SOMETHING WENT WRONG: ON THE BRONZE CHAIN-BELT REJECTS FROM ČEJKOVICE (HODONÍN DISTRICT, CZ)

In the Central European La Tène period, there is only relatively very scarce evidence of bronze smelting in the form of half-finished products and rejects; the reason for this absence may be their proactive recycling. They only appear in greater quantities from LTC; it is also when we can date five chain-belt elements from Čejkovice presented in this paper. Other evidence of bronze smelting (crucibles, bronze lumps, casting spills) is not rare in South Moravia (it is documented in as many as seven sites in the surroundings of Čejkovice only) prompting considerations on the (de)centralisation of bronze working. At the current state of knowledge, bronze smelting seems to have been quite decentralised in Moravia in the 3rd – 2nd centuries BC. Therefore, it does not seem to have been concentrated only in large agglomerations; for the moment we cannot say much in this respect about other regions including Central Moravia with Němčice nad Hanou.