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Pattern-welded sword from the grave No. 715, Mikulčice, and its metallographic examination
Hošek, Jiří ; Košta, J.
The investigated sword comes from Mikulčice Stronghold, which was one of the main power centres of the Gr. Moravian Empire created in the first third of the 9th century and abolished by invasion of Avars into Carpathian basin at the beginning of the 10th century. The weapon was lifted from the grave No. 715, in which also a knife, an axe, and remnants of spurs were found besides the sword. It is supposed, on the base of badly preserved skeleton, that the interred man died in age of 40-60. The sword is due to its general sturdy construction, a two-piece pommel, and a short guard, obviously related to the early-Carolingian types and could be roughly dated to the first half of the 9th century. The sword ranks rather among display weapons, because its pattern-welded blade, which was presumably never destined for frequent combat, was only iron in preserved cutting-edges, and any previous effective improvement by steel and subsequent heat treatment cannot be evidenced in the cutting lines.
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Sword from a grave 723 in Mikulčice and its metallographical examination
Hošek, Jiří ; Košta, J.
The investigated sword was lifted from the grave No. 723 situated on the acropolis of the Early Medieval stronghold of Mikulčice near by Hodonín. The grave unit was discovered on a small graveyard by the stone foundations of civic palatial building. The sword, which belongs to the Petersen N type, can be dated into the course of last three quarters of the 9th century. The sword blade consists of piled steel core and steel (probably but-) welded-on cutting edges (also composed of two or three mutually welded rods). The blade has been most likely oil-quenched (bainitic structure with hardness of 373+/-40 HV0.3) in the lower part (near by tip), the upper part (near by hilt) remained unquenched and bears unreadable inscription formed of phosphoric iron (ca 1.3 % P). Nickel and arsenic (3.1 % Ni and 1.8 % As in maximum) were found in welds of the blade and copper (ca 4.4 %) in welds of the pommel base.
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Iron bloom from Žďár nad Sázavou in the light of questions of phosphoric iron in medieval cutlery
Hošek, Jiří ; Malý, K. ; Zavyalov, V.
The examined bloom came from the North of Žďár nad Sázavou, formerly a 13th century medieval town abolished between 1262 and 1276. The bloom was uncovered in pit No.551 (pieces of slag and remnants of furnace were found besides the bloom) situated in the area with traces of metallurgical activities. Investigation of the object revealed that the bloom consisted of inhomogeneous phosphorus-rich metal which presumably was not intended for ordinary treatment. The bloom may be a result of unsuccessful smelting either a semiproduct of a material intended for special purposes. The phosphoric iron was used in production of luxury medieval knives for example. With regards to problems to evidence local luxury knife-making, the semiproducts with elevated phosphorus content could attest an appropriate background for a local luxury-knife production.
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Iron Bloom from the defunct medieval village of Polom (district of Blansko)
Merta, J. ; Hošek, Jiří
The site of the former medieval village of Polom is situated in the margin of an old ironworking district in the centre of Moravian Karst. The only mention about Polom as a living village comes from 1432 (later documents from 1526, 1548, 1560 and 1597 already mention the village as a desolated one). According to the ceramic material (surface prospecting) we can suppose the village existed from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Its extinction is most likely associated with the year-long siege of the neighbouring New Castle during the war between kings Jiři of Poděbrady and Matthias Corvinus. It seems, according to the geography of the surrounding areas, that Polom was an agricultural village. However, recently an iron bloom was unlawfully excavated in the site.
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Metallographic analyse of knives. Appendix 2
Hošek, Jiří
Knife from Křeslice grave No.3 and very similar knife No. 53.541 from grave VI from Dobřichov –Pičhora were metallographicaly examined in order to evaluate their original construction and quality of used material. Both of them were found very good, originally forged out of steel and at least the blade from Křeslice in addition most likely carburised in the cutting edge. The blade from Dobřichov-Pičhora revealed traces of piling, which could be done in order to homogenize distribution of carbon. In both cases we can underline very low amount of slag inclusions, what witnesses for precise treatment and forging. In any case we cannot describe original heat treatment (if quenched or not), both the knives however ranked among contemporary high quality products, which were usually made of piled steel and/or carburised in their cutting edges.
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Modelování profilů rychlosti větru naměřených sodarem v komplexním terénu
Hošek, Jiří
The wind profiles with two Doppler sodars were measured in wide range of synoptic situations in Ore mountains (Erzgebirge) and in the region of Orlické hory (mountains), both in the Czech republic. Ore mountains represent the region most suitable for construction of wind turbines in the Czech republic. Concerning the observed wind profiles, their generalization may serve for improvement of precision of the simulated wind profile fields. In the second part of the work, we performed the modelling of wind speed profiles in the complex terrain of above-mentioned mountain ranges. We have applied the non-hydrostatic meso-scale models KAMM and PIAP. The numerical simulations with the models were performed for different situations of the ambient flow, described by geostrophic wind speed and direction, and temperature stratification.
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Catalogue of metallographic examinations of iron objects from medieval sites
Hošek, Jiří
The article introduces the catalogue, which has been prepared in the Laboratories of conservation CAS Prague and which should help archaeometallurgists and archaeologists gain a basic orientation in the archaeometallurgical research into Bohemian and Moravian medieval iron objects that has been carried out to date. Since a number of such metallographic examinations have already been published it was decided above all to insert sites and objects from the 13th to 15th centuries in the first part of the catalogue. The metallography of objects from the medieval village of Pfaffenschlag is shown here as example of how the single sites are treated there.
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New archaeological finds from Horská Kvilda
Hošek, Jiří ; Kudrnáč, Jaroslav
Several iron objects and pieces of slag, including a 14th to 15th centuries war-knife and horseshoe, were found in an area of medieval gold mines near Horská Kvilda in 2002. The war-knife had a blade of high quality with a butt-welded and quenched cutting edge, the handle was presumably made of horn and a guard piece was lily-shaped. There is no doubt that this weapon belongs among the more precious and decorated pieces and we can assume its relation to a higher social environment. The horseshoe (suitable for front hoofs) wasn’t provided by steel (in order to improve its abrasion resistance) and thus ranks among simple products.
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