Prehistoric Man-Environment Relationships in the Gypsum Karst of the Windsheimer Bucht, Northern Bavaria. Dolines as Archives for Settlement and Landscape History

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Frank Falkenstein; Professorin Dr. Birgit Terhorst
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology ; Physical Geography
• Term: from 2015 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 268163883

The sinkholes of the gypsum karst areas of western Franconia came into the focus of prehistoric research in Southern Germany as an independent category of archaeological monuments only a few decades ago. The well documented so-called „Dolinenbefunde“ (archaeological finds from dolines) of the Windsheimer Bucht provide exceptional insights into the settlement history of the region. Karst depressions in various stages of formation and infilling were repeatedly frequented by man in prehistoric times, however their function in the context of space utilisation could so far not be investigated in detail. The overall objective of this research project is to reconstruct the man-environment relationships in the settlement area of the Windsheimer Bucht from the Late Palaeolithic to the later Metal Ages in an interdisciplinary approach. According to the current opinion the Gipskeuper landscape, which has hitherto been regarded as unfavourable for settlement and which is located on the margin of the ancient settlement area of the Franconian loess areas, was settled only temporarily. The project intends to investigate anthropogenic impact and land-use and its relation to natural environmental changes, as can be inferred from the stratigraphies of dolines. In this way, model concepts of landscape development and settlement history shall be obtained for different prehistoric periods. Another essential objective is the investigation of the natural and human-induced sedimentation processes of the dolines in the frame of land-use and environmental developments. The spatial concept of the investigation area encompasses three interconnected landscape compartments: the sinkholes of the gypsum karst near Marktbergel; nearby slopes and hilltops that provide extensive archaeological findings as well as stream valleys and basins. The intended project comprises an archaeological, a soil geographical, and a joint archaeological – soil geographical unit. The aim of the archaeological part is to reconstruct the diachronic settlement and land-use of the gypsum karst landscape of the Windsheimer Bucht on the basis of the sites in the working area as well as by interpreting the respective function of the dolines. Furthermore, the focus is placed on the reconstruction of the natural conditions before human impact took place, as well as on the assessment of human induced soil and landscape changes. As a major outcome of our interdisciplinary approach, verifiable pictures of the palaeotopography are reconstructed and related to the prehistoric land-use. For the first time in Northern Bavaria, we intend to relate a more than 5000-year sequence of occupation and settlement discontinuity to the history of environmental change.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants