Exceptional Set of Lithic Arrowheads from an Early Bronze Age Site in Hosty (South Bohemia): Evidence of Sieges, Hunting, or Armed Escorts?

During the Early Bronze Age, the Hosty settlement in South Bohemia was important nodal point on the long-distance trade route con¬necting the Alpine and Danube regions with the Únětice-culture world and northern Europe. Its well-preserved settlement layers con¬tained imported exotics, artefacts, and raw materials from all directions. An outstanding set of 33 arrowheads forms the largest known projectile collection from settlement sites of the Early Bronze Age in central Europe. The main part of late lithic projectiles pro¬ceeds from a burial context, whereas those from settlements are generally infrequent. Preliminary results of material culture analysis identify the special status of Hosty settlement showing evidence of contact with west-Carpathian and Danube territories of cultures in the later phases of the Early Bronze Age. Here, we analyse Hosty arrowheads in terms of raw material, technology, use-wear, and ballistics and compare them with projectiles from the area of South Moravia and Western Slovakia that have recently undergone similar extensive analysis. Based on all results, we clarify the origin and the role of archers in events which took place at Hosty settlement.