LITHIC RAW MATERIALS USED BY THE PEOPLE WITH MORAVIAN PAINTED WARE (LENGYEL CULTURAL COMPLEX) IN MORAVIA (CZECH REPUBLIC)

Antonín Prichystal

Brno

I. Archaeological background

The culture with Moravian Painted Ware (MPW) was already described in the end of the last century (Palliardi 1889) from the town of Znojmo (southern Moravia, at the border with Austria). Because of its long designation, the term was not internationally accepted and for the Neolithic cultures with painted pottery in the Carpathian Basin and the adjacent parts of Austria, Czech Republic and Poland started to be used the term Lengyel. The latest correlation of the culture with MPW to Lengyel stages has been done by Kazdová - Koštuřík - Rakovský (1994). From chronological point of view, this culture has two basic stages - the older Neolithic stage (MPW I) and the younger Eneolithic one (MPW II). The older stage is further divided in three phases (MPW I a, b, c), the younger one has usually only two phases - MPW II a, b. Podborský (1993) has preferred the division of the younger stage also in three phases IIa, b, c. The oldest phase MPW Ia corresponds to the stage Lengyel Ia and it is contemporaneous with the middle and young stages of the culture with the Stroke-ornamented Ware. On the other hand, the phase MPW IIb is compared with the stage Lengyel III. During the last stage Lengyel IV southern Moravia was already settled by the people with Jordanów Culture and so-called Retz Group and according to Podborský (1993) by the people with MPW IIc as well.

II. Raw materials of chipped lithic industry

Since 1979 the author has had possibility to study many localities of the culture with MPW stratigraphically covering both stages and almost all phases. The attention was focused to key dwelling sites with a few hundred or thousand chipped artefacts such are:

Tišetice-Kyjovice (MPW Ia) near Znojmo,

Brno - Žebitín (Ib),

Brno - Bystrc (Ic),

Jezeoany-Maršovice (MPW Ic and IIb) in the Krumlovský les Upland

Mokrá u Brna (IIa)

Kramolín (MPW II, predominantly IIb) near the atomic power station Dukovany.

In addition to them there were studied various smaller settlements with MPW. This research showed an important difference in raw material composition between the older Neolithic stage MPW I and the younger Eneolithic one MPW II. In the whole southern and western Moravia, the most important raw material is represented by so called cherts of the Krumlovský les type which have two basic varieties. During the older stage MPW I, the better variety Krumlovský les I prevailed. The opposite situation (.i. e. the prevalence of the variety Krumlovský les II) was found as a characteristic feature for the younger stage MPW II in the area south and west of Brno. In addition to it, the occurrence of volcanic glass obsidian from the area of the Zemplínské vrchy and Zempleni hegyseg Upland (e. g. in Tišetice - Kyjovice it represents about 14 % from 2092 artefacts) and of siliceous weathering products of serpentinites (plasma, opal) is typical for the older stage. Silicites from the area of continental glaciation (northern Moravia, Silesia) form less than 1, 5 % and roughly the same amount is represented by another "northern flint" - silicites of the Kraków - Czestochowa Jurassic in southern Poland. As a very rare admixture (two pieces) there was found the Szentgál radiolarite chert ("flint") or the Bavarian tabulate chert ("plattensilex"). Majority of raw material (about 75 - 80 %) comes from the area with diameter of about 30 km around the settlement.

As is the younger stage of the culture with MPW concerned, the absence of obsidian and its substitution by local rock crystal (citrine, smoky quartz) is typical. The siliceous weathering products of serpentinite are usually missing excluding localities near their natural sources. From a comparative analysis of lithic industry in frame of two subsequent occupation of the MPW Ic and IIb at Jezeoany - Maršovice follows a tendency towards increasing specialisation in the use and import of the local cherts (Krumlovský les type) and concetration of this production in special workshop areas (Poichystal - Svoboda 1997). If the content of radiolarites from the Carpathians or the Alps is surprisingly very low during the older stage (MPW I), then in the younger stage the radiolarites are practically absent or they have relics of pebble surface, so they come probably from the Miocene gravels in southern Moravia. It is possible to conclude that the mentioned differences in raw material composition between the two basic stages of the culture with MPW has a stratigraphical significance and this knowledge was already used for preliminary classification of localities without finds of evidential pottery.

Raw materials of polished lithic artefacts

Generally, dwelling sites with MPW in southern and western Moravia are relatively rich in polished artefacts. It is connected with geological structure of the area because there are occurrences of suitable rocks for polished artefacts there. Around these sources there are localities with MPW containing numerous semi-finished artefacts or pieces of raw material. There were found hoards of semi-finished or finished polished artefacts (Salaš 1986) connected with the MPW. The most important natural source is represented by actinolite, chlorite-actinolite and chlorite greenschists at Želešice south of Brno. Amphibole diorite from the metabazite zone of the Brno massif was another rock used by the people with MPW especially for bored polished artefacts. We have to suppose quarring of the both mentioned raw materials in valleys around the small river Bobrava S of Brno (greenschists) and the Svitava river NW of Brno (amphibole diorite). According to recent knowledge, these two rocks are distributed as prevalent raw materials at majority of localities with MPW excluding the oldest phase MPW Ia. Besides them, there were ascertained amphibolites, serpentinites, diorite porphyries. Permian arcoses, Devonian shales or Culmian graywackes had local importance only.

Conclusion

From the point of raw materials used for chipped and polished artefacts it is recognizable a tendency to more intensive utilization of local sources during the younger stage MPW II comparing the older stage MPW I. It very probably reflects a gradual loss of contacts to the area of the Carpathian Basin and to a certain extent the increase of isolation of the culture with MPW in SW Moravia.

References

Kazdová, E. - Koštuoík, P. - Rakovský, I. (1994): Der gegenwärtige Forschungsstand der Kultur mit mährischer bemalter Keramik. - Internationales Symposium über die Lengyel-Kultur 1888-1988, 131-155. Brno - Lódž.

Palliardi, J. (1889): Prehistoric monuments of the town Znojmo. - Eas. Vlast. spolku mus. v Olomouci VI, 18-12, 69-74, 142-147. Olomouc. (In Czech).

Podborský, V. (1993): Der Antritt der landwirtschaftlichen Zivilisation (Das Neolithikum). - In: Podborský V. et al., Die Vorgeschichte Mährens, l-543. Brno. (In Czech, German summary).

Poichystal, A. - Svoboda, J. (1997): Chipped industry production at the settlement with Moravian Painted Ware in Jezeoany-Maršovice. - Poehled výzkumu 1993-1994, 15-25. AÚ AV ER v Brni. (In Czech, English summary).

Salaš, M. (1986): Die Hortfunde neolitischen geschliffenen Steingeräts in Mähren. - Acta Musei Moraviae LXXI, 19-58. Brno (In Czech, German summary).