LAND DEGRADATION IN BRONZE AGE GERMANY - AN EXAMPLE FROM FRAUENBERG AT WELTENBURG, BAVARIA

Human impact on landscapes was intense in the early settled regions of Central Europe. This paper examines the effects of early agriculture and land use in the vicinity of a Bronze Age fortress at Weltenburg, Germany. Sediments and soils found below archaeological structures are compared with sediments and soils surrounding these structures. A chronology is established using relative archaeological dating, C14 dating of charcoal fragments, TL dating of heated objects, and OSL dating of sediments. Results demonstrate dramatic environmental changes that occurred as early as the Bronze Age. Erosion resulting from agriculture stripped away most Holocene soils and Pleistocene sediments, transforming the natural landscape into a severely degraded cultural landscape. Since the Bronze Age, only minor changes have occurred because agricultural is limited on the degraded soils and the clay-rich soil remnants are resistant to further erosion.