Northwest Bohemia Research Articles

The article presents for the first time from the diachronic point of view a chronicle of the town Jirkov in Northwest Bohemia from the end of the sixteenth century. The German written manuscript of this chronicle is currently held in the State District Archives Chomutov in Kadaň (Státní okresní archiv Chomutov se sídlem v Kadani). The article deals with some aspects of the urban historiography writing in humanism like the author’s reflexion in the text of the chronicle, methodology of his historiographic work, language choice and use (German, Latin) and the aspects of German chancery language, especially in the syntax, style and lexis. The study also describes the chronicle as an interesting and important document of written practice in Northwest Bohemia from the textological point of view.

The paper compares the human and demographic capital of central, suburban, semi-peripheral and peripheral municipalities of the Karlovy Vary Region and also the regions of Czechia and neighbouring regions in Germany. Peripheral municipalities are considerably distant from meso- and micro-regional towns in terms of time spent on public transport. The demographic capital of municipalities is assessed according to indicators of population development, natural and migration balance, and age structure. In the evaluation of human capital, indicators of education, unemployment, foreclosures, entrepreneurship, and housing construction are used. The assumption of low human capital in peripheral municipalities compared to more geographically exposed municipalities was not confirmed. Suburban municipalities have the highest human and demographic capital. Although the studied region borders the developed regions of Germany, it has the least favourable values of human and demographic capital of all Czech regions and neighbouring German regions. This is a consequence of the complete population exchanges after World War II, the existence of the Iron Curtain on the region’s borders with the West during the socialist (communist) period, the peripheral location of the region within Czechia, the inappropriate development of industry under socialism, and the problems of this sector and weak cross-border cooperation in the post-socialist period. The paper also presents strategies and measures to support human capital in the types of municipalities of the region and throughout the region.

ABSTRACT In this article, we discuss a particular example of quasi-permanent recreational caravanning at a holiday camp on a reservoir in north-west Bohemia. While campsites, including those with caravans such as the one examined here, are usually places for short-term recreation, part of this campsite has been transformed into a quasi-permanent recreational settlement. Drawing on the notion of “spacing,” we pay close attention to the materiality of quasi-permanent caravanning and consider the DIY practises of building and maintaining the caravans and their surroundings as particular expressions of the ongoing creation of space. We show that through such ongoing practises an attachment to place is created and the quasi-permanent caravans become part of the home (of the campers). Examining the materiality of such caravans leads us to consider place attachment and home and the ways in which they are materially emergent. We describe the tensions that underlie the emergence of the spaces of quasi-permanent caravanning, the place attachment formed, and the home created there. As a result, we suggest to conceptualize home as constantly emerging in the tension between being and becoming on the one hand and multi-sited (multilocal) on the other.

Dietary reconstruction using carbon and nitrogen isotopes has been applied to the La Tène population buried at Prosmyky, a large cemetery of the 4th-3rd centuries BCE in northwest Bohemia. The analysis of bone collagen from 55 individuals showed a diet that did not differ noticeably from other contemporary sites in the region. However, chronologically sensitive development in diet, with gradually increasing δ13C values, was present, signifying a growing reliance on millet for sustenance through the cemetery’s lifespan. Moreover, a rather unusual higher δ15N in individuals older than ca. 30 years of age was also observed. Possible explanations are examined, along with a comparison with other published data from the region, suggesting the influence of regionally based developments that might be linked with the societal shifts that led towards the Late La Tène period.

We compared the effects of animal gender, species, and intestinal helminth burden on mercury concentrations in rodents. Total mercury concentrations were determined in the liver and kidney tissues of 80 small rodents (44 yellow-necked mice, Apodemus flavicollis, and 36 bank voles, Myodes glareolus) captured in the Ore Mountains (northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic). Overall, 25/80 (32%) of animals were infected by intestinal helminths. The differences in mercury concentration between rodents infected and not infected with intestinal helminths were not statistically significant. Statistically significant differences in mercury concentrations were found only between voles and mice (that were not infected with intestinal helminths). This suggests the differences may be associated with host genetics. Apodemus flavicollis body tissues had significantly lower (P=0.01) mean Hg concentrations (0.032 mg/kg) than Myodes glareolus (0.279 mg/kg), provided that animals were not infected by intestinal helminths; if the animals were infected by intestinal helminths, the difference between both groups was insignificant. The effect of gender in this study was significant only for voles (without helminth infection); for mice (either with or without helminth infection) the differences between genders were not significant. Myodes glareolus males had significantly lower (P=0.03) Hg concentrations in liver and kidney tissues (0.050 mg/kg) than Myodes glareolus females (0.122 mg/kg). These results reveal the importance of considering species and gender when evaluating mercury concentrations.

