Settlement and landscape history of the Northern Franconian Jura during the Bronze and Iron Ages

This paper describes the results of initial archaeological and geoarchaeological fieldwork in the Northern Franconian Jura between the cities of Bayreuth and Bamberg. Our research aims at the reconstruction of settlement patterns and strategies of land use during the Metal Ages (Bronze Age and Iron Age) in the catchment area of the river Weismain. The project is designed as a case study for research into the settlement and landscape history of a rural region of the Central German Uplands during the last two millennia before our era.European Prehistor

Importance of cultural ecosystem services for cultural identity and wellbeing in the Lower Engadine, Switzerland

Current climate and environmental changes have brought unprecedented rates of change to mountain ecosystems. These changes are impacting the provisioning of ecosystem services. Despite the increase in academic publications on ecosystem services, research on cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their availability in mountain regions has largely been neglected. Here we analyse how important different CES are for inhabitants and visitors in the Lower Engadine region (Switzerland). We use questionnaires and maps to identify the most important CES for individual and collective wellbeing as well as their geographical location in the region. We had 48 participants in this study of which 28 grew up in the Lower Engadine. Our results show that the most important (i.e., ‘Highly important’) CES are: ‘The view of mountains, rivers or glaciers’; the presence of plants typical for the region, for example Fire Lily and Edelweiss (i.e., Lilium bulbiliferum subsp. croceum, Edelweiss-Leontopodium alpinum); ‘Hiking’; ‘Local customs’; ‘Watching large mammals’; and the importance of ‘Terraces for traditional Agriculture activities’. Results from the spatial analysis show that identical geographical locations in the Lower Engadine provide multiple CES and bring health benefits to the users. Digital Archaeolog

Mid‐ to Late Holocene landscape dynamics and rural settlement in the uplands of northern Bavaria, Germany

We present results from a systematic interdisciplinary study on (pre-)historic rural settlement and landscape development in an upland region of northern Bavaria, Germany. The archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations—supported by radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence dating, and palaeoecological analysis—were performed to (i) identify so far unknown prehistoric rural settlement sites, (ii) determine site-specific soil erosion from colluvial deposits, and (iii) assess the composition of woodland from on- and offsite charcoal finds. The earliest indicators of human activities from the Younger Neolithic (late 5th to early 4th millennium B.C.E.) come from colluvial deposits. Our investigations, for the first time, show Middle to Late Bronze Age (ca. 1400–800 B.C.E.), permanent rural settlement in a German central upland region, with a peak in the Late Bronze Age. Due to the varying thicknesses of Bronze Age colluvial deposits, we assume land use practices to have triggered soil erosion. From the spectrum of wood species, Maloideae, ash, and birch are regarded as successional indicators after fire clearance in that period. Settlement continued until the 5th century B.C.E. After a hiatus of 500 years, it re-flourished in the Late Roman and Migration periods (mid-3rd–5th century C.E.) and went on in the Medieval period. Digital Archaeolog

Neue Untersuchungen zu den (prä-)historischen Terrassen von Ramosch

Die gut erhaltene Terrassenlandschaft oberhalb von Ramosch hat eine lange Geschichte, deren ackerbauliche Nutzung im Mittelalter durch historische Quellen belegt ist. Doch bereits die prähistorische Siedlung auf der Mottata beweist, dass sie in eine stark vom Menschen überprägte Landschaft eingebettet war. Um der Frage nach der Entwicklung der Terrassen nachzugehen, engagiert sich seit einigen Jahren ein interdisziplinäres Forschungsprojekt mit dem Ursprung dieser Anlagen.European Prehistor

Chemical analysis of pottery demonstrates prehistoric origin for high-altitude alpine dairying

The European high Alps are internationally renowned for their dairy produce, which are of huge cultural and economic significance to the region. Although the recent history of alpine dairying has been well studied, virtually nothing is known regarding the origins of this practice. This is due to poor preservation of high altitude archaeological sites and the ephemeral nature of transhumance economic practices. Archaeologists have suggested that stone structures that appear around 3,000 years ago are associated with more intense seasonal occupation of the high Alps and perhaps the establishment of new economic strategies. Here, we report on organic residue analysis of small fragments of pottery sherds that are occasionally preserved both at these sites and earlier prehistoric rock-shelters. Based mainly on isotopic criteria, dairy lipids could only be identified on ceramics from the stone structures, which date to the Iron Age (ca. 3,000 - 2,500 BP), providing the earliest evidence of this practice in the high Alps. Dairy production in such a marginal environment implies a high degree of risk even by today’s standards. We postulate that this practice was driven by population increase and climate deterioration that put pressure on lowland agropastoral systems and the establishment of more extensive trade networks, leading to greater demand for highly nutritious and transportable dairy products

Settlement and landscape history of the northern Franconian Jura during the Bronze and Iron Ages

Although hillforts, ritual sites and burial mounds have been in existence in various regions, the German Central Uplands have largely been considered void of rural occupation during the Bronze and Iron Ages (approx. 2100-30 BC). The presence of these sites, combined with mounting evidence from geoarchives of human impact on the landscape since the Neolithic, has led us to investigate the settlement and landscape history of the Northern Franconian Jura in Bavaria as a model region for studying human activity in and impact on the German Central Uplands during the Metal Ages.In this article, we present the first results of an interdisciplinary study of the Weismain river catchment undertaken since 2013. A combination of geoarchaeological and archaeological, on-site and off-site, field and lab investigations at both valley and plateau sites revealed evidence of human land use and settlement from the 16th century BC (Middle Bronze Age) onwards, with further emerging evidence of changing vegetation, land-use strategies and settlement preferences until the end of the Iron Age. While research is still ongoing, it may be concluded that in the study region, and possibly other parts of the German Central Uplands, land use had begun earlier and was more intense and varied than previously thought.European Prehistor

High impact: early pastoralism and environmental change during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the Silvretta Alps (Switzerland/Austria) as evidenced by archaeological, palaeoecological and pedological proxies

The beginnings of the continuous human presence and of pastoral activities in the high mountainous region of Central Europe have recently become a frequently discussed topic in both archaeology and palaeoecology. In extreme environments such as the high Alpine main ridge and adjacent areas, highly adaptive subsistence strategies were required to exploit natural resources available in the subalpine and alpine zones. Such strategies were determined by changing environmental, social, and economic conditions. To investigate the relationships between settlement dynamics, human impact, and Holocene climatic changes, we studied the valleys of the Silvretta Massif in the central Eastern Alps between the Paznaun(Austria) and Lower Engadine valleys (Switzerland). We are presenting new archaeological, palaeoecological, and pedological evidence of continuous human activities from the Early Neolithic Period to the Bronze Age (~ 5,500–800 BC). This evidence sheds new light on the beginnings of intensified human impact on the high mountainous landscape, i.e. activities beyond Mesolithic hunting along the timberline. Archaeological data suggest a shift in subsistence strategies from hunting to herding at the end of the Neolithic Period (~ 2,800–2,500 BC). While palaeoecological data confirm this trend, they also indicate potentially earlier human and livestock impact through forest clearances by fire and grazing from about 4,200 BC onwards. In addition to archaeological sites and peat bogs, soils in high-altitude regions prove to be appropriate archives indicating former vegetation cover, shifts of timberline altitudes as well as disturbance of soil formation by human activity such as by slash-and-burn and by livestock grazing.Palaeobotan

Vegetation history, landscape development, and archaeology of the Lower Engadine, Switzerland

Bioarchaeolog