Výrobky z tvrdých živočišných materiálů ve starší době bronzové na jižní Moravě

Abstract

The presented article focuses on Early Bronze Age artefacts made from hard animal materials found in the south Moravia region. This topic tends to be neglected in the literature, as these artefacts are not as numerous as ceramics or bronze objects. However, their study can bring important knowledge. Open rural settlements of the Early Bronze Age are compared. Two sites are dated to the Únětice culture, the third to the Věteřov group. Processed assemblages are the largest known collections of artefacts from the period in south Moravia. The main aim of the thesis is a detailed analysis of the assemblages, which consist mainly of objects assembled from bones and antlers; the use of other raw materials is rare. The article compares the production of artefacts between the earlier Únětice and later Věteřov phases. It briefly addresses the find circumstances and contexts of individual artefacts. The analytical part includes an osteological determination of raw materials used for the production of artefacts. It focuses on a morphological and typological description of objects based on new descriptive standards in an effort to revise previously used subjective terms such as awl. The third part of the analysis is devoted to a study of use-wear marks created in the production and use of individual artefacts or their archaeologisation. The discussion addresses the possibilities of interpreting and identifying the function of individual objects on the basis of the above analyses.