Wood charcoal from an inland dune complex at Joldelund (Northern Germany). Information on Holocene vegetation and landscape changes

Jansen, Doris; Lungershausen, Uta; Robin, Vincent; Dannath, Yasmin; Nelle, Oliver

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.010

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…BC) in which woodland covered the study region (Nelle and Dörfler, 2008) and the entire NW Europe (Hoek, 2001;Iversen, 1954;Kasse, 1999;Mortensen et al, 2011;Van der Hammen, 1951), which caused a characteristic soil to develop (Usselo/Finow soil) (De Boer, 1995;Kaiser et al, 2009;Kowalkowski et al, 1999;Manikowska, 1991;Schirmer, 1999;Schlaak, 1999;Van der Hammen, 1957;Van Geel et al, 1989). An earlier study on wood charcoal fragments of unit 1 has found evidence for the presence of boreal pine and birch woodland during this time period (Jansen et al, 2013; Table 2) and supports the existence of an Allerød birch-pine woodland. This woodland potentially accumulated sufficient dead and dry biomass to burn regularly (Hoek and Bohncke, 2002;Van der Hammen, 1951;Van der Hammen and Van Geel, 2008), which would explain the large amount of charcoal particles within unit 1 sediments (11,600-8945 cal.…”

Section: Alternating Phases Of Aeolian Sand Deposition and Geomorphicsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Within the early Medieval Period, human impact becomes more evident within our record in several ways (Figure 8c and d). First, a horizon of clear plough marks (unit 2-p), which turns over the mature Holocene podzol, indicates a single attempt to use the KHD area for cropping agriculture (Figure 8c), after which this effort was abandoned and heath covered the area again (Jansen et al, 2013) which helped develop a thin humic horizon (3Ab horizon; Figure 4). Earlier studies have interpreted the plough marks to be of Iron Age, as Radiocarbon Ages from the overturned soil yielded ages from this period (358 cal.…”

Section: Alternating Phases Of Aeolian Sand Deposition and Geomorphicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anthropogenic influence on rates of aeolian dune activity within the northern European Sand Belt and socio-economic feedbacks over the last ~2500 years

et al. 2017

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In North-Western Europe, Pleistocene sand sheets have been reactivated during phases of Holocene deforestation and agricultural land use. Although there are temporal overlaps between anthropogenic activity and sand sheet reactivation, the root cause and subsequent feedbacks between aeolian activity and societal response remain largely unknown. Here, we seek to establish cause and effect by examining the detailed co-variation in both timing and magnitude of aeolian and anthropogenic activity through the quantification of Holocene dune sediments in combination with archaeological and pollen records. These records indicate a series of complex phases of aeolian activity followed by landscape stabilization, which we attribute primarily to changing patterns of human impact. We find that a steady increase in dune deposition rates in the Medieval Period corresponds to an increase in settlement activity and deforestation (~AD 1000-1500). At their peak, Medieval deposition rates were 3.4 times larger than during the late Pleistocene, the period experiencing the most favourable natural conditions for aeolian sediment transport. Prior to the Medieval Period, relative land-surface stability (represented by a depositional hiatus) persisted from the late Pleistocene until the Roman Iron Age Period (AD 0-400). Deforestation to fuel iron production had minor impact on aeolian activity, as indicated by the lowest recorded deposition rate (0.12 ± 0.02 t/ha/a). Following the Medieval Period peak in deposition rates, aeolian activity diminished rapidly and coincided with the abandonment of nearby human settlement. This sequence of events provides evidence of a direct positive feedback in which Medieval agricultural overexploitation favoured aeolian activity that rendered the landscape practically unworkable for cropping agriculture. Based on our findings and a comprehensive review of Northern European sand belt activity, we interpret a very high sensitivity of aeolian activity to past and present human impact and argue that unsustainable land-use practices have been the cause for widespread settlement abandonment.

