On Early Medieval Roasting Trays and their Presence in the Settlements from the North-Western Part of Romania
On Early Medieval Roasting Trays and their Presence in the Settlements from the North-Western Part of Romania

Summary/Abstract: These clay containers, larger in size, are known throughout the Early Medieval Period in the entireeastern half of Europe. Consensus has not been reached on how they should be called in Romanian literature(the recently employed term is “platouri”) and in the older literature they were often interpreted as “portablehearths”. This explanation cannot be supported by more precise observations and is mainly contradicted by thelow strength of their walls, a characteristic that excludes the possibility that they were moved. Still, this possibilitycannot be entirely excluded, as sturdier items were sometimes signaled, made of more compact and betterfired fabric; at times, though very rarely, they also had transversal orifices at the base. Their connection withovens made of clay and stone is nevertheless certain, as these roasting trays have been built on top of such ovenson a wattle structure. There are numerous contexts relevant for this, mentioned in settlements dated to thesecond half of the 6th century and the first part of the 7th century in the southern part of Wallachian Plain wherethey are thus attested for the first time. During the same period they were introduced in the north-western partof Romania as well, where they were used until the 9th–10th centuries. Like elsewhere, the contexts of discoveryindicate the same connection to the ovens inside dwellings but sometimes also to hearths set in the area betweenthe dwellings. The great majority of roasting trays are rectangular in shape, but there are some are also oval orcircular ones (those in the latter category are larger and have higher walls than the clay pans per se). Over theentire territory of Romania, the peak presence of such containers, probably mainly used for drying cereals, fruit,and vegetables, can be set during the 8th–9th centuries. The latest items known from the territory of Romania arethose from settlements on the Lower Danube, dated to the 11th–12th centuries.

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