Identifying silver-coated surfaces on Early Bronze Age axes from Bohemia

Tématem článku jsou železné sekery s raménky nalezené v letech 2016–2017 na katastrech obcí Drmaly a Vysoká Pec (okr. Chomutov, severozápadní Čechy). Metalograficky bylo prokázáno, že jde o kvalitně zpracované sečné zbraně/nástroje s místně kalenými ocelovými břity; u jednoho z nich byla doložena unikátní vložka z arzénového železa. Sekery s raménky převážně datované do rozpětí stupňů Ha C2–D1­2 se na českém území nacházejí v menší míře v depotech, na pohřebištích, sídlištích a hradištích doby halštatské. Jejich největší skupinu tvoří solitérní, tzv. ojedinělé nálezy intencionálně deponované mimo soudobé areály běžných lidských aktivit a situované převážně ve vysokohorském lesním terénu, někdy v blízkosti vodních zdrojů, komunikací či hradišť. Vazba monodepositů a depotů na markantní přírodně formovaná místa (hory, skály, jeskyně, prameniště ad.) může představovat archeologický projev rituálního chování obyvatel doby halštatské v sakrální krajině.

The most promising type of lithium-ion battery for use in electric vehicles and for storing electrical energy is the cell with a nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode (NMC). For its production, high-purity manganese is required, which is currently produced mainly by China. The need for NMC cathode cells to ensure electromobility will grow sharply, which is why the European automotive industry is very interested in introducing electrolytic manganese production in Europe. From this point of view, the Czech source of manganese, which originated near the town Chvaletice (east Bohemia) as waste after the former pyrite mining, became interesting. This deposit is going to be exploit by the Czech company Mangan Chvaletice now involved in the European Manganese Incorporation. The production of high-purity manganese in a volume of 50 thousand tons per year is to begin in 2025. It is interesting to compare this project with the expected exploitation of the Czech lithium treasure in northwest Bohemia.

The subject of the article is the “group” Unětice culture cemetery from the Early Bronze Age investigated in 2014 in Lovosice (Litoměřice district, northwest Bohemia). The cemetery’s dating to 2021–1751 BC corresponds to the mature stage of the Unětice culture in other parts of Bohemia (Moucha’s preclassical and classical stages). The cemetery is characterised by stone and apparently even wooden structures, multiple burials and the exclusive presence of miniature vessels. The population was composed primarily of old adults with the corresponding degenerative productive changes; only two non-adults were determined. Epigenetic marks on the skeletons testifying to a certain degree of kinship between the buried individuals were documented at the group cemetery and outside of it. New excavations have provided more detailed information on the spatial structure of burial grounds which, in addition to large cemeteries (of the Liběšovice, Březno near Louny, and Velke Žernoseky type), are composed of cemeteries with 10–20 graves, small groups of graves and solitary graves. These are also frequently accompanied by contemporary settlements located either close to the cemeteries or, as in the case of Lovosice, in the middle of the burial grounds. The spatial distribution of exogenous artefacts (amber beads, gold ornaments, silicite daggers) points to the possibility of the existence of an established network of long-distance routes in northwest Bohemia in the Early Bronze Age. One of the possible nodal points connected to the long-distance exchange system could have been located in the lower Ohře River region. This is documented, among other things, by the concentration of burial grounds with exceptional finds, settlements with evidence of metallurgy and the largest Bohemian hoards of ingots concentrated in the geographically defined microregion of Lovosice.

Obesity is a serious problem in our society. An evaluation of obesity development performed in the second half of the previous century already indicated a long-term positive trend in terms of body weight increase in children and the youth, which still persists today. Paediatric obesity arises from a changed lifestyle of children, characterised by an important restriction of their spontaneous physical activity. A lack of physical activity is one of the most important causes of paediatric obesity, which associated with a number of serious disorders. In the current study, the incidence of obesity and overweight as well as the relationship between physical activity and obesity in second stage pupils of elementary schools in northwest Bohemia is presented. The data collection was based on questions from the NAS 2001 questionnaire (nationwide anthropological survey) and BMI-for-age. 2001. NAS 2001 is a questionnaire for children and evaluates areas focused on engagement in physical activities and other daily activities, eating habits, drinking regime and care of the body habitus. Problems with obesity and overweight are present, particularly in boys. Only a third of boys and girls engage in sufficient physical activity. Differences were shown in the study group, where groups with higher BMI values had lower values of physical activity. Subsequently, a relationship was shown between those who use their bicycle as a means of transport and spend their leisure time bicycling at the same time. More than two-thirds of the study subjects reported using a bicycle as a means of transport and using their bicycle in their leisure time as a means of being active; 93% of these subjects had normal body weight. Our results confirm the continued pandemic prevalence of obesity and indicate that appropriate physical activity should be included in the everyday life of children both at school and outside of school.

