Röthaer Group

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Ceramics from the Röthaer Group (Jena-Lobeda)

The Röthaer Group was an early Slavic ceramic group from the 8th to 10th centuries in what is now Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia . It was widespread in an area between the Weißer Elster and the Saale .

It is named after finds in the Wallburg near Rötha ( Leipzig district ). The name was introduced in 1979 by the archaeologist Heinz-Joachim Vogt.

Other important sites were

The carriers of the culture were the West Slavic Sorbs tribes (at that time the name for the tribes between Saale and Mulde ).

Historical background

In the middle of the 8th century the Röthaer group developed from the Rüssener group .

During this time, the area east of the Saale came under increasing pressure from the Frankish Empire . After 806, Sorbian princes recognized the sovereignty of the empire and agreed to pay tribute. A Limes Sorabicus is mentioned for the following decades .

The Röthaer group ended around the middle of the 10th century, probably in connection with the conquest of the territory 928/29 by the East Frankish-German King Henry I .

Ceramics

Röthaer ceramics (3rd to 5th row)

The ceramics differed little from the previous Russian ceramics. It was decorated with various shapes of wavy ribbons, had a smooth or grainy surface and was mostly gray. The goods were hand-formed and turned on the potter's wheel or board.

Settlements

Partly reconstructed stone curtain wall (Jena-Lobeda)

The settlements were on rivers, lakes and in swamp areas and were mostly unpaved. During this time fortified hill castles were also built as hilltop castles on rivers on elevations such as terrain spurs (Jena-Lobeda) or as low-rise castles (Cösitz). They were bordered by mighty wood and earth walls, some with stone curtain walls (Jena-Lobeda).

economy

The basis of life was agriculture and animal husbandry, but also hunting, fishing and handicrafts. Metals like iron were processed, but were rare overall.

Burials of corpses in urns took place in grave fields.

literature

Sebastian Brather : Archeology of the Western Slavs: Settlement, Economy and Society in the Early and High Medieval East Central Europe. 2nd edition, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020609-8 , pp. 121–129.

  • Hansjürgen Brachmann: Slavic tribes on the Elbe and Saale. About their history and culture in the 6th to 10th centuries - based on archaeological sources . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1978 (Writings on Prehistory and Early History, Vol. 32)
  • Sebastian Brather:  Slavic ceramics. Elbe Slavs. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 29, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018360-9 , pp. 79-88.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Hansjürgen Brachmann: The Wallburg "The Kessel" from Kretzschau-Groitzschen, Kr. Zeitz - suburb of a Sorbian castle district of the 9th century . In: Karl-Heinz Otto and Joachim Herrmann (eds.): Settlement, castle and city. Studies at the beginning. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1969, p. 343-360 (German Academy of Sciences in Berlin, publications of the Section for Prehistory and Early History, Vol. 25)
  2. ↑ Sebastian Brather:  Slavic Keramik.Elbslawen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 29, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018360-9 , pp. 79-88.
  3. ↑ Heinz-Joachim Vogt, 1987
  4. ↑ Joachim Herrmann: Similarities and differences in the castle building of the Slavic tribes west of the Oder . In: Zeitschrift für Archäologie 1, 1967, ISSN  0044-233X , pp. 206-258.
  5. ↑ Particularly widespread in the outskirts of the Franconian Empire, Hansjürgen Brachmann: On the origin and distribution of drywall and mortar masonry in early medieval fortifications in Central Europe . In: Gerd Labuda and Stanisław Tabaczyński (eds.): Studia nad etnogenezą Słowian i kulturą Europy wczesnośredniowiecznej . Festschrift for Witold Hensel. Vol. 1. Zakład Narod. Im. Ossoliń., Wrocław 1987, pp. 199-215