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X/1/2019
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Editorial IANSA 1/2019
A Year Rich in Archaeological Events
Ondřej Mlejnek
Since our last issue we have organized an editorial board
meeting in Prague (Figure 1) which was also attended by
the chair of the advisory board, Roderick Salisbury. The
participants of the meeting discussed some strategic issues
and changes to the IANSA Journal, which will be announced
next year at the opportunity of the tenth anniversary of our
journal.
Furthermore, we were delighted to discover that the next
two years will be extremely rich period of archaeological
events in the Czech Republic. The frst of these is rather
anthropological – the 6
th
International Anthropological
Congress of Dr. Aleš Hrdlička, which takes place from
3
rd
September to 5
th
September 2019. This congress will be
held in Humpolec on the occasion of the 150
th
anniversary
of Aleš Hrdlička’s birth. The tradition of International
Anthropological Congresses of Dr. Aleš Hrdlička was
established in 1958, and they are traditionally organized
by the Czech Anthropological Society together with the
municipality of the town of Humpolec. The main theme
has, as yet, not been announced. Therefore all topics from
the felds of biological and cultural anthropology, as well as
other related felds, have been accepted for presentation.
Another event is the 62
nd
Annual Conference of the Hugo
Obermaier Society, which is originally German, but now a
rather international society with an interest in quaternary
research. Thanks to the invitation of the Moravian Museum,
this conference will be held in Brno from 14
th
to 18
th
April
2020. One of the reasons for this is the 100
th
anniversary
of the birth of Karel Valoch, a Moravian archaeologist and
long-term member of this society, who passed away six years
ago.
But by far the biggest archaeological event of next year
will be the 9
th
World Archaeological Congress, to be held in
the Cubex Centrum in Prague from 5
th
to 10
th
July 2020. Calls
for sessions for this congress have already been announced
(the deadline is 15
th
October 2009) and you may fnd all the
important information concerning this event on the ofcial
web page: wac-9.org. “We look forward to welcoming you
in the heart of Europe” is the ofcial motto of this event and
we really do look forward to meeting you at some of the
presented conferences.
Concerning the contents of this issue, it starts with a
paper presenting the use of high resolution X-ray computed
tomography on archaeobotanical remains. Charlene Murphy
et al.
present the use of this modern technology for analyzing
the domestication changes on the seeds of various plants
(soya, lentil, horsegram). For the frst time, a 3D-video
presentation is published at the end of this paper in the digital
version of the IANSA journal.
In the second article, Lenka Lisá
et al.
discuss the meaning
of
lamellae
or bands at archaeological sites. At examples
of two sites (the Upper Palaeolithic settlement at Sowin in
Poland, and the Neolithic site Kly in Bohemia), they try to
answer questions concerning the origin and interpretation of
these features.
In the next paper, Markéta Končelová
et al.
examine
the distribution of fnds in diferent types of Neolithic
archaeological features at the Bylany 4 site in central
Bohemia. Based on the diferent structures of the flls of
features, it is, according to the authors, evident that the
structure of the horizontal or vertical distribution of fndings
in their flls can yield information about the creation of the
fnding assemblages. It also refects the dynamics of the
development of anthropogenic activities in the vicinity of
the features.
The next paper by Kelly Reed
et al.
presents the
archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological and pottery evidence
regarding the issue of daily consumption patterns within
the Roman rural villa at Lički Ribnik in Croatia. The fnds,
dated from the second half of the 2
nd
to the frst half of the
3
rd
century AD, provide evidence of villa consumption in the
Dalmatian region. Although the conclusions are based on
very limited data, the study shows the importance of looking
at the environmental evidence in conjunction with other
archaeological material in order to explore the local diet and
economy in the Roman period.
Volume X ● Issue 1/2019 ● Pages 3–4
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IANSA 2019 ● X/1 ● 3–4
Ondřej Mlejnek: A Year Rich in Archaeological Events
4
Finally the last paper by Zoreh Jozi
et al.
presents the
results of the PIXE analysis of the silver coins minted by
the Umayyad Caliphs of the Arabic Empire in 7
th
and
8
th
Century AD. The comparison of coins of the Umayyad era
with those of the Sassanid period shows that the technology
of extracting and minting silver in the Umayyad period did
not difer from that in the Sassanid period.
The thematic review section is represented by a paper
by Hana Brzobohatá
et al.
reviewing the issue of medieval
infectious diseases, famines and sites of mass burials in
the Czech lands. Special attention is paid to the recently
excavated mass burials in Kutná Hora – Sedlec in central
Bohemia dated back to the 14
th
Century. According to the
authors they represent one of the largest set of medieval mass
graves in Europe.
Figure 1.
IANSA Editorial Board Meeting
in Prague on 29
th
March 2019.
The book review written by Ondřej Mlejnek presents
Petr Škrdla’s monograph entitled “Moravia at the Onset
of the Upper Palaeolithic”. According to the reviewer, this
publication should not be missing from the bookshelves of
anyone interested in the central European Palaeolithic.
Finally, the Backstory section is represented by another
paper from the “Look into the region” series. This time the
Department of Archaeology at the Philosophical Faculty of
the University of Hradec Králové is presented by its head
Richard Thér, who is also a member of the IANSA Editorial
Board.
It is certainly possible to state that this general issue brings
together a new series of papers diverse in their thematic, as
well as geographic, point of view. We hope you will fnd here
plenty of useful information for your scientifc work.