ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF A MESOLITHIC SETTLEMENT MESTEC/OSTROV IN EASTERN BOHEMIA (CZECH REPUBLIC)

In 2018 aforager camp site located on the boundary of cadastral territories ofMestec and Ostrov in eastern Bohemia was excavated by archaeologists under the auspices of a rescue excavation. The site is situated on an indistinct hillock above the Loucnd River in a field called "U Stribrniku , near Uhersko railway station. During the rescue excavation, a collection of 4982 lithic artefacts was obtained. Another 142 artefacts were collected during surface surveys at the site. Artefacts were excavated mainlyfrom the plough horizon (top soil), where they were redeposited after having been disturbed by ploughing. Despite the disturbed context, it was possible to document an in situ feature a lower part of a sunken pit with a diameter of approximately 40 cm, where pine wood charcoal pieces were collected for radiocarbon dating analysis. Absolute dating results obtained from four radiocarbon dates provide an age estimate of 9200 cal BC, which dates this feature to the Preboreal period at the very beginning of the Holocene epoch, when the climate was changing due to a rapid rise in average temperatures. Characteristics of the lithic collection correspond with this dating result. Some attributes are typical for the Late Palaeolithic (tanged tool); however, the collection is essentially Mesolithic. This is indicated by the presence of geometric microliths (triangles) and small-sized, highly exhausted cores. Although we are aware that the strategic position of this site makes it likely that it was settled also at other times, we suggest that the excavated artefacts date mainly to the first half of the Mesolithic period.