Life on Pálava Hills in the Urnfield period through the perspective of a metal-detecting survey

Abstract

Abstract Pálava is a complex of prominent limestone hills in South Moravia, with extensive traces of prehistoric activities. This study presents the results of a long-term metal-detecting survey of the Pálava Hills and their surroundings. It focuses on findings dated to the Bronze Age and especially to the Urnfield period with 673 from the topsoil recovered artefacts. The study monitors the functional composition of the items within the dataset, as well as the spatial distribution of individual artefacts. The data from the surveys allow comparisons between the enclosed sites at the Stolová hora, Kotel, and Děvín hills, and the open satellite settlements in the hinterland. The results are also used for a comparison with other Moravian Bronze Age sites that have been surveyed with the same method. The study also includes a metallographic analysis of 177 objects. The results create a picture of an intensively used hillfort at Stolová hora, which in the Urnfield period represented a centrepiece of a broader agglomeration, and at some point, also probably of the whole region.