engleski

Life on the mediaeval castle: bone artefacts as indicators of handicraft and leisure

The castle of Vrbovec lies on a steep slope offering a splendid view of the Sutla river valley, in the village Klenovec Humski in very northwestern part od Croatia. Vrbovec Castle or castrum Vrbouch is directly or indirectly mentioned in historical sources in the period between 1267 and 1497. Archaeological excavations point to an even earlier time of its upbuilding, i.e. the very end of the 12th century, and to an even longer continuity of its use until the mid 16th cent. The polygonal layout of the Romanesque castle has been preserved only at foundation level and in the lower portions of walls of ground-floor rooms. Archaeological investigations brought to the light a lot of faunal remains from all periods of life at the castle. The sample consists of a total of around 6850 fragments of bones, teeth and horns (mostly mammals, a few bird and fish bones). Few of them show traces of butchery marks or even different marks of primary treatment in the process of making a bone artefact. That indicates these activities at the very castle of Vrbovec. There is also evidence of bone-objects of different purposes, which mainly originate from the layer of backfill of the castle medieval cistern, most of them dating back to the late 15th and first half of the 16th century. There are awls and bodkins which were most probably used by servants. Few bone artefacts tell us also a story on how the nobleman and noblechild spent their leasure time (fife, rattle), as well as how noblewoman spent her day in the castle (knitting- needle, lace bobbin).

mediaeval castle; archaeological find; worked bones; Klenovec Humski; North Croatia

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