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Early Medieval Clay Vessels from Podebłocie in the Light of Metrological Research

2025, 63, No. 1

Ewa Łukaszewicz

0000-0003-2131-7528

Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw

Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Archeologii

DOI

-

Publication date

31.12.2025

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

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Abstract

Pottery constitutes the dominant category within the ceramic assemblage from the early medieval settlement complex at Podebłocie (Masovian Voivodeship). These vessels were multifunctional, typologically diverse, and used across different cultural contexts, exhibiting considerable variation in size and capacity. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study focusing on the capacity of selected clay vessels from Podebłocie. The state of preservation of eleven vessels allowed their volumetric capacity to be measured directly. The results reveal non-random patterns that appear to be of broader cultural significance. Notably, the capacity of the largest vessel corresponds closely to one-sixth of a cubic cubit known from Byzantine metrological systems. This observation raises the question of whether the vessel, whose capacity approximates that of the palatios modios, may have functioned as a standard measure rather than merely a utilitarian container. Furthermore, within the analysed assemblage, there is a vessel whose capacity is exactly ten times smaller than that of the largest example; significantly, both vessels share identical proportions. In addition, a separate pair of vessels is characterised not only by identical constructional proportions but also by the same volumetric capacity. These observations suggest that vessel capacity at Podebłocie was not determined solely by absolute dimensions, but could be predictably controlled through proportional relationships. Archaeological metrology applied to ceramic vessels thus provides insight not only into the possible influence of political, economic, and cultural contacts on pottery production, but also into deliberate technological choices and expressions of human ingenuity in early medieval craft practices.

Keywords:

Podebłocie,early Middle Ages,metrology,clay vessels,capacity of pots

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