How were Neolithic ditches filled in? Deposition study of two enclosures from Bohemia

0433336 - ARÚ 2015 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Řídký, Jaroslav - Končelová, Markéta - Šumberová, Radka - Limburský, Petr - Květina, Petr
How were Neolithic ditches filled in? Deposition study of two enclosures from Bohemia.
European Journal of Archaeology. Roč. 17, č. 4 (2014), s. 579-601. ISSN 1461-9571. E-ISSN 1741-2722
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP405/11/1590
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : Late Neolithic * Central Europe * circular enclosures * rondels * formation processes * deposition
Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

The aim of this study is to analyse the correlation between finds and ditches, the duration of ditch fills, and the manner of the demise of Late Neolithic rondels in the Czech Republic. Two comparable long-term projects are discussed here: Kolín and Vchynice. Qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analyses of the different categories of finds (pottery fragments, lithics, daub, and faunal remains) from the ditch fills show that only finds from the bottom layers of the ditches were contemporary with the primary function of the rondels. However, the bottom layers often only contained a few artefacts. The richest parts of the ditches, the middle and upper layers, from both sites illustrated similar characteristics: after the rondels lost their primary function, the ditches were filled by both natural and cultural agents over a long period. As a consequence, some previous, and widely accepted, interpretations of the relationship between individual areas of rondels and their relationship with surrounding features, as well as the relationship of the finds from ditch fills to rondel function and chronology, need to be revisited.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0237638