Thomas Saile | University of Regensburg (original) (raw)

Papers by Thomas Saile

Antiquity 98, 2024.

Enclosed rectangular farmsteads from the Hallstatt period in Central Europe are often cast as the... more Enclosed rectangular farmsteads from the Hallstatt period in Central Europe are often cast as the seats of high-status farmers, whose land and social standing could be inherited and consolidated. Excavations at Landshut-Hascherkeller in Bavaria reveal the developmental trajectory of one such site through the stratigraphic disentanglement of its numerous ditches. Here, the authors argue that the coalescence of two rectangular farmsteads into a larger settlement complex at Hascherkeller reflects the union of neighbouring families and the resultant massing of status. The article situates this process in a segmented social system that counterpoints the typified Hallstatt hierarchy, suggesting that two social structures coexisted in the Hallstatt culture.

Vorträge des Niederbayerischen Archäologentages 40, 2023, 219–242.

Er ist zwar nicht der eponyme Fundort, dennoch gilt er neben dem Goldberg und dem Kyberg bei Ober... more Er ist zwar nicht der eponyme Fundort, dennoch gilt er neben dem Goldberg und dem Kyberg bei Oberhaching als Urtypus eines hallstattzeitlichen Herrenhofs: Landshut-Hascherkeller. Rainer christlein, der das Bodendenkmal bereits 1977 aus der Luft entdeckt hatte, machte es mit seiner bespielhaften Definition von hallstattzeitlichen Herrenhöfen bekannt 1. Aber auch die seinerzeit noch jungen Erkundungsmethoden der geo physikalischen Prospektion sowie der Luftbildarchäologie wurden in Landshut-Hascherkeller erfolgreich angewandt 2. Der Bau des Parkplatzes am Landshuter Nordfriedhof machte es 1978 notwendig, den Westteil des Komplexes zu untersuchen. Fast zeitgleich fanden Ausgrabungen im Baugebiet an der Kellerbergstraße statt. Zwischen 2019 und 2022 wurde der dazwischenliegende Bereich archäo logisch untersucht. Mittlerweile steht dort die Waldorfschule Landshut.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2022, 2023, 21–23.

Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia 18, 2023, 29–39

The paper treats a selection of lithic finds from Kamyane-zavallia (Kam'âne-zavallâ)-the easternm... more The paper treats a selection of lithic finds from Kamyane-zavallia (Kam'âne-zavallâ)-the easternmost Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK) site ever excavated. The lithic assemblage belongs to typical representatives of the early farming lithic industries in the region. It is characterized by prismatic cores for blade production, end-scrapers on fragmented blades and flakes, retouched blades, perforators, and a blade fragment with "sickle gloss". There is a single projectile point of unidentifiable morphology. The authors argue that there is no trace of "Mesolithic heritage" in the assemblage of Kamyane-zavallia. The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of nicolaevca V, Dănceni I, and other LBK sites from Moldova and Romania.

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 32, 2023, 1–13.

Recent archaeological excavations at two Early Neolithic settlements at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine... more Recent archaeological excavations at two Early Neolithic settlements at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine) and Nicolaevca V (Moldova) have provided new plant assemblages. The sites belong to the Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK) and represent its easternmost settlements. In these regions, charred plant macro-remains are still very rarely sampled for and investigated, so these results may shed light on the plant-based economy of the first farmers of this area. Both sites are located in the area of loess soils, in the border zone between deciduous woodland, woodland steppe and steppe. A dominance of Triticum monococcum (einkorn) was evident at both sites, preserved both as grains and chaff (spikelet bases and glume base). Other cereals, including cf. T. dicoccum (emmer), cf. T. timopheevii and Hordeum vulgare (barley) were less frequent. Among wild herbaceous plants, ruderal and segetal communities were represented by species commonly found at LBK sites, including Chenopodium album type, Fallopia convolvulus, Echinochloa crus-galli and Lapsana communis. The majority of these plants are edible and it is also likely that they were used as food. At both sites, remains of awns of Stipa sp. (feather grass) were found, which indicate the existence of grasslands and/or open woodlands in the vicinity. The charcoal assemblages were dominated by a few taxa, such as Fraxinus sp., Quercus sp. and Cornus sp., suggesting that there were some wooded steppe and deciduous forests. Selected plant macro-remains were radiocarbon dated and the results show that they are from ca. 5200−5000 cal BC. From the same archaeobotanical samples, snails were analysed and the resulting malacofauna shows a dominance of open-country snails as well as those which might indicate local agricultural practices at both settlements.

In: T. Uthmeier, D. Mischka (eds.), Steinzeit in Bayern (Darmstadt 2023) 949–954.

