Archeologické rozhledy

Creating the so-called graphite-coated pottery of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages

Dagmara Łaciak — 2023-09-25

Over the centuries, various minerals were used in pottery production; for some societies, graphite played a unique role. Certain areas lack local sources of this mineral but simultaneously reveal a great occurrence of ‘graphite-coated’ pottery. Still, it is commonly believed that the surface of these vessels was coated with graphite. The aim of the article is to examine whether the surface visually characterised as ‘graphited’ (suggesting the use of graphite) could be achieved without the application of the mineral and what the technological process of manufacturing might have looked like. Macroscopical and archaeometry recognition features of ‘graphite-coated’ pottery and mineral graphite were indicated. A series of experiments were performed to achieve a lustrous, silver surface without applying mineral graphite. The firing process was conducted in two types of kilns reconstructed according to archaeological sources from the territory of Poland dated to the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The reproduced pottery shows surfaces very similar to their prehistorical counterparts. The significant occurrence of this type of pottery indicates its production could also be conducted in areas lacking mineral graphite.

House unit of the Linear Pottery culture?

Daniel Pilař — 2023-09-25

The aim of the article is to critically evaluate the existing approach toward the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) settlement space in terms of the character of the pits, their fill and pottery decoration style. It is traditionally and implicitly assumed that the pits in the vicinity of a house (so-called house unit) are of the same period of formation, filling, and demise, so their testimony is usually considered comparable. However, research into the formative processes of ceramic material from pits with a spatial association to the house no. 88 in Bylany near Kutná Hora (CZ) shows that individual features differ significantly in terms of structure, and each in its own way is taphonomically unique. At the same time, formative processes have a strong influence on our current perception of the decorative style of Neolithic pottery and its relative chronology. The house unit thus becomes an optimistic assumption in the case of multiphase settlements, which cannot be applied without a better understanding of archaeological sources.

Arch14CZ: A new open database of radiocarbon dates from the Czech Republic released

Václav Vondrovský — 2023-09-25

Capabilities and limits of radiocarbon dating with a focus on untypical archaeological samples

Jarmila Bíšková — 2023-09-25

Radiocarbon dating is an established method that helps to determine the absolute age of archaeological finds. This topical review presents the basic principles of the radiocarbon method, conventions for selecting samples from archaeological contexts, how to handle samples before sending them to the radiocarbon laboratory, laboratory methods for sample preparation, the AMS measurement procedure, and the calibration of results. Factors that limit the results of radiocarbon dating, particularly radiocarbon plateaux and the reservoir effect, are explained along with the ways how to recognise and eliminate their influence. The main aim of the paper is to critically evaluate the application of radiocarbon dating to less common archaeological samples (lipids preserved in the pores of pottery, charred bone, dental calculus, iron objects and iron slags, mortar, pollen and phytolith concentrates extracted from sediments or soils). Their dating opens new possibilities for the chronological determination of past natural and cultural processes or events.

Ontological turns in archaeology and material culture studies: archaeology as a discipline about ‘things’

Ladislav Čapek — 2023-09-25

The article introduces object-ontological theoretical and epistemological approaches that are discussed mainly in Western European (Anglo-American) archaeological communities. These approaches have the ambition, at least some of them claim, to become new theoretical thinking and to radically change the existing conception of archaeology, especially the study of material culture. The review describes and assesses the different approaches (actor-network theory, entanglement, symmetrical archaeology, new materialisms, assemblage thought) that examine relations between humans and non-humans and deal with ‘things’ as social and material objects with their own agency. Where possible, the approaches are explained through specific examples of interpretations of the archaeological record.

Jan Kypta – Jiří Marounek: Terénní stopy obléhání hradů v husitském století. Národní památkový ústav, Praha 2022.

Jiří Varhaník — 2023-09-25

Editorial

Václav Vondrovský — 2023-09-25