Mapping legacies of historic charcoal production on the landscape scale
- The remains of historic charcoal hearths (RCHs) occur in many forest areas as characteristic small-scale relief features, and are valuable archives of land use history. The increasing availability of high-resolution ALS data has given rise to many recent studies mapping such land use legacy features, which have revealed impressively high numbers and spatial densities of RCHs in many regions of the world. Nevertheless, the limitations of mapping from remotely-sensed data
still need to be considered to allow for meaningful interpretations of RCH spatial distribution patterns and conclusions on past forest use. We present an assessment of the possibilities and limitations of RCH mapping from ALS data on the landscape scale, comparing mapping results from study areas in the Northeastern German Lowlands, the German lower mountain ranges and the lower mountain ranges in the northeastern USA. RCHs were mapped using automated detection and manual digitization, and mapping results were validated against archaeological excavations and detailedThe remains of historic charcoal hearths (RCHs) occur in many forest areas as characteristic small-scale relief features, and are valuable archives of land use history. The increasing availability of high-resolution ALS data has given rise to many recent studies mapping such land use legacy features, which have revealed impressively high numbers and spatial densities of RCHs in many regions of the world. Nevertheless, the limitations of mapping from remotely-sensed data
still need to be considered to allow for meaningful interpretations of RCH spatial distribution patterns and conclusions on past forest use. We present an assessment of the possibilities and limitations of RCH mapping from ALS data on the landscape scale, comparing mapping results from study areas in the Northeastern German Lowlands, the German lower mountain ranges and the lower mountain ranges in the northeastern USA. RCHs were mapped using automated detection and manual digitization, and mapping results were validated against archaeological excavations and detailed field surveys. The results allow for a detailed analysis of mapping accuracy in relation to DEM resolution and feature size, but furthermore show up relations of mapping success to RCH age and preservation and to geomorphology and subsequent forest use. Results CAA 2019 279 Standard session 42: New technologies in woodland archaeology: problems and limitations from a GIS analysis of RCH spatial distribution in relation to historic charcoal-consuming industries affirm that RCHs are a widespread and underestimated legacy of past woodland use in many regions, but also underline the relevance of considering variable mapping accuracy in landscape-scale analyses of archaeological relief features mapped from ALS data.…