Middle Bronze Age land use practices in the northwestern Alpine foreland – a multi-proxy study of colluvial deposits, archaeological features and peat bogs

Abstract

Abstract. This paper aims to reconstruct Middle Bronze Age (MBA; 1600–1250 BCE) land use practices in the northwestern Alpine foreland (SW Germany, Hegau). We used a multi-proxy approach including the analysis of biogeochemical proxies from colluvial deposits and buried topsoils in the surroundings of the well-documented settlement site of Anselfingen and off-site pollen data from two peat bogs. This approach allowed for in-depth insights into the MBA subsistence economy and shows that the MBA in the northwestern Alpine foreland was a period of establishing settlements with sophisticated land management and land use practices. The reconstruction of phases of colluvial deposition was based on ages from optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon (AMS14C) dating from multi-layered colluvial deposits and supports the local archaeological record with the first phase of major colluvial deposition occurring during the MBA followed by phases of colluvial deposition during the Iron Age, the Medieval period and modern times. The on-site deposition of charred archaeobotanical remains and animal bones from archaeological features, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), charcoal spectra, phytoliths, soil microstructure, urease enzymatic activity, microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and heavy metal contents from colluvial deposits, were used as proxies for on-site and near-site land use practices. The charcoal spectra indicate MBA forest management which favored the dominance of Quercus in the woodland vegetation in the surrounding area north of the settlement site. Increased levels of 5β stanols (up to 40 %) and the occurrence of pig bones (up to 14 %) support the presence of a forest pasture mainly used for pig farming. In the surrounding area south of the settlement, an arable field with a buried MBA plow horizon (2Apb) could be verified by soil micromorphological investigations and high concentrations of grass phytoliths from leaves and stems. Agricultural practices (e.g., plowing) focussed on five staple crops (Hordeum distichon/vulgare, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum monococcum, Triticum spelta, Triticum aestivum/turgidum), while the presence of stilted pantries as storage facilities and of heat stones indicate post-harvest processing of cereal crops and other agrarian products within the settlement. In the area surrounding the settlement, increased levels of urease activity, compared to microbial biomass carbon (up to 2.1 µg N µg Cmic-1), and input of herbivorous and omnivorous animal faeces indicate livestock husbandry on fallow land. The PAH suites and their spatial distribution support the use of fire for various purposes, e.g., for opening and maintaining the landscape, for domestic burning and for technical applications. The off-site palynological data support the observed change in on-site and near-site vegetation as well as the occurrence of related land use practices. During the Early and Middle Bronze Age, fire played a major role in shaping the landscape (peak of micro-charcoal during the MBA), and anthropogenic activities promoted Quercus-dominated forest ecosystems at the expense of natural beech forests. This indicates a broader regional human influence in the northwestern Alpine foreland at low- and mid-altitude inland sites during the Middle Bronze Age.

Holocene landscape evolution, palaeoclimate and human impact in the Fotsch Valley, Stubai Alps, Austria: Interrogating biomarkers, stable isotopes, macrofossils and palynological indicators from a subalpine mire archive

“…kyr BP). Our findings are hence in agreement with the emergence of pasture indicator pollen for other Alpine regions (Festi et al, 2014; Scherer et al, 2021; von Scheffer et al, 2019).…”

“…In general, ombrotrophic peatlands (peat bogs) as well as minerotrophic fens (groundwater/spring fens) have high potential for reconstructing past vegetation, palaeoclimate as well as prehistoric human impact on the landscape, and are therefore commonly used in palaeoenvironmental research (Breitenlechner et al, 2014; Knierzinger et al, 2020; Nott et al, 2000; Scherer et al, 2021; von Scheffer et al, 2019). These archives with their peat deposits accumulating under anaerobically conditions are water saturated and thus characterized by a high organic matter conservation (Naafs et al, 2019).…”

“…These archives with their peat deposits accumulating under anaerobically conditions are water saturated and thus characterized by a high organic matter conservation (Naafs et al, 2019). For instance, Knierzinger et al (2020) and Scherer et al (2021) investigated peatland archives in the Styrian Enns Valley (Austria) and in the northwestern Alpine foreland (Germany), respectively, and found evidence for significant human impact during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. For Saglias in the Lower Engadine (Switzerland), Dietre et al (2017) reported on human as well as livestock impact causing deforestation already during the Copper Age (~4.9 cal.…”

Deciphering timing and rates of Central German Chernozem/Phaeozem formation through high resolution single-grain luminescence dating

“…0.42 mm/a is associated to anthropogenic mixing caused by local ploughing activity prior to burial mound construction. Since prehistoric ploughing during the Bronze Age exceeded depths of 15 cm only in exceptional cases 81,82 , it becomes apparent why only the top sample of BH-II was potentially affected by ploughing. The fact that no strongly increased effective soil mixing rates were observed at site BH III, located ca.…”

A pedo-geomorphological view on land use and its potential in the surroundings of the ancient Hispano-Roman city Munigua (Seville, SW Spain)

“…6c). The accumulation of the former could be a consequence of harvesting activities, when only the ears (inflorescences) are collected and the stems and leaves are left on the fields (Flach, 1990;Dietrich et al, 2019;Scherer et al, 2021). It is also conceivable that food crops other than cereals might have been cultivated in this area since, for example, the consumption of vegetables is well documented for the Roman period (Bockisch, 1988;Demandt, 2008).…”