Archaeological Excavations of an Early Medieval Smelting Workshop at the Virje-Volarski breg Site

U zaštitnim arheološkim iskopavanjima, provedenim u travnju 2008. godine na položaju Virje-Volarski breg, istraženi su ostaci talioničke radionice od koje je evidentirano pet talioničkih peći in situ, nekoliko dislociranih ostataka uništenih peći, pet otpadnih jama sa zapečenom zemljom, jedna ograda s popratnim tvorevinama te mnoštvo stupova. Istraživanjima su ustanovljeni oblici peći. Sve su se sastojale od tri različita, ali međusobno spojna dijela. To su: ložište, kanalić i jamica za višak zgure. Ustanovljen je i prostorni razmještaj iskopanih peći u arheološki istraženom dijelu radionice. Po dvije peći postavljene su jedna nasuprot drugoj s otvorima za izljev tekuće zgure s vanjske strane. Višak zgure premještao se u obližnje otpadne jame sa zapečenim dnom koje su istodobne pećima. Analiza radioaktivnog izotopa ugljika iz uzorka ugljena prikupljenog u najočuvanijoj peći kao i ugljena iz najočuvanije otpadne jame, pokazala je vrijeme funkcioniranja talioničke radionice na položaju Virje-Volarski breg u razdoblju ranoga srednjega vijeka, točnije u vremenu između kraja 8. i tijekom 9. stoljeća. Dvije su jame/objekti prema arheološkim nalazima pokazivale drugačiju sliku. U njima je pronalažena keramika finih stijenki te nešto životinjskih kostiju. Analiza ugljena prikupljenog u zapuni jedne od njih dala je prapovijesnu dataciju, točnije, latensko razdoblje 2. do prve polovine 1. st. pr. Kr.In archaeological rescue excavations conducted at the Virje-Volarski breg site over seven workdays, from 21 to 28 April 2008, the remains of a smelting workshop were investigated, of which five smelting kilns, several dislocated remains of destroyed furnaces, five waste pits with burnt earth, one fence with the corresponding formations and a number of pillars were registered in situ. In the excavations, the kiln shapes were identified. They all consisted of three interlinked parts: the fireplace, a small channel and a little hole for dross excess. The spatial organization of excavated kilns in the archaeologically examined part of the smelting workshop was identified as well. Pairs of two kilns were positioned opposite of each other with outlets for liquid dross on their outside. Excess dross was transported to the nearby waste pits with fired bottoms, which were synchronous with the kilns. The analysis of a radioactive carbon isotope, taken from the best-preserved kiln SU 008/009, and from charcoal from the best-preserved waste pit SU 018/019, provided a framework for the time in which the smeltning workshop was active at the Virje-Volarski breg site in the Early Middle Ages, more precisely at the time between the late eight and the ninth centuries. Archaeological finds from two pits/structures stand out from the usual situation. In them, fine pottery and some animal bones were found. The analysis of charcoal collected in fill SU 095 dates them to prehistory, i.e. in the La Tène period, approximately from the second until the first half of the first centuries BC