Application of magnetic susceptibility on polished stone tools from Western Hungary and the Eastern part of the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

A non-destructive method – magnetic susceptibility (MS, κ) measurement – was used to characterize about 360 Neolithic, Copper and Bronze age polished stone tools of the Miháldy collection (Laczkó Dezső Museum, Veszprém, Hungary), composed of artefacts from three Neolithic (Moravian Painted Ware) workshops around a source of greenschist at Želešice near Brno (Moravia, Czech Republic) and semifinished artefacts from workshops at Neolithic mines in the Jizerské hory Mts. (Bohemia, Czech Republic); in addition, rock reference samples collected from the possible provenance areas and rock outcrops in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were analysed as comparative material with the same method. We elaborated a model experience to control the thickness correction factor (TCF) following Williams-Thorpe et al. (2000).Among various stone raw materials of polished artefacts we found basaltic rocks and greenschists-metabasites as the most common.     

European Pond Turtles from Obříství (Bohemia,Czech Republic)

The paper describes and analyses recent finds of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) from the archaeological sites at Obříství (Mělník District, at the confluence of the Elbe and Moldau rivers in the Bohemian Basin, Czech Republic). Turtle remains were found in three sunken features dated to the Late Bronze Age or to the Hallstatt period, and in one feature dated to the Neolithic. The high number of osteological finds, particularly the number of individuals found in one place, is unique within Bohemia and very rare for the Bronze Age to Iron Age in Europe. A large number of shell remains were identified, from at least 12 individuals in feature 1480, and from at least 5 individuals in feature 1483. The high numbers support the hypothesis that the European pond turtle was once a regular feature of the local fauna, even though the Bohemian basin is surrounded by mountains, which will have presented difficulties for the process of postglacial recolonization by semiaquatic thermophilous reptiles. The findings from Obříství show evidence of the exploitation of turtles for food. Signs of culinary procedures and the human consumption of turtles include anthropogenic chop marks, signs of burning and the apparently intentional segmentation of the turtle bodies. The quantity of turtle bones is still negligible, however, compared with those of mammals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental Heating of Moravian Cherts and its Implication for Palaeolithic Chipped Stone Assemblages

The applicability of colour, magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization measurements for the identification of heated or accidentally burned Palaeolithic cherts from Moravia (Czech Republic) is tested in this study. We conclude that all these methods are usable. Colour changes are best detectable in materials heated at between 250–350°C, while magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization change at higher temperatures, closer to 600°C. This latter temperature, however, is usually destructive for cherts and is probably evidenced by accidentally burned artefacts. With the use of the three methods, we managed to identify three probably heated chert artefacts from two early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Moravia.     

Boats for Rivers and Mountains: Sources for New Narratives about River Travel?

What is a boat? Our notions of what constitutes a good boat are tested when it comes to logboats. They are often considered to be of low status, both technologically and functionally. However, logboats are more interesting than that. This article presents three logboats dated to the Roman era and late Viking age, found in the region of Telemark, Norway. The principal concern is to discuss how notions about prehistoric boats can be made known, challenged and discussed by examining the three boats in the context of the rivers and lakes in which they were most probably used. © 2007 Author     

Village restoration in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The recent political changes in the Czech Republic have led to a major re‐evaluation of the role of the countryside. An extensive Village Restoration Programme is now underway, which is here described, with a detailed example from south Moravia. The holistic nature of the programme is notable.     

Two cases of leprosy from Žatec (Bohemia), dated to the turn of the 12th century and confirmed by DNA analysis for Mycobacterium leprae

The leprosy known today primarily from tropical areas was a relatively common disease in European Middle Ages. This article describes two skeletons bearing palaeopathological indications of leprosy from a cemetery at ?atec in North-West Bohemia (Czech Republic). The archaeological context clearly shows that these individuals were buried prior to the second decade of the 12th century, and most probably in the second half of 11th century. This rules out the possibility that these individuals might have contracted the disease in connection with the Crusades, in which a Bohemian contingent under Prince Vladislav II participated from 1141 to 1142. Molecular genetic methods were applied to detect specific DNA fragments of the causative agent of leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae. The nasal concha of one individual yielded DNA that could be directly sequenced after isolation and amplification. The vertebral body of the second individual, on the other hand, did not provide DNA of sufficient quality for direct sequencing and only weak amplification was detectable. The morphological and genetic analyses both indicate that leprosy existed prior to the Crusades in medieval Bohemia, albeit that its prevalence was probably not as great as in northern or western Europe.     

