The purpose of this paper is to analyze the fundamental theoretical problems surrounding the background of the Ölandic ring forts. Up to now, there have only been two different schools of thought that have offered any coherent argumentation as to the origin of the ring forts. The first school is based on an ethnological perspective. It argues that any human society has an innate capacity to independently create structures such as radial houses surrounded by ring walls, and that the ring forts are hence domestic creations without outside influence (Näsman 1989). The second school argues for an influence from Late Roman and Byzantine border fortifications and that these also explain the finds of Late Roman solidi on Öland (Werner 1949). It claims that the ring forts were the result from contacts along the interface of two cultures and the ring forts hence represent a gradual diffusion and evolution of a Mediterranean concept in Barbaricum. None of the two schools has tried to argue from a macroeconomic perspective of progressive global economic decline and social crisis leading to the evolution of a new building type. In this paper, the origin of the ring forts is sought in a much wider phenomenon, that of the urban crisis of the decaying late 3rd century Roman Empire. The author argues that the ring forts on Öland have a far more common evolutionary precedent in the shape of fortified amphitheaters throughout the Roman world. The latter is a widely known phenomenon (Blanchet 1907, Butler 1959) not discussed by either of the two schools.

The early Byzantine settlement of Caričin Grad in southern Serbia can be identified with the imperial city Iustiniana Prima, known from De Aedificii of Procopius, which existed for merely 90 years. Without any marks of earlier or later occupation, the excavations provide undisturbed insight into everyday life in the 6th century. Excavations in Caričin Grad take place since 100 years. Considering the concept and methodology of Household Archaeology, one single room house was excavated in 2014 and 2015 in high resolution with integration of archaeobiology and soil science. The finds indicate a habitational function. The interpretation of the building bases on the results of interdisciplinary research. The simple configuration of the house and the multiplicity of potential types of use in a single room structure challenge the examination. It raises the question whether it was a complete household or not. This is the crucial point where field work and the theories of Household Archaeology come together. Working with an elementary constructed house and a few objects connected with specific activities restrict the possibilities which houses with many rooms and outdoor-areas may provide. Therefore the preliminary results of the excavation will be discussed from the perspective of Household Archaeology. The household can be seen as the place where social roles are negotiated and thus as a social landscape which reflects the mentality of the dwellers. The analysis of installations and formation processes helps to understand activities carried out in daily routine and how the domestic space may be used. The observation which things were left behind or even don’t appear in the archaeological record allows statements about the end of occupation. Life in Caričin Grad took place in a time of far reaching cultural change. Written sources provide little insights in the situation of common life. In combination with the archaeological record they allow to delineate the possibilities of household-organisation for a specific historical situation. The talk examines if it is generally possible to work with the household concept if there are unspecific structures or if it is rather necessary to apply it to gain more information. With regard to cultural formation processes this also raises the issue of the possibility to detect pauperism archaeologically. For this purpose it will present the archaeological remains of a specific small house.

Raw material selection of animal hard tissue is directed by technological, but also cultural reasons. Availability of specific skeletal elements, their physical and mechanical properties, as well as cultural attitude towards certain animal and its body parts are the main factors in selection. In the Early Neolithic in the Balkan region, osseous raw materials had an important role for crafting everyday tools, but also for personal ornaments. In this paper will be presented some aspects of exploitation of osseous materials, in particular raw material acquiring and managing. Bones from both domestic and wild animals were used, and also antlers, teeth and occasionally mollusc shells. Preferences in selection of a specific skeletal element of a specific animal for specific tool-type may be observed – for example, preference of cattle metapodial bones for spoons and projectile points, predominance of skeletal elements from wild species for ornaments, etc. Furthermore, certain diversity among different Early Neolithic communities may be observed, in particular in ratio of antlers; in some settlements antlers were well presented while in others almost completely absent. To a certain extent, this is related to the immediate environment, but also is connected with differences in economic activities and local cultural preferences.

