What can we learn from old collections?
We are constantly discovering new insights into how human society functioned in the past. However, little is known about the Magdalenian period in the territory of the Czech Republic – sites of this culture are often represented by mere lithics and fragments of bones. Some new findings have brought Czech study in which also participated Eliška Zazvonilová from the Science Faculty, Charles University.
Magdalenian is a culture of the Stone Age (belonging to the Upper Paleolithic) In this period humans lived in a hunter-gatherer way of life, and they were mobile in the environment of Central Europe, so their camps were moved according to food availability. That led to abandoning and reoccupying hunter settlements. Studying the period when were individual places settled is called seasonality.
Archaeological sites of camps from the Magdalenian period are not only from western Europe (Spain, France, Germany, …), but they are also in the Czech Republic. One of these sites is Hostim by Beroun, which is located in the Czech Karst. This site is significant firstly because it is the source of the largest collection of lithic tools in Bohemia (from the Magdalenian period) and secondly for its importance in the study of art in Central Europe.
This archaeological locality was discovered in the 1940s and research was conducted there twenty years later. The dating of this site was determined based on the discovered tools and artifacts, and also by carbon dating (based on a single sample). This year researchers tried to refine dating and to obtain information for a more precise determination of the period when this site was occupied, and to discover the character of the natural environment at the surroundings of the site.
We can detect some features of the natural environment by using a stable isotope analysis. This method is used for estimating information about trophic interactions. For this analysis, the bones and teeth of animals were used. The results suggest that the environment at that time was colder and more humid. The settlement was located in the open landscape, similar to a steppe, with clusters of bushes.
The radiocarbon dating method was used to determine the age of the animal bone samples (radiocarbon dating is based on the assumption of known initial carbon 14 activity in the components of the natural environment during the life of the organisms and by determination of its remaining amount in the sample, the decrease of activity of the 14C is attributed just by radioactive decay). There has been a small correlation between data, suggesting that this locality was repeatedly colonized in the past (originally it was assumed that it was a one-time used site). It seems that it was a strategically advantageous site. It could have been a hunting camp or it could have been a workshop for the ochre (dye) proceeding.
Although some things have been specified, there is still room for further research. This study, among other things, highlighted the need to reevaluate the material that this site provides us.
Eliška Rychtecká
Published:
Dec 26, 2023 09:10 PM
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