A comparative perspective on Mesolithic assemblages from different landscapes in Bohemia

0532523 - ARÚ 2022 RIV RS eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Kapustka, Katarína - Eigner, J. - Walls, M.
A comparative perspective on Mesolithic assemblages from different landscapes in Bohemia.
Foraging Assemblages. Vol. 1. Belgrade: Serbian Archaeological Society, 2021 - (Borić, D.; Antonović, D.; Mihailović, B.), s. 94-101. ISBN 978-86-80094-14-4.
[International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe /9./. Belgrade (RS), 14.09.2015-18.09.2015]
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) R300021601
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : Czech Republic * lithic technology * raw material exploitation * landscape archaeology * regional differences
OECD category: Archaeology

In Bohemia, known Mesolithic sites are located in a variety of landscape zones and natural settings. The extent of research on each of these landscapes, and understandings of the relationships between them, is quite variable. In this paper, we compare selected case studies from three different Bohemian landscape types: mountains, hilly terrain and lowlands. For each region, we selected sample assemblages, with a particular emphasis on collections from surface surveys and excavations where primary depositional contexts are not available. Such assemblages have had a tendency to be overlooked when discussing relationships between different landscape zones in the Bohemian Mesolithic. We compare a variety of observed characteristics, such as ways different raw materials were exploited as well as their technological traits. The observed differences can be accounted for, in part, by environmental conditions, but regional traditions also appear to have had some bearing. Within this sample of case studies, we demonstrate that technological traditions in lithic production were as important an agent as raw material quality and economic optimality. A comparative perspective offers opportunities to better understand Mesolithic landscape use in Bohemia.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0320261