New perspective on Neolithic rectangular features using artefact analysis, soil micromorphology and ethnohistorical analogies: A case study from Střelice u Brna, South Moravia, Czech Republic (advance online)

Neue Perspektiven auf rechteckigeneolithische Befunde durch Artefaktanalyse, Bodenmikromorphologie und ethnohistorische Analogien. EineFallstudie aus Střelice u Brna, Südmähren, Tschechien.Die Funktion eingetiefter rechteckiger Strukturen währenddes Spätneolithikums ist in Mitteleuropa seit vielenJahren Gegenstand von Untersuchungen. Gruben dieserArt werden selten gefunden. Eines der jüngsten Beispieleist ein quadratischer Lengyel-Befund aus der Gemeinde: The function of sunken rectangular features inthe Late Neolithic has been a subject of interest in CentralEurope for many years. This type of pit is not found veryoften. One of the latest examples is a square Lengyelfeature in the village of Střelice near Brno. A study of themicrostratigraphy of the fill has made it possible to qualitatively move the debate to a new level. The qualitativeassessment of bone micro-fragments is also innovativefor the method of micromorphology in the archaeologicalcontext. The study also includes an analysis of artefactsin the actual fill of feature 562, especially the deposits offragments of “other lithic industry”, pottery and parts of an animal’s body. The discovered situation is theninterpreted in the context of other known contemporaryfeatures of this type. The presence of excrement withdigested bone micro-fragments in the lower layer and theabsence of a floor treatment, tread horizon or bedding canbe interpreted in the context of ethnohistorical analogies,e.  g., as the short-term use of a faecal pit for an omnivorous or carnivorous species (bear) with a subsequentritual ending