Extensive archaeobotanical data estimate carrying capacity, duration, and land use of the Late Bronze Age settlement site Březnice (Czech Republic)

0565758 - ARÚ 2023 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Šálková, T. - Vobejda, L. - Chvojka, O. - Beneš, J. - Vondrovský, Václav - Kuna, Martin - Křivánek, Roman - Menšík, P. - Novák, J.
Extensive archaeobotanical data estimate carrying capacity, duration, and land use of the Late Bronze Age settlement site Březnice (Czech Republic).
Scientific Reports. Roč. 12, č. 1 (2022), č. článku 20323. ISSN 2045-2322. E-ISSN 2045-2322
Grant CEP: GA ČR(CZ) GA18-10747S; GA MŠMT EF16_019/0000728
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985912
Klíčová slova: Late Bronze Age * settlement * environmental archaeology
Obor OECD: Archaeology
Impakt faktor: 4.6, rok: 2022
Způsob publikování: Open access
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24753-x.pdf

The reconstruction of the settlement's hinterland and acquisition of plant resources is one of the crucial questions in the field of environmental archaeology. Our study is focused on the reconstruction of the settlement's structure and character of the environment from which the site drew resources. These research questions were addressed by the interpretation of plant macroremains, charcoals, and the results of the spatial model. We have focused on the maximum size of the settlement that the surrounding countryside was able to withstand. Our results clearly demonstrated significant deforestation and intensive land use in the vicinity of the Late Bronze Age study site. As the weed taxa showed, a wide range of crops was grown in rather dry or less often in damp fields. Based on our archaeobotanical results, we were able to reconstruct several types of grasslands: dry pastures and fallow fields on plateaus and slopes, wet pastures or meadows in the floodplain. Acidophilous oak forests, alluvial forests, and shrubs were reconstructed as the most common forest habitats in the vicinity of the study site. Based on the archaeological knowledge of the region, we assume relatively low population density during the Late Bronze Age, and thus only a small part of the more or less forested landscape was significantly affected by human activities.
Trvalý link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0337281