Red deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cervus elaphus</Emphasis>) skeleton from the Early Bronze Age pit at Brandýs (Czech Republic)

The finding of a male red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) skeleton at Brandýs nad Labem (Central Bohemia, Czech Republic) dated to the Únětice culture (Early Bronze Age), radiocarbon dated to 1881–1679 cal BC (P 93 %), unique in the region, was analysed archaeozoologically. The depositing of a whole, unbutchered and entirely undamaged, but curled up body of a stag in a relatively small pit dug into the bottom of a large storage pit undoubtedly had some kind of special meaning or significance. It is interpreted as the burial of a ritually sacrificed beast. The deer male aged 2.5–3 years, with a withers height ca 129 cm, was in good health and had well-developed antlers. The stag most probably died between January and April, probably more towards the spring, but exactly how it died is unclear. The ritual appears to have been quite complex since it included a fire at the bottom of the storage pit. Deposition in a place designed for storage could suggest a ceremony relating to a sacrifice for prosperity and a good harvest. Despite a lack of evidence for the use of deer in rituals and the symbolic sphere during the Bronze Age, deer burials and the symbolic significance of the stag are known from other archaeological cultures and ethnicities. Interestingly, the entire foreleg of a younger red deer (aged 4–7 months), an isolated humerus of another young fawn (0.5–2 months) and the remains of two dog puppies (3.5–4.5 months) were present in upper horizons of the storage pit, which could also have a special meaning.     

Unfinished and Paired Logboats from Bavaria, Germany

Though Bavaria is far inland, at least 20 logboats are known, but only recently have some been properly recorded. This paper deals with two vessels discovered in the early 1990s. The remains at Laufen-Pfaffing represent a semi-manufactured logboat, which was purposely sunk as was the custom in Austria until the mid-20th century. The vessel from Wessobrunn-Blaik is also unfinished and shows several tool-marks. It is too narrow to float on its own: therefore it is part of a paired logboat. There is plenty of archaeological evidence for this kind of craft, but no ethnographic evidence. Apart from use as ferries, other uses are discussed.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Four English ‘Bohemians’ Manqués: A Short-Term Resident,a Lost Opportunity,One to Do Without,and a Case of Confused Antecedents

Abstract

The article reflects the author’s longstanding interest in the appearance in the English lexicon of items emanating from the Bohemian/Czech environment, including the incidence of the very word Bohemian/bohemian. It discusses four cases where ‘Bohemian’ does not feature, though might well do so. These are: one bird name, the waxwing, once the ‘Bohemian waxwing’, which name survives only in American English because of the local need to distinguish the bird from another in the family; one spring flower, the early star-of-Bethlehem, restricted in Britain to a single site on the Welsh border, which could, on the basis of its Latin name, Gagea bohemica, have become the ‘Bohemian star-of-Bethlehem’; one pernicious hybrid knotweed, Reynoutria × bohemica, which has no common English name, but was identified and named in Bohemia, and would be potentially nameable geographically as ‘Bohemian knotweed’, like one of its parents, the Japanese knotweed; and one modest vegetable, the swede, which owes its name to a perceived origin in Sweden, though it is conjectured that during or after the Thirty Years’ War it was first taken to Sweden from Bohemia and so might have become analogously the ‘bohemian’. The article contains other conjectures as to the items’ origins and explores the history of their naming in Czech and German as well as English.     