In: Seven Millennia of Saltmaking. 3rd International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, Gesaltza Añana / Salinas de Añana. Colección Valle Salado de Añana 3 (2022) 252–253.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2021, 2022, 24–26.

In: M. Dębiec, J. Górski, J. Müller, M. Nowak, A. Pelisiak, T. Saile, P. Włodarczak (eds.), From Farmers to Heroes? Archaeological Studies in Honor of Sławomir Kadrow. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 376 (Bonn 2022) 43–64.

In Diemarden, a large Linienbandkeramik settlement complex was magnetically prospected in its ent... more In Diemarden, a large Linienbandkeramik settlement complex was magnetically prospected in its entirety. It is one of the few LBK settlement areas which hardly attracted later prehistoric activity and at the same time has so far been largely spared from modern destruction. The prospecting results show numerous Early Neolithic structures in great detail, including two earthworks and a large number of houses. Their ground plans are often so clearly visible in the grey-scale image that they can be classified typologically and chronologically. The building tradition in Diemarden fits well into the regional context, as comparisons with observations at neighbouring Early Neolithic settlements show.

Nature 608, 2022, 336–345.

In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence ... more In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions. Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectories than uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation—proxies for these drivers—provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.

Praehistorische Zeitschrift 97, 2022, 1–21.

In Transylvania, settlements of the Transdanubian Linienbandkeramik (LBK) are predominantly found... more In Transylvania, settlements of the Transdanubian Linienbandkeramik (LBK) are predominantly found in the Braşov Depression. Excavations at the LBK settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River, brought to light the fragmented remains of at least two ground plans of Early Neolithic longhouses. These are the first convincing evidence of such structures in Romania. The pottery allows dating the site to a later Notenkopf phase of the LBK. Among the ceramic pieces, a fragment of a small altar and several multiply perforated objects are particularly conspicuous; this is the first time sieves have been discovered in an LBK context in Romania. In addition, the Olteni site yielded the most extensive collection of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic plastic in the entire Eastern Bandkeramik milieu.

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 51, 2021, 23–35.

A Hungarian in Poland. On an Early Neolithic Figurine from Kosina 62 near Łańcut in Southeastern ... more A Hungarian in Poland. On an Early Neolithic Figurine from Kosina 62 near Łańcut in Southeastern Poland. – The figurine from Kosina represents the first find of an anthropomorphic sculpture in the style of the Alföld-LBK in the zone north of the Carpathians; it was made of local clay. Close connections across the Carpathians can be seen, for example, in the mutual import of pottery, the imitation of vessel decorations and the import of obsidian. The use of similar figurines on both sides of the Carpathians may indicate common worlds of belief and imagination.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 153–176.

The aim of this article is to deepen the discussion on the nature and mechanisms of culture chang... more The aim of this article is to deepen the discussion on the nature and mechanisms of culture change based on the analysis of newly acquired materials from the Targowisko settlement region. Three groups of materials were acquired (from narrow time horizons) related to the single-phase relics of Linienbandkeramik (Brzezie, site 40, and Targowisko, site 16) and Malice culture houses (Targowisko, site 14-15). The absolute chronology of the beginning of the late phase (III) LBK was established to be 5100-5000 BC, and the classic phase (Ib) of MC was dated to 4650-4550 BC. Selected threads of the cultural tradition (in the field of ceramic-making technology and ornamentation and flint-blade production technology) were passed on among families living in individual houses. Settlement analysis showed the relative instability of microregions, the increased mobility of small groups of people, and risky colonization attempts in Targowisko region. No evidence of direct, contemporaneous contact between the LBK and MC populations was found.

Praehistorische Zeitschrift 96, 2021, 401–412.

In Kozavchyn on the Southern Bug, an Early Copper Age settlement surrounded by trenches was explo... more In Kozavchyn on the Southern Bug, an Early Copper Age settlement surrounded by trenches was explored by means of field surveys and magnetic prospection. In addition to the enclosing trenches, the magnetogram revealed a palisade trench and remains of pits and burnt houses, which covered a contiguous area with archaeological findings of almost 4 ha situated on a spur with the field name “Kozachyi Yar”. The settlement belongs to the Trypillia BI local group Sabatynivka, as does the nearby site Kamyane, “Kamyane-Zavallia 1”, also surrounded by ditches, which was investigated a few years ago and dated to the last third of the 5th millennium BC. The Sabatynivka group is documented in a narrowly confined area on both sides of the Southern Bug River and may have once been a jointly acting political entity. Internal conflicts or external threats from the steppe area to the east are often considered as reasons for the enclosure of CTCC settlements. It seems conceivable, however, that the apparently once much more numerous enclosures had less of a protective than merely a delimiting character.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 303–329.

