Colaboration between project teams

In the autumn of 2021, several samples of pottery and charred human bones were collected from Pohansko and its close surroundings as a part of the GX21-17092X project. Research activities in which these samples were involved focused primarily on radiocarbon dating of the oldest Slavic pottery (the “Prague type”) on one hand and cremations from a cremation burial site that was explored in the 1960s in the southwestern part of the later hillfort from the period between the second half of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century on the other hand.

Samples of Early Slavic pottery were sent to the Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, where they were tested for the presence of organic residues of animal origin. Successful extraction of the organic material will be followed by a radiocarbon analysis. A total of 25 samples of pottery were selected for this unique type of analysis (14 samples from Pohansko and 11 from the Lány site).

Within the project, the research team from Pohansko has also established a very good and friendly cooperation with the young and promising team of the newly established genetic laboratory for aDNA research at the Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts of MU.

Selected charred bones from the Pohansko burial site (55 graves) will be subjected to aDNA analyses and they will also be sent to two laboratories focusing on radiocarbon dating (Radiocarbon Laboratory Poznań, Foundation of the A. Mickiewicz University and Laboratoire C14, Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels).

Before the samples were sent to the analytical laboratories, selected whole bones or their fragments were documented in the Laboratory of Advanced Documentation. Mgr. Vojtěch Nosek created 3D models of these bones and fragments. These 3D models are available both in virtual form and as identical copies printed on a 3D printer. This type of documentation allows us to preserve the archaeological sources in the state they were in before the invasive intervention caused by the removal of a part of a compact bone.

A total of 11 individuals were selected for the C14 analyses, six of which form a group that is being examined both genetically and by subjecting to radiocarbon dating. In addition, three individuals provided sufficient bone material so that a sample from a fragment of one charred bone could have been taken for both the aDNA research and the C14 dating in two laboratories. The samples of the charred bones for the purposes of C14 analyses were taken by Mgr. Pavlina Ingrova, Ph.D., who works as a researcher in the genetic laboratory of the Department of Archaeology and Museology.

If the analyses are successful in both cases, a unique dataset of worldwide significance will be created, which will have a unique position in the research of early Slavs.

Dr. Renáta Přichystalová