Maintenance of Underground Granaries in Medieval Towns; Case Study from Padowetz, Brno, Czech Republic

appearance generally all over Europe is not limited to just a few regions. Though typical for the rural environment of villages, these objects are nearly unknown in cities. The only examples excavated inside city walls belong to the 12th to 14th century. This also explains why the maintenance practices used are nearly unknown. The Medieval granary excavated inside the city walls of Brno, Czech Republic, has provided important information concerning the way the granary was maintained and used. Micromorphological descriptions, combined with the PRTG analyses, show that the excavated granary was probably used repeatedly. The walls of the granary and also its bottom had been repeatedly sealed with straw. This material was at the bottom of the infill preserved in a nearly fresh state or totally impregnated by phosphates. Also the phases of bioturbation and the record of a burning event were recorded. The burning of the interior parts of the granary was probably their way of cleaning. The temperature was not higher than 300̊ C. These practices may be compared with rural practices documented already in 18th century in village areas. This is the first documentation of the processes of maintenance for Medieval granaries as compared with more recently documented practices. It confirms that the local inhabitants of a Medieval town applied the older rural tradition as known from village areas.