The two Linear Pottery culture lithic complexes presented in this paper came from northern Moldov... more The two Linear Pottery culture lithic complexes presented in this paper came from northern Moldova. The Nicolaevca V assemblage was gathered from excavations of a small LBK dwelling, while the Ţâra II collection came from an eight-shaped pit. There was a “deposit” of objects suitable for knapping found in Nicolaevca V. This complex reflects flake-oriented expedient knapping. The Ţâra II complex represents a complicated sequence for obtaining regular blades. The interpretation of their differences is sought in the social organization of Neolithic flint-knapping, in which the Nicolaevca V lithic assemblage supposedly reflects domestic production in a household context, while Ţâra II products could have been involved in the exchange network.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2020, 2021, 72–74.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 177–201.

The aim of this article is to provide information on environmental changes in the Targowisko regi... more The aim of this article is to provide information on environmental changes in the Targowisko region in the Early Neolithic as a natural response to settlement and economic activity of the human population in that area. The discussion is based on lithological, geochemical, and palynological analyses, as well as the analysis of Cladocera within strata inside the TRG (Targowisko) core, located in a small wetland in the immediate vicinity of the eastern edge of the Neolithic settlement in the Targowisko region. Settlement analysis points to the absence of stable microregions and to the mobility of human groups. This is confirmed by the sequence of settlement episodes and economic activity, reflected in the stratigraphy of the core sediments, where episodes of significant human interference are followed by phases of almost complete regeneration of the environment. No differences have been noticed between the Linienbandkeramik and Malice culture communities as regards their impact on the environment.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2020 (2021), 37–39.

In: M. Dębiec, T. Saile (eds.), A planitiebus usque ad montes. Studia archaeologica Andreae Pelisiak vitae anno sexagesimo quinto oblate (Ressoviae 2020) 165–172.

Excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River i... more Excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River in Transylvania, brought to light several fragments of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations. The torso of a presumed pregnant woman deserves special attention. In addition, the investigations revealed the fragmented remains of at least two ground plans of longhouses from the Early Neolithic. These are the first convincing evidence of those structures in Romania.

Antiquity 98, 2024.

Enclosed rectangular farmsteads from the Hallstatt period in Central Europe are often cast as the... more Enclosed rectangular farmsteads from the Hallstatt period in Central Europe are often cast as the seats of high-status farmers, whose land and social standing could be inherited and consolidated. Excavations at Landshut-Hascherkeller in Bavaria reveal the developmental trajectory of one such site through the stratigraphic disentanglement of its numerous ditches. Here, the authors argue that the coalescence of two rectangular farmsteads into a larger settlement complex at Hascherkeller reflects the union of neighbouring families and the resultant massing of status. The article situates this process in a segmented social system that counterpoints the typified Hallstatt hierarchy, suggesting that two social structures coexisted in the Hallstatt culture.

Vorträge des Niederbayerischen Archäologentages 40, 2023, 219–242.

Er ist zwar nicht der eponyme Fundort, dennoch gilt er neben dem Goldberg und dem Kyberg bei Ober... more Er ist zwar nicht der eponyme Fundort, dennoch gilt er neben dem Goldberg und dem Kyberg bei Oberhaching als Urtypus eines hallstattzeitlichen Herrenhofs: Landshut-Hascherkeller. Rainer christlein, der das Bodendenkmal bereits 1977 aus der Luft entdeckt hatte, machte es mit seiner bespielhaften Definition von hallstattzeitlichen Herrenhöfen bekannt 1. Aber auch die seinerzeit noch jungen Erkundungsmethoden der geo physikalischen Prospektion sowie der Luftbildarchäologie wurden in Landshut-Hascherkeller erfolgreich angewandt 2. Der Bau des Parkplatzes am Landshuter Nordfriedhof machte es 1978 notwendig, den Westteil des Komplexes zu untersuchen. Fast zeitgleich fanden Ausgrabungen im Baugebiet an der Kellerbergstraße statt. Zwischen 2019 und 2022 wurde der dazwischenliegende Bereich archäo logisch untersucht. Mittlerweile steht dort die Waldorfschule Landshut.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2022, 2023, 21–23.

Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia 18, 2023, 29–39

The paper treats a selection of lithic finds from Kamyane-zavallia (Kam'âne-zavallâ)-the easternm... more The paper treats a selection of lithic finds from Kamyane-zavallia (Kam'âne-zavallâ)-the easternmost Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK) site ever excavated. The lithic assemblage belongs to typical representatives of the early farming lithic industries in the region. It is characterized by prismatic cores for blade production, end-scrapers on fragmented blades and flakes, retouched blades, perforators, and a blade fragment with "sickle gloss". There is a single projectile point of unidentifiable morphology. The authors argue that there is no trace of "Mesolithic heritage" in the assemblage of Kamyane-zavallia. The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of nicolaevca V, Dănceni I, and other LBK sites from Moldova and Romania.

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 32, 2023, 1–13.

Recent archaeological excavations at two Early Neolithic settlements at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine... more Recent archaeological excavations at two Early Neolithic settlements at Kamyane-Zavallia (Ukraine) and Nicolaevca V (Moldova) have provided new plant assemblages. The sites belong to the Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK) and represent its easternmost settlements. In these regions, charred plant macro-remains are still very rarely sampled for and investigated, so these results may shed light on the plant-based economy of the first farmers of this area. Both sites are located in the area of loess soils, in the border zone between deciduous woodland, woodland steppe and steppe. A dominance of Triticum monococcum (einkorn) was evident at both sites, preserved both as grains and chaff (spikelet bases and glume base). Other cereals, including cf. T. dicoccum (emmer), cf. T. timopheevii and Hordeum vulgare (barley) were less frequent. Among wild herbaceous plants, ruderal and segetal communities were represented by species commonly found at LBK sites, including Chenopodium album type, Fallopia convolvulus, Echinochloa crus-galli and Lapsana communis. The majority of these plants are edible and it is also likely that they were used as food. At both sites, remains of awns of Stipa sp. (feather grass) were found, which indicate the existence of grasslands and/or open woodlands in the vicinity. The charcoal assemblages were dominated by a few taxa, such as Fraxinus sp., Quercus sp. and Cornus sp., suggesting that there were some wooded steppe and deciduous forests. Selected plant macro-remains were radiocarbon dated and the results show that they are from ca. 5200−5000 cal BC. From the same archaeobotanical samples, snails were analysed and the resulting malacofauna shows a dominance of open-country snails as well as those which might indicate local agricultural practices at both settlements.

In: T. Uthmeier, D. Mischka (eds.), Steinzeit in Bayern (Darmstadt 2023) 949–954.

In: Seven Millennia of Saltmaking. 3rd International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, Gesaltza Añana / Salinas de Añana. Colección Valle Salado de Añana 3 (2022) 252–253.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2021, 2022, 24–26.

In: M. Dębiec, J. Górski, J. Müller, M. Nowak, A. Pelisiak, T. Saile, P. Włodarczak (eds.), From Farmers to Heroes? Archaeological Studies in Honor of Sławomir Kadrow. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 376 (Bonn 2022) 43–64.

In Diemarden, a large Linienbandkeramik settlement complex was magnetically prospected in its ent... more In Diemarden, a large Linienbandkeramik settlement complex was magnetically prospected in its entirety. It is one of the few LBK settlement areas which hardly attracted later prehistoric activity and at the same time has so far been largely spared from modern destruction. The prospecting results show numerous Early Neolithic structures in great detail, including two earthworks and a large number of houses. Their ground plans are often so clearly visible in the grey-scale image that they can be classified typologically and chronologically. The building tradition in Diemarden fits well into the regional context, as comparisons with observations at neighbouring Early Neolithic settlements show.

Nature 608, 2022, 336–345.

In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence ... more In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions. Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectories than uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation—proxies for these drivers—provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.

Praehistorische Zeitschrift 97, 2022, 1–21.

In Transylvania, settlements of the Transdanubian Linienbandkeramik (LBK) are predominantly found... more In Transylvania, settlements of the Transdanubian Linienbandkeramik (LBK) are predominantly found in the Braşov Depression. Excavations at the LBK settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River, brought to light the fragmented remains of at least two ground plans of Early Neolithic longhouses. These are the first convincing evidence of such structures in Romania. The pottery allows dating the site to a later Notenkopf phase of the LBK. Among the ceramic pieces, a fragment of a small altar and several multiply perforated objects are particularly conspicuous; this is the first time sieves have been discovered in an LBK context in Romania. In addition, the Olteni site yielded the most extensive collection of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic plastic in the entire Eastern Bandkeramik milieu.

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 51, 2021, 23–35.

