The presented diploma thesis aims primarily to the analysis of ceramic material obtained from the Neolithic settlement area Hrdlovka excavated during salvage terrain excavation since the year 1987 to 1990. For the purposes of processing of finds and excavation situations the complex database and digitalised site plan were created in the GIS interface. The analysis of ceramics was targeted particularly to the establishing of settlement area relative chronology and separating of individual settlement phases. Current description system of Czech Neolithic pottery was modified and replenished with regard to Hrdlovka´s finding situation specifics. The process of chronological analysis comprising also spatial data was divided into several steps. Resulting sequence comprises 10 settlement horizons (Hrdlovka A - J), which correspond to nearly uninterrupted development since the early stage of the Linear Pottery culture to the late stage of the Stroked Pottery culture. Important pieces of knowledge were obtained mainly about the transitional phase between the both cultures, which was in Hrdlovka documented by two settlement horizons. The analysis of ceramics spatial distribution and some architecture characteristics are also presented in limited range.

The Crystal River site (8CI1) is a Woodland-period mound (ca. 1000 BC to AD 1050) complex located on the west-central Gulf coast of Florida. Links to the Hopewell Interaction Sphere suggest that the people of Crystal River had connections with a broad range of communities, yet little is known concerning the role the site played in local, regional, or long-distance exchange networks. Pottery traditions vary amongst different communities of practice, therefore the level of interaction at Crystal River can be measured by looking at variation in the ceramic assemblage. I combine type/attribute, vessel form and function, gross paste, and chemical analyses to determine the amount of variability present in the pottery assemblage. These analyses show that Crystal River has a high level of ceramic variation with some spatial and temporal patterning. To determine Crystal River’s membership in and potential role within a sphere of interaction, I compare these patterns to three community types with diverse social interfaces. This research suggests that Crystal River may have started out as a homogenous, residential community but through time began to interact with a number of diverse, regionally associated communities drawn to the site for special occasions.