Palaeoecological and archaeological studies conducted in Mozgawa (southern Poland) demonstrated a long-term sustainable land-use by inhabitants of a large settlement occupied during the second half of the fourth millennium BC. The Middle Neolithic society established a settlement that covered an area of about 30–35 ha and functioned during at least three centuries, as validated by the absolute chronology. A thorough analysis based on the fuzzy-logic principle combined with archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data showed that the subsistence model was based on agricultural practices, related with both crop cultivation and animal husbandry, together with an important component of hunting, fishing and gathering. Ecological requirements of plants and animals represented by fossil remains suggested that the exploited area included a variety of habitats. In the open landscape, wet and dry grasslands, used partly as pastures, cultivated fields and marshes were present. Wooded areas included deciduous lime-oak-elm forests, also of open canopy type, and riparian forests. This was due to the transitional location of the Mozgawa site on a loess-mantled hill, covered with fertile soils, but right on the border with a vast alluvial plain of the Nida River. Such ecologically diversified micro-region became a managed landscape, which provided rich resources for seasonal diets of the settlement’s inhabitants. The case study of the Mozgawa site offers a unique insight into the palaeoeconomy of the Funnel Beaker culture in central Europe.
Early Neolithic sites in West-Saxony/East-Thuringia and at the middle course of the Dunajec river in Lesser Poland: A comparative analysis of enviromental factors This paper aims on differences between Early Neolithic sites in Central Germany and Lesser Poland concerning their position in landscape. Archaeological cultures like Linear Pottery, Stroke Ornamented Pottery and early Lengyel-Polgár groups have been included. North West Saxony and East Thuringia have a huge amount of Early Neolithic sites and a long history of research. The research area in Lesser Poland, placed around the middle course of the Dunajec river, consists out of only a few Early Neolthic sites. A system to compare the divergent archaeological record in both countries has been developed to objectivly compare the sites. Measurable factors like height, slope, distance to rivers have been analyzed as well as qualitative factors such as topographical position or aspect. Besides basic statistic approaches, multivariate methods like Principle Component Analysis or Correspondence Analysis have been complemented by a cluster analysis which could take into account both kinds of data – numeric and qualitative. Two groups can be described by terms of geostatistical positioning. Cultural differences in electing places to live or settle could not have been observed but tendencies of a changing focus on certain factors – e. g. changes the occupation of hilltops in mountanious areas to seeking for short distances to rivers in flat areas. Zusammenfassung: Die vorgestellte Studie untersucht die Standortfaktoren von frühneolithischen Fundstellen in Mitteldeutschland und in Kleinpolen. Archäologische Kulturen wie die Linienbandkeramik, die Stichbandkeramik und Gruppen des Lenygel-Polgár-Komplexes wurden dazu einbezogen. Nordwestsachsen und Ostthüringen weisen eine lange Forschungsgeschichte und eine große Anzahl frühneolithischer Fundstellen auf. Das Untersuchungsgebiet in Kleinpolen, im Bereich des mittleren Dunajec, zeigt nur wenige frühneolithische Fundstellen. Ein System zum Vergleich der verschieden ausgestalteten archäologischen Landesaufnahmen in beiden Ländern musste dazu entwickelt werden, um die Fundstellen vergleichbar zu erfassen. Quantitative wie qualitative Standortfaktoren wie beispielsweise Höhenlage, Hangneigung, Flussentfernung, aber auch topografische Position oder Hangausrichtung wurden dazu untersucht. Neben dem Spektrum der deskriptiven Statistik wurden multivariate Methoden wie die Hauptkomponentenanalyse oder Korrespondenzanalyse verwendet. Eine Synthese beider Datenarten wurde in einer Cluster-Analyse durchgeführt. Zwei Gruppen können hinsichtlich ihrer geostatistischen Positionen gezeigt werden. Deutliche kulturelle Unterschiede in der Standortauswahl konnten nicht beobachtet werden, allerdings gelang es, Tendenzen einer veränderten Platzwahl im Vergleich Tiefland zu Hügelland nachzuweisen: Beispielsweise lässt sich statistisch zeigen, dass Fundstellen im Vorkarpatenbereich bevorzugt in erhöhten Lagen, wie Hügelrücken, zu finden sind, während im Flachland tendenziell der Gewässerbezug statistisch relevant ist.
