UDK 903.21.01(437.32)"634" Documenta Praehistorica XXXVI (2009) Lithic raw material procurement in the Moravian Neolithic> the search for extra-regional networks Martin Ku;a1, Antonín Prˇichystal2, Zdeneˇk Schenk1, Petr {krdla3, and Milan Voká;1 1 Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ [email protected] 2 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ 3 Institute of Archaeology of ASCR in Brno, CZ ABSTRACT – The study of lithic raw material procurement can contribute to the study of ancient net- works. Petrographic analysis combined with systematic mapping of raw material outcrops has been conducted in Moravia and adjacent territories by A. Přichystal over a period of more than three de- cades. Combined with well excavated (including wet-screening) and 14C (radiometric) dated sites, allows us to study changes in the distribution networks of raw materials during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. IZVLE∞EK – πtudij oskrbe s surovinami lahko prispeva k razumevanju povezav v prazgodovini. A. Při- chystal je petrografske analize v povezavi s sistemati≠nim kartiranjem najdi∏≠ na Moravskem vodil ve≠ kot trideset let. Dobro izkopana in 14C datirana najdi∏≠a omogo≠ajo ∏tudij sprememb v mezolit- skih in neolitskih surovinskih distribucijskih mre∫ah. KEY WORDS – Moravia; Neolithic; raw materials; networks; 14C chronology Introduction Since Neolithic cultures were first defined (Palliar- has declined. Although the authors acknowledge the di 1914) within the Middle Danube area, the main important role of pottery analyses, this study aims focus has been on pottery at the expense of other to take an innovative approach to Neolithic develop- forms of material culture. The same trend may be ment in the region. documented during the entire 20th century; how- ever in its last decades several researchers changed Methodology their focus to the study of stone tools, both from the viewpoint of raw material utilized for their pro- The analysis of raw material networks, particularly duction and their typology (e.g. Přichystal, Mateiciu- the distribution of specific varieties of raw material cová). Since the year 2000, stone industries have at- on the eastern Central European scale, has been the tracted greater attention within the Moravian archa- subject of several publications. While Lech (2003) eological community (I. Mateiciucová, M. Voká≠, M. studied the distribution of many types of siliceous Ku≠a). This paper continues this trend by looking at rocks, Groneborn (2003a) focused on the distribu- the Moravian Neolithic mainly in terms of the stone tion of several specific raw materials (Szentgál-type industry – combined with 14C chronology and the radiolarite, obsidian, Maas valley silicite, and Wittlin- palaeoclimatic record – while attempting to summa- gen chert). It is fruitful to study these raw material rize contemporary research questions and prelimi- networks and compare them with hypothetical and nary results. In recent studies, the role of pottery radiocarbon record based models (Bocquet-Appel et DOI: 10.4312/dp.36.20 313 Martin Ku;a, Antonín Prˇichystal, Zdeneˇk Schenk, Petr {krdla, and Milan Voká; al. 2009) of diffusion of the LBK and other Neolithic cul- tures across the European continent. Recently, Mateiciu- cová (2002) analyzed LBK raw materials from the Mid- dle Danube area (Ph.D. the- sis) and Ku≠a (2008) focused on the supply of Neolithic raw materials in a particular mic- ro-region of the Brno Basin. One set of limitations regard- ing the methods used in Mo- ravia is posed by the necessi- ty of working with assembla- ges excavated and collected over a long period, by differ- ent people using different ex- cavation methods, and often lacking in information concer- ning possible contamination Fig. 1. Map showing raw materials imported into Moravia. by older or younger material (the majority of sites Massif in the west, and also on the Black Sea (Da- are poly-cultural). The lack of (or inconclusive) radio- nube, southern Moravia), and the Baltic Sea water- carbon dating results is also a problem. Therefore, shed (Oder River, northern Moravia). The relief of we have selected a set of reference-sites that we Moravia consists of river valleys surrounded by deem representative of each culture and cultural highlands. The river valleys are connected by gates phase. The selected reference sites were excavated which form a system of passages – communication using modern field techniques (including wet-sieving routes which connect eastern and western, northern and precisely fixing the provenance of all items) and and southern Europe (Svoboda et al. 1996). dated using absolute dating methods. It will be neces- sary to excavate more such reference sites in Mora- During the