The medieval peat layer of the Fossa Carolina - Evidence for bridging the Central European Watershed or climate control?

Leitholdt, Eva; Kruger, Annett; Zielhofer, Christoph

doi:10.1127/0372-8854/2012/s-00113

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“… Raw data from the cores A and B are published in Leitholdt et al [17] , those from the cores E, F, G, H and I are published in Leitholdt et al [36] . The figure is not similar to formerly published figures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During a first survey our research group drilled seven cores in the Central Section of the canal. Radiocarbon dating feature for the first time a chronological model for the trench fills [36] . Our findings show a clear stratigraphic order of the fills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In former times archaeological and historical research about the Fossa Carolina was only focused on a potential Carolingian use of the construction [15] . First 14 C data from the canal fills [17] , [36] but also from the potential dam of the reservoir [35] do not support this concept. Hence, we have to start thinking about an alternative water engineering concept.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Charlemagne's Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Central European Watershed divides the Rhine-Main catchment and the Danube catchment. In the Early Medieval period, when ships were important means of transportation, Charlemagne decided to link both catchments by the construction of a canal connecting the Schwabian Rezat and the Altmühl rivers. The artificial waterway would provide a continuous inland navigation route from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The shortcut is known as Fossa Carolina and represents one of the most important Early Medieval engineering achievements in Europe. Despite the important geostrategic relevance of the construction it is not clarified whether the canal was actually used as a navigation waterway. We present new geophysical data and in situ findings from the trench fills that prove for the first time a total length of the constructed Carolingian canal of at least 2300 metres. We have evidence for a conceptual width of the artificial water course between 5 and 6 metres and a water depth of at least 60 to 80 cm. This allows a crossing way passage of Carolingian cargo scows with a payload of several tons. There is strong evidence for clayey to silty layers in the trench fills which reveal suspension load limited stillwater deposition and, therefore, the evidence of former Carolingian and post-Carolingian ponds. These findings are strongly supported by numerous sapropel layers within the trench fills. Our results presented in this study indicate an extraordinarily advanced construction level of the known course of the canal. Here, the excavated levels of Carolingian trench bottoms were generally sufficient for the efficient construction of stepped ponds and prove a final concept for a summit canal. We have evidence for the artificial Carolingian dislocation of the watershed and assume a sophisticated Early Medieval hydrological engineering concept for supplying the summit of the canal with adequate water.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Charlemagne's Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Fossa Carolina has a length of approx. 2.9 km [32] and proof of the Early Medieval summit canal was found by vibra-coring [3,32,39,40], direct push sensing [27,38] and archaeological excavations [33,36]. The canal course starts on the southern slope of the valley watershed and runs with a noticeable s-shape in the northern direction ( Figure 2).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 96%

3D-Modelling of Charlemagne’s Summit Canal (Southern Germany)—Merging Remote Sensing and Geoarchaeological Subsurface Data

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Early Medieval Fossa Carolina is the first hydro-engineering construction that bridges the Central European Watershed. The canal was built in 792/793 AD on order of Charlemagne and should connect the drainage systems of the Rhine-Main catchment and the Danube catchment. In this study, we show for the first time, the integration of Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geoarchaeological subsurface datasets with the aim to create a 3D-model of Charlemagne’s summit canal. We used a purged Digital Terrain Model that reflects the pre-modern topography. The geometries of buried canal cross-sections are derived from three archaeological excavations and four high-resolution direct push sensing transects. By means of extensive core data, we interpolate the trench bottom and adjacent edges along the entire canal course. As a result, we are able to create a 3D-model that reflects the maximum construction depth of the Carolingian canal and calculate an excavation volume of approx. 297,000 m3. Additionally, we compute the volume of the present dam remnants by Airborne LiDAR data. Surprisingly, the volume of the dam remnants reveals only 120,000 m3 and is much smaller than the computed Carolingian excavation volume. The difference reflects the erosion and anthropogenic overprint since the 8th century AD.

show abstract

“…The valley and the valley watershed are built up by sandy to loamy, fluvial sediments of Pleistocene age with a slight Loess cover, especially at the lower slopes (Schmidt‐Kaler, 1993; Zielhofer and Kirchner, 2014). The sediments are almost free of organic material and contain mainly fine sands (Leitholdt et al ., 2014; Zielhofer et al ., 2014). The current level of the Swabian Rezat is at 413.5 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Fossa Carolina and Its Geographical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment budgeting of short‐term backfilling processes: The erosional collapse of a Carolingian canal construction

Schmidt

Werther

Rabiger-Völlmer

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sediment budgeting concepts serve as quantification tools to decipher the erosion and accumulation processes within a catchment and help to understand these relocation processes through time. While sediment budgets are widely used in geomorphological catchment-based studies, such quantification approaches are rarely applied in geoarchaeological studies. The case of Charlemagne's summit canal (also known as Fossa Carolina) and its erosional collapse provides an example for which we can use this geomorphological concept and understand the abandonment of the Carolingian construction site. The Fossa Carolina is one of the largest hydro-engineering projects in Medieval Europe. It is situated in Southern Franconia (48.9876°N, 10.9267°E; Bavaria, southern Germany) between the Altmühl and Swabian Rezat rivers. It should have bridged the Central European watershed and connected the Rhine-Main and Danube river systems. According to our dendrochronological analyses and historical sources, the excavation and construction of the Carolingian canal took place in AD 792 and 793. Contemporary written sources describe an intense backfill of excavated sediment in autumn AD 793. This short-term erosion event has been proposed as the principal reason for the collapse and abandonment of the hydro-engineering project. We use subsurface data (drillings, archaeological excavations, and direct-push sensing) and geospatial data (a LiDAR digital terrain model (DTM), a pre-modern DTM, and a 3D model of the Fossa Carolina] for the identification and sediment budgeting of the backfills. Dendrochronological findings and radiocarbon ages of macro remains within the backfills give clear evidence for the erosional collapse of the canal project during or directly after the construction period. Moreover, our quantification approach allows the detection of the major sedimentary collapse zone. The exceedance of the manpower tipping point may have caused the abandonment of the entire construction site. The spatial distribution of the dendrochronological results indicates a north-south direction of the early medieval construction progress.

show abstract

The medieval peat layer of the Fossa Carolina - Evidence for bridging the Central European Watershed or climate control?

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Charlemagne's Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed

Charlemagne's Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed

3D-Modelling of Charlemagne’s Summit Canal (Southern Germany)—Merging Remote Sensing and Geoarchaeological Subsurface Data

Sediment budgeting of short‐term backfilling processes: The erosional collapse of a Carolingian canal construction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About