Exceptionally preserved Medieval kitchen uncovered in Czech Republic

CAIRO – 17 August 2022: Archaeologists in the Czech Republic have recently made an unusual and exciting discovery while excavating a medieval house in the historic town of Nový Jičín in the country's Moravian-Silesian region.

The excavation team found an amazingly well-preserved kitchen hidden at the bottom of the house's ruins.

Initial estimates state that the kitchen was built sometime in the early 15th century. The 600-year-old room was discovered inside a buried wooden house that was built near the walls of the historic town of Nový Jičín.

This luxurious site indicates that the people who lived there were an elite family of the burgher class, a medieval aristocratic classification referring to the wealthy elite with political influence, according to the ancient-origins website.

The wooden house was supported by a stone foundation, and the well-furnished medieval kitchen was equipped with a brick oven and stove. Czech archaeologists have also discovered many intact ceramic vessels still attached to original covers. Among the other found items was a wooden cooking spoon that was miraculously in a great condition. 

"This was a log house built on a stone foundation. Looking at the surrounding evidence, including items we found inside, we were able to date it roughly to the period of the early 15th century.” As explained by Pavel Stabrava, the design of the house, the kitchen, and associated artifacts made it possible to date the kitchen to the early 1500s.

Interestingly, traces of a fire were found on the walls of the house. This could mean that the inhabitants of the house were forced to flee suddenly and leave a lot of valuables behind, escaping from a raging and life-threatening inferno. Some of the crockery in the kitchen was sitting on the stove, suggesting that they had just been washed and laid there to dry before the inhabitants of the house ran out for good.

The archaeologists who discovered the site believe that the house and the surrounding village had been attacked before.