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Section: Alternating Phases Of Aeolian Sand Deposition and Geomorphicsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Alternating Phases Of Aeolian Sand Deposition and Geomorphicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic influence on rates of aeolian dune activity within the northern European Sand Belt and socio-economic feedbacks over the last ~2500 years

et al. 2017

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“…The landscape is prone to a distinct reshaping of morphology because of the high erodibility of the sandy substrate, as documented for other areas with sandy substrate in the Northern European Lowland (e.g. Mauz et al, 2005;Dulias et al, 2008;van Mourik et al, 2012;Jansen et al, 2013). The objective of this study was to generate a digital model of the past surface morphology to interpret the relief position of archaeologic remains in relation to the morphology at the actual time of prehistoric landscape occupation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Reconstruction of a Palaeosurface and Archaeological Site Location in an Anthropogenic Drift Sand Area

Schneider

Hirsch

Wechler

et al. 2017

Archaeological Prospection

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Knowledge of the position of archaeological remains in the surface relief provides important basic information for archaeological survey design and interpretation. Geomorphological processes in (pre)history may have resulted in a modification of the local relief around archaeological sites, especially in areas that are prone to sediment erosion and relocation, such as sheet sand and dune landscapes. In this study, we reconstructed and analysed the palaeorelief of an archaeological excavation site in an inland dune area in southern Brandenburg, Germany. The remains of two Mesolithic sites were documented in the archaeological excavations and found to be associated with a buried soil horizon. To gather information on the relief of the buried soil surface, we used a combination of sedimentological and pedological profile descriptions along archaeological survey trenches and geophysical prospection with ground penetrating radar supplemented with microdrone photography and photogrammetry, global positioning system (GPS) surveys, and analysis of LiDAR‐based elevation models. A digital elevation model of the buried surface was generated and analysed using a geographical information system (GIS). A comparison of the palaeosurface model with the recent surface elevation model shows that sand remobilization resulted in a considerable reshaping of the relief. Further, an analysis of the buried surface model shows that the relief position of the two archaeological sites in the study area was considerably more prominent in relation to the corresponding buried soil surface than in relation to the recent surface morphology. The results affirm the significance of Holocene sediment relocation for the local surface morphology and the importance of considering such relief modifications in archaeological surveys. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…As potential natural vegetation, the acidophilous oak forest (Luzulo-Quercetum) and oak-hornbeam forest (Melampyro-Carpinetum) has been hereby assumed (Neuhäuselová 2001). Anthracological analysis generally supposes that people have probably obtained firewood from the woody species growing in the close vicinity of archaeological sites (Shackleton, Prins 1992;Jansen et al 2013). The firewood is considered to be mostly non-selective, but the charcoal spectra from the wood IANSA 2016 • VII/1 • 87-110 Tereza Šálková, Alena Dohnalová, Jan Novák, Tomáš Hiltscher, Jaroslav Jiřík, Jiří Vávra: …”

Section: Problems With the Reflection Of The Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unrecognized Taphonomy as a Problem of Identification and the Scale of Contamination of Archaeobotanical Assemblages – the Example of Prague – Zličín Migration Period Burial Ground

Šálková¹,

Dohnalová²,

Novák³

et al. 2016

IANSA

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Wood charcoal from an inland dune complex at Joldelund (Northern Germany). Information on Holocene vegetation and landscape changes

Cited by 15 publications

References 25 publications

Anthropogenic influence on rates of aeolian dune activity within the northern European Sand Belt and socio-economic feedbacks over the last ~2500 years

Anthropogenic influence on rates of aeolian dune activity within the northern European Sand Belt and socio-economic feedbacks over the last ~2500 years

Reconstruction of a Palaeosurface and Archaeological Site Location in an Anthropogenic Drift Sand Area

Unrecognized Taphonomy as a Problem of Identification and the Scale of Contamination of Archaeobotanical Assemblages – the Example of Prague – Zličín Migration Period Burial Ground

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