The first Neolithic roundel discovered in Poland reinterpreted with the application of the geophysical Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method

Abstract

This article presents the results of a three-dimensional (3D) stratigraphic analysis of a Neolithic roundel in Bodzów (south-western Poland) with the application of the Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method. The ADC method is based on the comparison of magnetic amplitude records (in nanoteslas) with corresponding ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection profiles. Thus, it is possible to analyse the 3D aspects of buried features based on GPR images and their composition from magnetic readings. In other words, the ADC method can be used to provide a more complete understanding of buried archaeological objects and structures detected by geophysical surveys using GPR and magnetic (gradiometer) methods. The surveys performed in Bodzów have indicated that the Neolithic roundel located there had a multiphase development and thus is perfectly suitable for a study with the application of the ADC method. The performed ADC analysis indicates that there were three gates leading to the roundel interior. Positions of prehistoric storage and dwelling pits, and other settlement features were also detected and interpreted. Clusters of these features are located both inside and outside the roundel, which suggests that people lived within the site during different periods. In the southern part of the roundel, GPR reflection profiles and associated magnetic readings point to the presence of V-shaped shallow ditches, which may date back to the early Iron Age, as well as an extensive Pleistocene fluvial channel and associated geological features, which is very clearly marked on GPR maps.