Investigations on buried soils and colluvial layers around Bronze Age burial mounds at Bornhöved (northern Germany): an approach to test the hypothesis of `landscape openness' by the incidence of colluviation

Abstract

The idea of open landscapes around prehistoric burial mounds is founded on their topographical position and findings of plaggen clots within the hills at some sites. We have investigated the surroundings of four Bronze Age burial mounds at Bornhöved (northern Germany) to test whether this assumed landscape openness enabled soil erosion and colluviation or not. The soils and colluvia within a watershed below the burial mounds were investigated in six large exposures and additional auger cores. The chronology is based on 21 AMS-radiocarbon dates, complemented by charcoal analysis and the content of selected heavy metals in the sediments. Colluvia were deposited in the Late Neolithic (~2500—2200 cal. BC), Roman Emperor Times (~ 250—400 cal. AD), Mediaeval Times (~ AD 600—1400) and Modern Times (~ AD 1800—2000). Our findings indicate that the soil surfaces were protected against soil erosion during the phase of Bronze Age funeral use (~ cal. 1800—600 BC). Either the prehistoric gravediggers practised a well suited form of pasturing to keep the scenery open or the surroundings of the burial mounds were forested at the time of funeral use. The results of charcoal analysis reflect the known succession of woody taxa in the region and underline the great potential of anthracology on colluvial layers for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions apart from traditional archives such as lakes or mires. Bulk radiocarbon dating of organic matter overestimated the time of burial of a buried soil as well as the time of deposition of colluvial layers considerably.

Neolithic Occupation of Svratka Alluvial Plain; Case Study from Brno-Přízřenice, Czech Republic

“…The studies of Neolithic buried soils, for example, under tumuli or ramparts, have already brought much interesting information (Hejcman, Gojda 2013;Barczi et al 2006;Breuning-Madsen et al 2009;Andrews, Fernandez-Jalvo 2012) about former landscapes. Comparison studies between buried and recent soils may answer questions connected with the past soil environment -as well as questions connected with the intensity of the anthropogenic impact (Wells 2000;Dreibrodt et al 2009;Elberling et al 2010;Horák, Hejcman 2013). During the last few decades the term "dark earth" has started to be commonly used.…”

Bronze Age landscape dynamics: spatially detailed pollen analysis from a ceremonial complex

“…The analyses of colluvial sequences in northern Germany directly contradict this view of open landscapes around burial mounds. Dreibrodt et al (2009) found no evidence of colluviation in valleys proximal to a ceremonial complex during the period of burial mound building, in areas that would have been susceptible to erosion. Their interpretation was that of a largely wooded landscape, with clearings limited to the extent of the monuments themselves.…”

“…Cummings and Whittle, 2003). This soft element of landscape may radically alter the interpretation of types of practice taking place at monuments, and there is a general assumption that burial monuments, such as barrows (raised burial mounds) were positioned in largely open landscapes so as to render them highly visible, described as the 'landscape openness' hypothesis by Dreibrodt et al (2009). It remains unclear, though, to what extent this hypothesis is correct, to what extent vegetation was actively 'managed', or whether vegetation was 'restructured' to create a particular type of landscape context for these monument complexes.…”

“…Jones, 2006;Hannon et al, 2008;Dreibrodt et al, 2009;Brown et al, 2011). The paper examines a prehistoric landscape with a dense concentration of ritual monuments on Exmoor, in southwest England.…”

Combining pollen and charcoal: evaluating Holocene vegetation composition and dynamics

“…We sampled between 10 l and 20 l of each layer of the colluvial exposures. The substrate was wet-sieved (mesh with 1 mm), air-dried and weighted before microscopical analysis (Dreibrodt et al, 2009).…”