last glaciation Moravia was a periglacial via in the near future. zone between the Alpine and Fenoscandinavian ice sheets and allowed movements (migrating animal An important innovation in lithic raw material stu- herds, hunter-gatherers, raw materials) in both of dies has been the development of a non-destructive the above-mentioned directions. After the LGM, peo- method of sourcing raw materials. Using this me- ple penetrated Moravia from both western and east- thod, it has been possible to determine the source of ern refuges (cf. Semino et al. 2000), and the Mora- many (hundreds to thousands) chipped artefacts. va River served as an arbitrary boundary between The method involves matching chipped silicic arte- the western Magdalenian and eastern Epigravettian facts with raw materials from geological sources culture complexes. The north-south became part of using a stereomicroscope with water as an immer- the (later period) so-called amber route. These main sion liquid (Přichystal 2002b). This research has re- communication routes are now being utilized for a sulted in the sourcing of thousands of Neolithic chip- network of motorways. ped artefacts which, in turn, has made it possible to reconstruct raw material distribution networks. The relief, slope erosion and intensive agricultural use of the lowland fields in the past (ploughing has The geographical and geological setting of Mo- caused erosion and the disturbance of archaeologi- ravia cal material located near the surface) has had a ne- gative impact on the preservation of ancient sites. Moravia is a historical geographic unit (land) cur- rently constituting the eastern half of the Czech Re- Local raw materials public. From a geographical and geological point of view, Moravia lies on the boundary between the The area has highly diverse geology, with many geo- Western Carpathians in the east and the Bohemian logical units in a relatively small area. This is reflec- 314 Lithic raw material procurement in the Moravian Neolithic> the search for extra-regional networks ted in the number of local and very often unusual chystal 2004). Because of the nature of this group raw materials (of different origin) suitable for both of raw materials, sources are very difficult to iden- knapped and polished stone working. tify unambiguously. The knapped stone industry Apart from obsidian originating in the Carpathian The most important locally available raw material is region, the use of a very unique and unusual local the Krumlovský Les-type chert. The main outcrops raw material, moldavite (tektite, natural glass), has are in the Krumlovský Les Highland in southwestern also been documented (e.g. Voká≠ 2004). Moravia (Oliva 1990; Oliva, Neruda, Přichystal 1999), where the nodules occur as pebbles with a The polished stone industry characteristic black cortex (desert varnish) in Mio- The sources of hornblende diorite of the Rokle-type, cene gravel deposits. M. Oliva has documented the first described by A. Přichystal (1988), are in the mining of this resource since the Mesolithic period Svratka River valley and its surroundings (north- (Oliva 2008). Isolated outcrops of this material, of- western outskirts of Brno). However, there is cur- ten of low-quality, are also known from another part rently no direct evidence that it was mined (cf. Vo- of Moravia. ká≠, Ku≠a, Přichystal 2005; Ku≠a, Voká≠ 2008; Ku- ≠a, Kirchner, Kallabová in print). Other raw materials have been locally documented and include Olomu≠any-type chert, Stránská Skála- The outcrops of diorite porphyry (porphyric micro- type chert, rock crystal, and Cretaceous spongolitic diorite) are located to the west of Brno. Dykes of chert. diorite porphyry intrude into both the granitoids and metabasites of the Brno Massif. They have a cha- Isolated outcrops of Jurassic Olomu≠any-type chert racteristically low magnetic susceptibility (Voká≠, are known only from the central part of the Mora- Ku≠a, Přichystal 2005; Ku≠a, Voká≠ 2008). vian Karst (Přichystal 1999a). Outcrops of the chlorite-actinolite greenschist of the The Jurassic Stránská Skála-type chert is present as Ωele∏ice-type (see Přichystal 1999b; 2000a; 2000b; nodules in organodetritic limestones at Stránská Ská- Ku≠a, Voká≠ 2008) occur in the southeastern part la hill on the eastern periphery of Brno (Přichystal of the Brno Massif. This raw material is characteri- 1994). zed by a high magnetic susceptibility (1.5–55 x 10–3 SI units). Primary sources of Cretaceous spongolitic chert occur in the general area of Boskovice Furrow (northwest Both primary and secondary outcrops of amphibo- of Brno) and secondary deposits can be found in the lites with banded structures are known in the Mol- gravel terraces of south Moravian rivers (Přichystal danubicum