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Open-cast lignite mines in Lower Lusatia provide unique insights into human-induced environmental changes in the Northern European Lowland and improve our understanding of Quaternary landscape dynamics. The excursion will focus on soils and sediments of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age that have been modified by land use since the Slavic Middle Ages. In the vicinity of the open-cast mine Jänschwalde and in the Tauer forest north of Cottbus characteristic remains of historical charcoal production, a ridge-and-furrow system and late Quaternary rubification in soils are presented.
Pedology and effects on vegetation at two medieval ridge and furrow sites in northeastern Germany
(2018)
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.
This study outlines the opportunities to reconstruct Holocene landscape dynamics in active opencast lignite mines in southern Brandenburg (Germany). Studies on extensive outcrops that address geomorphology, pedology and archaeology provide unique insights into human-induced environmental changes. Our approach uses a variety of traditional and cutting-edge techniques to characterize small-scale landforms (high-resolution DEMs by micro-drone and LiDAR), to analyze soils and substrate properties in the field (GPR, ERT, geomagnetics, Field Portable XRF and XRD) and to provide chronological information (OSL, 14C, tree-ring dating). This approach is combined with a GIS for data integration. We present the most recent results and review important findings from the last several years. Studies conducted in the opencast mines focus on soil development and Late
Quaternary geomorphodynamics and as well as past land use and the legacy of agriculture and woodland use.
Our results regarding the human-induced geomorphodynamics are similar to those in other regions in Central Europe, but we also observe regional differences caused by the local setting, e.g., intensification of soil erosion coinciding with the expansion of farming of cultivated lands in the Slavic Middle Ages. By analyzing LiDAR data the largest area of historical charcoal production in the Northern European Lowland (NEL) has been revealed. We are clearly only beginning to understand the massive dimensions of charcoal production in the region and the impact on late Holocene geomorphodynamics. The usage of new high-resolution imagery is essential to identify small-scale anthropogenic landforms hidden in the landscape. Future work will consist of developing and improving our integrative approach. However, comprehensive ground truth data provided by the archaeological prospections in the open-cast mines are an excellent basis for GIS-based analyses of high-resolution ALS data and geomorphological research.
In the forefield of the open-cast mine Jänschwalde (north of Cottbus, Germany), archaeological excavations have revealed one of the largest charcoal production fields described so far. As remains of the historic charcoal kilns, small mounds of sediment rich in charcoal fragments and ash cover the soil surface. We applied a combination of methods for mapping such kiln relicts across a range of scales, in order to analyze the spatial distribution of kiln sites and to improve the understanding of historic forest use systems. In archaeological excavations in the mine forefield, the geometry of kiln relicts could be studied in high detail. We used a microdrone to record high-resolution photographs of excavation sites for the
documentation of kiln site ground plans and other traces of historic land use. Based on airborne laser
scanning elevation models, kiln site mapping was extended to areas beyond the mine forefield. Manual
digitization from shaded relief maps was used for mapping kiln sites in further woodland areas surrounding an historic ironwork north of Cottbus. An automated mapping approach based on template matching was developed to detect charcoal production fields on a larger scale, and was applied for an area of about 1000 km2up to now.
In archaeological excavations, about 900 kiln sites have been documented on an approximately 17 km2 large area. Excavation documentations and aerial photographs show variations in the kiln site ground plans. By manual digitization from Shaded Relief Maps, more than 5000 kiln sites with diameters up to 29 m were detected in the 32 km2 area of the royal forest Jänschwalder Heide north of Cottbus. First results of mapping for larger areas indicate similar densities, but smaller diameters of kiln sites in other charcoal production fields; and show that charcoal production is a so far underestimated component of the land use history in many areas in the Northern European Lowlands.
Charcoal produced in kilns or hearths was an important source of energy in many regions of Europe and Northern America until the 19th century, and charcoal production in hearths is still common in many other regions of the world. The remains of charcoal hearths are therefore a widespread legacy of historic land use in forest areas. Soils on charcoal hearth sites are characterized by a technogenic layer rich in charcoal and ash on top of the soil profile, and by a pyrogenic modification of substrates below the former hearth.
The aims of our study are to examine how these alterations to the natural soil profiles affect the soil water regime
and other soil physical properties, and to assess the relevance of these effects on the landscape scale. We present
first results of a mapping of hearth site occurrence in forest areas in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, and of a
characterization of the infiltration behaviour on hearth sites as compared with undisturbed forest soils. Results of mapping small-scale relief features from LIDAR-based digital elevation models show that charcoal hearths occur in a high density in many large forest areas throughout Brandenburg. In the areas studied so far, up to almost 3% of the soil surface were found to be affected by the remains of historic hearths. First analyses of soil physical properties indicate differences in the infiltration characteristics of hearth site soils and undisturbed forest soils: Hood infiltrometer measurements show a very high spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity for hearth site soils, and water-drop-penetration-time tests reflect extremely high hydrophobicity of the technogenic layer on the sites. Results of dye tracer experiment show considerably strong preferential flow and therefore a higher spatial variability of soil wetness below the hearth remains. Overall, our first results therefore indicate that the legacy effects of historic charcoal production might significantly affect overall site conditions in forest areas with a high density of charcoal hearth remains.