image/svg+xml3XIV/1/2023INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICANATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGYhomepage: http://www.iansa.euEditorial IANSA 1/2023IANSA in the Time of Global ChangesLenka Lisá, Ondřej MlejnekThe past year 2022 was a year full of intense changes for us, and not only geopolitical ones. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye forever to our dear friend, a great archaeologist and member of the IANSA Editorial Board, associate professor Ladislav Šmejda, who died after a long illness at the end of November 2022. We honour his memory and miss our dear friend.At the end of 2021, the IANSA Editorial and Advisory Boards were merged. We would like to expand the current merged international Editorial Board and adjust its personal composition in such a manner that its members will cover the topics published in our journal in the best possible way and ensure the highest-quality. Currently each article now has its own responsible editor whose task is to suggest the external peer-reviewers to the executive editor and to supervise the editorial process. All these changes have led to archaeobotanist Michaela Ptáková from the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, archaeologist Jan Turek from the Center for Theoretical Studies in Prague, geochemist Lukáš Kučera from Palacký University in Olomouc and anthropologist Miroslav Králík from Masaryk University in Brno becoming new members of the Editorial Board. We would like to thank outgoing editors Peter Poschlod and Petr Meduna for their valuable work for this journal.Our journal was given the opportunity to become a co-organiser of the International Conference of Environmental Archaeology (CEA) for the next years. This year will be the seventeenth year of this conference and it will take place at Masaryk University in Brno at the end of January 2023. The theme of the conference is the application of environmental research and archaeometry in rescue archaeological research. In addition to the IANSA journal represented by its executive editor Ondřej Mlejnek, the organisation is being undertaken by the Institute of Archaeology and Museology of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University (Michal Vágner), and the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Králové (Richard Thér and Jan Horák), to whom we hereby give our thanks.Regarding the current geopolitical situation, we would like to assure the authors and readers that we essentially condemn any military aggression, including the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine. At the same time, however, our intention is primarily to publish high-quality research, regardless of nationality of authors. For this reason, we will continue to publish scientifc articles with the research results of our Russian and Belarusian colleagues. We have not published articles with obvious political undertones in the past, and neither shall we will do it in the future.The content of this general issue is quite rich regarding the number of published papers as well as the issues presented. In the frst paper, Roman Křivánek and Jan Tirpák present the results of geophysical research performed at eight assorted archaeological sites located in the Czech and Slovak Republics dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. On the example of these sites the authors explain changes in the use of cultural landscape in Central Europe across history.The second article by Maria Grazia Melis deals with an issue of radiocarbon dating on the prehistoric site of Monte d´Accoddi in Sardinia. The shrine excavated at this site is a unique fnd in the context of the Mediterranean Neolithic. This building originally consisted of a terrace with an access ramp and later it was englobed by a second much larger building, similar to the frst one, with a central, possibly stepped, core. The presented radiocarbon dates help to defne the construction and occupation phases of this monument, which can be considered as a prehistoric temple, as well as the settlement that grew around it in the fourth and third millenniums BC.In the third submission, written by Saša Kovačević et al., results of the analysis of pigments from decorated bone and antler artefacts from the Early Iron Age burial mounds in Croatian Jalžabet are presented. These artefacts were found in two princely burial mounds, which belong to the Eastern Hallstatt culture and date back to the 6thcentury BC. The motifs on the artifacts were incised and afterwards flled with black pigment. There are also faint traces of red pigment visible on the surface. Using methods for colourant analysis, the authors have successfully proven the deliberate application of black paint based on carbon Volume XIV ● Issue 1/2023 ● Pages 3–5
image/svg+xmlIANSA 2023 ● XIV/1 ● 3–5Lenka Lisá, Ondřej Mlejnek: IANSA in the Time of Global Changes4black as a pigment, probably in combination with terpenoid resin. The red pigment on the fnds has been identifed as hematite. It is highly probable that the red surfaces were also deliberately painted decoration. The archaeological analysis of the fnds supports the idea of the use of various types of decorated plates as inlays, probably on furniture or other luxury everyday items. Smaller fnds could have been used as utilitarian objects, parts of attire and jewellery.The fourth scientifc paper written by Claudia Moricca, Alessio De Cristofaro and Laura Ambrosini concerns the archaeobotanical analysis of soil samples and vase fllings from Etruscan tombs from the Necropolis of “Valle Santa nell’Agro Veientano” near Rome in Italy. The excavated vestibule tombs are dated back from the sixth to the fourth centuries BC. Analyses of plant macro-remains reveal the presence of food plants comprised of cereals, pulses and fruits. Furthermore, charcoal analyses give indications concerning the past forest vegetation with a prevalence of deciduous and semi-deciduous oaks accompanied by other taxa such as evergreen oaks, hornbeam and ash, which is in accordance with the present-day vegetation of northern Latium. Remains of synanthropic weeds suggest a heavily anthropized environment. This study represents a step forward in the understanding of human-plant interactions of Etruscans.Another paper by Martina Fojtová and Zdeněk Vytlačil deals with the topic of the Early Medieval Great Moravian graves. The authors try to answer the question of whether we could explain the north-south orientation of several graves, which deviate from prevailing east-west orientation, by indicating the possible foreign origin of individuals buried in these graves. To answer this question, two individuals buried in 9thcentury in north-south oriented graves on the burial site “Na Valách” in Staré Město (Moravia, Czech Republic) were subjected to a mobility analysis using strontium isotopes. According to their analysis it is not possible to confrm a foreign origin for these individuals. However, the fnal rejection or confrmation of the hypothesis (a non-local origin for the people buried in graves with a north-south orientation) will require further analyses performed on a much larger sample.The article by Hana Brzobohatá, Jan Frolík and Filip Velímský will move readers to Kutná Hora in central Bohemia, which was in the 14thcentury one of the most important silver mining centres in Europe. The authors have analysed human bones of at least 1785 individuals buried in mass graves in a suburb of this city. A notable surplus of males among the people buried in these graves has been identifed. After considering the factors potentially infuencing this imbalance, the authors suggest that the fgure likely mirrors the original population composition as a consequence of the infow of men migrating to Kutná Hora for labour and economic opportunities.Another geophysical paper written by Pavel Drnovský deals with the possibilities and results of magnetometer surveys of Medieval small-sized fortifcations. A total of sixteen manorial residences located in East Bohemia (Czech Republic), dated back to fourteenth and ffteenth centuries, were surveyed with the use of this method. In most cases these fortifcations were partly or completely abandoned sites. According to the author, the chosen method proved to be suitable for detecting most parts of the residences of the petty nobility, particularly in regions with prevailing earthen and wooden architecture. However, the results of such a survey need to be supplemented by other methods of geophysical and archaeological research.In the last scientifc article of this issue, written by Olga Druzhinina, Dario Hruševar et al., results of phytolith and non-pollen palynomorph analyses performed on sediment samples from an archaeologically-excavated farmyard in Graft (the Netherlands) are presented. The obtained data have provided an important insight into the archaeological Figure 1.The last IANSA Editorial Board meeting took place in Dambořice in South Moravia from 10thto 11thNovember 2022. Local wine degustation. Photo by Pavel Lisý.