NEOLITICKÉ OSÍDLENÍ V OKOLÍ STUDÉNKY A ÚLOHA ZDEJŠÍHO MIKROREGIONU KULTURY S LINEÁRNÍ KERAMIKOU V DISTRIBUCI SILICITŮ KRAKOVSKO-ČENSTOCHOVSKÉ JURY

The Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava has made systematic archaeological prospecting efforts for several years in the surroundings of Studénka that led to identification of two micro-regions of Neolithic settlement, territorially partly overlapped. The older one consists of six dwelling places and belongs to the Linear Pottery culture. The younger settlement around Studénka corresponds to the Lengyel culture and it was found at seven localities so far. The micro-region of the Linear Pottery culture is situated at the left bank of the Odra Gate corridor, right on the transport road of the Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic silicites and represents on this route the nearest settlements from the source area in the direction to central Moravia. Although the micro-region is located in the area of natural occurrences of silicites from glacial sediments (also denominated erratic silicites or erratic ‘flints’), the presence of Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic silicites among raw materials of lithic chipped artefacts is the most numerous comparing similar collections from the Czech Lands and Polish Silesia. Temporary nature of the micro-region settlement limited to a single phase of the Linear Pottery culture IIb and evidence for a short duration of the dwelling places indicate purposefulness of founding and duration of the dwelling places. The authors believe the purpose of their arising was not enlarging of the agricultural area but the mediation services in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic silicites transport. The starting point for this raw material transport could be contemporary another Neolithic micro-region represented by the settlement near Spytkowice at the mouth of the river Skawa to Wisła in the recent Polish territory. This Spytkowice micro-region is unusually located on the opposite bank of the Wisła. The supposed route of the Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic silicites to Moravia is only a working hypothesis naturally.