Variation in human bone bioerosion during the Late Eneolithic/Bronze Age in Moravia (Czech Republic): A novel approach to BSE-SEM image quality and quantity assessment

Human bones from Late Eneolithic graves and Bronze Age settlement pits in Moravia (Czech Republic) were studied to reconstruct their post-mortem histories based on the distribution of their microbial destruction. Backscattered electrons in a scanning electron microscope (BSE-SEM) were used for visual assessment of bioerosion. Visual data from the histological analysis were transformed into quantitative data using the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) toolkit. The results show that the presence of bioerosion is different between the two groups of samples. The bones from settlement pits display extensive bioerosion whereas the bones from graves display no or arrested bioerosion. The absence of bioerosion in graves is most probably linked with tomb burials of Corded Ware Culture. Given the tombs are frequently not preserved archaeologically, the state of bone bioerosion may serve as an indicator of their existence.     

Dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of subfossil wood from the Morava River basin

The paper deals with dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of subfossil trunks found in the basin of the Morava River. The research into subfossil trunks had been conducted in the Czech Republic in the past but the research stopped in 2001. 160 records of measurements of subfossil, predominantly oak trunk samples, are preserved from that time. Three years ago the research was reopened and again the most trunks were found in the basin of the Morava River. 92 samples of oak trunks and 7 samples of other tree species (poplar, elm, maple, beech) were taken from selected sites. The samples were processed in compliance with the standard dendrochronological methodology. To date the samples, Czech, Austrian, Polish and German standard chronologies were used. In cases when the dendrochronological dating was unsuccessful, the samples were sent for radiocarbon dating. In total, 35 samples were dated, mainly by the radiocarbon method. Subfossil trunks from gravel pit Tovačov were dated and classified into 4 different periods, the oldest being from 2780–2190 BC. In Osek nad Bečvou, the samples were taken from two sites. Whereas from the 4 trunks taken in the river channel each was from a different period, the trunks from the gravel pit come from 981–1015 AD. The trunks found in the Morava River basin near Strážnice were dated to the 10^th–15^th century. In the future, we expect to extend the amount of the acquired samples with the aim to create a link to the existing standard chronology or to create a long floating average treering curve.     

Organization of ceramic production at a fortified Early Bronze Age settlement in Moravia (Czech Republic) inferred from minimally destructive archaeometry

This paper explores how pottery production was organized at fortified sites of central Europe at the end of the Early Bronze Age. The organization of pottery production in terms of ethnography-based models was inferred jointly by non-destructive multi-elemental analysis, micropetrography and powder X-ray diffraction. This minimally destructive approach was used to explore the mode of pottery production at the fortified central site Blu?ina (Moravia, Czech Republic). Archaeometry-based indirect evidence indicates that tableware of a specific shape was produced using a specific technology at the site or in its close vicinity and that coarse ware was brought to the site from elsewhere. The results obtained were complexly evaluated and compared with ethnography-based categorizations to reveal the features of production organization of the Early Bronze Age pottery. Multidimensional analysis classified the production as intensified household labour and work of individual retainers, or nucleated corvée, depending on its scale and intensity.     

Quantifying how much raw material is needed: A case study based on the weight of the lithic artefacts from the Brno-Štýřice III Epigravettian site (Moravia,Czech Republic)

This paper compares the quantification of different raw materials in a chipped stone assemblage by weight and by number at the site of Brno-Štýřice III in Moravia, Czech Republic. The use of the same reduction technology for all raw materials means that the Brno-Štýřice III assemblage is a good case study. The result demonstrates that semi-local raw material tends to dominate numerically, but in terms of weight, there is a significant change in the predominant raw material. The paper contextualizes the results in relation to other assemblages and discusses the possible reasons for this phenomenon.     

Shape matters: assessing regional variation of Bell Beaker projectile points in Central Europe using geometric morphometrics

Despite the large-scale expansion of Bell Beaker phenomenon, there is a tension between the normative Bell Beaker material culture categories and their local objectification in the form of real artefacts. Stone projectile points provide an opportunity to evaluate how much was the general category of such a point influenced by regional and local factors. The aim of this paper is to explore shape and size variation of Central European Bell Beaker projectile points from Moravia (Czech Republic) to elucidate factors responsible for this variation. The sample consists of 194 projectile points from 54 Central European Bell Beaker sites (2500–2300/2200 BC) distributed in Morava River catchment. The size and shape of projectile points were studied by landmark-based geometric morphometrics and expressed as shape groups, which have been assessed in terms of their spatial distribution, raw material, and reutilization. Although several shape categories of points were identified, there is a strong degree of uniformity in the research sample. The dominant shape category (75.4 % of points) was pervasive across geographic space and was not significantly affected either by raw material or reutilization. A lower degree of reutilization of points is interpreted as a consequence of a non-utilitarian role of projectile points, which represented a critical component of Bell Beaker mortuary practices.     

