Siedlungen der späten Bronze- und frühen Eisenzeit in Südwestbulgarien.Vorbericht zu den deutsch-bulgarischen Forschungen 2012 im Struma- und Mestatal

After long-term surveys 2012 a German-Bulgarian team started excavations in the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta in south-western Bulgaria. The goal of our research is get a better understanding of the execution of power by the population of these mountain valleys as well as to reveal the processes of transfer and exchange of objects and technologies between the Aegean and the Danube regions. For this reason the excavations were conducted on the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age hillfort Kresna in the Mesta valley near Sandanski and on the Early Iron Age settlement Bresto near Raslog located close to the upper course of the Mesta river. Similar to the hillforts in the valley of Struma near Blagoevgrad, possible large-sized grain storages were exposed in Kresna. Bresto stands out for its massive fortified walls dated to the Early Iron Age as well as for the thousands secondary burnt daub fragments often supplied with plastic decorations. The comparison of various parts of the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta demonstrates the difference of interest for foreign objects and the acquisition of technologies on the micro-region levelstatus: publishe

Are mid-latitude slopes sensitive to climatic oscillations? Implications from an Early Holocene sequence of slope deposits and buried soils from eastern Germany

On a straight slope within the lake catchment of Kleiner Tornowsee (Brandenburg, Germany) a sequence of slope sediments has been deposited during the Late Glacial, the Early Holocene and around cal 4.2 ka before today, 800, 500 and 300 years ago. The chronology is based on 21 radiocarbon dates and 11 OSL dates and a deposition model including the numerical data as well as stratigraphic information has been calculated with OxCal 4.1. A comparison of the woody taxa of charcoal particles (n=566) embedded within the sediments with the known regional vegetation history confirmed the reliability of the dates. According to the age, volume and distribution the deposition of the Early Holocene sediments at ca. 10.3 kyrs, ca. 9.5 kyrs and ca. 8.2 to 7.7 kyrs before today strongly suggests an influence of known climatic deteriorations phases on geomorphologic processes. Cold and dry climatic conditions probably promoted wildfires in Pinus dominated forests and therefore triggered the observed repeated slope instability. In consequence, mid-latitude slope deposits provide a potential to reconstruct the geomorphological response to climatic events at a high spatial resolution. In contrast, the recorded Mid to Late Holocene soil erosion phases on the slope have been triggered by land-use activities. Apart from traditional environmental archives slope deposits provide valuable information about the vegetation and climate history. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved