The Vertical Structure of Neolithic Finds in the Fills of Archaeological Features

Abstract

This article examines the distribution of Neolithic finds in the fillings of features with different functions (settlement pits, rondel ditches, enclosure) in the Bylany 4 microarea, Kutná Hora district, Czech Republic. We investigate the nature of their extinction or the emergence of fills. The vertical structure of archaeological finds (pottery and non-pottery) deposited in the sediments of various features was monitored in terms of five attributes. Based on the different structures of the fills of archaeological features, it is evident that the structure of the horizontal or vertical distribution of findings in their fills can yield information about the creation of the finding assemblages. It also reflects the dynamics of the development of anthropogenic activities in the vicinity of the features. In terms of methodology, the work follows up on the general theory of formative processes, while their natural and cultural transformations are discussed at a more detailed level of specific forms. It is necessary to consistently distinguish between the behaviour of clay sediments and the actual artefacts stored therein. It is further necessary to individually evaluate the specific natural conditions of deposition at a specific site as well as the variable cultural roles of individual features. IANSA 2019 ● X/1 ● 29–51 Markéta Končelová, Magdalena Midgley†, Jan Rulf†, Marie Zápotocká, Ivan Pavlů: The Vertical Structure of Neolithic Finds in the Fills of Archaeological Features 30 were interfering with this large enclosure in its southern part (Figure 2). The entire course of both rondels determined geophysically (Mayer, 1995; Křivánek, 2015) pointed to a close spatial relationship between these two bodies, as on Site I in Kolín (Šumberová, ed., 2012; Řídký et al., 2014; 2019). Large-scale excavation of the ditches in Bylany did not take place until 1990–1993. The goal of the grant project was to explore rondel 4/1 and its chronological and cultural relationship with the local settlement and the biritual cemetery of the Stroked Pottery culture in Miskovice. The research focused on several key areas of the rondel site1 and was supervised by several experts2. The results of the project were subsequently published, with each of the coauthors separately addressing the issue of the functional interpretation of the rondel (Pavlů, Rulf, Zápotocká, 1995, pp.97–98). Interpretation of the rondel phenomenon still 1 The individual excavated areas in the Bylany 4 microarea are identified in the following manner: 1991 – excavation in the southern entrance of Rondel 4/1, 1992a – excavation in the western part of the large enclosure (feature 1830), 1992b – excavation in the western entrance of Rondel 4/1, 1993 – excavation at the northern edge of the microarea. 2 I. Pavlů, (+) J. Rulf and M. Zápotocká cooperated in 1991 and 1992a areas. The research in 1992b and 1993 areas was led by (+) M. Midgley together with students from the University of Edinburgh. In 1991, the probe excavation in the B-J/6 sectors was carried out by A. Reinhardt (senior student of University in Saarbrücken). remains a discussed issue, most recently summed up by J. Řídký (2011; 2019) and H. Stäuble (2012). Regarding this, however, there is also scepticism on principle from some of the researchers (Trnka, 1991, p.318). The actual publication of the rondel in Bylany focused on issues arising from the research project, such as clarifying the construction of the rondel and its relation to the surrounding settlement and burial ground. Set aside for then was the publication of settlement features outside of the rondel and also a more detailed description of the fillings of ditches, their chronology, and other contexts of the rondel. Some partial questions were tackled by other studies, such as the placement of specific finds of grinding tools at the entrance to rondel 4/1 (Pavlů, 1990), or suggestions for new directions of interpretation (Květina, 2010; Květina, Končelová, 2013a; 2013b). The information obtained by the current research in Bylany 4 microarea has not been exhausted. A number of questions related to the three distinct areas (not only spatially but also functionally), encourages the search for answers to the importance of this area during the Late Neolithic (according to Czech periodization). 