Pliska – Dünnschliffanalysen gelber Keramik und anderer frühmittelalterlicher Keramikarten aus einem Geheimgang des »Krum- Palastes« und von benachbarten Fundstellen

Abstract

This article presents results of the analysis of 23 thin sections of early medieval pottery from Pliska (obl. Schumen/BG). This investigation was planned as part of a comprehensive study of the so-called yellow pottery from Pliska, which aimed to characterize these vessels and their production technology as well as to illuminate the connection of this pottery group with the Avar-period yellow pottery in the Carpathian Basin (present-day Hungary and surrounding areas). The yellow pottery from Pliska became well-known primarily through the vessel-set found in a secret passage of »Krum’s Palace« in 1979. Various hypotheses have been suggested for the conceptual origin and place of production of this pottery group, including a Byzantine and a central Asian background. Chemical analyses of the yellow pottery from Pliska and of local sediments have shown that a local production of this pottery in Pliska was possible. The aim of the investigations presented here is to characterize the microstructure of the yellow pottery and other investigated pottery groups from Pliska, in order to determine possible similarities/differences between these groups, as well as to show/disprove potential connections with yellow pottery groups of the 8th and 9th centuries from the Carpathian Basin and neighbouring areas.