A Hungarian in Poland. On an Early Neolithic Figurine from Kosina 62 near Łańcut in Southeastern ... more A Hungarian in Poland. On an Early Neolithic Figurine from Kosina 62 near Łańcut in Southeastern Poland. – The figurine from Kosina represents the first find of an anthropomorphic sculpture in the style of the Alföld-LBK in the zone north of the Carpathians; it was made of local clay. Close connections across the Carpathians can be seen, for example, in the mutual import of pottery, the imitation of vessel decorations and the import of obsidian. The use of similar figurines on both sides of the Carpathians may indicate common worlds of belief and imagination.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 153–176.

The aim of this article is to deepen the discussion on the nature and mechanisms of culture chang... more The aim of this article is to deepen the discussion on the nature and mechanisms of culture change based on the analysis of newly acquired materials from the Targowisko settlement region. Three groups of materials were acquired (from narrow time horizons) related to the single-phase relics of Linienbandkeramik (Brzezie, site 40, and Targowisko, site 16) and Malice culture houses (Targowisko, site 14-15). The absolute chronology of the beginning of the late phase (III) LBK was established to be 5100-5000 BC, and the classic phase (Ib) of MC was dated to 4650-4550 BC. Selected threads of the cultural tradition (in the field of ceramic-making technology and ornamentation and flint-blade production technology) were passed on among families living in individual houses. Settlement analysis showed the relative instability of microregions, the increased mobility of small groups of people, and risky colonization attempts in Targowisko region. No evidence of direct, contemporaneous contact between the LBK and MC populations was found.

Praehistorische Zeitschrift 96, 2021, 401–412.

In Kozavchyn on the Southern Bug, an Early Copper Age settlement surrounded by trenches was explo... more In Kozavchyn on the Southern Bug, an Early Copper Age settlement surrounded by trenches was explored by means of field surveys and magnetic prospection. In addition to the enclosing trenches, the magnetogram revealed a palisade trench and remains of pits and burnt houses, which covered a contiguous area with archaeological findings of almost 4 ha situated on a spur with the field name “Kozachyi Yar”. The settlement belongs to the Trypillia BI local group Sabatynivka, as does the nearby site Kamyane, “Kamyane-Zavallia 1”, also surrounded by ditches, which was investigated a few years ago and dated to the last third of the 5th millennium BC. The Sabatynivka group is documented in a narrowly confined area on both sides of the Southern Bug River and may have once been a jointly acting political entity. Internal conflicts or external threats from the steppe area to the east are often considered as reasons for the enclosure of CTCC settlements. It seems conceivable, however, that the apparently once much more numerous enclosures had less of a protective than merely a delimiting character.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 303–329.

The two Linear Pottery culture lithic complexes presented in this paper came from northern Moldov... more The two Linear Pottery culture lithic complexes presented in this paper came from northern Moldova. The Nicolaevca V assemblage was gathered from excavations of a small LBK dwelling, while the Ţâra II collection came from an eight-shaped pit. There was a “deposit” of objects suitable for knapping found in Nicolaevca V. This complex reflects flake-oriented expedient knapping. The Ţâra II complex represents a complicated sequence for obtaining regular blades. The interpretation of their differences is sought in the social organization of Neolithic flint-knapping, in which the Nicolaevca V lithic assemblage supposedly reflects domestic production in a household context, while Ţâra II products could have been involved in the exchange network.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2020, 2021, 72–74.

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73 (1), 2021, 177–201.

The aim of this article is to provide information on environmental changes in the Targowisko regi... more The aim of this article is to provide information on environmental changes in the Targowisko region in the Early Neolithic as a natural response to settlement and economic activity of the human population in that area. The discussion is based on lithological, geochemical, and palynological analyses, as well as the analysis of Cladocera within strata inside the TRG (Targowisko) core, located in a small wetland in the immediate vicinity of the eastern edge of the Neolithic settlement in the Targowisko region. Settlement analysis points to the absence of stable microregions and to the mobility of human groups. This is confirmed by the sequence of settlement episodes and economic activity, reflected in the stratigraphy of the core sediments, where episodes of significant human interference are followed by phases of almost complete regeneration of the environment. No differences have been noticed between the Linienbandkeramik and Malice culture communities as regards their impact on the environment.

Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2020 (2021), 37–39.

In: M. Dębiec, T. Saile (eds.), A planitiebus usque ad montes. Studia archaeologica Andreae Pelisiak vitae anno sexagesimo quinto oblate (Ressoviae 2020) 165–172.

Excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River i... more Excavations in the Bandkeramik settlement of Olteni, located on the right bank of the Olt River in Transylvania, brought to light several fragments of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations. The torso of a presumed pregnant woman deserves special attention. In addition, the investigations revealed the fragmented remains of at least two ground plans of longhouses from the Early Neolithic. These are the first convincing evidence of those structures in Romania.