Search

Copyright of Památky Archeologické is the property of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Archaeology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After lowering the water level of the Orlík Reservoir, a multi-period settlement site was discovered in an elevated location on the right bank of the Vltava River below the village of Olešná (Písek District). It was occupied in the Final Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period, the Bronze Age and the early Roman period (LT D2b/Ř A). The discovered silver quinarius is an important find. The site is located in a non-agricultural area, however, in direct contact with the Vltava River. Therefore, it may have been associated with river traffic from the Bronze Age onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents current knowledge pertaining to the multiperiod site of Velešín – Kamenná věž. It is situated on an elongated promontory separated from surrounding terrain by four transverse ditches and a prominent hillock. The site used to be regarded as a stronghold. Archaeological excavations of the hillock in the years 1976 and 2018 as well as fieldwalking demonstrated human occupation of the location in the Aeneolithic, Early Bronze Age, Hallstatt period and High Middle Ages. The hillock is partially of natural origin, but in prehistory (during the Hallstatt period at the latest), a stone structure/defensive wall was constructed on it. Its rubble could have been used to erect a short-lived high medieval building whose structure did however not leave any distinct archaeological traces. The site was most intensively occupied in the Early Bronze Age from which the majority of the discovered potsherds date. Also, an assemblage of bronze objects and evidence for metallurgy are known for this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution contains a list and an evaluation of newly discovered metal artefacts from the Hallstatt (Ha C - Ha D 2/3 - LT A) and La Tène (LT B-D) periods originating from sites distributed almost all over South Bohemia. From the viewpoint of find types, these are predominantly isolated finds. In one case, a hoard or a related activity is likely. The other objects come from newly discovered and unregistered settlement and burial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermediate results of a grant project focusing on Neolithic settlement of South Bohemia are presented in the article. Magnetometer survey at the sites of Dehtáře a Radčice 1 revealed several hypothetical building complexes consisting of longhouses which are usually only identified as larger magnetic anomalies reflecting the presence of longitudinal construction pits. Although the ground plans are difficult to interpret, at least their orientation can be reconstructed. All so far known longhouses in the south of Bohemia seem to more or less respect a south-north orientation. One such construction pit belonging to a longhouse was completely excavated at the site of Dehtáře. An important find made in the first year of the project is without doubt the discovery of an LBK cremation grave at Protivín which is actually the earliest known burial in the south of Bohemia. A magnetometer survey in the immediate vicinity of the findspot shows a number of smaller anomalies which could potentially be other graves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, new isolated Bronze Age metal finds are published which have been documented in the territory of South Bohemia over the last about five years and which have not been published anywhere else. These are 137 bronze or copper artefacts from 128 sites which are dateable to all chronological phases of the Bronze Age. Some of them are quite unique in South Bohemia, with analogies in other Central European regions. Several artefacts were subjected to spectral analysis in order to determine their chemical composition. A spearhead from Horažďovice was also subjected to traceological analysis. In addition to an enrichment of the typological spectrum of artefacts, these discoveries in some cases also proved human activities in regions regarded as uninhabited or only sporadically utilized. Thus the presented article clearly shows the importance and significance of documentation and rescue of these unique finds. Their interpretive value is lower than that of those made in settlement, funerary or hoard contexts, but they are definitely not without importance for our knowledge of prehistoric settlement and human activities in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several new Neolithic sites have been identified in South Bohemia since 2013. This paper presents recent results of prospection on a Neolithic site in the cadastral area of Protivín (Písek District) conducted between 2017 and 2020. An assemblage of 295 pottery and stone industry finds was recovered. Pottery decoration gives evidence of occupation by peoples of the Linear Pottery culture as well as of the subsequent Stroked Pottery culture; therefore, a long-term Neolithic occupation of the site and the microregion of the lower Blanice River is assumed. Raw materials for the manufacture of chipped stone industry are dominated by Ortenburg and Arnhofen Jurassic cherts from Bavarian outcrops. Polished stone industry was mostly made of Jizerské hory type metabasite. The site is discussed in the context of Neolithic occupation of South Bohemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution contains an evaluation of new early medieval finds which were predominantly recovered from the hillfort’s inner area in 2018 and 2019. Perhaps the most interesting part of this assemblage of ten objects