Symptoms of denudation in the eastern part of the Upper Odra River basin from the decline of the Bronze Age

Abstract

The goal of studies in the Ruda and Kłodnica valleys was to establish denudation intensity corresponding to phases of farming and breeding economy. Research was aimed at defining chronology of sedimentation of overbank, proluvial fan and sheetwash deposits. It was affirmed that (1) denudation at the end of the Bronze Age and during the Hallstatt and Roman Periods of the Iron Age reached relatively low intensity in comparison to population density at that time, (2) strong increase of denudation occurred in the older part of the Early Middle Ages in spite of demographic regress at that time, (3) the highest denudational rate was noticed throughout historical times. Additionally, studies show that proluvial fan and sheetwash deposits can be treated as indicators of the close neighborhood of a settlement. Overbank deposits can record shifts occurring in a larger distance from deposition zone, though their extension and thickness decrease along with distance growth from the area transformed under influence of human activity