The reconstruction of the settlement´s hinterland and acquisition of plant resources is one of the crucial questions in the field of environmental archaeology. Our study is focused on the reconstruction of the settlement’s structure and character of the environment from which the site drew resources. These research questions were addressed by the interpretation of plant macroremains, charcoals, and the results of the spatial model. We have focused on the maximum size of the settlement that the surrounding countryside was able to withstand. Our results clearly demonstrated significant deforestation and intensive land use in the vicinity of the Late Bronze Age study site. As the weed taxa showed, a wide range of crops was grown in rather dry or less often in damp fields. Based on our archaeobotanical results, we were able to reconstruct several types of grasslands: dry pastures and fallow fields on plateaus and slopes, wet pastures or meadows in the floodplain. Acidophilous oak forests, alluvial forests, and shrubs were reconstructed as the most common forest habitats in the vicinity of the study site. Based on the archaeological knowledge of the region, we assume relatively low population density during the Late Bronze Age, and thus only a small part of the more or less forested landscape was significantly affected by human activities.
The Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology (LAPE), of the Faculty of Science of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (USB) was founded twenty years ago. The department is closely linked with the Institute of Archaeology of the USB in terms of staff and projects, which are mainly focused on the issues of paleoecology, archaeobotany and archaeozoology. The present paper discusses the teaching of environmental archaeology and projects focusing on Europe, but also on some areas of Africa. The text provides background information on the teaching and research projects that have taken place over the last ten years, but also on the research and scientific directions that the department is currently pursuing.
Waste disposal processes and landfill management are crucial subjects in the field of settlement archaeology. Our study is focused on the reconstruction of the community economy in the context of the Late Bronze Age; understanding the processes that led to the filling of these features; reconstruction of the recycling system of building materials (daub and wood) and the waste management. These research questions were addressed based on plant macroremains, charcoals, phytoliths, starch, micromorphology, phosphates and magnetic volume susceptibility. The results showed the waste character of features infills which reflected specific economy and habitats around the single households. The composition of the archaeobotanical assemblages was not determined by the type of feature, however similarities in the plant spectra could often be observed in the infill of features that were located close to each other. Charred remains of firewood inside the assemblages, also contained a proportion of burnt oak structures. The remains of various parts of uncharred plants were detected by phytolith and starch analyses. Animal proteins detected the presence of livestock meat and dung. Anomalies in soil phosphate contained different amounts of organic matter in single features. Magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that the features were backfilled in a one-time event. Sedimentological analysis showed that the infills of the different types of features were similar, but only the infills of the trenches were compacted, unlike the other features.
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