Bylany (archaeological site)

Optical 3D scanning is not new in the field of archaeology. It can scan an object or environment and create a point cloud of the sample, which can be reconstructed to create a three-dimensional image which can, if chosen, display colour and texture.

Multi-image photogrammetry uses multiple images in conjunction with specific software to create three-dimensional objects. It has enabled archaeologists to digitise immovable objects.

Three-dimensional models are created using the two-dimensional data i.e., floor plans and aerial photos. After a preliminary image is created extra layers are added such as the roofing, string walls and interior and exterior equipment. The authors of this report opted to use the programme Blender (open source).

The Neolithic period (9500 cal. BC – 1900 cal. BC), which current evidence (cultivation and animal domestication) suggests began in southwest Asia in 9500 cal. BC, changed the way we as human survived and diminished the necessity of hunting and gathering with the adoption of farming and animal keeping.

The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) comes from the German word ‘Linearbandkeramik’, which translates to ‘linear band pottery’. The name is derived from the style of pottery decoration that was used by the culture, more so the incised lines or bands. Bylany is one of the largest LBK settlements in central Europe. Estimates place the culture at the site at around 5600-5500 cal. BC until around 5000 cal. BC. The LBK period at Bylany had 25 settlement phases.

The Stroke Pottery culture (STK) originated from the German word “Stichbandkeramik” translating into English “Stitch band pottery”, was the successor to the LBK. The culture gets its name from the different style of pottery decoration used, which was bands of tiny punctures. The estimated timeline of the culture is the period between 5000 cal. BC and 4400 cal. BC.

The changing of pottery style is the feature that defines the chronology of the LBK and STK cultures. The pottery differs in decorative features with both cultures using numerous characteristics that differentiated one another. LBK cultures can be seen to use engraved broad grooves, engraved lines, engraved bands filled with punctures, engraved lines with punctures, dense punctures on a very fine engraved line, independent punctures, and engraved lines with adjacent punctures. The STK cultures began to use narrower engraved lines, increased density of strokes, and proliferation of engraved lines with punctures. Two units of pottery were created; coarse ceramics (course ware) and fine ceramics (fine ware), both with individual uses in society. Course ware can be identified by its course, thick walls, whereas fine ware was of an elegant appearance typically with engraved linear decorations. Fine ware needed a great proficiency as the decoration were more complex (incised lines), whereas course ware did not demand this skill. Course ware is theorised to have been used for food preparation, storage, and packaging. Fine ware in contrast was used for food consumption.

None of the physical structures remain from the Neolithic period at Bylany, rather they have left an imprint (pits), post holes and foundation trenches in the ground and archaeologist are able to decrypt their formal and spatial relationship. Common structures include longhouses made of wooden timber framing and wattle daub walls and typically ranging in length between four and fifty metres, with early studies placing the average at over twenty metres. The elevation of these structures is debated, as it is unknown if the houses were on terrain level or elevated. A typical structure in agricultural areas of Central Europe are rondels, which are circular ditched enclosures, usually with palisades forming some sort of defensive structure, dated to the fifth millennium BC, and can be associated with both the LBK and STK culture.