Breznice magnetometer data

Data from the magnetometer survey on the archaeological site of Březnice (Czechia). The site represents one of the large settlements of the Late Bronze Age (Ha A2/B1, 14C: 1124–976 BC) in Bohemia. It became known mainly for a high number of so-called ‘trenches’, oblong pit features (breadth around 1 m, length 4–7 m), remarkable not only for their specific shape but also for their contents (unusual amounts of pottery, daub, loom weights and other finds, often with traces of a strong fire).

In 2018–20, a research project focusing on the study of the site was realized. Magnetometer survey became an integral part of the project. A 5-channel fluxgate gradiometer from Sensys (Germany) was used; the vertical gradient of the Z component of the Earth magnetic field was measured. In total, the survey covered an area of over 17 hectares and included over 1.8 million measurements.  

Through this repository, the authors want to make the Březnice data free for further research that could supplement or modify the results obtained so far. Their own attempt at the data analysis and interpretation has been published in Kuna, M. et al., A quantitative approach to magnetometer survey data: the case of the Late Bronze Age site of Březnice. Journal of Archaeological Science 126 (2021) 105298 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105298). 

The source data is contained in file 01 in the form of a GIS vector point layer. File 02 displays the identified anomalies; their properties are in file 03. Files 04-09 contain additional data.