Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 30/1. (2010)
Articles
LATE MEDIEVAL GRAPHITE WARE IN THE TÁRGU MURE§ FRANCISCAN FRIARY AND THE STUDY OF IMPORTED POTTERY IN TRANSYLVANIA ÜNIGE BENCZE Central European University, Budapest Keywords: ‘Austrian pottery’, graphite, import, Tärgu Mures, Middle Age It is only recently that Romanian scholarship started acknowledging the presence of imported pottery in medieval Transylvania, and there exist but a few studies that list fragments of foreign pottery ware among the archaeological finds. The small number of excavations conducted at medieval sites (towns, villages, monasteries and castles) and even smaller number of publications of the archaeological material lead to the obvious conclusion that the thorough study of imported pottery cannot be conducted at this point. The present article however aims to remedy the situation, by analyzing a group of the imported pottery known in the Hungarian scholarship under the term Austrian pottery’ or in the German as Graphitkeramik - umbrella terms encompassing the pottery products of workshops from Austria, characterized by the presence of graphite in the clay paste in order to make the vessels more resistant. The article will offer an overview of the previous research on the material found in medieval Transylvania and identify the concrete sites. It will conclude by interpreting the finds within a larger context of trade networks in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, thus offering one of the possible lines of inquiry that could be taken in future research on this material. Although the issue of imported pottery has been largely neglected in Romanian scholarship, the most recent publications identify the presence of types of pottery that differ from the locally produced ones. This difference can be observed in the quality of paste, forms and decoration. The significance of imported pottery has been thus far highlighted by Adrian Andrei Rusu,1 whose initial inquiries of the subject have been corroborated by research of Dana Marcu-Istrate. Her investigation at the cathedral and bishop’s palace in Alba Iulia revealed new fragmentary pieces of graphite pottery.2 Yet the issue of this type of pottery was raised on a broader regional level much earlier. As far as the territory of medieval Hungary is concerned, the first study of imported pottery (which included Austrian products) was published in 1955 by Imre Holl.3 Hoffs research represented an important step for the medieval pottery studies, since his work introduced the Hungarian material into the discussion on Austrian pottery’ in the region. Indeed, research 1 Rusu 2008, 291-301. 2 Marcu-Istrate 2008. 3 Holl 1955, 147-199. MARISIA XXX, p. 205-212
