Jaroslav Řídký, Petr Květina, Petr Limburský, Markéta Končelová, Pavel Burgert and Radka Šumberová, 2019. Big Men or Chiefs? Rondel Builders of Neolithic Europe (Oxford & Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 208pp., numerous b/w and colour illustr. and tables, hbk, ISBN 978-1-78925-026-8)

Abstract

Neolithic 'rondels', also known as Kreisgrabenanlagen, are one of the most fascinating topics in European prehistory. They have attracted the interest of archaeologists since the earliest discoveries in the second half on the nineteenth century, and especially from the 1970s onwards. Knowledge about their existence has also reached the general public on occasions, sometimes leading to 'click-baiting' headlines (e.g. Kovárník et al., 2006). Indeed, the last two decades have seen a spectacular growth in the number of known sites and significant advances in their characterisation. This is due mostly to the increasing application of remote sensing techniques after the fall of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and the excavations carried out in the context of development-led archaeological projects. But what is a rondel? A basic definition of rondel is that of a roughly circular space enclosed by at least one V-shaped ditch and a foundation trench or setting of postholes that runs parallel to the ditch, presumably the remains of a wooden structure. The dimensions of the individual features and of the complex as a whole are frequently described as 'monumental'.