Abstract:

One of the most extraordinary finds from the Early Neolithic period are wooden wells. These constructions permit unusual insights into Neolithic settlements, their subsistence and environment, as well as into the surrounding landscape. A recent excavation of a Neolithic settlement at Uničov in central Moravia, Czech Republic, yielded the discovery of a wooden well with a sediment infill from the beginning of the Neolithic period and allowed to study this topic by a multi-proxy approach using a set of complementary methods. Our study of the wooden construction demonstrates the carpenting skills of the first farmers, required also for building so-called 'longhouses'. By comparing dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating, we estimated the time span of the well's existence. The structure was used repeatedly over a longer time and was finally intentionally infilled. Studies of the well's infill shed light on its usage and decline, providing a great proxy for the study of living dynamics and handling of waste in a Neolithic village. The environmental record extracted from botanical residues indicates that the immediate surroundings of the settlement were covered by an open-canopy woodland with a dominance of oak and hazel, and a large proportion of open habitats, whereas the surrounding landscape was not noticeably affected by humans.