is a bronze grooved ring decorated with a cluster consisting of three small balls which belongs to the late Avar cultural circle. XRF analysis of the ring was carried out and several analogical finds from the Carpathian Basin and the middle Danube River region were noted, including a stone mould used for casting a very similar ring type. From the viewpoint of their function, these were pendant rings which used to be part of both sheet metal and cast belt sets. It is further speculated in the article about the nature and intensity of settlement at the hillfort of Hrad u Skočic as well as about a possible link between this site and a power political grouping of hillforts in the middle Otava River region near Strakonice during the Middle Hillfort period. The so far discovered parts of belt sets and an iron stirrup also enable us to speculate about the presence of a military or ruling elite at the hillfort as early as the 8th century, or alternatively in the course of the 9th century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prehistoric past of the hillfort of Holý vrch near Albrechtice nad Vltavou. The small hillfort situated on a spur near Albrechtice nad Vltavou was discovered as late as 1989, and finds dating its existence back to the close of the Early Bronze Age and the Early Middle Ages were recovered from it even later. It is part of a group of hillforts surrounding the confluence of the Vltava and Lužnice Rivers, where the important Early Bronze Age settlement site of Hosty was located. The paper presents new prehistoric finds from the site and a precise site plan created on the basis of LiDAR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the development of settlements in the Early Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age in South Bohemia. Based on the typo-chronological analysis of the finds and radiocarbon dating, we have identified four phases of development within this period. The innovation signalling the transition into the Bronze Age was taken on from the Danubian region, which is shown by the spatial development of the settlement. Nevertheless, the overall cultural nature of the artefacts is mixed, which is related to the strategic location of the region, undoubtedly with an important trade route leading through the region, connecting the metallurgical centres in the eastern Alps with the dynamically developing northern parts of the European continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigations of a so-far rather neglected hillfort on the hill of Hradištský vrch near Písek have revealed a number of interesting findings. Its extent, which was only determined with the help of airborne laser scanning, ranks it as the largest Bronze Age hillfort in South Bohemia. At the same time, it is the only well-documented hillfort dating to the transition period between Middle and Late Bronze Age in the region. Its system of transverse ramparts on the southern side, in front of the perimeter fortification, is especially unique. It is one of the ascertained striking elements which seem to support the hypothesis about its military (or rather defensive) significance. There was also convincing evidence of metallurgical activities within its premises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to analysis of LiDAR data, it was possible to discover a new 'Viereckschanze' in South Bohemia. Its interpretation and dating was to a large degree confirmed by a combination of non-destructive methods: remote sensing (LiDAR, aerial photography), geophysical surveys and surface artefact survey. The site is heavily disturbed by agricultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014 a rescue excavation was carried out at the construction site of a new hall for the company AISIN, during which several dozens archaeological features were unearthed. They dated to the transition between the Early and Middle Bronze Age, the Middle Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age, the Hallstatt period, the La Tène period and undated agricultural prehistory. This project is a continuation of earlier excavations in adjacent plots of land, which makes the territory of the Písek industrial zone one of the best known prehistoric settlement areas in South Bohemia. The aim of this paper is to publish the better datable features and finds unearthed in 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014 a flat cremation cemetery dating from the early phase of the Late Bronze Age was investigated near the village of Kukle near Tálín. A total of three definite, strongly damaged graves were registered. The discovery of fragments of an unspecified object made of gold sheet is very significant, because gold artefacts are rather rare in the Knovíz culture. The site is situated in a landscape with abundant deposits of gold, however, the origin of the material used for the manufacture of the gold piece of jewellery could not been ascertained. Not far from the cemetery, on the opposite bank of the brook, a similarly dated settlement was discovered through fieldwalking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an evaluation of all available data on prehistoric hillfort of U Sv. Anny in the Týn nad Vltavou region. The site has been known for more than a century, however, local prehistoric finds have not been processed and published in detail yet. A precise plan of the site has been created with the help of airborne laser scanning and recent prospecting activities have yielded artefacts enabling to make the dating more precise and to broaden the time span when the hillfort was inhabited during the Bronze Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]