Techniques of early medieval cutlery production. The variability in technologies and quality of a selected part of an archaeological assemblage from the viewpoint of metallographical investi-gation

Ing. Jiří Hošek, PhD, Ing. Václav Kubíček, (r.č. A800020603), 2006-2008

The goal of the project is a study of early medieval cutlery at selected strongholds of Central Bohemia by newly introduced and modified non-sampling metallographic methods that would be in accordance with current trends and increased emphasis on non-destructive research and conservation of archaeo-logical objects. The research involves an ascertaining of distinguishable blade-types, conservation and metallography of selected knives to ascertain the proportion of the blade types from the point of view of chronological and geographical determination, tracing of the relations between the earlier and later phases of cutlery production as well as the proportion of inferior- and high-quality blades. There is important the making of a database available for further research and above all the creation of suffici-ent conditions for everyday pre-conservation and non-sampling metallography, which enable the use of the determined blade types in everyday archaeological practice.