ABSTRACT The paper deals with archaeological, osteological and archaeobotanical analysis of the artefacts and ecofacts obtained by excavation in waste landfills from the Second World War. The settlement waste was produced by three communities with different social status, which were connected with the Rolava mining and processing plant in the Ore Mountains in western Bohemia. The plant was built to supply the war industry of the Third Reich with non-ferrous metals, especially tin, and after World War II it was abandoned and turned into a complex archaeological site. The communities settled here included German civilian specialists, but also prisoners of war performing forced labour from the ranks of members of the Allied armies and the Red Army. The interdisciplinary analysis of the settlement waste has brought numerous new insights into one of the most significant modern archaeological sites in Central Europe and everyday life in the context of the largest war conflict in human history.

SUMMARYA collection of earthquake sources recorded at a single station, under specific conditions, are considered as a source array (SA), that is interpreted as if earthquake sources originate at the station location and are recorded at the source location. Then, array processing methods, that is array beamforming, are applicable to analyse the recorded signals. A possible application is to use source array multiple event techniques to locate and characterize near-source scatterers and structural interfaces. In this work the aim is to facilitate the use of earthquake source arrays by presenting an automatic search algorithm to configure the source array elements. We developed a procedure to search for an optimal source array element distribution given an earthquake catalogue including accurate origin time and hypocentre locations. The objective function of the optimization process can be flexibly defined for each application to ensure the prerequisites (criteria) of making a source array. We formulated four quantitative criteria as subfunctions and used the weighted sum technique to combine them in one single scalar function. The criteria are: (1) to control the accuracy of the slowness vector estimation using the time domain beamforming method, (2) to measure the waveform coherency of the array elements, (3) to select events with lower location error and (4) to select traces with high energy of specific phases, that is, sp- or ps-phases. The proposed procedure is verified using synthetic data as well as real examples for the Vogtland region in Northwest Bohemia. We discussed the possible application of the optimized source arrays to identify the location of scatterers in the velocity model by presenting a synthetic test and an example using real waveforms.

First record of Diplocynodon ratelii Pomel, 1847 from the early Miocene site of Tušimice (Most Basin, Northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic)

The study examines the relationship of the inhabitants of socially and geographically distinct areas (regions) of Czechia and their relation to regional identity. That is understood as identifying oneself with the region where the inhabitants live, however, we also examine the relationship to hierarchically differing territorial levels. The research was conducted at a regional level, by means of a questionnaire survey, demographic and sociological analyses. Four regions are defined in the study, according to the nature of their environment (devastated, recreational, suburban, and landscape types). The study monitored the population’s identification with a region, or regions of higher orders (NUTS, Czechia, EU, etc.). It was found that the type of landscape has an important role for regional identity, together with some other socio-economic and cultural aspects of the population. The research results have generally confirmed the hypothesis about the impact of selected variables on regional identity. However, the hypothesis about the impact of the natives has not been fully confirmed. The highest values of the identification with the region have been detected in agricultural and suburban landscapes. The devastated landscape turned out to be the worst. When monitoring the hierarchy, it is possible to see the decrease of identity with a growing scale. Therefore, Europe and the EU ended up being the worst. The research is carried out on the example of Northwest Bohemia – Usti Region, which represents a significantly differentiated space with different types of landscape.

Abstract. We develop an amplitude spectral ratio method for event couples from clustered earthquakes to estimate seismic wave attenuation (Q−1) in the source volume. The method allows to study attenuation within the source region of earthquake swarms or aftershocks at depth, independent of wave path and attenuation between source region and surface station. We exploit the high-frequency slope of phase spectra using multitaper spectral estimates. The method is tested using simulated full wave-field seismograms affected by recorded noise and finite source rupture. The synthetic tests verify the approach and show that solutions are independent of focal mechanisms but also show that seismic noise may broaden the scatter of results. We apply the event couple spectral ratio method to northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic, a region characterized by the persistent occurrence of earthquake swarms in a confined source region at mid-crustal depth. Our method indicates a strong anomaly of high attenuation in the source region of the swarm with an averaged attenuation factor of Qp<100. The application to S phases fails due to scattered P-phase energy interfering with S phases. The Qp anomaly supports the common hypothesis of highly fractured and fluid saturated rocks in the source region of the swarms in northwest Bohemia. However, high temperatures in a small volume around the swarms cannot be excluded to explain our observations.

