Search

– Soil and archaeological sites are endangered by agricultural activity in the long-term. A comparison of soil erosion maps with the results of geophysical surveys could help.– Combination of data could separate different chances for preservation of archaeological terrains.

The central Bohemian hillfort-type site in Tismice is one of the largest (20–22 ha) in Bohemia from the Early to Middle Hillfort period (8th–9th century) and has been studied for years using non-destructive methods. The study, which presents the results of the complete geophysical survey of the site as well as the results of small-scale trenching from 2013, is focussed on an analysis of non-ferrous metal ornaments (c. 170 pcs., mostly belt and horse harness decorations) and analyses of evidence of craft production – jewellerymaking, metalsmithing and metal casting (ingots, blanks). It presents the earliest evidence of work with gold in early medieval Bohemia (2018 excavation) as well as natural science radiocarbon and magnetic absolute dates, which supplement dating on the basis of Carolingian coin and imports. The internally divided hillfort was an elite residence (gilded ornaments, spurs, coin) and for a short time served as a supra-regional centre that not only received and redistributed but also produced items of statutory importance (belt and horse harness ornaments, pendants, spurs). Radiocarbon dating places the multiphase early medieval settlement and fortifications in the period from the final third of the 8th century until the end of the 9th century. A detailed evaluation of the stratigraphy will be another step towards a comprehensive interpretation of this site. Key Words: Early Middle Ages, hillfort, Avar period metal ornaments, spurs, long-distance contacts, goldsmithing, metalsmithing tools, Carolingian coin, central Bohemia

The archaeological site of Březnice (Czechia) represents one of the large settlements of the Late Bronze Age (Ha A2/B1, 14C: 1124–976 BC) in Bohemia. The site became known mainly for a high number of so-called ‘trenches’, oblong pit features (breadth around 1 m, length 4–7 m), remarkable not only for their specific shape but also for their contents (unusual amounts of pottery, daub, loom weights and other finds, often with traces of a strong fire). In 2018–20, a research project focusing on the study of the site was realized. Magnetometer survey became an integral part of the project since it represented a way to obtain an overall image of the site. A 5-channel fluxgate gradiometer from Sensys (Germany) was used; the vertical gradient of the Z component of the Earth magnetic field was measured. In total, the survey covered an area of over 17 hectares and included over 1.8 million measurements. Profiles were orientated from east to west and data taken bidirectionally (alternate lines in opposite directions), in a 0.5 × 0.2 m grid. The site is extraordinary due to the fact that all archaeological features discovered so far belong to a single archaeological period (Late Bronze Age). This makes the acquired data set exceptional. It can be further used by archaeologists and geophysicists, both to create alternative models of the dynamics of prehistoric settlements and to better understand the nature and interpretive possibilities of the magnetometer data in archaeology as such.

Since the twelfth century, forest areas in the upper reaches of the low mountain ranges of central Europe provided an important source of wood and charcoal especially for mining and smelting as well as glass production. In this case study from a site in the upper Erzgebirge region (Ore Mountains), results from archeological, geophysical, pedo-sedimentological, geochemical, anthracological, and palynological analyses have been closely linked to allow for a diachronic reconstruction of changing land use and varying intensities of human impact with a special focus on the fourteenth to the twentieth century. While human presence during the thirteenth century can only be assumed from archeological material, the establishment of glass kilns together with quartz mining shafts during the fourteenth century has left behind more prominent traces in the landscape. However, although glass production is generally assumed to have caused intensive deforestation, the impact on this site appears rather weak compared to the sixteenth century onwards, when charcoal production, probably associated with emerging mining activities in the region, became important. Local deforestation and soil erosion has been associated mainly with this later phase of charcoal production and may indicate that the human impact of glass production is sometimes overestimated.

This paper summarizes the extensive magnetometer survey (over 17 ha) of an important archaeological site in South Bohemia (Czechia). The Late Bronze Age settlement of Březnice has become known for a large amount of specific and at first enigmatic features: trenches, rich in burnt material and structured depositions of finds. Apart from processing by usual methods, magnetometer data has been handled in a less common way in terms of its informative value: as quantitative, spatially continuous information on the intensity of human activities in the landscape. This approach not only led to the definition of the overall extent of the site and detected tens of new trenches, but it also brought information on the functional and behavioural structure of the settlement. The indicated spatial patterns match the model of a continuous growth of individual settlement segments (homesteads) and their gradual shifts following intentional burnings of the buildings. The obtained data represents a significant contribution both to the typology of prehistoric settlements and to the research of their ‘biography’, abandonment rituals and other aspects of prehistoric settlement behaviour. Not least, the data from Březnice demonstrated the information potential of magnetometer data in regard to the formation processes of archaeological sites. The magnetic anomalies were categorized into several groups, some of which can be connected to archaeological features still surviving underground whereas some others may – from the most part – represent the last remains of features, which have been already destroyed in their original setting.

