S5002312

178 Mdeckó 2ehrovice in Bohcmin

chisel. A massive ąuadrangular artefact, from fea-ture 9/81, will be discussed below (Chapter 14). The connection of the older non-stratificd finds of a spoon-shaped drill and a chisel with the settle-ment of the Early Horizon is ambiguous. Other fragments found are possibly parts of fittings or unidentifiable implements. The above-mentioned linch-pin is the only prestigious metal artefact in the settlement, attesting to the existence of a wooden cart wh ich was unlikely, though, to have been used for everyday transport. The other ob-jects probably represent co ni mon domestic tools or construction elements.

A total of five glass objects - a bead, ring and three fragments of glass bracelets (of which two fragments come from older non-stratified finds) do not rangę the settlement to sites especially rich in this respect, nevertheless it is slightly above the aver-age as far as glass bracelets are concemed (Venc-lovó 1990). Glass was not produced in Bohemia in the time period concemed and may thus be taken as valid evidence of interregional contacts.

The whetstones, unless they were the tools used for the manufacturing of sapropelite rings, may have been used for shaping and sharping of com-mon implements. A total of 5 were uncovered out-side the industrial feature 3/86. Six pieces of marl-stone with traces of working, including one in the form of a half-finished spindle whorl or weight, confirm that the rock had been worked on the site. This may perhaps be indirect indication that the famous marlstone head could have been created on the site (the nearest source of marlstone is situated c. 1 km from the site). Clay or stone spindle whorls and weights support the evidence for spinning and weaving.

The older find of a ąuemstone may also well be-long to this settlement. If this is so it would be an important testimony to contacts with the stone-cutting workshops in the Lovosice region as early as LT CL

BURIAL COMPONENT

The only evidence of burial activities on the site is offered by the find from 1977 of a pit which contained a burnt bonę fragment from a human skuli, two pottery fragments and fragments of two bronze ankieta and is interpreted as a crema-tion grave. The relatwely smali dimensions of the ankieta point to a female burial. The relation of the pottery fragments to the pit is not certain as they might have been introduced into it from the ploughsoil.

The feature is situated approx. 50 m from the presumed eastern limit of the La Tfene settlement. This is based on surface surveys and may not necessariły be correct. The pit might have been, in theory, part of the settlement, even a settlement pit where the burial was additionally doposited. There is no immedinto answer to this question as the data available is incomplote.

The anklots belong to the typo with plain hemi-spheres, very frequent in LT B2-Cla particular-ly in the northern half of Bohemia (Waldhauser et al. 1987, 60, Abb.4,10). Exnmples of rings with 2+5 hemispheres can be found in Central as woli as NYV Bohemia (Filip 1956, Tab. XXVIII:6, XXXIII: 10,11, XXXVIII:4, LVII:4; Zśpotock^ 1973, Fig. 3:6-9,7:5,8). According to the dating based on these finds, the deceased woman was most probably buried at the time of the earliest phase (Phase 1) of the Early Horizon of the La Tóne occupation of the site.

SPECIALIZED (INDUSTRIAL) ACTIVITIES

SAPROPELITE INDUSTRY

Features and structural elements

The sunken hut 3/86 has already been mentioned several times. According to its formal characteris-tics, it can be classified as a common dwelling feature and it would seem only logical to include it in the dwelling component of the settlement. It differs from other huts only by its smali size (plan area 9.19 m²) and a system of very smali post holes interpreted as remains of the interior equip-ment - wooden tables or stools. At this point it is necessary to analyze the structure of the find complex from the hut. Apart from common settlement finds (with a significant density of pottery) it contained 56 kg of sapropelite in the form of artefacts from all stages of manufacturing process, waste and the raw materiał, as well as 5 whetstones (i.e. the highest concentration on the site), not to mention 10 pieces of worked and unworked marlstone. On the other hand, a very smali num-ber of animal bones were present. It is remarkable that the existence of the hut was not indicated either by magnetometrie prospecting (Marek this volume), or by the phosphate analysis (Majer this volume). According to these indications, common dwelling activities (including preparing and con-suming food) need not have taken place there; in all the other cases such activities have been detected by the two methods mentioned above. It should also be remembered that the hut is situated in the industrial part of the settlement, where no other houses were built. These facts point towards the possible interpretation of the hut (and/or its immediate surroundings) as a workshop for the production of sapropelite artefacts. Whether it also had another (dwelling?) function at the same time can neither be confirmed nor discounted. The