Case studies of watermills that ceased to exist during the 20th century, examined via archaeological methods in the regions of West and Northwest Bohemia, have brought significant findings in the form of particular building stages from the oldest times to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Watermill of Hutmuhle (Litoměřice district, Northwest Bohemia, near the village of Zubrice) was the most thoroughly investigated site. In the scope of this archaeological excavation, various methodological differences, possibilities and limits of research of such sites appeared. Based on the scientific activities performed, it is evident that these watermills are highly valuable technical sights, which shall be paid more attention to in terms of both archaeological and historical monument care.

This contribution analyses the influence of long-term climate variability on changes in the agricultural cycle in the Czech Lands over the course of the past five centuries. Series of crop- and grape-harvest (for wine) dates were compiled from rich documentary evidence for the periods of 1517–1542, 1561–1622, 1770–1815, 1871–1910 and 1971–2010. Two model areas were selected: the Louny region in north-west Bohemia and the Elbe region in central Bohemia. Fluctuations in selected agricultural series are compared with those expressed in temperature, precipitation and Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) series for various combinations of months. The basic statistics for the agricultural series are presented, and these are correlated with climatic variables. The earliest starts for harvests occurred in the recent 1971–2010 period and the 1517–1542 period. Harvest dates were comparatively delayed in the three remaining periods. Air temperature, also combined with the drought effect as expressed by SPEI, played a significant role in the agricultural cycle in all periods analysed except 1871–1910, in which temperatures were notably dominant as quite wet patterns prevailed. Summer precipitation played a significant role in the first three periods analysed. Correlation coefficients of agricultural series with temperatures indicate increasing weight for this factor over the course of the centuries. Possible effects of uncertainties in agricultural and climatic data in the results obtained are discussed, as well as the relationship of the agricultural cycle to climate variables and its broader context.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the article is to examine the ways in which regional geography textbooks are used in elementary education, using north-west Bohemia as a case study. The authors analysed 18 textbooks published since the beginning of the 20th century, in two steps: (1) the construction of geographical names frequency maps indicating which parts of the case region are accentuated or suppressed in individual textbooks, and (2) a qualitative analysis of the textbooks’ content. The study revealed that a complex image of north-west Bohemia in interwar period in Czechoslovakia and in the period of accession to the European Union is presented in the textbooks. The textbooks published during communist era are imbued with the adoration of local industries, whereas those published later, in the period of political and socio-economic transformation, accentuate the risks of excessive environmental exploitation. At any time since the beginning of the 20th century, the places and regions that represent the values preferred by the governing ideology are emphasized within the studied textbooks. Thus, the geography textbooks, that reflect the society-wide discourse, disseminate not only knowledge but also dominant values. In this way, a desired image of reality is created that legitimates the aims and stances of those in power.

In our study, a system of seven natural terraces interspersed with six field belts situated at the Knínice locality (the Ore Mts., North-West Bohemia) was selected as the experimental catchment area. Overland flow was computed using two different methods: the kinematic wave method and the SCS dimensionless Unit hydrograph (UH). For the kinematic wave method calculations the KINFIL software was used; for SCS dimensionless hydrograph the HEC-HMS software was applied. The results compare hydrographs with N-year recurrence of rainfall-runoff time, where N = 10, 20, 50, and 100 years. The comparison provides hydraulic results with terraces and without terraces computed using both mentioned software products. Although two different methods of overland flow computation were performed, the input data obtained from geodetic and hydrological measurements were identical. Results of the comparison are presented and discussed.

With a high-resolution seismic survey, we targeted the shallow structural features of the Cheb Basin, Northwest Bohemia. The aim of this study was to evaluate these features’ relation to seismic activity below the Cheb Basin with the first reflection seismic image of parts of the basin. We recorded a densely sampled, 3200 m long seismic survey stretching from Kopanina towards SE, into the basin. From the recordings of 170 shots at 192 geophones with 384-m total spread, we obtained a reflection seismic image down to the basement at 300-m depth, supplemented by a shallow tomographic velocity model for the uppermost 40 m. Strong lateral velocity contrasts indicate Quaternary river terraces, into which the Plesna river incises. We observe reverse faults in the lower basin sediments, which we interpret as signs of a push-up structure related to the N-S oriented Pocatky-Plesna Zone (PPZ). However, we do not observe any vertical fault offsets in the younger sedimentary layers, which suggests that any normal or reverse faulting must be older than 20 Ma. The image agrees well with previous lithostratigraphic borehole data and previous sedimentological and tectonic models. Our explanation for the formation of the escarpment at the eastern bank of the Plesna valley, previously interpreted as outcrop of the PPZ, relies solely on incision of the Plesna river into weak sediments.