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Rondel enclosures represent an emblematic feature of the Neolithic period in Central Europe. As they are formed just by simple circular ditches and occasionally by remnants of palisade, they do not give much hints to reconstruct and understand the agency taken within the rondel’s walls. The most agreed interpretations consider rondels as astronomic observatories, meeting places for feasting and commodity interchanging, or arenas for various rituals. Recently, it is known about 150 sites with rondel enclosures within Central Europe. Remarkably, some of them gave evidence of two or even more enclosures built on a single site. The paper follows specific question related to these sites: Were multiple rondels contemporaneous or were they used subsequently? To answer, we employ Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon data in combination with stratified sampling of animal bones from ditches of two rondels excavated in Praha-Krč, Czech Republic. Except for resulting chronological model, hidden or more obvious pitfalls or radiocarbon modelling are also presented. There is a considerable uncertainty connected with taphonomy of ditch infill and reliability of excavated bones, which might skew the model. Despite that, the chronological model opens new ways for understanding the rondel monuments and their significance within settlement network of Neolithic communities. The paper was supported by the ESF project "RAMSES" (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728).

EAA2020: Abstract

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