Archaeological prospection in Těšetice (Czech Republic)

The Department of Archaeology and Museology at Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic) has been for a long time focused on understanding social structures from Prehistory until the early modern times in broad cultural, spatial and temporal contexts. One of the backbones of this research interest is a Prehistoric site in Těšetice, systematically excavated for almost 60 years. Although the site is well-known in Prehistoric European research, its socio-economic background lacked focused attention.

Therefore, since 2018, we have been conducting a systematic archaeological survey of the vicinity of a Prehistoric site, aiming to understand the settlement structure, land use and vegetation change. We intend to cover an area of 36 km2. Therefore we chose an effective surveying method through which it is possible in a relatively short time to cover large areas. After a short break due to the pandemic, we organized another prospecting season on April 20-21, 2022. Within two days and with five students, we surveyed an area of 192 ha (altogether, we have covered 910 ha up-till-now). Here we collected overall 418 artefacts dated from Prehistory to early modern times. The archaeological prospection will continue in September 2022.