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Several notes on the tombstones from the Early and beginning of the High Middle Ages
Podhorský, Jan
In the past, collective works gathering knowledge scattered in sources of various kinds and the publication of new researches as well as researches already closed but not yet published significantly contributed to the expansion of knowledge about tombstones from the Early and beginning of the High Middle Ages. From the territory of Bohemia and Moravia, 83 localities from 72 cadastral areas are already known with documented or probable finds of tombstones from the Early Middle Ages. An interesting and as yet unexplained phenomenon is the noticeably higher incidence of tombstones in Bohemia (72 localities) in comparison with the situation in the territory of Moravia (11 localities). Despite the growing number of newly discovered sites with finds of tombstones from the Early Middle Ages, some other aspects of the study of this phenomenon remain difficult to explain. Especially in relation to the continuation of their occurrence also at the beginning of the High Middle Ages, when the complication is mainly an insignificant manifestation of the funeral rite, on the basis of which a more accurate chronological classification would be possible. The question of the occurrence of undecorated tombstones in the High Middle Ages is resolved using the example of rather unique documents, which, however, manifest an uncertain chronological affiliation. On the other hand, the situation documented during research at Mariánská louka (Marian Meadow) in Děčín suggests that the use of undecorated tombstones may not have been unusual even in the 14th century. The described examples further address the possibilities of a rather exceptional use of tombstones in the milieu of the social elites, where, however, the potential of the preservation of tombstones in the primary position and their identification is complicated by frequent translations of the remains and construction interventions. A significant expansion of existing knowledge is provided by the current research of the defunct medieval burial ground in the locality of Nesvětice (cadastral district Libkovice u Mostu) dated preliminary to the 11th–13th centuries, where the largest collection of tombstones on our territory comes from. The significance of this research lies primarily in the scope of the researched area, where the number of exposed graves with tombstones sheds new light on the study of this component of the funeral rite.
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