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VIII/2/2017
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Maintenance of Underground Granaries in Medieval Towns;
Case Study from Padowetz, Brno, Czech Republic
Lenka Lisá
a*
, Marek Peška
b
, David Merta
b
, Miloš Gregor
c
a
Institute of Geology CAS, Rozvojová 269, Prague 6, 165 00, Czech Republic
b
Archaia Brno, Bezručova 15/78, Brno, 602 00, Czech Republic
c
Independent researcher, Rovníková 8, 821 02 Bratislava, Slovakia
1. Introduction
Underground granaries are silos dug in the ground to store
cereals. These underground constructions constitute the
traditional way of cereal storage in all Slavic countries up
to the 18
th
century (Kunz 2004). They are mainly typical for
Early Medieval and Medieval rural environments (Donat
1980, 80–83; Dostál 1985, 40–43; Klanica 2008, 183–186;
Kuna, Profantová
et al.
2005, 117–118; Kudrnáč 1958;
Nekuda, 2007, 49–51; Pleinerová 2000, 213) as well as
in prehistory (Gašpar, in press). Rarely were underground
granaries also built in towns. We detect them, for example,
in Brno up to the 12
th
, maximally 14
th
century (Procházka
2012; 2013).
The technology of granaries is nearly unknown in the
Czech Republic. By contrast, in Slovakian lowlands around
the river Donau and Tisa granaries were used up to the end
of the Second World War (Kunz 2004). Some notes about the
use of granaries in the Hungarian agricultural literature of
18
th
and 19
th
century may also be found (Kunz 2004). These
storage pits usually do not occur in sandy soils and forested
areas. The best conditions for the construction of granaries
are the dry plains of north and south Mediterranean areas,
in the plains around the Danube and the north coastal areas
of the Black Sea, in the Middle East, in central Asia, or in
southern Siberia. With good soil conditions, where there is
minimal erosion, they have been preserved till the present
day used by shepherds in steppe regions. The main factors
in the spread in use of granaries are dry soil and little rain.
That is why there is a diference between the northern limit
for growing cereals and the northern limit in the historical
occurrence of granaries. The southern limits show a similar
picture. The prehistorical phase of granaries in central
Europe shows a unity in their construction. The granaries
were built the same way until people were converted to the
modern way of agriculture (Kunz 2004).
Up to now we have detected only a few such fndings dated
to the period of the 13
th
to 14
th
centuries in the centre of Brno
Volume VIII ● Issue 2/2017 ● Pages 157–165
*Corresponding author. E-mail: lisa@gli.cas.cz
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 28
th
August 2017
Accepted: 6
th
November 2017
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.24916/iansa.2017.2.5
Key words:
corny holes
storage pits
geoarchaeology
micromorphology
phytoliths
ABSTRACT
Medieval underground granaries are typical storage facilities for the Slavic part of Europe, but their
appearance generally all over Europe is not limited to just a few regions. Though typical for the rural
environment of villages, these objects are nearly unknown in cities. The only examples excavated
inside city walls belong to the 12
th
to 14
th
century. This also explains why the maintenance practices
used are nearly unknown. The Medieval granary excavated inside the city walls of Brno, Czech
Republic, has provided important information concerning the way the granary was maintained and
used. Micromorphological descriptions, combined with the PRTG analyses, show that the excavated
granary was probably used repeatedly. The walls of the granary and also its bottom had been repeatedly
sealed with straw. This material was at the bottom of the infll preserved in a nearly fresh state or
totally impregnated by phosphates. Also the phases of bioturbation and the record of a burning event
were recorded. The burning of the interior parts of the granary was probably their way of cleaning.
The temperature was not higher than 300̊ C. These practices may be compared with rural practices
documented already in 18
th
century in village areas. This is the frst documentation of the processes of
maintenance for Medieval granaries as compared with more recently documented practices. It confrms
that the local inhabitants of a Medieval town applied the older rural tradition as known from village
areas.
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(Procházka 2012, 1012; 2013). Generally the underground
granaries are often pear-shaped, with small openings and
diameters of up to three metres at their widest point (Kunz
2004). The underground granaries excavated up till now in
the Brno town area are usually pear-shaped with diameters
of 1.8 m (2.2 m respectively) reaching a depth of 3.6 metres.
These have been detected mainly in the distal parts of
burgher plots (Kobližná 3, Josefská 8, Starobrněnská 18;
Procházka 2013, 110; 2012, 203; 2000, 58). Due to the fact
that most of the plots demarcated in the second quarter of the
13
th
century do not show any underground granary locations,
we can connect their appearance mainly with the older rural
tradition of the local inhabitants. While the need for cereals
in the towns lasted, unlike in the villages there was no need
to store added cereals for sowing. Additionally there was the
need to store not only cereals, but also craft and other raw
materials. The urban character of the sunken features at that
time was usually already connected with the construction of
earthen house cellars (Holub
et al.
2005). The storage of the
ceramic vessels (Nekuda, Reichertová 1968, 63; Procházka,
Peška 2007, 168) used to store cereals had in fact replaced
the need for underground granaries.
