Sažetak (engleski) | The features of early medieval pottery obtained in the systematic archaeological excavations that were carried out in the period from 2002 to 2008 in the vicinity of the present-day village of Torčec in Podravina (Koprivnica-Križevci County). After many years of intensive archaeological reconnaissance and reambulation of the surroundings of Torčec, several locations were selected for detailed research (Prečno pole I, Blaževo pole 6, Ledine, Pod Gucak, Rudičevo). These locations indicated a continuity of settlement in this area from the turn of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century to the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century. The research revealed remains of residential buildings, hearths and ovens, as well as waste pits, but also parts of open settlements of the scattered type located along the old courses of the Drava River and its meanders. Noticeable changes, which had occurred during the centuries-long habitation of this micro-complex in the Middle Ages, could be identified, particularly in terms of the shapes of the ground-plan of residential buildings, but also in the design and technological features of ceramic ware, which, based on a detailed analysis, were classified into five groups of pottery (1-5). Of the functional forms, the kitchen pot is the most frequently represented one in the entire period under review, which in certain groups shows identical or similar features in terms of the design of the rim and body, the motifs of decoration and the method of production. Based on other findings from the investigated structures and also analogies from the wider surroundings, the differences between the defined ceramic groups were additionally supported by radiocarbon analyses and hence divided into five phases (Torčec phases I-V). In addition to pots, other functional forms had also been used in different time periods, from baking pans in the earliest period to bottles, jugs and plates in the most recent period observed here. Life in the wider area of Torčec had continued throughout the late medieval period and early modern period, as indicated by the archaeological remains that were discovered at sites with fortification and sacred features, i.e. at locations with indicative toponyms such as Gradić (late medieval hillfort) and Cirkvišče (church with cemetery). |