10.4.2017 Ceramic vessels with bronze objects

Archaeologists uncovered the ceramic vessel buried in the ground five years ago in the Přerov region. It contained three thousand-year-old bronze objects. These included, for example, circular jewellery or a so-called phalera made of bronze sheet with richly wrought decoration.

According to archaeologists, this is a completely unique find in the Olomouc Region. The find was examined by experts from the Comenius Museum. The site was brought to their attention by Tomáš Melich, who found it. The core of the bronze depot was subsequently located by archaeologists using a metal detector.

They then inserted a microprobe into the ground to a depth of thirty centimetres, which revealed a larger ceramic vessel partially damaged by ploughing. However, as a result of agricultural activity on the land in question, it had been destroyed and dislodged, along with several bronze objects, from its original location. The archaeologists recovered the vessel containing the bronze objects in situ and took it to the museum laboratory.

"This is a unique discovery in the whole Olomouc region. It ranks among the most important bronze depots, popularly known as bronze treasures, which have beendecades found in Moravia or the entire Czech Republic," commented the archaeologist Zdeněk Schenk from Přerov.

The depot included circular jewellery decorated with engraved decoration, parts of buckles, a hub of a wagon wheel and especially a circular object - a phalera made of bronze sheet. Its surface bears a strikingly rich wrought decoration consisting of four concentric bands of beads alternating with three bands of buds.

The bronze treasure was probably hidden by someone in the Late Bronze Age. According to experts, the burial of the vessel had a cult significance linked to a ritual.

"Such significant finds are very rare, and it is therefore necessary in such a case to call in archaeologists from the nearest organization in the region so that the find can be thoroughly documented. The depot, the exact location of which we are not mentioning for precautionary reasons, is one of the mostsignificant archaeological discoveries in the Olomouc region in recent decades," said archaeologist Zdeněk Schenk.

Archaeologists have thoroughly treated the find in the laboratory and subjected it to analyses. Experts then carefully excavated the contents of the vessel. They then made a chronological determination and compared the treasure with other depots found in the Czech Republic.

Sources: www.propamatky.info, www.tyden.cz