Models of wetland settlement and associated land use in South-West Germany during the fourth millennium b.c.

Baum, Tilman

doi:10.1007/s00334-014-0453-3

Cited by 16 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The particularly low δ 15 N values of plants growing in recently cleared woodland are likely due to acidic soils (pH 4-6 for the experimental plots), which inhibit ammonia loss (Nadelhoffer & Fry 1994), and low rates of nitrogen cycling in forest soils due to lack of disturbance (Mariotti et al 1980;Hobson 1999). It is also unfeasible that denitrification caused by waterlogging is the cause of the high δ 15 N values, since plants indicative of wet growing conditions are not prevalent among the crop weeds (Maier 1999;Stika 2009;Fischer et al 2010) and soil surveys in the vicinity of all of the sites have revealed well-drained soils that would have been suitable for agriculture (Maier 1999;Fischer et al 2010;Baum 2014). It is therefore most likely that the relatively high cereal grain δ 15 N values are due to addition of 15 N-enriched manure/organic matter.…”

Section: Crop Cultivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Centralisation and long-term change in farming regimes: Comparing agricultural practices in Neolithic and Iron Age south-west Germany

Styring¹,

Rösch

Stephan

et al. 2017

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study uses two novel archaeobotanical techniques -crop carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and functional weed ecology -to determine directly how the intensity of agricultural practice changed from the Neolithic to the Early Iron Age in south-west Germany, with the emergence of fortified hilltop settlements (Fürstensitze or chiefly seats) regarded as the first urban centres in central Europe. The crop isotope and functional weed ecological evidence suggest that surplus cereal production in the Early Iron Age was achieved through sustained use of manure combined with expansion in arable cultivation, both developments that are connected with more widespread use of animal traction. The increased scale of cultivation is broadly apparent across rural as well as fortified hilltop centres in the Early Iron Age, and considerable variability in manuring intensity is consistent with agricultural decision-making at a local level rather than centralised control. Additionally, the more intensive manuring of hulled six-row barley, used in beer production, demonstrates that the political importance of drinking and feasting in Early Iron Age society was reflected in crop husbandry practices. In terms of animal husbandry, faunal isotope data reveal a radical decrease in forest cover, potentially reflecting an expansion in the scale of herding accompanying that of arable cultivation. Sitespecific patterning points to a range of herding strategies, from specialised herding of cattle at the Heuneburg to generalised patterns of livestock management at rural sites.

show abstract

Section: Crop Cultivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Centralisation and long-term change in farming regimes: Comparing agricultural practices in Neolithic and Iron Age south-west Germany

Styring¹,

Rösch

Stephan

et al. 2017

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Agents in WELASSIMO are: "households", comprising of an averaged 6 inhabitants; individual heads of livestock; secondary forest patches (age < 50 years); primary forest patches (age > 50 years); cereal field patches. For the formulation of the agent´s internal specifications and the necessary calculations, I reverted mainly on the published palaeoecological and archaeological data on wetland sites in the North-Western pre-alpine forelands of the 4 th Millennium BC which I have compiled in [16]. The landscape is represented through grid cells of 25x25 m. Each cell incorporates a set of attributes, which are derived from modern spatial data and are modulated according to paleoenvironmental data on forest cover and soil development.…”

Section: The Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating Land Use of Prehistoric Wetland Settlements: Did Excessive Resource Use Necessitate a Highly Dynamic Settlement System?

