Staletá Praha 39, 2/2023, 2-30 | DOI: 10.56112/sp.2023.2.01

Archaeological Evidence of Medieval Metallurgical Activities in Prague’s Clementinum – Production and Processing of Bronze, Brass and Silver

Jan Zavřel¹, Jan Havrda¹, Karel Malý², Romana Kočárová²

¹ Národní památkový ústav, územní odborné pracoviště v Praze, Na Perštýně 356/12, CZ-110 00 Praha 1

² Masarykova univerzita v Brně, Ústav archeologie a muzeologie, Joštova 220/13, CZ-662 43 Brno

The article focuses on documentation of medieval production technologies, especially on the metallurgy of precious and non-ferrous metals or their alloys (silver, bronze and brass). Geochemical analysis was carried out using the EDS-SEM method. Under focus are furnaces and other finds from the Clementinum area near the western edge of Prague’s Old Town; reviewed are also the small finds discovered in the vicinity. The local finds of production features (furnaces) or small remains after their destruction (fragments from the walls of the furnaces) and also artefacts belonging to other types of archaeometallurgical finds (lumps and drops of non-ferrous metal alloys, slag, touchstones, technical ceramics, crucible) expand the knowledge of specialized production activities in Prague during the 12th and the 13th century.

Keywords: Prague – Old Town – Clementinum – 12th and 13th centuries – production of bronze, silver, brass – metallurgical furnaces – archaeo­metallurgy – EDS-SEM

Grants and funding:

Příspěvek vznikl v rámci výzkumné oblasti I. Archeologie financované z institucionální podpory Ministerstva kultury na dlouhodobý koncepční rozvoj výzkumné organizace NPÚ (IP DKRVO) a rozpočtu NPÚ

Published: April 12, 2024