Archeologické rozhledy

Lorenzo Zamboni – Manuel Fernández-Götz – Carola Metzner Nebelsick (eds.): Crossing the Alps. Early Urbanism Between Northern Italy and Central Europe (900-400 BC). Sidestone Press, Leiden 2020.

Zuzana Golec Mírová — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Karel Sklenář a kol.: Život v lesích. Kritický katalog k výstavě Život v lesích. Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Brno 2022.

Josef Unger — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Artifacts – Images – Texts. Archaeology and the Historiography of Sound (ISGMA, Würzburg, 25.–29. 9. 2023)

Luboš Chroustovský — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Editorial

Václav Vondrovský — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Paths to this and the next world

Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

The article presents the assemblage of finds from a sunken hut in Nižbor opposite the Stradonice oppidum on the other bank of the Berounka River. The inventory from the sunken hut, which testifies to its contemporaneity with one of the phases of settlement at the oppidum in the Late La Tène period, was composed of common settlement finds of pottery and animal bones but also the skeletal remains of an older male. As such, it is a source for the study of excarnation, or the handling of the body of the deceased in the central European Late La Tène period following the end of burials at the so-called flat cemeteries. Radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones is important for establishing the chronology of the accompanying find assemblage, especially painted pottery in Bohemia. The location of the site near a probable ford over the Berounka River is the starting point for the reconstruction of the roads in the broader vicinity of the oppidum.

Cementochronology in archaeozoology

Kateřina Pořádková, Lenka Kovačiková — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Cementochronology, which is focused on the analysis of acellular cement growths in the teeth of hunted mammals, allows assessing their age and determining the period in the year when they were caught relatively accurately. Both information can approximate the use of natural resources of animal origin and the timing of their availability or allow us to understand the seasonal dynamics of the activities of the past societies associated with specific places. The study first presents the results of verification of cementochronology on reference material, i.e., the teeth of recent red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and wild boar (Sus scrofa), which belong among the most common hunted game in Central Europe over a long period. Subsequently, the study brings results of the method being applied to selected finds of the same animal species from the early medieval hillfort Na Jánu in Netolice, located in South Bohemia.

The die for the production of the hammered kaptorgas from Kouřim, Central Bohemia

Naďa Profantová, Daniel Dvořáček, Tomáš Kmječ — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Kaptorgas were small trapezoidal boxes with lids worn by women and girls in early medieval central Europe as magic or protective amulets. The paper presents a new find of a bronze cast die for hammering the front side of kaptorgas, which was excavated at the Nad Dolnicí settlement site located in the hinterland of the important central Bohemian hillfort of Kouřim. The die was used to produce type 1A kaptorgas with a motif of a four-legged eared gryphon with an indication of a wing and a tail ending in a floral decorative element. Although kaptorgas with this particular motif have not been recorded in Bohemia, it has analogies in Bulgaria and Poland. Based on the stylistic assessment of this originally Mediterranean motif and the chronology of type IA kaptorgas in Bohemia, the die can be dated to the 10th and beginning of the 11th century. X-Ray fluorescence analysis and elemental mapping of the object's surface show that it was made from bronze with a significant lead admixture and a small admixture of zinc. The die is discussed in terms of the spread of Mediterranean motifs and their adaptation by local craftsmen.

A Pottery kiln from the second half of the 13th century in Žďár nad Sázavou – Staré Město (Czech Republic)

Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 -0700

This study investigates a medieval pottery kiln and its fill excavated at a 13th-century settlement site near the Žďár Cistercian monastery. The short 30–40 year lifespan of the settlement provides valuable insight into how pottery was made and appeared in a chronologically specified timeframe of the mid-13th century. The kiln was a single-chamber type, either with an open-topped or domed superstructure with a very narrow stoking channel in terms of height. Technological analysis of the pottery inside the kiln points to consistent production techniques utilising a combination of coiling and early rotational devices with rapid firing practices. The interpretation of the forming technique is backed by 3D scanning, which quantifies the wall thickness variability over various vessel body parts. Cross-analysis with settlement finds shows a uniform ceramic morphology and technological nuances, with petrographic data suggesting both local and external material influences. The study enhances the understanding of the socio-economic dynamics during medieval colonisation based on the case of the Žďár region and provides a benchmark for regional ceramic research.