Geophysical Survey of the Hillfort Staré Zámky near Brno-Líšeň, Czech Republic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the results of geophysical surveys at the Staré zámky site near Brno-Líšeň, which were carried out in 2019. Electrical resistivity tomography, georadar survey and large-scale magnetic prospection were all carried out there. The primary task of the first two methods was to investigate the inner structure of the still-existing ramparts and to identify their individual structural elements. The magnetic survey focused on the identification of areas where potential archaeological features can be found – together with the identification of previously-unknown fortifications. The surveys were successful: we have found numerous settlement features from different phases of settlement, an early medieval cemetery and fortifications of various types, sizes and state of preservation. The results of previous archaeological research of the site played an important role for interpretation of the geophysical data. Together these results provide important insights into the study of the complex fortified settlement of Staré zámky. Despite our results, some questions which cannot be answered by geophysical research alone remain unanswered.

Geophysical Survey as Part of Rescue Archaeological Excavation on Large Construction Projects—Case Study: Road I/16 Slaný–Velvary (Czech Republic)

“…of 7 Multispectral survey [19] 0-29% 2? of 7 Magnetic survey [20] 86% 6 of 7 [17] and field artefact survey [18] and (B) the sites identified by multispectral survey [19].…”

“…Subsequently, at the request of the investor, the route of the future construction was subjected to a multispectral-geotechnical survey [19] and a geophysical (magnetic) survey, which were carried out between 2 and 14 January 2018 [20]. The magnetometry survey covered more than 80 hectares along the route.…”

Prehistoric exploitation and workshop area at Brno – Stránská skála

“…The methods of dipole electromagnetic profiling (DEMP), vertical electrical sounding (VES) and georadar were used for this purpose (Hašek, Dostál, Tomešek 1998). In 2017, in cooperation with the Archeogeofyzika Brno team (Milo, Tencer 2017), the same position was measured again using the LEA MAX fluxgate magnetometer (Eastern Atlas, Germany, FEREX NOC 650 from Foerster) in order to identify new potential sunken structures in the area of interest and the position of the already implemented test pits and features under investigation. The results of this measurement became an important premise influencing the position of the subsequent test pits (Bartík et al 2018b).…”

“…The first of these (S1/17) was dug in the central part of the site, not far from the place where J. Svoboda recorded a deep prehistoric pit with Neolithic pottery and chipped industry in 1983 (Svoboda 1985a). The situation in the field was complicated by the presence of a high-pressure water pipeline detected here by geophysical survey (Hašek, Dostál, Tomešek 1998;Milo, Tencer 2017). For this reason, the first test pit was set on the same axis as the 1983 probe, though a few metres further north to respect the pipeline buffer zone.…”

“…Overall, it was possible to measure an area with dimensions of 255 × 125 m, corresponding to an area of 3.2 ha (Fig. 27;Milo, Tencer 2017). This was an area located to the left of the point at an elevation of 298.6 m a. s. l., not far from which the extensive Funnel Beaker culture feature was explored in the past , and to the south of the field access road that runs over the top of Stránská skála approximately along the NW-SE axis.…”