Deposition analysis and the hidden life of Bronze Age houses.

• New approaches to deposition analysis were developed to study a large data set of prehistoric settlement discard. • The archaeological context was studied as a compressed, synoptic record of the lifecycle of things. • Phases of the cultural biography of Bronze Age houses were identified including their use, intentional cremation, the burial of remains (burnt settlement refuse) and closing deposits. • Houses are explained as the central (albeit non-human) actors of hybrid actor-networks. • The actor's role of the houses was strengthened by their ontological status as living beings. This paper deals with the application of deposition analysis to an unusual type of features in the Late Bronze Age settlements in Central Europe. These are long narrow trenches (referred to as 'long pits' in this text) with characteristic standard form and alignment, as well as find contents, including high amounts of secondary-burned pottery fragments. In the context of prehistoric research, these features represent a relatively new phenomenon that has attracted attention in the last two decades due to new excavations in Bohemia and Bavaria. Based on the finds from Březnice (Czechia), the authors conclude that the long pits were connected with the closing rituals following the abandonment and burial of dwellings. Although no houses were directly documented on this site, their presence must be assumed, and their cultural biography can be reconstructed from the depositional characteristics of the accompanying finds. In order to fully understand the processes of deposition, the authors find it useful to focus not only on human agency but also on the relationships between the things themselves. This way, houses are understood as the central element of a hybrid actor-network. Their role may have been strengthened by their ontological status of living beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]