Identification of a possible engraved Venus from Předmostí, Czech Republic

One Gravettian feminine representation – the schematic Venus of P?edmostí – is so different from all the others that it has always been regarded as unique. The engraving, which was closely examined for the purpose of comparison in this study, represents a woman composed of geometric shapes, including a triangular head with interior lattice-work, concentric ellipses for the breasts, belly and pelvis, a double ladder for the remaining arm, hatch marks, and a thigh made up of parallel vertical lines. This article presents the discovery and discusses the authenticity of a second, feminine anthropomorph engraved on a bone shaft fragment, which is labelled as coming from the same site and is highly similar to the one described at the end of the nineteenth century. The modern history of P?edmostí reveals that the site was used as a quarry for the extraction of loess and limestone, and that tons of mammoth bones were extracted to produce spodium. Remarkable objects that were found both during early archaeological excavations and the site’s commercial exploitation went towards private collections. The history of the piece under study traces it back through a succession of owners to the collection of René de Poilloüe de Saint-Périer (b.1877–d.1950) and Raymonde-Suzanne de Saint-Périer (b.1890–d.1978). The engraving is on the periosteal surface of a limb bone from a very large mammal, probably a proboscidian. Microscopic analysis of the bone surface and engravings identify the chronology of the grooves and their relations to the stages of the bone’s alteration and fracturing, starting with: 1) heavy weathering of the bone surface that produced longitudinal cracks, which probably led to its breakage, 2) engraving of the feminine representation, 3) intense mechanical and chemical attacks that smoothed all of the bone’s surfaces and wore down the engravings, 4) covering with a consolidation agent, and, most recently, 5) some abrasion, which resulted in the creation of a few straight lines. Since no evidence is found to suggest that the highly worn appearance of the engravings composing the feminine representation resulted from modifications that were meant to artificially age the periosteal surface of the bone, we conclude that the engraving can be plausibly attributed to the Gravettian and that further analyses are warranted.     

Frogs as a part of the Eneolithic diet. Archaeozoological records from the Czech Republic (Kutná Hora-Denemark site, Řivnáč Culture)

Within the site of Kutná Hora-Denemark (Kutná Hora distr., central Bohemia – Eneolithic, ?ivná? Culture, 3000–2800 BC), 893 frog bones or bone fragments were present in five archaeological features. All identified specimens are of the Common Frog (Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758). Males predominate, according to humeral morphology, and only adult individuals are present. The most important findings come from feature 36, where an accumulation of 739 frog bones (MNI = 123) were found, of which 10% (NISP) were burned. This and other contextual evidence indicates that they relate to activity of the Eneolithic people in the settlement. The predominance of hind leg bones and other circumstantial evidence suggest that the frogs were part of the human diet. Behavioural studies of this species suggest that the frogs were gathered from small ponds during the months of March or April. Similar findings are rare.     

Breed character or pathology? Cattle with loose horns from the Eneolithic site of Hostivice–Litovice (Czech Republic)

Archaeological finds of a ritual character from Hostivice–Litovice are classed as Eneolithic cattle burials (depositions). One pit from the Funnel Beaker Period (Baalberge group; ca. 3800–3500 BC) contained a subadult bovine skeleton, whose skull bore loose horns (scurs) while still alive. This type of horn, which is movable or possibly hanging, is known from recent breeds and is caused by a special combination of alleles on two locuses and its phenotypic expression is sexually specific. However, this can also be simply a pathological state (teratology, atrophy, dysplasia or fractures), possibly caused by deliberate deformative manipulation on the horns. Such manipulations are known from recent breeding as well as from the prehistory. Both possible causations of this unique find from Hostivice–Litovice and related finds of hornlessness are discussed.     