Logboats from Europe and the CD-ROM, or a solution to the endless search for documents (2000 edition)

Bibliographic data capture of logboats from Europe is available as a database which includes more than 6000 pictures or files (corresponding to the same number of A4 pages): as the result of the processing of 700 works dealing with 2400 logboats; 6500 links were established between those logboats and bibliographical references.     

MtDNA haplotype identification of aurochs remains originating from the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

Abstract

This study presents the results of the analysis of mtDNA bone samples morphologically determined to be aurochs (Bos primigenius) from four various archaeological finds in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). The results from two of them — the Pleistocene sample from Praha-?eporyje and the Neolithic sample from Vedrovice — probably represent contamination by modern DNA. Sequences identified in the Eneolithic Kutná Hora-Denemark site (～5 thousand BP) confirm the presence of haplogroup P in the geographically partly isolated Czech basin. This finding (the first of its kind within the Czech Republic) is consistent with other published findings showing the domination of this aurochs haplogroup line in Europe. The combination of large individual size and ‘domestic’ mtDNA suggest, if inconclusively, that the Early Medieval fourth sample from Vy?ehrad could potentially represent an aurochs/domestic cattle hybrid.     

A resampling approach to gender relations: the Rebešovice cemetery

Early Bronze Age society in Central Europe is often depicted as a society dominated by males. It is suggested that archaeological evidence is not always in agreement with this view. This study reports the analysis of mortuary variability at the Early Bronze cemetery Rebešovice in Moravia (Czech Republic) that uses computer-intensive resampling techniques. The results indicate that there are only minor differences in the mortuary treatment of females and males. There is neither a qualitative restriction of body treatment and objects buried with males, nor a quantitative emphasis on burials of males. In fact, burials of females are equipped with a higher number of bronze artifacts. Funerals of females were at least as significant social events as the funerals of males. We argue that the model of a male dominated community that used this cemetery is unwarranted. These findings do not refute the existence of gender-specific activities and roles that may be valued differently, but instead suggest that both females and males had access to resources from which they could draw power.     

Gracilitheca and Nephrotheca (Hyolitha,Orthothecida) in the Cambrian of the Barrandian area,Czech Republic

VALENT, M., FATKA, O. & MAREK, L., iFirst article. Gracilitheca and Nephrotheca (Hyolitha, Orthothecida) in the Cambrian of the Barrandian area, Czech Republic. Alcheringa, 1–10. ISSN 0311-5518.

Five orthothecid hyoliths, Gracilitheca mirabilis sp. nov., Gracilitheca triangularis sp. nov., Gracilitheca sp., Nephrotheca betula sp. nov. and Nephrotheca sp. are described from the ‘middle’ Cambrian Buchava Formation of the Skryje–Tý?ovice Basin in the Czech Republic. The new forms are based on about forty well-preserved external and internal moulds of conchs; opercula of all species remain unknown. Stratigraphic ranges and geographic distributions within the Skryje Tý?ovice Basin are established for all taxa.     

Biosocial archaeology of the Early Neolithic: Synthetic analyses of a human skeletal population from the LBK cemetery of Vedrovice,Czech Republic

Bioarchaeology is a powerful tool in the examination of prehistoric collections of human skeletal remains. Application of a few bioarchaeological techniques (ancient DNA, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, and dental micro-wear) to the human osteological remains from the Early Neolithic LBK settlement of Vedrovice (Moravia), has allowed us to reconstruct not only broad cultural patterns but also the life histories of the individuals with insights into diet, migrations, ancestry, personal identity, social position and life experience. Vedrovice acted as a gateway settlement for a farming community with close ties to western Hungary and northeast Bohemia. The individuals showed clear differences in status and migration histories, giving glimpses of more complex social practices and patterns than could have been determined through the traditional culture-historical studies.