In search of use patterns of archaeological features on multi-cultural sites. A microarchaeological case study of ditch infill formation at an Eneolithic enclosure in Mikulin (Eastern Poland)

Abstract

By studying the microscopic record of infills of archaeological features, it is possible to reveal their formation history and consequently obtain a better understanding of natural and cultural factors which have operated at the sites, following the assumption that specific past land use practices leave specific microarchaeological imprints. At multi-phase sites with a diverse history of occupation, this may help to detect possible changes in the use of the features and link them with known occupation episodes. From the viewpoint of studies on the role of enclosures in the prehistoric cultural landscape, it is important to have an understanding of how their distinctive structures—the ditches—were used. In order to gain insight into this matter, the infill of one of the ditches of an Eneolithic enclosure discovered at the site of Mikulin 8 (Eastern Poland) was studied from a geoarchaeological perspective involving soil micromorphology and physico-chemical analyses. As a result, it was possible to identify three major processes responsible for the formation of the infill and estimate their rates, what significantly broadened the knowledge of the context in which artefacts were discovered and brought some information on natural landscape changes. These findings, combined with data delivered by artefacts analysis, geophysical prospection, and radiocarbon dating, suggest the existence of two distinct settlement episodes at the site, marked by different use of the ditch structure, first by communities of the Lublin-Volhynian culture and then by peoples of the Funnel Beaker culture.