Neandertal Behavior at the Middle Palaeolithic Site of Abric Romaní, Capellades,Spain

Abstract

This paper synthesizes the work carried out since 1983 at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní, Spain, reconstructing Neandertal behavioral and settlement patterns. The sedimentary features of this site give a high resolution of prehistoric occupational events. Large surface excavation (over 300 sq m) has been used to obtain a detailed picture of intrasite settlement patterns. The reconstruction of activities and their spatial and temporal organization is a key issue in the debate concerning the cultural capabilities of Neandertals versus anatomically modern human beings, and our interpretation integrates geoarchaeology, lithic technology, taphonomy, zooarchaeology, and anthropology. In this way, we explain the degree of diversity within a single Neandertal archaeological site, especially regarding lithic assemblage variability, faunal processing activities, and settlement patterns.     

Burning wood or burning bone? A reconsideration of flotation evidence from Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) sites in the Moravian Corridor

This paper compares archaeobotanical and other data from new excavations at two Upper Palaeolithic sites — Dolní V?stonice II and P?edmostí I — in the Moravian Corridor, Czech Republic. Both contain the traces of broadly contemporary ‘Gravettian’ occupations during the warmer episodes of the Pleistocene which preceded the last glacial maximum. Yet their archaeobotanical remains show striking differences — those from Dolní V?stonice II being dominated by large quantities of conifer wood charcoal, while those from P?edmostí I are much more scanty and dominated by vitrified plant remains, in association with large quantities of burnt bone. We argue that these differences between these two datasets arise from different uses of fuel at either site: bone at P?edmostí I and wood at Dolní V?stonice II. Subsequently, we explore the possible reasons for this difference and argue that once likely taphonomic distinctions are accounted for, these data on fuel use offer fresh insights into the functions and durations of these Upper Palaeolithic occupations of the Moravian corridor and some possible implications for how archaeobotanical data from such sites should be interpreted.     

Global human impacts or climate change?: explaining the Sooty Shearwater decline at the Minard site,Washington State,USA

Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) remains decrease throughout the occupation (AD 1000–1600) of the Minard site (45-GH-15) on the southern Washington coast, USA. Given that New Zealand is one of the major breeding locations for this long-distant migrant, the decline at the Minard site may be due to human impacts on a global scale. In particular, the Maori practice of muttonbirding, the killing and preparation of fledgling shearwaters for storage, may have affected the number of summer migrants reaching the Pacific Northwest Coast. A second hypothesis attributes the decline in Sooty Shearwaters at the site to increasing sea surface temperatures and/or increased frequency of ENSO events during this period. Understanding how Sooty Shearwaters responded to human hunting and/or climate events in the past may be useful for the current management of this species, which has faced dramatic declines in recent decades.     

Mapping the Geography of R&D: What Can We Learn for Regional Innovation Policy in the Czech Republic and Beyond?

Administrative regions do not necessarily correspond to areas that are homogenous in terms of innovation intensity. Although this has been recognized in the literature, quantitative evidence that explicitly considers this problem is rare. Using spatial exploratory analysis on detailed regional data derived from a census of R&D performers in the Czech Republic, we identify local spatial clusters of R&D activities and assess the extent of their (mis)match with administrative borders. Overall, the results support the arguments for regionalization of innovation policy. However, the existing policy units do not appear well suited for this purpose. On one hand, there is a need for policy coordination between multiple administrative regions. On the other hand, however, there are diverse patterns within them. Similar problems are likely to haunt the regionalization process in many other countries, which is alarming, as the regional accent of innovation policies becomes ever more vehement over time.     

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.     

Regional Innovation Policies in the Czech Republic and the Case of Prague: An Emerging Role of a Regional Level?

