Loom weights or spit supports? Clay weights from the Late Bronze Age settlement near Březnice in south Bohemia from the perspective of archaeology and archaeobotany

Abstract

Clay weights rank among frequently neglected artefacts commonly found at prehistoric settlements. However, their detailed analysis could in fact contribute to the resolution of numerous important questions, including the production technology of pottery and textiles, the handling of waste, depositional and post-depositional processes and others. An assemblage of weights that allows such questions to be raised comes from the Late Bronze Age settlement investigated in south Bohemian Březnice in 2005–2009. Two mass finds of several dozen weights found in two specific trench-like features were subjected to a detailed archaeological and archaeobotanical analysis. These analyses make it possible to study the role and purpose of these artefacts in societies at the time and to ask questions concerning how and why their mass deposition was made in the aforementioned trenches.