Osseous artefacts were very important in everyday lives of prehistoric communities, especially before the invention of metallurgy. However, they were long neglected area of study, particularly in some regions of Europe. For the Early Holocene period, the region of the Iron Gates is particularly interesting, because the presence of both Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites enables analyses of traditions and innovations in raw material selection, technological choices, etc. Relatively rich finds were published in more detail for the sites in Romania. This paper will focus on the Mesolithic and Neolithic sites from Serbia (Kula, Velesnica, Knjepište, etc.). Technological and typological data will be discussed: raw material selection, manufacturing techniques, etc. Antlers were the dominant raw material in the Mesolithic period and their importance continues into the Neolithic period, although in most of the Starčevo sites bones prevailed. Typological repertoire included heavy duty and small craft tools, rarely other types of artefacts. Certain techno-types introduced in the Neolithic sites are of Near-Eastern origin, in particular spatula-spoons from cattle metapodia. Manufacture debris is not abundant and the question is whether this is related to taphonomy, excavation and recovery techniques, or specific activities carried out at some of the sites. Overall importance of analyses of the osseous industries and comparative approach of different technologies will be discussed.

Vlakno cave is located on Dugi Otok (Long Island), situated in the northern Dalmatia. Systematic archaeological excavations revealed rich stratigraphic sequence from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to Mesolithic. Excavated deposits yielded tens of thousands of vertebrate remains, mostly skeleton remains of large mammals. Considering the amount of available osseous materials it is natural to expect correspondingly high amount of tools made of bone, teeth and antler. Here we integrate results of archaeozoological analysis and the study of osseous tools. Raw material selection, technological and typological aspects were analysed. Availability of skeletal elements is compared with raw material choices. Recovered bone and antler tools show very little typological diversity between Epigravettian and Mesolithic layers. However there are some interesting small-scale temporal trends (e.g. retouchers and harpoons being almost exclusively present in older deposits). Authors debate this pattern in tool production as the reflection of environmental and subsequently subsistence changes corresponding to availability of targeted animal taxa.

In this paper I will try to investigate upon the discovery of the building found in 1920s and 1930s under Via di San Nicola de’ Cesarini in Rome making use of the comparison between archives data and archaeological evidences. Exploring the historical archives at Rome (non-edited notes, drawings, tracings and photos of that period) we can reconstruct both the building’s aspect at the discovery moment and the datings of its phases, helped, at the same time, by the old cadastre of the city (Catasto Pio Gregoriano) and the Cabreo delle fognature della città di Roma, a limitless collection of plans and drawings of the ancient and modern drainage system of the city. Thanks to this work we can try to reconstruct the building in all its phases and attempt to identificate it making a new and update archaeological map that will help future works in proximity areas.

The early byzantine settlement of Caričin Grad in southern Serbia, which is supposed to be the imperial city Iustiniana Prima, existed for merely 90 years. Without any marks of earlier or later occupation, the excavations provide undisturbed insight into everyday life in an early medieval settlement of the 6th century. Excavations in Caričin Grad take place since 100 years. Considering the concept and methodology of Household Archaeology, one single room house was excavated in 2014 and 2015 in high resolution with integration of archaeobiology and soil science. The finds indicate a habitational function. The interpretation of the building bases on the results of the interdisciplinary research. The simple configuration of the house and the multiplicity of potential types of use in a single room structure challenge the examination. This is the crucial point where field work and the theories of Household Archaeology come together. Working with an elementary constructed house and a few objects connected with specific activities restrict the possibilities which houses with many rooms and outdoor-areas may provide. It is necessary to examine the activities in- and outside the building to understand the function the household fulfils in the settlement system regarding social, religious and economic aspects. The building accommodated one or more persons who belonged to an average or low social stratum. Taking their perspective on the settlement raises the question of their everyday life. The analysis of installations and formation processes helps to understand activities carried out in daily routine and how the domestic space may be used. The distribution of finds is imbalanced between the inside of the house and its exterior what depicts the pattern of disposal organisation. This and other domestic activities display in little the organisation of the whole settlement. Working on households provides information of how the dwellers contributed to the development of the society. The talk will examine if it is generally possible to work with the household concept if there are unspecific structures or if it is rather necessary to apply it to gain more information. For this purpose it will place the archaeological remains of a specific small house into the context of the organisation of a settlement.