Life Cycle of the Wooden Well at the Early Neolithic Settlement in Velim, Czechia

Water management in the Early Neolithic period was a significant aspect of daily life indicating the complex relationship between communities and their environment. The wells were not only central to the provision of water but also played roles that could evolve and change during their lifetime. This article focuses on the Early Neolithic wooden well and its infill at the Velim site in central Bo¬hemia (Czech Republic), whose construction has been dated to the period following the winter of 5196/5195 BC. The wooden lining consisted of four posts and a hollow lime tree trunk. Originally, the well was used for pumping drinking water, but it then served as a retting pit for processing flax and possibly European feather grass. Finally, the well was backfilled and abandoned. It is unusual for a secondary function as a retting pit to have been identified for a Linearbandkeramik well. We also reconstructed the common plant-based diet of the first farmers. Environmental data collected from the well infill suggest that a wide range of mostly open habitats and forestless vegetation types were present in the vicinity.