Mystery of Vessels from Tišice (Portal of Prague)

The origins of the word itself is rooted in Greek and it is a combination of the words archaios = old and logos = speech or word. It describes a science which deals with the research and analysis of relics from the past, including buildings from past ages. Through this medium it enables one to look into the ways of life of our ancestors. In a sense our ancestors are, through the medium of their bodily and material remains, actually speaking to us.

The survey is supervised by Patrick Foster and Martin Kuna. According to the press release of the Institute of Archaeology, the work progresses in areas affected by the gravel pit and excavations which range from the Neolithic, New Stone Age (6^th millennium B.C.) to early Middle Ages (8^th century A.D.) are currently being processed. The drinking set has already been filed.

According to the report, the set belongs to the so called Baden culture of the Late Stone Age (Eneolith), which is dated between 3400 and 3100 B.C. Bohemia belongs to the western part of this culture. Numerous pieces of evidence have been found especially in the middle and lower Danube region and lead up to Little Poland and Bulgarian Thrace.

Ritual vessels?

According to spokeswoman of the Institute of Archaeology, Jana Maříková-Koubková, the ceramic set was found in a small hollow in the ground where no other items were placed. The set is composed of eight smaller decorated jugs and one bulb shaped vessel with two narrow necks. Similar sets have already been discovered in a few other sites such as Dřevčice by Brandýs nad Labem or Prague- Vysočany; nevertheless, the double neck vessel is quite unique. Similar Baden Culture vessels with two or more necks were found in five sites such as in Lower Austrian Mödling or Stránska in Slovakia. Because it is hard to imagine what they could have been used for, archaeologists came to the conclusion that they served for rituals; those that also involved a shared experience of alcohol consumption. Such vessels with more than one neck (kernoi) were e.g. used in Ancient Greece during the famous Eleusinian Mysteries.

Long ago our forefathers enjoyed alcohol

Since the prehistoric ages people have been drinking various kinds of beverages. A significant source of nutrients was sap from certain trees, also a great source of necessary vitamins in spring time. In the Eneolithic Age people started drinking milk. However, since the dawn of civilization the most privileged position has belonged to alcoholic beverages, beer, mead and wine. Mead is produced by the fermentation of honey and was already known in Ancient Egypt, it arrived in Europe before wine. According to Maříkova-Koubkova, some researchers are of the opinion that the popularity of beer contributed to the development of grain farming.

Wine held a special position among alcoholic beverages. Wild grapevine was domesticated as early as the 6^th and 5^th millennium and in the Bronze Age wine became a significant item of trading and major civilising factor.

A collective consumption especially of alcoholic beverages has a social value, even though it has been restricted at various times and under various religions. Alcohol was drunk during celebrations, rituals and religious sacrifices. Last but not least, it also played an important role during the formation and stabilisation of social relations. For example in Greece this form of drinking was called a symposium, which is a word that we currently use in a completely different context.

Linda Nová