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the development of Czech innovation policy which started to get its shape in the first years of the 21st century. The article traces its origins to a number of interlinked factors—the introduction of European regional policy in the Czech Republic, the increased inflow of foreign direct investment into R&D-intensive sectors and also the devolution of power to Czech regions that were established in 2001 and gave a new, regional dimension to research and innovation policy. It pays particular attention to the process through which the regionally-based innovation policy advocated by the European Union (EU) has been translated and adapted in the context of a new EU member state. As an illustration of the efforts at the regional level to make a better use of the potential of R&D and innovation in the regional development, a case study of a regional innovation strategy of the City of Prague is analysed. The City of Prague was selected for a critical analysis of an innovation system and innovation policy due to the fact that it is a region with significant but until now not fully exploited innovation potential and, in addition, its first innovation strategy has been recently adopted. The innovation strategy is closely scrutinized and the process of its elaboration is critically examined within the European and especially national context. The authors demonstrate that there is a lot of conceptual ambiguity and confusion associated with the process of transferring the experiences of Western European regions to the Czech Republic. The authors believe that at least some of their observations and analysis of weaknesses of the process through which the regional innovation strategy (RIS) has been carried out will have relevance for other Czech regions and even for other regions in the new EU member states.     

Dwelling at the margins,action at the intersection? Feminist and indigenous archaeologies, 2005

Este artículo aborda los posibles interconexiones entre lo que podría considerarse arqueología feminista y arqueología indigenista. El ensayo pasa de una historia de intersecciones en la Escuela Occidental a una consideración de ambas arqueologías, sus diferencias y sus posibles intereses comunes, y pregunta “jqué puede conseguirse a partir de un enfoque interconectado?” Existen dos dimensiones de la interpretación arqueológica que integran a los eruditos de ambas arqueologías, la feminista y la indigenista: (1) el lugar y el papel de “la experiencia”, y (2) el uso de las narraciones de cuentos y las tradiciones orales. Se sugieren para la arqueología algunas metodologías que descolonizan y alguna contra-investigación. Finalmente, se discuten dos aspectos de la arqueología en los que la interconexión y la colaboración podrían ser especialmente fructíferas: en cómo se sobreentiende el papel del género y en la arqueología espacial. Sugiriendo que ambas arqueologías trabajan hacia la transformación de las prácticas arqueológicas, esta revisión se propone promover el desarrollo adicional de conciencias de coalición transformativas.

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Résumé Cet article se situe à l'intersection de ce qui pourrait être considéré comme les archéologies féministes et autochtones. Cet essai va de l'histoire des intersectionalités” dans la pensée occidentale à une considération de ces deux archéologies, leurs différences et leurs préoccupations communes et pose la question suivante: que pouvons-nous apprendre d'une approche intersectionelle. Deux dimensions de l'interprétation archéologique sont intégrales aux modes de pensée des chercheurs féministes et autochtones (1) la place et le r?le de l'expérience et (2) l'utilisation de la tradition orale et de la petite histoire. Des méthodologies décolonisatrices et une contre-recherche en archéologie est suggérée. Finalement, nous discutons deux aspects de la recherche en archéologie où l'intersectionalité et la collaboration sont particulièrement enrichissantes: celui de la comprèhension des r?les sexuels et celui de l'archéologie de l'espace. En suggérant que ces deux archéologies travaillent à la transformation des pratiques archéologiques, cette révision désire encourager le développement futur d'une conscience coalitionelle transformative.

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“Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks”. —Anzaldúa (1983)     

Retail Development and Impact Assessment in Czech Republic: Which Tools to Use?

The transformational period and especially the second half of the 1990s meant a dynamic expansion of Czech retailing and its spatial structure. The uncoordinated construction of the recently emerging large-scale retail outlet has raised a question whether their construction should be regulated. Due to the non-existent regulation of retail development on a national level, weak role of the local physical plans and feeble position of Building Offices compared with retailers and developers, no reference framework exists for retail development. In the light of these facts, it is obvious that a sensitive regulation tool is necessary for retail development. The paper discusses the results of a survey among Building Offices in the Czech Republic focused on the opinions on the need of the introduction of Retail Impact Assessment (RIA) study. More than half of the respondents oppose the RIA study and do not consider it necessary, mainly because they believe that the existing legislative and planning documentation is sufficient for the regulation of large-scale retail outlets. The results clearly show that the increase in the planning prestige and use of the existing regulation mechanisms within the physical plan are the priority for the Czech planning practice.     

