EAA 2022: Abstract

South Bohemia belongs to specific regions of European prehistoric development. Due to the absence of the best agricultural soils, they were very sporadically inhabited in the agricultural prehistory until the end of the Late Neolithic. This changed fundamentally in the first half of the second millennium BC, probably due to intensive copper mining in the eastern Alps. Copper was transported further north through southern Bohemia to the dynamically developing areas of the Early Bronze Age. This process caused one of the greatest peaks of prehistoric settlement in the region of southern Bohemia.
The region is a suitable model area for studying various aspects of trade. The north-south orientation of the main trade artery following the course of the Vltava River is evident. There is significant evidence of archaeologically visible tradable commodities such as copper in the form of numerous hoards of ingots of the raw material. Finds of Baltic amber are significantly represented. The region's comparative advantage may also have been its rich natural deposits of gold or graphite. During the first half of the second millennium BC, a hierarchy of settlements was established. It is a dense network of hillforts following the expected trade routes, but also an exceptional settlement in Hosty - a trade and production centre of supra-regional importance. South Bohemia thus appears to be a suitable area for testing economic models of Bronze Age trade.

Early Bronze Age, Trade, Hillforts, Copper, Amber, Bohemia

Oral presentation

  Abstract (PDF)

Daniel Hlásek¹

Ondřej Chvojka²
Michal Ernée¹