PONE-D-19-18502

A new key method for settlement archaeology: dating Linearbandkeramik houses by their orientation

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: This is an interesting paper. I would make several suggestions for improvement. First, the title is overly specific. Remember that PLoS ONe is not an archaeological journal. It has a broad scientific readership. Thus I would avoid using archaeological terms like Linearbandkeramik in the title. Second, I suggest that an introductory paragraph be added to show the reader the importance of this study and why the reader should be interested in it. Explain the nature of settlements with longhouses and situate them chronologically. Finally, the section labeled "Conclusion" should clearly state the conclusions rather than continue the discussion. The main conclusion is that the shift in orientation of longhouses can be consistently documented at multiple sites and that is has a chronological dimension. The proposed explanation is the psychological aspect of human perception. Obviously, this is a hypothesis rather than a conclusion, but you could point to some ways in which this hypothesis can be tested.

Reviewer #2: The approach is ok, if not - to a certain extend - without humerous aspects. However, personally, I am not convinced that this hypothesis really explains the long-known phenomenon of the gradual westward - or eastward in eastern Europe - shift of Early Neolithic long houses accross Europe. It was developed at this fascinating and absolutely outstanding site, where it makes some sense, if the site is considered in isolation. If, however, the entire data base is considered, there are numerous arguments against it. First and foremote is the regional variation considerable, also according to local topography. Then, at some sites we can observe shifts in west-ward orientation which is a counterargument against gradual visual misconception.

Lastly, the entrie argument of time-sinsitivity of house orientation is not new. I therefore strongly suggest to rephrase the argument in the sense that another hypothesis os offered, which has some power for the site of Vráble, but apparently has its weak points even for that very same site, as the authors themselves hesitantly admit (line 381-390).

This also requires a reformulation of the title, maybe :"A new hypothesis on the orientation of Early Neolithic long houses".

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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A new approach to the temporal significance of house orientations in European Early Neolithic settlements

PONE-D-19-18502R1

Dear Dr. Müller-Scheeßel,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

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Peter F. Biehl, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: I am grateful that the authors took my earlier comments and those of Reviewer 2 into consideration and responded to them thoughtfully. This is an important complex of sites that poses methodological challenges in their interpretation, and this paper presents an approach that can be tried at other sites and the results can be compared.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No