Sea level rise or shallow-water midden deposition? Archaeopedology at the Seminole Rest archaeological site,coastal East-Central Florida

Sedimentological and faunal studies at the Seminole Rest archaeological site on the Atlantic coast of Volusia County, FL, addressed the question of whether construction of the large shell mound at the site began on dry land or in the shallow waters of Mosquito Lagoon. Particle-size analysis defined a sand body beneath the hardshell clam mound, which is bordered by mucky tidal marsh and the shallow, silty lagoon. Weathered kaolinite, hydroxy-interlayer vermiculite, and gibbsite clays in the sub-mound sediments, identified by X-ray diffraction, contrasted with the ‘shrink-swell’ smectite clays of the tidal marsh and mound periphery and corroborated the particle-size evidence of a sand bar or bank. The presence in the sub-mound sediments of articulated valves of the diminutive Brown Gem Clam (Parastarte triquetra, Family Veneridae), and their absence in the silty marsh sediments, presented another line of evidence for a sand body beneath the mound. Parastarte is a common inhabitant of shallowly submerged sand bars. The existence of articulated valves of all size classes below the mound argues for a thriving population of the clams in their preferred habitat at the onset of mound deposition, which would have begun in the shallow water adjacent to the shore and not on dry land.     

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.     

An Empire, Then a Republic?

Book reviewed in this article:
Patrick J. Buchanan,. A Republic, Not an Empire: Reclaiming America's Destiny     

A noble diet at the Hof van Leugenhaeghe (Steendorp,Belgium): pig skulls as a fourteenth–fifteenth century delicacy?

The animal remains found at the fourteenth–fifteenth century Hof van Leugenhaeghe are crucial to reconstruct the life of the noble inhabitants, as all buildings were destroyed with the construction of a later estate on the property called the Blauwhof. The diet confirms the high social status of this nobility with the suspected consumption of pig skulls, a possible sign of wealth in late-medieval Flanders. Other signs of a noble diet are found as well: juvenile cattle, a diverse spectrum of game, partridge and grey heron. The observed pattern of a wealthy diet is consistent with the zooarchaeological assemblages found at other noble sites in late-medieval Flanders.     

Sharks in the lagoon? Fishing exploitation at the Neolithic site of Suwayh 1 (Ash Sharqiyah region,Arabian Sea,Sultanate of Oman)

The study of the fish bones from the Neolithic shell midden of Suwayh 1, excavated in the 2000s, identified a total of 1060 identifiable fish bones, from 23 families, 33 genera and 28 different species. Radiocarbon dating demonstrates that the sites date to the early 6th to mid 5th millennium BC. The results follow an eight-phase chronology highlighted by an earlier malacological study. The most important taxa were the Carcharhinidae (requiem shark), Rhinopteridae (cownose rays), Sparoidea (Sparidae and Lethrinidae: sea breams and emperors) and Ariidae (sea catfishes). The results of the fish study show that the Suwayh lagoon must have gradually opened up to the sea and been populated with mangroves. The unique presence of so many sharks at this site seems to indicate that the inhabitants had a special interest in shark fishing and that their location was ideal for this specialised activity. Two types of fishing nets and hooks have been discovered, which require the use of different fishing techniques.     

Subsistence change,landscape use,and changing site elevation at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the Dordogne of southwestern France

The dramatic topography of the Dordogne Valley region of southwestern France has long been recognized as an influence on prehistoric human settlement and subsistence patterns. Previous research on late Pleistocene settlement patterns in this region implies that, as cold-adapted higher-ranked resources became scarce in the lowlands, site location in the Dordogne and adjacent river valleys should shift towards higher-elevation areas during the period from 18,000 to 6500 years BP. This study employs a GIS-based analysis to evaluate the changing settlement patterns in the Dordogne region at this time. While no significant changes in elevation were found during this period, site elevation variance does appear to increase significantly between the Magdalenian and the Sauveterrian. Explanations for this finding are explored using zooarchaeological data from Moulin du Roc, one of the sites in the data set. Results suggest that the Magdalenian period in the Dordogne may not have been as resource-rich as is often assumed.