On the Fringes of Empire

The multi-touch you are reading is an incarnation of the printed book titled “Mali grad : high medieval castle in Kamnik” published in 2009. The book brings concise archaeological and historical accounts of a castle located in the border region of the Holy Roman Empire. As such it is especially important for archaeologists since it displays artefacts with analogies from England and Germany in the West across to Poland in the East and the Balkans in the South.

The aim of this publication is twofold. The first is to ensure that the book is available to the readers in years to come. Obviously, the printed copies of this book are available in more than 250 specialised libraries across the Europe. But in this day of age that statistic can be hardly cited as “widely available”.

The second, perhaps more important reason for the multi-touch edition is the desire to reach new audience. This edition is especially aimed at university level students of all things Medieval across the world. Although this is a scientific archaeological book, it is written in accessible language, that does not require any prior archaeological knowledge.

In order to improve the quality this edition has had 24 black & white figures replaced with colour versions. To the same end 13 completely new figures and 1 interactive image have been added. 

The author would also like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude to the publishers that have enabled this undertaking.

Content:

Preface to the this edition ................................ii 

1. Introduction .....................................................3 

2. Written Sources ............................................12 

3. Historical Pictorial Representations ..............33 

4. Archaeological Excavation ...........................37 

5. Metal Small Finds ........................................74 

6. Pottery .......................................................139 

7. Animal Bones and Bone Fragments .........164 

8. Archaeological Interpretation ....................167 

9. Life on the Mali Grad Hill: a Discussion ....193 

10. References .............................................212 

11. Small Finds Catalogue ...........................234