The analysis of faecal biomarkers in lake sediments has been used to reconstruct human population densities and animal husbandry practices in an increasing number of studies in recent years. However, terrigenous biomarkers can decompose in soils, can be stored and redeposited in colluvium and on flood-plains prior to their ultimate deposition in lakes. These and other effects can blur and distort biomarker signals. Therefore, we analysed sediments from two maars in Westeifel to evaluate whether signals of the faecal biomarkers (5b-stanols, bile acids) demonstrate statistically significant differences between contrasting periods in land-use intensity. In Holzmaar, palaeoenvironmental data showed evidence for agriculture including cereal cultivation and grassland during the pre-Roman Iron Age and Middle Ages compared with those from periods that were less influenced by land use and showed a higher abundance of broadleaf forest. However, the specific domesticated taxa of livestock in the locale from these periods remain speculative. We found statistically significantly different faecal biomarker signals, which we interpret to be related to an enhanced deposition of faeces of horses, pigs and ruminants in the core sections that represented periods of amplified land use. The analyses of grass-and broadleaf-tree characteristic n-alkanes supported the applicability of biomarkers for land-use reconstruction. Stanol data from a core section dating to the Mesolithic showed no clear results. Analyses of two core sections from Ulmener Maar, which covered periods before and after the decline of elm in the Neolithic, indicated input of pig faeces in the younger section. This study provides important evidence that faecal biomarkers can be used for land-use reconstruction in central European lakes with small catchment areas for time periods from the Neolithic onwards. The results underscore the importance of bile acid analyses in addition to stanol analyses for an identification of faeces inputs from different animals.
<p><strong>Human impact on the environment as derived from colluvial deposits &#8211; example from the La T&#232;ne Period until the Middle Ages in the Siegerland (Germany)</strong></p> <p>Reetz, K<sup>1</sup>., J. Kirch<sup>1</sup>, J.J. Birk<sup>1,2</sup>, A. Stobbe<sup>3 </sup>and S. Fiedler<sup>1</sup></p> <p><sup>1</sup> Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz</p> <p><sup>2</sup> <sup>&#160;</sup>recent adress Georg - August - University G&#246;ttingen</p> <p><sup>3</sup> Goethe - University Frankfurt am Main</p> <p>The Siegerland is one of the most cohesive mining regions in the Iron Age in Central Europe. While the number of settlement and smelting sites has been increasingly better researched over the last few years, it was basically unknown which impacts by the La T&#232;ne iron production on the primary forests have to be considered, and how are such correlated with other activities and soil erosion. Below a smelting site in the southwestern part of the Siegerland, we made a rare find of colluvial deposits in the valley of the Obersdorfbach. It tells about the human impact between the Earlier Iron Age and the heyday of iron production during the La T&#232;ne period and the Middle Ages. In addition to pollen and NPP analysis, we used element contents, and molecular markers <em>(n</em>-alkanes, steroids).</p> <p>The small stream has cut in sections in meanders up to 180 cm deep into the relatively narrow floodplain. There, they lie on a gravel bed with embedded peat (Obersd 1, 170 &#8211; 153 cm, calibrated age 700/500 &#8211; 350 BC). In the uppermost 10 cm of the fen peat, the proportion of mineral components increases and pebbles are intercalated (Obersd 2, 153 &#8211; 145 cm, 350 &#8211; 200 BC). &#160;On top are multi-textured sandy-clayey colluvial/floodplain loams with charcoal bands (Obersd 3, 145 &#8211; 125 cm, 200 BC &#8211; unknown). It is followed by a sandy colluvium from the Middle Ages (Obersd 4, 125 &#8211; 110 cm).</p> <p>In the 7th to the middle of the 4th century BC the forests near Obersdorf consisted mainly of beech and linden trees. Nevertheless, non-arboreal pollen provides evidence of anthropogenic impact (Obersd 1). According to the mountain-archaeological picture, at first iron was produced only on a small scale and the interventions in the vegetation were still small. Although the area should have been sparsely populated at the time, fecal markers suggesting human presence can be found. However, human influence on the landscape increased significantly from about 350 cal. BC (zone Obersd 2). Pollen and <em>n</em>-alkanes show a distinct impact into the vegetation. Forest clearing led to erosion and the accumulation of thick colluvial deposits. Pollen from ruderal places increase significantly, cereals and coprophilous spores occur. The strong anthropogenic influence in zone Obersd. 2 can be correlated with the archaeologically known smelting site. In addition to wood for firing the furnaces, large quantities of clay were needed for their construction. During the transformation of the landscape, erosion increasingly occurred on the slopes. The result is clayey silt sediments with intercalated charcoal bands (Obersd 3). The following sandy colluvium (Obersd 4) from the early Middle Ages shows a dominance of beech, hornbeam, and rye. Steroids show the presence of humans and livestock here.</p>
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