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A rescue excavation of the prehistoric and early medieval site of Rakovice - Na Pile

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2021

Abstract

The subject of the publication is the evaluation of current research results of an excavation carried out by the Prácheň Museum in Písek at a location occupied during the early Roman period and the Early Middle Ages within the site of Rakovice - Na Pile, Písek District. The archaeological excavation undertaken in 2015 found a situation disturbed by plowing which represented a superposition of two components diff ering in recovered material culture and its dating.

Feature 1 was dated to the early phase of the Roman period (the so-called Plaňany horizon of the Großromstedt culture), feature 1.1 falls into the period of the Early Middle Ages. A genesis of a superposition of earlier and later features seems to be clear at fi rst sight, however, this is further complicated by the evidence of C14 dated charcoal samples from feature 1 which surprisingly fall into the Early Middle Ages.

Thus it seems that the fi ll of feature 1, which contains Roman period potsherds, only originated secondarily during the Early Middle Ages as a result of human activity in combination with erosion. The situation was topped off by a purely early medieval horizon, feature 1.1, dated both by potsherds and ecofacts.

The article also deals with the problem of the absolute-chronological position of the Plaňany horizon in southern Bohemia and the issues of continuity of the preceding late La Tène horizon. A separate chapter is devoted to the chronological position of the early medieval material whose dating falls into the Middle Hillfort period, perhaps into its later phase.

The processed assemblage of archaeobotanical and osteological material has a special importance.