2. Determination of the Horizontal and the Vertical Position In the early 1990s, field excavation methodology was complemented by a consistent inventory of findings in Figure 1. Settlement microareas in the cadastral area Bylany, near Kutná Hora; those marked red are the areas investigated within the Bylany 4 microarea. IANSA 2019 ● X/1 ● 29–51 Markéta Končelová, Magdalena Midgley†, Jan Rulf†, Marie Zápotocká, Ivan Pavlů: The Vertical Structure of Neolithic Finds in the Fills of Archaeological Features 31 Figure 2. Microareas Bylany 4 and 1: marked in red are the features that are analysed in this text. IANSA 2019 ● X/1 ● 29–51 Markéta Končelová, Magdalena Midgley†, Jan Rulf†, Marie Zápotocká, Ivan Pavlů: The Vertical Structure of Neolithic Finds in the Fills of Archaeological Features 32 spatial coordinates over the standard of earlier excavations in Bylany. The microarea Bylany 4 was divided3 into 15×15 m square sectors (Figure 2), within which excavations were carried-out using an even more detailed square network of 1×1 m. Findings were recorded in these smaller quadrants and were numbered separately within the detailed Cartesian coordinates (x, y) of each sector, from its origin at the southwest corner. The findings from the features were identified both, by the sector and the quadrant, or by an even more detailed specification of the coordinates from the defined beginning. For example, part of the findings from the sediments of the large-scale enclosure (feature 1830) on area 1992a is identified as: C10 (sector) and x = 02/y = 09 (quadrants). The third (vertical) coordinate was based on continuous levelling of the area surveyed. In 1991, the absolute height of the point selected near the feature under investigation was derived from the altitude of the basic point of the sectoral network (314.25 m above sea level). Using this information, the depth of excavated sediments and finds located in them was measured and marked on a scale of, for example, +/–10 cm. This relative depth, which is individual for each feature examined, was recorded as the third dimension of the findings4. The methodology described enables one to work with finding assemblages, arranged as they are in accordance with the quadrants of investigated sediments of size 100×100×10 cm. Later attempts to record three coordinates immediately for each individual find during the research of Neolithic features proved to be very impractical (Květina, 2005, p.12), especially in terms of time consumption. On a different occasion, during the research in Bylany, a method of exploration of Neolithic sediments in more detailed mechanical blocks of 30×30×10 cm was tested, based on which, for example, pottery fragments in Neolithic pits can be spatially identified in a sufficient manner and the way in which the pits were infilled can be monitored (Květina, Končelová, 2011, p.59). Yet this method of excavation can be implemented only selectively, and it does not readily enable its broader application during conventional rescue excavations. The chosen method of research in the Bylany 4 microarea, using a detailed record of findings in a square network, has proved to be particularly useful for large-scale features, enabling a more accurate localisation of individual findings within them. In this manner, finding assemblages can be subsequently broken down in accordance with the individual parts of features. 3 The network was set up as a detailed projection of the basic map structure in the area of the Czech Republic. The starting point for the Bylany 4 microarea has S-JTSK Krovak (East/North) coordinates X=–687 625 a Y=–1 067 000 (Pavlů, Rulf and Zápotocká, 1995, Figure 2). 4 In the Bylany database (Květina and Pavlů, 2007), this auxiliary marking is referred to as the mechanical layer. In addition, in some cases, the term natural layer was introduced, which denoted naturally-stratified sediments in the profiles and it was coded as 001, 002, etc. All information about the depth of deposition of the findings in this work is translated into dimensions in absolute values, i.e. to metres above sea level (MASL). 3. Chronology and Interpretation of Features The existing chronology of the settlement in Bylany is based on the evaluation of quantitative shares of the technique for producing the linear decoration in finding assemblages of pottery, which originate from building pits adjacent to Neolithic longhouses. Based on the number of vessel units5 (not just fragments) in the building pit, their characteristics and chronological evaluation were assessed. To identify the entire space-time development of the settlement, a higher finding unit, comprising a ground plan of a longhouse and adjacent building pits, referred to as house complex, was established (Soudský, 1966, p.33; Soudský, Pavlů, 1972, p.318 ). The distribution of finds in the fills of settlement features in the Bylany site has been addressed in a work that mainly monitored the mechanism of the filling of the features (Květina, Končelová, 2011, p.64). This detailed analysis of the filling of one feature showed that pottery fragments were concentrated in the direction of the natural filling of the open pit. This type of infill process followed the natural slope in which the feature was recessed. Already during the latest synthesis of the Bylany chronology (Pavlů, Rulf, Zápotocká, 1986), and in subsequent works (Pavlů, 2000; 2010; 2014), we hypothesised that finding assemblages that originate from features with the same history of function and formative processes would be disturbed by interfering factors on a mutually comparable, yet unknown scale. For this re