New Perspective on Neolithic Rectangular Features Using Artefact Analysis, Soil Micromorphology and Ethnohistorical Analogies. A Case study from Střelice u Brna, South Moravia, Czech Republic

Abstract

The function of sunken rectangular features in the Late Neolithic has been a subject of interest in Central Europe for many years. This type of pit is not found very often. One of the latest examples is a square Lengyel feature in the village of Střelice near Brno. A study of the microstratigraphy of the fill has made it possible to qualitatively move the debate to a new level. The qualitative assessment of bone micro-fragments is also innovative for the method of micromorphology in the archaeological context. The study also includes an analysis of artefacts in the actual fill of feature 562, especially the deposits of fragments of “other lithic industry”, pottery and parts of an animal’s body. The discovered situation is then interpreted in the context of other known contemporary features of this type. The presence of excrement with digested bone micro-fragments in the lower layer and the absence of a floor treatment, tread horizon or bedding can be interpreted in the context of ethnohistorical analogies, e. g., as the short-term use of a faecal pit for an omnivorous or carnivorous species (bear) with a subsequent ritual ending.