Food offerings, flowers, a bronze bucket and a waggon: a multidisciplinary approach regarding the Hallstatt princely grave from Prague-Letňany, Czech Republic

0478577 - ARÚ 2020 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Kozáková, Radka - Kyselý, René - Trefný, M. - Drábková, K. - Kočár, Petr - Frolíková, Drahomíra - Kočárová, R. - Moravcová, Kamila
Food offerings, flowers, a bronze bucket and a waggon: a multidisciplinary approach regarding the Hallstatt princely grave from Prague-Letňany, Czech Republic.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Roč. 11, č. 1 (2019), s. 209-221. ISSN 1866-9557. E-ISSN 1866-9565
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : grave * meat offerings * pollen * bronze bucket * paint * infrared spectroscopy * xylotomic analysis
OECD category: Archaeology
Impact factor: 2.063, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12520-017-0538-x

Two princely graves (numbers 6 and 14) of the Bylany culture from the Hallstatt period were excavated at Prague-Letňany in December 2014. The paper summarises the results of the scientific analysis of grave number 6. The grave inventory contained a four-wheeled waggon, 21 ceramic vessels of variable size and type, one bronze bucket, one iron sword, two iron spits and a variety of animal bones. Dark paint on the outer surface of the bronze bucket was examined using infrared spectroscopy and revealed the presence of beeswax and charcoal. This is unusual as the paint or coatings found on archaeological vessels from numerous periods are generally based on natural resins. Pollen analysis of the organic matter found in the bottom of the bronze bucket showed that it had originally belonged to flowers, probably in the form of a floral tribute. Osteological analysis of the offered parts of one adult sheep, one adult pig and one calf skeleton revealed the specific selection from fleshy parts of the animal bodies. There were no clear signs of roasting on the animal bones. Analysis of the waggon showed that Fagus wood was used for construction of the felloes, Abies/Picea wood for the axle and Ulmus, Acer and Quercus for other parts, suggesting that Modern Age technologies were already in use during the Hallstatt period.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0274667