition, the exploration was to address the issue of the size of the burial ground uncovered in the southern part of the settlement and tentatively dated to the 8th millennium cal. BC and the issue of the relation of the burial ground to the settlement stratigraphy.
P řesvědčivé doklady o úloze raně středověkého Vyšehradu jako panovnické rezidence se vztahují k ... more P řesvědčivé doklady o úloze raně středověkého Vyšehradu jako panovnické rezidence se vztahují k době Soběslava I. (1125)(1126)(1127)(1128)(1129)(1130)(1131)(1132)(1133)(1134)(1135)(1136)(1137)(1138)(1139)(1140), který zde podle údajů Kanovníka Vyšehradského vykonával řadu vladařských povinností. Pravděpodobný předpoklad, že Vyšehrad sloužil jako panovnické sídlo již za jeho otce Vratislava II. (1061-1092), lze opřít o skutečnost, že tento panovník zde kolem r. 1070 založil kapitulní chrám sv. Petra a Pavla "za duši svou a manželky své" (FRB II, 206) a rovněž nevelkou, ale výpravnou baziliku sv. Vavřince. V předchozím ani v následujícím období raného středověku se o trvalém usídlení jiných českých panovníků na tomto hradišti nedozvídáme nic ani v písemných ani v dalších pramenech, proto např. úvahy některých badatelů o přesídlení Boleslava II. z Pražského hradu na Vyšehrad nutno vnímat jen jako diskusní námět (Hásková 1975, 109).
Pokorný, P. (ed.) et al., Afrika zevnitř. Kontinentem sucha a věčných proměn [Inside Africa. The Continent of Draught and Permanent Change]. Nakladatelství Academia, Praha 2016, s. 265-293., Nov 2016
Abstract book from conference held in Ceske Budejovice (CZ) in February 2015: It has been already... more Abstract book from conference held in Ceske Budejovice (CZ) in February 2015: It has been already ten years when group of several Czech palaeoecologists, archaeobotanists and archaeologists met together for the first time under the platform called the
Archaeobotanical Working Group. It was in 2005. After several very simple and modestly
organized meetings our group was transformed into the Conference of Environmental
Archaeology since 2010 as Czech speaking action. Yet in 2015 we decided to organize first international meeting in English.
So, welcome to České Budějovice! This conference is connected with main activity of the PAPAVER, Centre for human and plant
studies in Europe and Northern Africa, founded in 2012 by the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Science with collaboration of the Institute of Archaeology,
Faculty of Philosophy, University of South Bohemia. The aim of the PAPAVER centre is to develop ties within the interdisciplinary team consisting of paleoecologists, archaeologists, and vegetation ecologists in order to create an effective space for the study of climatic, cultural as well as landscape changes in vegetation and crops along a gradient from Northern Africa across Central Europe up to the coldest areas of the north. The purpose of the project is to connect and coordinate key experts of international repute and thus provide the South Bohemian team the dynamics and impulses for the development of top quality research. A research centre bears the name of a genus of poppies (Papaver), whose representatives are distributed from the coldest areas in the High Arctic to the warmest Northern Africa, thus, representing the region targeted by the project research interests.
21st January 2015,
Jaromír Beneš – Petr Pokorný
Macháček, J. – Ungermann, Š. (eds.), Frühgeschichtliche Zentralorte in Mitteleuropa, Studien zur Archäologie Europas 14, Bonn, 2011
The text addresses early medieval castles in the central part
of Bohemia – the territory connec... more The text addresses early medieval castles in the central part
of Bohemia – the territory connected with the beginning of
the Přemyslid dynasty and the origins of the early Czech
state. We first deal with the dating of the castles, mostly
on the basis of archaeological sources. The chronology of
these buildings has been elaborated significantly in recent
years. We then use this summarized information to produce
a brief sketch of the development of the castles, which we
then attempt to place in a general historical framework. The
conclusion offers a comparison of this new information
with existing concepts of the "Přemyslid domain", which,
in our opinion, requires substantial revision.
The authors deal with the issues of the beginnings of the parish system in the Czech lands, which... more The authors deal with the issues of the beginnings of the parish system in the Czech lands, which formed the prerequisites for a deeper Christianisation of the rural milieu. Based on the distinctive transformations in burials observable in a large part of Bohemia and Moravia, they place the beginnings in the period around 1100 A. D. The evidence of the archaeological sources is confronted with
the testimony of the written evidence and critically also with the conception of art historians, who do not suppose a boom of sacral architecture in the rural milieu until the second half of the 12th century and later. The shift of the beginnings of parish organisation further into the past opens a number of historical and methodological questions.
E. Gringmuth-Dallmer, J. Klápště, Jan Hasil eds., Tradituion - Umgestaltung - Innovation. Transformationsprozesse im hohen Mittelalter. Praehistorica XXXI, No. 2. Berlin - Prag., 2014
The authors deal with the issues of the beginnings of the parish system in the Czech lands, which... more The authors deal with the issues of the beginnings of the parish system in the Czech lands, which formed the prerequisites for a deeper Christianisation of the rural milieu. Based on the distinctive transformations in burials observable in a large part of Bohemia and Moravia, they place the beginnings in the period around 1100 A. D. The evidence of the archaeological sources is confronted with the testimony of the written evidence and critically also with the conception of art historians, who do not suppose a boom of sacral architecture in the rural milieu until the second half of the 12th century and later. The shift of the beginnings of parish organisation further into the past opens a number of historical and methodological questions.
