The Use of Environmental Methods for Studying the Fortification, Economic System and Natural Environment of a Hillfort from the Beginning of the Middle Bronze Age at Vrcovice, Czech Republic

This contribution summarises the most important results of the environmental methods applied in a study of a significant hillfort at Vrcovice (South Bohemia) from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. Attention was already paid to the environmental attributes of the archaeological sources (e.g. phosphate analysis) during systematic excavations over the years 1963–1966. Important findings emerged out of archaeo-environmental research conducted here in 2013, during which a number of methods were applied to study the economic system (archaeozoology, food detection by antibodies, plant macro-remains), the natural environment (anthracology, palynology) and the reconstruction of the original form of fortification (magnetic susceptibility, remanent magnetization). Samples were also obtained for two radiocarbon dates. The hillfort at Vrcovice ranks among the most important resources for the study of fortified settlements from the Bronze Age in Bohemia due to the holistic approach taken. IANSA 2014 ● V/1 ● 31–47 Daniel Hlásek, Petra Houfková, Lenka Kovačiková, Antonín Majer, Jan Novák, Jaroslav Pavelka, Tomáš Bešta, Tereza Šálková: The Use of Environmental Methods for Studying the Fortification, Economic System and Natural Environment of a Hillfort from the Beginning of the Middle Bronze Age at Vrcovice, Czech Republic 32 system and the natural environment during the existence of the settlement. These aspects were investigated as part of thorough research at this site (Hlásek et al. in press). This study summarises the applied scientific methods and achieved results which helped reconstruct a more accurate picture of the Vrcovice settlement. 1.1 Description of the fortified settlement The Vrcovice site is situated on a promontory on the right bank of the Otava River approximately 3.5 km upstream from the town of Písek. The promontory is defined by the Otava River from the west and south and by a small creek from the east. The remains of the 25 m wide fortification system, formed by two walls and a ditch between them, are found in the north. The enclosed area of the promontory occupies approximately 0.55 hectares (Figure 1). The rocky bedrock, exposed on the southern slope of the promontory, is formed by weakly to moderately migmatized pearl gneisses with inserts of biotite paragneisses and migmatite with a predominating ortho-component (Fišera, undated manuscript). Cambisols are most prominent in the area (Tomášek 2000). The physicchemical characteristics of these soils negatively affected the preservation of the unburned osteological material. The area of the fortified settlement and its surrounding area is covered by pine forest, with the predominant tree species being apart from pine (Pinus sylvatica), oak (Quercus petraea) and hazel (Corylus avellana).