Publication details
Spatio-Temporal Data for Modeling the Settlement Organisation and Cultural Change of the Otomani-Füzesabony Cultural Complex in Slovakia
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
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| Description | The Otomani-Füzesabony Cultural Complex (OFCC) spanned a vast territory of the Eastern Carpathian Basin. Several previous studies indicated its complicated and unclear chronological relationships with certain pottery styles. The regional variation of the OFCC is based on differences in material culture, burial customs and complex landscape organisation of settlements. Therefore in this study, we used spatio-temporal modelling techniques to analyse the OFCC settlement structure and rate of cultural change with an emphasis on several macroregions in Eastern Slovakia. A quantitative statistical approach (spatio-temporal modelling, Kruskal-Wallis test, principal component analysis) was used to combine a broad range of archaeological and palaeoecological evidence in the space-time continuum. In order to capture regional variability, within the relative chronological dating, Reinecke’s periodisation scheme was used instead of individual internal chronological systems of the OFCC. Information about sites (location, dating and type) was gathered from the literature, excavation and survey reports, as well as using existing databases (Tóth 2014; Oravkinová 2018). The database was managed in LibreOffice Calc, with the component as the central registration unit. Absolute chronology of individual Reinecke’s stages (used for spatio-temporal modelling) was adapted based on existing literature. Spatio-temporal modelling was performed on all sites using LibreOffice Calc, showing a gradual transformation of relative-chronological data into a timescale (Crema 2012; Kolář et al. 2015). Taking into account the duration of the OFCC pottery style, the data was modelled within 200 years’ timescale. Environmental analyses (altitude, soil types, cost distance to water and sources of copper, tin and gold) were analysed using QGIS software; values were extracted using ‘Point Sampling Tool’. Secondary information layers (cost distance to water and metal sources) were derived from the digital elevation model with the resolution 30x30 m (Tóth 2014: 106–108). The fertility of soils has been based on the most recent research (Lieskovský et al. 2015: table 4.2). We analysed the components with a clearly defined sitting within the surrounding landscape. During statistical tests, regional characteristics were taken into account. The results illustrate clearly the dynamic relationship between OFCC sites and the surrounding landscape across centuries. Isolated micro-regional communities had functioned independently, however concurrently they were collectivised within an extensive supra-regional and trans-tribal networks of connections sprawling far beyond the scope of any individual community. Gathered evidence suggests that access to water passes and proximity of metal ores were the key elements in structuring the OFCC settlement hierarchies and landscape transformations in the Bronze Age Slovakia. |
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