"Královský Vyšehrad IV" edited by Jan Kotous and Bořivoj Nechvátal, 2012
J. Dobosz ed., Kościoł w monarchiach Przemyślidów i Piastów: materiały z konferencji naukowej, Gniezno 21-24 września 2006 roku. Poznań, 2009, 49-72., 2009
P. Onderka, V. Vrtal (eds.), Núbie. Země na křižovatce kultur / Nubia. A land on the crossroads of cultures. Wad Ben Naga 2014, 2014
P. Onderka, V. Vrtal (eds.), Núbie. Země na křižovatce kultur / Nubia. A land on the crossroads of cultures. Wad Ben Naga 2014, pp. 11-19, 2014
P. Onderka, V. Vrtal (eds.), Núbie. Země na křižovatce kultur / Nubia. A land on the crossroads of cultures. Wad Ben Naga 2014, 2014
Nechvátal, B. (ed.), Rotunda sv. Martina a bazilika sv. Vavřince na Vyšehradě. Archeologický výzkum, 2009
Nechvátal, B. (ed.), Rotunda sv. Martina a bazilika sv. Vavřince na Vyšehradě. Archeologický výzkum, 2009
P. Onderka, V. Vrtal (eds.), Núbie. Země na křižovatce kultur / Nubia. A land on the crossroads of cultures. Wad Ben Naga 2014, 2014
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Books by Ladislav Varadzin
Sestává z 22 původních kapitol připravených specialisty na pravěkou a středověkou archeologii, bioarcheologické obory, historickou metalurgii a geologii. Po úvodní části (část I), přibližující okolnosti formování korpusu hmotných pramenů, jsou zařazeny analytické kapitoly věnované nálezům z pravěku (část II) a středověku až novověku (část III). Poslední část (část IV) předkládá syntézu a vyhodnocení poznatků a jejich zasazení do širšího archeologického a historického rámce.
Vedle vůbec prvního systematického zpracování pozůstatků pravěkého osídlení na Vyšehradě (starší a střední eneolit) tato monografie nabízí vhled do nejstarší etapy existence středověkého hradiště (cca 980–1070) a vykresluje stavební a urbanistickou podobu následné raně románské přemyslovské rezidence (cca 1070–1140), která o více než půl století předchází vznik kamenného paláce na Pražském hradě. Dále předkládá detailní charakteristiku stavební podoby a symboliky palácového okrsku obnoveného zde Lucemburky (1348–1420) a postihuje hlavní rysy jeho následné degradace v pohusitském období. Důraz je kladen na hmotnou kulturu, sociální a ekonomické aspekty života na akropoli i na další témata. Text doprovází rozsáhlá fotografická a plánová příloha.
Chapters in books and edited volumes by Ladislav Varadzin
Archaeobotanical Working Group. It was in 2005. After several very simple and modestly
organized meetings our group was transformed into the Conference of Environmental
Archaeology since 2010 as Czech speaking action. Yet in 2015 we decided to organize first international meeting in English.
So, welcome to České Budějovice! This conference is connected with main activity of the PAPAVER, Centre for human and plant
studies in Europe and Northern Africa, founded in 2012 by the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Science with collaboration of the Institute of Archaeology,
Faculty of Philosophy, University of South Bohemia. The aim of the PAPAVER centre is to develop ties within the interdisciplinary team consisting of paleoecologists, archaeologists, and vegetation ecologists in order to create an effective space for the study of climatic, cultural as well as landscape changes in vegetation and crops along a gradient from Northern Africa across Central Europe up to the coldest areas of the north. The purpose of the project is to connect and coordinate key experts of international repute and thus provide the South Bohemian team the dynamics and impulses for the development of top quality research. A research centre bears the name of a genus of poppies (Papaver), whose representatives are distributed from the coldest areas in the High Arctic to the warmest Northern Africa, thus, representing the region targeted by the project research interests.
21st January 2015,
Jaromír Beneš – Petr Pokorný
of Bohemia – the territory connected with the beginning of
the Přemyslid dynasty and the origins of the early Czech
state. We first deal with the dating of the castles, mostly
on the basis of archaeological sources. The chronology of
these buildings has been elaborated significantly in recent
years. We then use this summarized information to produce
a brief sketch of the development of the castles, which we
then attempt to place in a general historical framework. The
conclusion offers a comparison of this new information
with existing concepts of the "Přemyslid domain", which,
in our opinion, requires substantial revision.
the testimony of the written evidence and critically also with the conception of art historians, who do not suppose a boom of sacral architecture in the rural milieu until the second half of the 12th century and later. The shift of the beginnings of parish organisation further into the past opens a number of historical and methodological questions.
