Archaeology of slavery from cross-cultural perspective

Slavery is difficult to ascertain in the archaeological record, especially because of the lack of material evidence. Using the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of 186 societies, our aim was to find indirect and easily identifiable indicators of the presence of slavery. The results show links between slavery and the expected and familiar domains (e.g., warfare, polygyny, social and political integration) as well as its relationship to metallurgy, which can be considered an innovative finding. This text attempts to explain and give context to the metallurgy relationship with historical examples related to the exploitation of slaves during various stages of the operational chain of metal production. These include raw material extraction, production of charcoal, and construction or reconstruction of smelting furnace

Between archaeology and anthropology: Imagining Neolithic settlements

Modelling of the Neolithic settlements space of the Central Danubian Europe, regardless of its landscapeor village scopes, is always linked with longhouses. This is supposed to be a feature which structured the culture ofearly farmers. Two important aspects of the Neolithic house – its profane social complexity on one hand, and itssacred quality on the other – have been highlighted many times. But on what data can we infer its originalappearance, function and duration? The find context is limited in terms of the original wooden construction, thearchaeological imprint of which consists solely in a system of post holes. The aim of this text is therefore to presentthe existence of ethnographic parallels of the Central European Neolithic longhouses. Our purpose is certainly notto create direct analogies, but to induce basic imagination. Three particular cultural areas and the local populationsshow that the dwelling form could have had many features (e.g. construction of post, rectangular ground plan, roofform) in common with the original Neolithic houses. Both ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological evidence also re-open the issue of the so far unconfirmed construction properties of the long Neolithic houses (e.g. constructionmaterial, floor level). Other, culture dependent features observed at ethnographic cases (number of inhabitants,length flexibility, and lifespan) could contribute to creation of archaeologically testable interpretation model

Post-marital residence patterns in LBK: Comparison of different models

Many ideas about post-marital residence rules in the society of the first farmers in the European temperate zone (Linear Pottery Culture, ca. 5500–4900 cal BC) have been proposed. The prevailing hypothesis is patrilocality and community exogamy, based on strontium isotope, modern DNA, ancient DNA, linguistic and anthropological evidence. However, presenting several different anthropological models and comparing them with strontium isotope results from two LBK cemeteries (Vedrovice and Nitra), we argue that other post-marital residence rules such as ambilocality, avunculocality, shifting residence or predominant matrilocality were also possible. Arguments set in contradiction to one-sided interpretation of strontium isotope results include a possible practice of polygyny, abduction of young women and non-inhumation burials. A hypothetical model combining patrilocality and matrilocality on different social and geographical levels is proposed

Childhood mobility revealed by strontium isotope analysis: a review of the multiple tooth sampling approach

Strontium isotope analysis of archeological skeletal materials is a highly effective and commonly employed analytical tool to investigate past human mobility and migration. Most such studies to date have focused on the analysis of a single tooth sample per individual to identify migration. Increasingly, however, studies have analyzed multiple teeth from the same individual permitting the detection of migrations occurring during childhood, more fine-grained temporal resolution of the age at which migration(s) occurred, and even the identification of multiple migration episodes. In this study, we review the application of such approaches to a wide range of archeological contexts worldwide. We compiled and analyzed published 87Sr/86Sr data for 1043 individuals from 122 sites to explore the potential variability of childhood mobility patterns cross-culturally. The results demonstrate a high degree of variability in childhood mobility that differs significantly between different regions and time periods. Potential interpretations involved in multiple tooth 87Sr/86Sr analysis are reviewed, including heterogeneity in variance of regional 87Sr/86Sr, as well as variability in human mobility patterns such as residential change of whole family, fosterage, herding activities, post-marital residence rules, or forced migrations. Various limitations and caveats concerning the multiple teeth sampling approach are also critically discussed

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

Labe IV:Modelování pohybu vody a rozpuštěných látek ve vadózní zóně

Výzkumné práce vykonané ve třetím roce projektu týmem Fakulty stavební byly plynulým pokračováním aktivit z prvních dvou let řešení. V souhlase s metodikou byla pozornost zaměřena jednak na další vývoj simulačních modelů a vedle toho na měření a vyhodnocení hydraulických charakteristik. Pokračovaly experimenty určené na posouzení časoprostorové variability nasycených hydraulických vodivostí doplněných geofyzikálním měřením. Intenzivní zapojení studentů inženýrského i doktorandského studia do výzkumu umožnilo věnovat se v této fázi velmi podrobně možnostem zpřesnění popisu dynamiky proudění vody ve vadózní zóně, která je z hlediska transportních procesů determinující pro všechna řešení pohybu polutantů pod zemským povrchem