Baum

2016

Computational Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-In the European circumalpine region, remains of wetland settlements that were constructed on lake shores and in peat-bogs have been investigated for more than 150 years. Interdisciplinary research provides detailed evidence on many facets of prehistoric subsistence. This project aims at some fundamental questions related to the land-use and the settlement system, that are today either controversially debated or unclear. To this aim, an agent-based simulation model of an idealized, hypothetical settlement located in the alpine forelands in the 4 th Millennium BC is set up: WELASSIMO (Wetland Settlement Simulator). The main problems to tackle are: I) to assess the sustainability of the land-use system, II) to investigate the systemic effects of neolithic subsistence on the environment and III) to identify potential limiting factors for the system. The observer is enabled to investigate the close connection and the relevance of the subsystems for the whole system.

show abstract

“…As an example of these models, Baum (2014) has formalized a GIS-based object model based on information from available and relevant literature and local archaeological data regarding environmental characteristics (soil, vegetation, local climate, distance to village) and cropping and livestock-keeping practices, to evaluate the environmental impact of human settlements over several village territories, along several farming scenarios (shifting, intensive garden and non-intensive cultivation) and diet assumptions. (Figure 1) Fig.…”

Section: Tem ("Terroir"-based Environmentally Constrained Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Figure 1) Fig. 1:Three "snapshot models" illustrating the model design in (Baum 2014). Economic areas are calculated using various hypotheses and their extent modeled in a GIS.…”

Section: Tem ("Terroir"-based Environmentally Constrained Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the research question, differs, they are representative of the "discipline-as-input" factor differentiation: Coolen (2010) used environment as input and deduced site potentialities, with the hope that further archaeological excavations may provide confirmation. Baum (2014) and Ebersbach and Schade (2004) used archaeology as input and deduce the impact on the related territory and natural resources following various scenarios. These approaches are used to test the relevance and implication of certain model parameters, such as the crop husbandry or the size of the economic territory They set up spatial hypotheses which serve for explanatory purposes and as a reference plane for future works.…”

Section: Tem ("Terroir"-based Environmentally Constrained Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pathways for Scale and Discipline Reconciliation: Current Socio-Ecological Modelling Methodologies to Explore and Reconstitute Human Prehistoric Dynamics

Saqalli

Baum²

2016

Computational Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To cite this version:Mehdi Saqalli, Tilman Baum. Pathways for scale and discipline reconciliation: current socio-ecological modelling methodologies to explore and reconstitute human prehistoric dynamics. Juan A. Barceló, Florencia Del Castillo Simulating prehistoric and ancient worlds, Springer, pp.65-78, 2016, 978-3-319-31481-5. . Pathways for scale and discipline reconciliation: current socioecological modelling methodologies to explore and reconstitute human prehistoric dynamics Abstract-This communication elaborates a plea for the necessity of a specific modelling methodology which does not sacrifice two modelling principles: explanation Micro and correlation Macro. Three goals are assigned to modelling strategies: describe, understand and predict. One tendency in historical and spatial modelling is to develop models at a micro level in order to describe and by that way, understand the connection between local ecological contexts, acquired through local ecological data, and local social practices, acquired through archaeology. However, such a method faces difficulties for expanding its validity: It is validated by its adequacy with local data, but the prediction step is unreachable and quite nothing can be said for places out where. On the other hand, building models at a far larger scale, for instance at the continent and even the world level, enhances the connection between ecology and its temporal variability. Such connections are based on well-founded theories but lower the "small causes, big effects" emergence corresponding to agent-based approaches and the related inherent variability of socioecological dynamics that one can notice at a lower scale. We then propose a plea for combining both elements for building large-scale modelling tools, which aims are to describe and provide predictions on long-term past evolutions, that include the test of explaining socio-anthropological hypotheses, i.e. the emergence and the spread of local social innovations.

show abstract

Models of wetland settlement and associated land use in South-West Germany during the fourth millennium b.c.

Cited by 16 publications

References 23 publications

Centralisation and long-term change in farming regimes: Comparing agricultural practices in Neolithic and Iron Age south-west Germany

Centralisation and long-term change in farming regimes: Comparing agricultural practices in Neolithic and Iron Age south-west Germany

Simulating Land Use of Prehistoric Wetland Settlements: Did Excessive Resource Use Necessitate a Highly Dynamic Settlement System?

Pathways for Scale and Discipline Reconciliation: Current Socio-Ecological Modelling Methodologies to Explore and Reconstitute Human Prehistoric Dynamics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About