A quantitative approach to magnetometer survey data: The case of the Late Bronze Age site of Březnice

0538430 - ARÚ 2022 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Kuna, Martin - Křivánek, Roman - Chvojka, O. - Šálková, T.
A quantitative approach to magnetometer survey data: The case of the Late Bronze Age site of Březnice.
Journal of Archaeological Science. Roč. 126, February (2021), č. článku 105298. ISSN 0305-4403. E-ISSN 1095-9238
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA18-10747S
Research Infrastructure: AIS CR II - 90134
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : magnetometry * Bronze Age * intra-site patterning * house burning * trenches with house debris * prehistoric homestead clusters
OECD category: Archaeology
Impact factor: 3.508, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440320302193?via%3Dihub

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.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0316240


Research data: Zenodo