Sestává z 22 původních kapitol připravených specialisty na pravěkou a středověkou archeologii, bioarcheologické obory, historickou metalurgii a geologii. Po úvodní části (část I), přibližující okolnosti formování korpusu hmotných pramenů, jsou zařazeny analytické kapitoly věnované nálezům z pravěku (část II) a středověku až novověku (část III). Poslední část (část IV) předkládá syntézu a vyhodnocení poznatků a jejich zasazení do širšího archeologického a historického rámce.
Vedle vůbec prvního systematického zpracování pozůstatků pravěkého osídlení na Vyšehradě (starší a střední eneolit) tato monografie nabízí vhled do nejstarší etapy existence středověkého hradiště (cca 980–1070) a vykresluje stavební a urbanistickou podobu následné raně románské přemyslovské rezidence (cca 1070–1140), která o více než půl století předchází vznik kamenného paláce na Pražském hradě. Dále předkládá detailní charakteristiku stavební podoby a symboliky palácového okrsku obnoveného zde Lucemburky (1348–1420) a postihuje hlavní rysy jeho následné degradace v pohusitském období. Důraz je kladen na hmotnou kulturu, sociální a ekonomické aspekty života na akropoli i na další témata. Text doprovází rozsáhlá fotografická a plánová příloha.
Archaeobotanical Working Group. It was in 2005. After several very simple and modestly
organized meetings our group was transformed into the Conference of Environmental
Archaeology since 2010 as Czech speaking action. Yet in 2015 we decided to organize first international meeting in English.
So, welcome to České Budějovice! This conference is connected with main activity of the PAPAVER, Centre for human and plant
studies in Europe and Northern Africa, founded in 2012 by the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Science with collaboration of the Institute of Archaeology,
Faculty of Philosophy, University of South Bohemia. The aim of the PAPAVER centre is to develop ties within the interdisciplinary team consisting of paleoecologists, archaeologists, and vegetation ecologists in order to create an effective space for the study of climatic, cultural as well as landscape changes in vegetation and crops along a gradient from Northern Africa across Central Europe up to the coldest areas of the north. The purpose of the project is to connect and coordinate key experts of international repute and thus provide the South Bohemian team the dynamics and impulses for the development of top quality research. A research centre bears the name of a genus of poppies (Papaver), whose representatives are distributed from the coldest areas in the High Arctic to the warmest Northern Africa, thus, representing the region targeted by the project research interests.
21st January 2015,
Jaromír Beneš – Petr Pokorný
of Bohemia – the territory connected with the beginning of
the Přemyslid dynasty and the origins of the early Czech
state. We first deal with the dating of the castles, mostly
on the basis of archaeological sources. The chronology of
these buildings has been elaborated significantly in recent
years. We then use this summarized information to produce
a brief sketch of the development of the castles, which we
then attempt to place in a general historical framework. The
conclusion offers a comparison of this new information
with existing concepts of the "Přemyslid domain", which,
in our opinion, requires substantial revision.
the testimony of the written evidence and critically also with the conception of art historians, who do not suppose a boom of sacral architecture in the rural milieu until the second half of the 12th century and later. The shift of the beginnings of parish organisation further into the past opens a number of historical and methodological questions.
During the research performed by the Czech Institute of Egyptology (Charles University in Prague) at Jebel Sabaloka and the Sixth Nile Cataract, abundant evidence of occupation during the Mesolithic was brought to light in the area of the “Rocky Cities” in the north-western foot-zone of the mountain. Subsequent excavation of one of the sites (Sphinx, SBK.W-60) situated on one of the granite outcrops revealed archaeological deposits that lacked visible stratification – a situation typical of most late prehistoric sites in central Sudan. In the vicinity of the archaeological sites, black sediments approx. 1 metre in thickness were found in quite large patches, sometimes covered by rock debris, in an area of ca. 5 square kilometres. Varied pedogeochemical analyses and micromorphological study revealed that these sediments did not constitute soils s.s. and that the black colour reflected post-depositional processes connected with reduction environment. Shells of Bulinus forskalii retrieved from one sample suggest a presence of anoxic environment.
Therefore, there is varied evidence that the area covered by the black deposits is a former swamp environment as described in other places along the Nile. But it has to be noted that these black deposits are not “swamp” deposits in their whole thickness, but only a colluvium rich in Mn and Ca, deposited at places with non-permeable background and subsequently influenced by redoximorphic conditions. Due to heavy erosion, however, the uppermost part (approx. 1 metre) of the former deposits with potentially abundant Pila shells has been removed. It may be suggested that the muddy sediments had occurred not only at large in the “Rocky Cities”, but also on the granite outcrops where Mesolithic deposits have been revealed. It is the presence of muddy conditions that might have severely influenced the stratification of archaeological deposits.
Suková, L. & L. Varadzin, 2012. Preliminary report on the exploration of Jebel Sabaloka (West Bank), 2009–2012. Sudan & Nubia 16: 118–131.
(Selection of talks and televiews: one in English, three in Czech.)
(In Czech.)
hunter-gatherer settlement around the Sixth Nile Cataract. It also suggests adaptability and resilience of local hunter-gatherers in the face of climatic and environmental fluctuations that affected northern Africa during the early to middle Holocene.