Fig. 1: Topographic map of the study area in Southwest Germany. The Baar is situated in the center between the Black Forest in the West and the Swabian Alb in the East. Collaborative Research Center 1070 ResourceCultures B2: Favor – Disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas Jessica Henkner 1 , Jan Ahlrichs 2 , Thomas Knopf 2 , Thomas Scholten 1 , Peter Kühn 1 1 Tuebingen University, Department of Geosciences, Soil Science & Geomorphology Working Group & CRC1070 ResourceCultures, B2: Favor – Disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas, Germany 2 Tuebingen University, Institute for Pre- and Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology & CRC1070 ResourceCultures, B2: Favor – Disfavor? Development of resources in marginal areas, Germany  Jessica.henkner@uni-tuebingen.de Colluvial deposits as proxies for human activities in Southwest Germany 2 Human activities in Southwest Germany An obvious theory to explain human migration would be climate change triggering migration and the shift of farming places. Populated areas might have been shifted or extended because of changing resources, like soil. Also altered trading relations or changing religious attitudes could have caused migration. People migrated e.g. in Southwest Germany from the Baar (more even area, soils on loess, lower elevations, Fig. 1) to the Black Forest with harsher environmental conditions (small valleys, acidic soils, steep slopes, higher elevation). 1 Introduction Soils can be generally considered as an important resource and archive related to human activities. Additionally they provide information about vegetation, climate history and pedogenic processes since the time of deposition 1,2 . The goal of this study is to determine the dynamics between migration and land use to climate and environmental conditions and the socio-cultural dimension of resources. Colluvial deposits archive important aspects of the formative impact of humans on their environment and land use changes and can therefore be used as a proxy for the intensity and duration of human activities 3 . 4 First results Several colluvial deposition phases can be distinguished from pedogenic features (Fig. 2). AMS radiocarbon datings of charcoals date lower colluvial layers back to the fourth millennium BC (Fig. 3). Overlying colluvial layers date to the 11-12th and to the 13-14th Century. Dated total organic carbon (TOC) is much younger. Close by, colluvial deposits could be found in approximately 60-80 cm depth dating to 1620-1500 cal BC and in about 50 cm depth dating to 427-543 cal AD. 3 Research Questions  Do depositional phases correlate with archaeological findings related to settlement activities?  How are these phases correlated to climate fluctuations?  When did the colluvial deposits form?  Are there general phases of deposition? 5 Conclusion The colluvial deposits point to more intensive agricultural land use and settlement in the Baar than assumed 4 . Unexpectedly thick colluvial accumulations occur at upper slope positions, where a temporary storage took place. Therefore the recent relief does not necessarily provide information about the thickness of colluvial deposition. The paleorelief and former human land use activities determine erosion and depositional processes on slopes and depressions and because of that we can use characteristics of accumulated soil material as proxies for human activities. Tübingen University· CRC 1070 ResourceCultures Department of Geosciences, Soil Science and Geomorphology Gartenstrasse 29, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Phone: 0049 7071 29 73581· fax: 0049 7071 29 35366· www.sfb1070.uni-tuebingen.de 20 th World Congress of Soil Science, Pedodiversity and Ecological Services – Bridging Soil Geography and Land Use Soil Embrace Life and Universe, June 8-13, 2014, Jeju, Korea References 1. Dreibrodt, S.; Lubos, C.; Terhorst, B.; Damm, B.; Bork, H.-R. 2010: Historical soil erosion by water in Germany: Scales and archives, chronology, research perspectives. Quaternary International 222/1-2, 80-95. 2. Vogt, R. 2014: Kolluvien als Archive für anthropogen ausgelöste Landschaftsveränderungen an Beipsielen aus der westlichen Bodenseeregion. Materialhefte zur Archäologie 99. 3. Leopold, J.; Völkel 2007: Colluvium: Definition, differentiation, and possible suitability for reconstructing Holocene climate data. Quaternary International 162-163, 133-140. 4. Knopf, T.; Baum, T., Scholten, T. 2012: Landnutzung im frühen Mittelalter? Eine archöäopedologische Prospektion im mittleren Schwarzwald. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 42/1, 123-133. Fig. 2: Catena of soil properties and location of pedons at the Magdalenenberg in Southwest Germany near Villingen. Fig. 3: A hortic, regic Anthrosol (siltic) as an example for colluvial deposits (Pedon Mag 1). 14 C ages, IntCal13, 95.4%.