Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(6):539-545

Fortified settlement Baba near Hluboká nad Vltavou in the light of aerial laser scanning and the possibility of using this data in heritage preservation

Pavla Popelářová

Baba, a one-piece unarticulated semicircular-shaped fortified settlement located near the town of Hluboká nad Vltavou, is protected from the northern, western, and southern sides by an arc-shaped fortification consisting of two mounds and their adjacent ditches (Figs. 1, 7). From the eastern side, this cultural monument, dating back to the late Bronze Age, is protected by natural conditions.
The fortified settlement did not escape the attention of researchers even during early research of archaeological monuments. The first studies here at the end of the 19th century were carried out by J. N. Woldřich, followed by other notable researchers like B. Dubský J. Maličký, and J. Poláček. These activities have resulted in two schemes of the settlement made by J. N. Woldřich in 1891-1892 (fig. 2) and B. Dubský in 1945 (fig. 3) as well as a rich inventory of findings that until recently was not evaluated in detail. This was resolved by the pair of researchers O. Chvojka and J. John in 2005, who in addition to processing all the discovered material originating from the settlement created the first precision geodetic plan of the settlement using ground measurements (fig. 4).
Because the settlement has been fairly well identified, and not only due to the aforementioned earlier activities, the article focuses on two aspects. Primarily, a digital terrain model was created using data after robust filtering provided by the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadaster (fig. 7) which was then compared with older literature and documentation as well as with photographic documentation and the results of a field survey conducted in May 2014. Based on an overall assessment of all these components, a scheme of the settlement was subsequently created with the marking of immovable archaeological relics (fig. 8) as well as older disruptions caused by various influences, both of anthropogenic (fig. 10-11) and non-anthropogenic origin.
The fortified settlement is located in a wooded area, so it is not surprising that much of the disruption was caused due to bad weather conditions and mainly as a result of wasteful logging (fig. 11). Attention is therefore paid to the general problem of heritage preservation in relation to monuments located under a forest cover. Based on the interpreted scheme, heritage preservation workers will certainly be better able to lead discussions in the preparation of forest management plans (Fig. 6) with the individual managers of forest lands and will be pre-qualified to identify harmful disruptions to the authentically preserved structure of the site.

Keywords: LiDAR, prehistoric fortified settlement, heritage protection of archaeological sites in the undergrowth

Published: December 1, 2015  Show citation