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district) suggests that it might hav* bsen a unit of weight. Its welght (849.5 g) do** not. howavor, nppoar lo match the welght system* known to be utilised wtthin the anclent world (Motykovś 1977PI. I). Anolhor conlcal słone welght, with a vertlcal hole for the settlng of an Iron ring. was found In an Early La Tóne featuro at Sffedokluky (Kladno district). whfch was decorated wlth horizontal grooves and concentrlc drcles (Ctłmif 1980, 642. Rg. 1:2). Another Early La T*ne Hem, a ceramlc welght with an Iron ring. was recovered from a sunken-floor feature at 8ftozeves (Louny district) (Plolnorovd - Plelner 1981,163). The vari*ty of materials, l.e. słone and baked cłay. suggests that the welght of the objects was not decislue for determining łheir function. The Lale La TAne słone weight of oval shape with an Iron eyelet from the hillfort of PohanskA at Plaveckó Podhradf may have served as some sort of englneering construction ald (Paulłk 1976,151, Fig. 46:1). łt might have been a useful tool In the construction of fortłfication lines, as well as in Ihe construction of houses at the oppidum. Another possible intorpretation of the stone weight from Stradonice, based on analogies pubłlshed from Manching. is that they served as automatic door closers. The examples from Manching have a yariety of shapes ranging from fiat ovai to globular, however, they are considerably heayier than the Stradonice example, and the attachment of the iron eyelet is also different (Jacobi 1974,243-244, Taf. 96. Nr. 1790-1792; Taf. 107:5,6).

5. Tools, semi-finished products and production waste

Some objects, obtained during the sampling of settlement features in the entrance area behind the main gate and aiong the eastem sfde of the central area of the Stradonice oppidum, represent evidence of craft production taking place within the courtyards. These activities included specialised iron, precious and non-iron metal working, the casting of semi-finished products of coins, wood working, and the production of amber, bonę and antler artefacts. Evidence for centralised craft production in certain areas of the oppidum is provided not only by the presence of tools. but also by the presence of various other aids, especially technical ceramics, semi-finished products and production waste.

The production of coinage must have been carried out sińce the beginning of the hill settlement, already befbre the foundation of the ramparts. A rim fragment of a coin pellet mould, madę of baked clay (Fig. 39:3), was found in a grey ashy layer after the bumt wooden settlement in Part I. south of the access road. According to the finds of other fragments of ceramic coin moukfs, the production of coinage was practiced in quite a large scalę until the latest settlement horizon. Within this last horizon, a fragment was found within house 187 (Rg. 39:6), in the first courtyard southwards from the main road, and Iwo fragments were found from rectangular pit 116 (Fig. 39:1,2), representing part of a workshop facility in the third courtyard, situated to the north of the main road (cf. Figs. 16-17 and PI. 9). Individual mould forms differ from one another in the relatńre size of thelr holes. The smallast ones were on average about 7 mm wide, the largest being 14 mm. The casting of coins of yarious sizes and welghts was therefore carried out, presumably intended for the mlnting of different coin values. The dimensions of the clay mould forms and the number of cast semi-products could not be established, howeyer, on the basis of the minutę fragments. We can only State that clay moulds were rectangular with straight rims. The fragments of moulds from old assemblages from Stradonice (Pfó1903, PI. LVIII:4,12) are of corresponding shapes. Analogous finds from the oppidum of Z§vist had square or oblong shapes with distinctły rounded comers. One of the larger fragments there even allowed an estimation of the number of casts that could be madę from it, at ieast 70 pieces being hypothesised (Motykovó - Drda - Rybovś 1978a, 119, Fig. 33:1).

The dispersion ot ceramic coin pellet moulds at Stradonice suggests that production was concentrated in the vicinity of the main road, leading to the inner area of the central part of the oppidum. The location of the workshops of a corresponding type is also known from the oppidum of Zńvist. At this site, the workshops were situated in the yicinity of the main gate D [Jan$ovó 1974,4-8, Abb. 5) and at the bailey in the eastern courtyard, adjacent to the entrance communication. The location of actual mlnting of the coins need not have been in the same location as that for their initial production, and it was undoubtedly under the direct control of the ruling group (Motykovś - Drda - Rybovś 1978b, 288-289,338).

The only find of a coin during the course of the 1981-84 rescue excavations at Stradonice, was a silver coin of smali dimensions (Fig. 39:12, weight 0.2715 g), which does not seem to be associated with the other coinage at the site. It had quite a worn surface, which prevented its morę detalled classification, and indicated that it had probably been in drculation for a substantial period of tlme. Its occurrence In sunken-floor house 148, within horizon 2. proyldes some further eyidence conceming the monetary system used at Stradonice sińce the very beginning of settlement actlyities on the hill.

Fig. 38 HracMM by Stradontc* Eyidanc* ot woriang and mlnling 1.2.5:tealure 116.3: Part 1.90-100 m. aahy layer ol horizon 1; 4,12: feature >48; 6: feature 187; 7: feature 113:8 feature 32. 9 feature 2ZT2. 10 feature 85:11: feaajra W2. -1-7: baked clay; 8-11: branża; 12: siv*f.

Fine bronzo scal as. the oceurrence of which corresponds with the evidence of ceramic mould forms a) several fortifled Cellic cantres (cl. Peschel 1965,146-149, Karto 5). ara also assotialed with coinage, From the roceni 1981 Stradonice excavabons, a smali fragment of a beam was racoirered from the second l*vei of the surface of the main road. which served during settlement honzons 2-3 (Fig. 39:11). This beam was found together with fragments of an iron a bek and a tetrahedral implement broken-off at both ends. a lump of bronzo and a fragment of a bronze sheet. The objects might havs been deliberateły dbposod of on the road. howeuer, they may also have Occidentally accumulated with the dayey materiał heaped up for the leyeling of the communlcation from the nearby yidnity. The drcumstances of aN these objects suggests the asaodation of craft production with the neighbourhood dl the main road. The existence of a jeweby wotkahop