Archeologické rozhledy

The first results of diet reconstruction of individuals buried at the All Saints Charnel House in Kutná Hora – Sedlec

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

The paper presents the first results of isotopic analysis focused on the diet of individuals buried in the cemetery near the All Saints Charnel House in Kutná Hora – Sedlec (13th–14th century). Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic values were measured in the bone tissue of a total of 24 individuals buried in individual graves. The analysed set was supplemented with 11 animal bone samples and the skeletal material of 20 individuals buried during the 14th century in the cemetery of Oškobrh was used as a comparison set representing the rural population. The mean values of the Kutná Hora assemblage were -19.3 ± 0.2 ‰ for δ13C and 12.2 ± 0.5 ‰ for δ15N. For the Oškobrh sample, they were -19.4 ± 0.1 ‰ for δ13C and 11.4 ± 1.2 ‰ for δ15N. The diet of both populations was based on C3-plants, with a significant proportion of animal products or fish. In the case of Kutná Hora, however, this proportion was significantly higher, especially for females. The results of both datasets illustrate the change in the Czech lands during the Middle Ages in terms of the abandonment of millet cultivation. Comparison with the values of other datasets covering the early medieval up to early modern Central Europe indicates a high-quality diet with sufficient animal protein.

Raw materials for Neolithic ground tools from the extraction fields at Bílý Kámen Hill, Central Bohemia

Pavel Burgert, Antonín Přichystal, Petr Gadas — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

The assemblage of ground tools and their fragments from the site of Bílý Kámen Hill near the town of Sázava (Czech Republic, Central Bohemia) is one of the largest chronologically uniform collections in Central Europe. Based on the dominant representation of bored axe-hammers, we date it to the late phase of the Stroked Pottery culture (SBK; 5100/5000–4500/4400 cal BC). Their connection to the extraction of local marble and the production of prestigious bracelets raises many questions. The material composition of the assemblage could be the key to understanding the origin of the artefacts. In this article, we examined 912 samples using optical and electron microscopy methods. This points to the dominant representation of amphibole-rich Jizera Mountains-type metabasites. Other rocks are represented only in small quantities and raw materials of local origin are probably missing in the assemblage. It is thus comparable to assemblages from contemporaneous settlement sites, although we do not yet know of stable occupation in the vicinity of the site, nor do we even anticipate its existence.

PIXE analysis of Late Bronze Age situlae from the eponymous Hajdúböszörmény-Csege-halom I hoard and Sényő-Dajkahegy, Northeastern Hungary

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

The paper introduces the particle-induced X-ray emission analysis (PIXE) of two Hajdúböszörmény-type situlae from the eponymous Hajdúböszörmény I hoard (collection of the Hungarian National Museum, Budapest) and Sényő (collection of the Jósa András Museum, Nyíregyháza). Both situlae are representative types of the period between 1080 and 960 BC, Ha B1, or the ‘Hajdúböszörmény hoard horizon’ of the Hungarian Late Bronze Age. The obtained results are significant in that they are the very first to characterise the classic Hajdúböszörmény-type situla from their core distribution area, i.e., the region where this metal vessel type was presumably produced. The paper is focused on a description of the elemental composition of these tin bronze vessels, with particular attention on the grouping of their accompanying elements and the ratio of tin. The PIXE results suggest that a rather homogenous raw material was used to produce and repair these objects, which can be correlated with the CG16 Copper Group. The ratio of tin was relatively high, mostly around 9–10 wt%; low values were only identified on one of the repaired parts of the Sényő situla and a secondarily attached copper rivet.

There is no Němčice without ducks

Jan Kysela, Jana Čižmářová — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

The article presents an assemblage of Recent La Tène bronze figurines from the Middle Danube region, mostly from the central site of Němčice nad Hanou. The assemblage is analysed from the metrological, typological, and stylistic perspective and set into the context of other bronze figurines discovered earlier at the site or elsewhere in Middle La Tène Central Europe. Typologically and stylistically, the assemblage is consistent with the small-scale statuary characteristic of the cultural area around the centres of Němčice, Roseldorf, and Nowa Cerekwia. Similar finds are rarely discovered outside this zone. The entire typological category and stylistic group seems to have disappeared with the decline of these centres. We therefore argue that the small-scale bronze statuary of the Němčice type co-defines the Němčice-Roseldorf phenomenon in the same way as the more famous and certainly more important coinage and production of glass ornaments.

John Hines – Nelleke IJssennagger-van der Pluijm: Frisians of the Early Middle Ages. Boydell and Brewer, Woodbridge 2021.

Eliška Grygarová — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Editorial

Václav Vondrovský — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Obituary of Petr Sommer (30. 11. 1949 – 12. 8. 2023)

Luboš Jiráň — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800

Obituary of Petr Charvát (12. 1. 1949 – 17. 9. 2023)

Jan Klápště — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0800