Moravian Museum

• Millet was not a significant part of the Early Bronze Age diet. • The contribution of millet to the diet was 24–34 % at Late Bronze Age sites. • The dietary proportion of millet differed between Late Bronze Age sites. • Late Bronze Age individuals had a lower intake of animal products in the diet. To describe changes in diet and/or agricultural practices over the course of the Bronze Age on the territory of present-day Czechia, carbon ( δ 13 C) and nitrogen ( δ 15 N) isotopic values were measured in bone or tooth collagen from 103 humans and 30 animals, together with 8 samples of charred cereal grains. The dataset was divided into four subgroups according to geographical and chronological contexts: Early (2200–1500 BCE) vs . Late (1300–1020 BCE) Bronze Age, and Bohemia vs . Moravia. Both carbon and nitrogen isotopic values showed statistically significant differences between the chronogeographic contexts. In accordance with archaeobotanical results, there was no significant input of millet in the Early Bronze Age sample (average human-faunal isotopic offsets of 0.5‰ for Bohemia and 1.3‰ for Moravia), whereas in the Late Bronze Age the significant input of millet is clearly documented (average human-faunal isotopic offsets of 3.9‰ for Bohemia and 5‰ for Moravia). The statistically significant difference between the two Late Bronze Age geographical units clearly shows that there was considerable variation in millet consumption across Czech territory. The relatively low δ 15 N values observed in Late Bronze Age contexts (average human-faunal isotopic offsets of 1.9 ‰ for Bohemia and 2.4 ‰ for Moravia) may indicate a certain restriction of high-quality diet, namely animal products, in individuals exempted from the regular burial treatment of cremation.

The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of human palaeodemographic processes and regional population dynamics still needs to be improved. In this study, we present regionally differentiated population estimates for the Greenland Interstadial 1d-a (GI-1d-a; 14-12.7 ka cal BP) and the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; 12.7-11.6 ka cal BP) for Southern, Western, Northern and Central Europe. The data were obtained by applying the Cologne Protocol, a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, to a newly compiled dataset of Final Palaeolithic sites. On a large spatio-temporal scale and compared to preceding Upper Palaeolithic phases, areas north of the Alps become the dominant demographic growth area for the first time since the dispersal of anatomically modern humans into Europe. At smaller scales, we observe divergent regional trends, with a conspicuous lack of archaeological evidence appearing in previously occupied areas of central France and Germany. Our study also shows that during the Final Palaeolithic, the climatic cooling of GS-1 coincides with a pronounced population decline in most parts of the study area. An apparent increase in population density occurs only in north-eastern Central Europe and north-eastern Italy. Our estimates suggest that the total population was reduced by half. Similar results, with a relationship between decreasing temperatures and decreasing populations, have already been observed for the late phase of the Gravettian, when populations were reduced to only one third of those estimated for the early phase. Yet, in contrast to the collapse of local populations during the late Gravettian, the increase in population densities in Central Europe during GS-1 indicates population movements eastwards, possibly in response to deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly in western regions during the Younger Dryas.

• Identification of formation processes of proto-urban Early Mediaeval Dark Earths. • Dark Earth’s preservation provided insights into medieval settlement dynamics. • Research revealed the site’s marketplace role from the 9th, possibly 8th century CE. • Long-distance trade highlights the role of St. George’s Island in the Great Moravia. This paper underscores the importance of investigating soils and sediments in proto-urban to urban archaeological contexts to gain a comprehensive understanding of their genesis and evolution, and their informative role in deciphering historical human–environment interactions and spatial organisation patterns. We focus on Early to High Mediaeval (6th–14th century CE) anthropogenically modified soils and sediments from Uherské Hradiště (Czech Republic). A study of well-preserved Dark Earths (DEs) uncovered in the Morava River floodplain allowed us to define interactions between people and their environment and to understand landscape evolution of the island area in relation to floodplain dynamics. A multi-proxy approach based on a combination of archaeological evidence, soil micromorphology, and physical, geochemical and palaeobotanical analyses, supplemented with dating methods was used to unravel the processes contributing to DE formation, human activities and the use of space. Initial settlement activities began in Uherské Hradiště at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 8th century CE, with later DEs indicating intensified human impact through craft activities, probably linked to market exchange from the 8th century, and even a possible marketplace underscoring its strategic importance within the broader economic and social networks, partially before and mainly during the Great Moravian period, in the 9th century CE. After a hiatus in the 10th–12th centuries AD, the site saw re-establishment in the 13th century CE, marking the early formation of the urbanisation in Uherské Hradiště. Despite repeated flooding, the settlement in the area was renewed repeatedly. Together with evidence of long-distance trade, this proves the importance of the place located on the commercial waterway of the Morava River. New findings reveal that this settlement could have played a more essential role in the Early Mediaeval era than previously expected.

Gymnopus pseudoandrosaceus sp. nov. is described from Southwest China. It is characterized by a brown marasmioid pileus, a shining black stipe, and abundant rhizomorphs, a pileipellis in the form of a cutis with encrusted pigments and without broom cells, and cheilocystidia with apical projections. The phylogenetic analysis placed the new species within the Gymnopus sect. Androsacei clade with well-supported lineages across Impudicae, Levipedes, Gymnopus, Androsacei, and Paragymnopus. Strong bootstrap values affirm these relationships, with notable diversity in Gymnopus indicating potential adaptive radiation. The pileipellis lacking broom cells is a rather unique feature in this section. Detailed morphological descriptions, basidiomata photographs, microscopic structure images, and phylogenetic analysis results are provided.

ABSTRACT Elektrocateres rappsilberi gen. et sp. nov. is described from Bitterfeld or Saxonian amber. It is the first representative of the superfamily Cleroidea (Coleoptera) recorded in this amber, from which only 10 families of beetles were known until now. The new genus and species was studied using classical stereomicroscopy, as well as digital microscopy and synchrotron-radiation-based micro-computed tomography. The fossil is related to the rare extant monotypic genera Trichocateres Kolibáč, 2010 and Carinicateres Kolibáč, 2021 from tropical forests of Southeastern Asia. It is assumed that Elektrocateres rappsilberi gen. et sp. nov. would be predatory, hunting other arthropods on tree branches and trunks; however, its mouthparts are probably still on halfway between herbivory or fungivory and predatory.