To preserve the grain in an anaerobic environment, the
pits were flled to the top and then hermetically sealed. The
oxygen remaining in the silo would alter (decompose) the
grain in contact with the earthen walls, but would be quickly
used up as it turned to carbon dioxide. Cereals could thus
be kept for several years without fermenting and without
being attacked by insects. Among all these silos, certain
cylindrical pits may be distinguished by their greater depth
and by the existence of internal compartments associated
with a raised foor. This arrangement solved the problem of
excess humidity by creating an opening for coals or heated
stones to be introduced, thus drying out the silo’s contents.
We know that a part of the stored grain was thus steamed or
grilled. These pits, which were normally grouped together a
short distance from dwellings, were no doubt used to store
excess grain from the harvest. After a period of use – which
we believe to be relatively short – these silos were often
converted into waste pits (Kunz 2004).
There is a little known about the maintenance of
underground granaries from the 12
th
–14
th
century,
especially in the town environment of the city of Brno.
The main aim of this paper is therefore an evaluation of the
possible maintenance methods of the underground granary
excavated at the edge of the Brno medieval burger plot,
and the information value of such sedimentary records for
understanding the medieval practices of these storage pits.
2. Material and methods
The construction of an underground parking area for the
Padowetz Hotel in 2008 (Bašty Street No. 2), was the
Figure 1.
Location of the study area together with the plan of the excavations and a section of the underground granary. 1) Bašty street No. 2; 2) Josefská
street No. 8; 3) Starobrněnská street No. 18; 4) Kobližná street No. 3.
0 5 m
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reason for the rescue excavations led by the archaeological
company Archaia Brno. The study area, at an altitude of
214 m a.s.l., was located in the internal part of plot 351,
Bašty Street, on the gentle lower slopes of the Petrov Hill.
This area belongs historically to the medieval quarter of
Brno town (
Quartale Brunensis
), in the close neighbourhood
of the city walls and Jewish gateway (
Porta Judeorum
).
The excavated area had the dimensions of 18×13 m. The
geological background was composed of loess with a partly-
preserved soil cover (20–30 cm). There were the preserved
foundations of two houses, two ovens and one underground
storage pit interpreted as an underground granary (Figure 1).
The infll of the granary was quite homogenous with a
laminated bottom part. This part was described according to
feld sedimentological criteria, based on parameters such as
colour, texture, and internal organization. The colour of the
sediments was identifed in both a wet and dry state using
a Munsell soil colour chart. The two micromorphological
Figure 2.
Documentation of the underground granary from Bašty Street together with a detail of the laminated bottom of this granary.
0 1 m
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samples from this layer were collected using a Kubiena
box. Large thin sections (approximately 140×70 mm)
were prepared in the laboratory of Julie Boreham, Reach,
GB (www.earthslides.com) and examined under plain and
cross polarised light at diferent magnifcations (40–800×).
The descriptions and interpretations mainly followed the
guidelines used by Stoops (2003) and Stoops
et al.
(2010).
The mineralogical composition of the black uppermost
part of the laminated fll of the granary was estimated with
help of X-ray powder difraction analyses using Bruker
D-8 Advance (Department of Mineralogy and Petrology,
Comenius University, Bratislava) operating at 440 kV and
40 mA using Cu antikathod (Cukα1=Å) and a Ni flter. The
can speed recording intensities was in 0.01 °2θ per 1 second
and oriented powder specimens were prepared.
3. Results
3.1 Morphological and sedimentary description of the
granary infll
The underground granary mouth had an elliptical shape with
a longer axis of 1.5 metres and shorter axis of 1 metre. The
maximal diameter of the sunken part of the granary was
2.4 m and the depth of the granary (measured from the former
surface altitude) reached 2.2 m. The granary had originally
a “bag-like” shape, but the walls had partly collapsed and
the shape of it was a little deformed. This seems to be a
common efect documented in underground granaries and it
is a testament to the gradual decline of the granary. The pit
of the granary did not cut any older situation. Later on, the
granary infll had been cut by a much younger feature (right
side of photo, Figure 2) from the beginning of the 13
th
and
14
th
century. This feature indirectly more or less dates the
terminal infll of the granary (layers 268 and 265, Figure 2).
The bottom part of the granary infll was composed
of thin bands (numbers 297, 311, 312, 313). The fve
lithologically diferent layers were divided macroscopically
(Figure 2). The layer 297 is a light brown, tough plastic
loam containing fragments of yellow plastic loam (30%),
occasionally fragments of burned loam, and infrequently of
microcharcoal. The layer 310 is dark brown, tough plastic
loam with occasional microcharcoal, burned loam, small
lenses of yellow plastic loam, small fragments of bones,
ceramic shreds and small pebbles. The layer 311 is a brown,
tough plastic loam with occasional microcharcoal and lenses
of yellow plastic loam. The layer 313 is a brown, tough
plastic loam. The layer 312 is composed of yellow plastic
Figure 3.
The main types of the pottery fndings.
0 10 cm
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