Industrial settlement, LT B2-C1

contenta of the hut are also rcmarkable for its high perccntnge of fine wheet-tumed pottery, as well as a high density of pottery fragments in generał. The question remains, whether this may point to the higher social status of the hut users, or to an unusual (intcntional?) filling of the hut after its original function ended.

According to the radiocarbon dating (Lanting this volume, NeustupnJ this volume) the wood from the hearth in the hut 3/86 dates roughly to the laat ąuarter of the 3cd to lst ąuarter of the 2nd century B.C., i.e., in relative chronology, to the end of LT Cl period or the LT C1/C2 transition. One sample is obviously not sufficient for the pur-poses of dating. It can be stated, however, that the datę given corresponds well with the archaedogi-cal dating according to which hut 3/86 belongs to the latest phase of the settlement (Phase 2 of the Early Horizon), dated to the end of LT Cl to LT C1/C2.

Archaeological complexes and artefacts Raw sapropelite

Kounov-type sapropelite is distinguished by its laminated structure, splitting easily horizontally (although morę compact forms also occur), while in the direction perpendicular to the layers it is tough and firm. Its colour varies from brown-black, grey-black to black, the surface is matt, fractures are uneven with clearly visible layering. It is light and can be worked by common iron implements, and its surface can be polished to matt gloss by whetstones madę from sandstone. Outcrops of sapropelite are easily recognisable as large spots of grey-black colour, ca used by plates of weathered sapropelite lying directly on the surface. As the highly weathered materiał was not suitable for Processing, mining is sometiraes con-sidered, using galleries cut into the sides of valleys (Żebera 1980). The thickness of the sapropelite layer in the outerop area reaches 4-8 cm, max. 20 cm. It was relatively easy to cut off the blocks of sapropelite. The trans po rtation of such blocks would not have caused difficulties given the short distance of the Mśeckć Żehrovice site from the sources of sapropelite and the relatively light weight of sapropelite, the total volume of which in the investigated area of the settlement did not exceed 260 kg.

Sapropelite collection from the site and its structure

The spatial find aituation of sapropelite on the site has been discussed in Chapter 12. Sapropelite fragments are typical for their "omnipresence". According to the density of sapropelite in various parta of the settlement, the are aa where it was

worked may be indicated, although the distribu-tion of sapropelite fragments is highly affected by post-depositional processes. Apart from hut 3/86 and its surrounding area, another place that could ' be considered a production area might be the wider surroundings of trench 8. Sapropelite was probably mainly worked in the open, and the manufacture did not require the building of any special eon-structions or permanent structures. No other feature was identified apart from the above-men-tioned hut 3/86, as being involved in the sapropelite industry.

Table 23 presents the numbers of sapropelite items in difTerent settlement contexts.

Table 24 shows the structure of the sapropelite collection according to the categories of objeets.

The evidence of local sapropelite working, i.e. the manufacture of bracelets and other ring-shaped omaments, is provided not only by the large volume of the sapropelite fragments on the site, but above all, by the structure of the sapropelite find collection. It contains finds of raw unworked materiał, raw materiał with traces of working, half-finished products, production waste and finished products (always as fragments).

Contezt	Sapropelite items
ploughsoil	2562
settlement layers	6054
industrial f. 1/79	1041
hut 2AB/79	413
house 7/81	164
hut 9/81	351
hut 11/82	207
f. 2B/83	51
pit 3/83	97
pit 6/83	34
industrial hut 3/86	c. 4640
f. 36/86	67
industrial f. 38/86	33
other features	208
banks	266
ditches	711
LT C2-D features	774
Tb tal	| 21276

Ikbla 23. Number of sapropelite items in different settlement contexts.