A systematic combination of aerial and subsequent geophysical surveys over the six years of the ‘Settlement Patterns in Prehistoric Bohemia’ project yielded much new and often surprising information about the nature of archaeological sites, features and locations in the agricultural lowlands of Bohemia. Newly discovered and verified large ditches represent a group of very diverse and often, in Bohemian archaeology, atypical linear features. The results of large-area magnetometric surveys aided in mapping locations more precisely and in the overall separation of linear features, as well as in choosing among probable archaeological interpretations of the sites. Future archaeological verification of more of these identified atypical situations by test trenches would provide more precise dating, and perhaps unambiguous interpretations of prehistoric sites. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The hillfort is one of Europe’s best known types of pre- and protohistoric monument. Those found in the Czech Republic range in date over the Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, and early medieval periods. Many of these sites have long been familiar in the landscape, but more have been identified or studied during various archaeological survey projects (e.g., Gojda et al. 2004; Křivanek 2004). They vary in size from 0.1–0.5 ha to 100–200 ha. They offer important information on the key roles they performed in each period: military bases, settlement, industry, trade, communications, agriculture, burial, cult, or other activities.

Geophysical work on archaeological sites in northwest Bohemia is dependent on a number of regional and specific local conditions and factors. Difficulties are encountered when conducting archaeological and geophysical work in the heavily industrialized region of Bohemia, in the lowland area along the Bilina River. A high concentration of brown-coal mines and power stations and the chemical industry have produced electromagnetic disturbances. These disturbances, together with irreversible changes to the landscape produced by industrial development, create conditions that are far from ideal for systematic geophysical surveys. Nevertheless, the results from gradient magnetic surveys verified by subsequent archaeological rescue excavations have shown that a limited, local-scale application of archaeogeophysical methods is not only practicable in these adverse conditions, but also beneficial to archaeology. Entirely different conditions characterize the systematic surveys conducted on abandoned late medieval glass-working sites (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) in the forested highland regions of the Ore Mountains. In areas with a well-preserved original landscape, magnetic surveys have provided clear and detailed data on the sources of magnetic anomalies. The most intensively farmed region in the lowlands along the Ohře River displayed yet another type of conditions. Magnetic measurements are invariably disturbed by the effects of consistent tilling, particularly deep ploughing, and other related activities of modern or recent origin. The limitations involved in archaeogeophysical work in the region of the Central Bohemian and the Doupov Mountains are all natural. Steep slopes and neovolcanic bedrock played a major part in the choice and effectiveness of geophysical methods used on archaeological sites in the environmentally protected areas of this region. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Site description The early medieval stronghold Libice nad Cidlinou is one of the most important sites for the beginnings of the Czech state. It is situated in the lowlands of Central Bohemia (60 km east of Prague). This type of large early medieval stronghold (approx. 25 ha) is a rare kind of site in Bohemian archaeology. It was built on remnants of a sand-gravel terrace (two islands), naturally protected by the surrounding floodplain and the meanders of the river Cidlina (Fig. 1). The inner ...

Agricultural terrains very often cover the same areas as archaeological terrains. This seems to be very often a problematic aspect, related to the adequate protection of endangered archaeological sites. In the case of many sites ploughed for a long time and also of archaeological monuments in the Czech Republic, the actual questions facing the archaeologist are: “What is the present state of subsurface preservation of archaeological sites? Can we still observe most archaeological features in situ? How deep and important could be the influence of landscape changes as a result of ploughing?” More than one method of non-destructive archaeology can today be of help in finding answers to these questions at different levels of information. This was also one particular aim of the project “Geophysical surveys in archaeologically unexcavated parts of Czech oppida” (Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic – no. A8002301, Křivanek et al. 2003–2007, cooperation of the Institute of Archaeology in Prague, the National Museum in Prague and the Mining Museum in Přibram).