Holocene fire history in Northern Germany, inferred from peat and sediment charcoal records with various spatial resolution in selected areas of Schleswig-Holstein
Final Report Abstract
Palaeofires have had an important influence on landscape and vegetation dynamics during the Holocene as disturbance event of the ecosystem, in Mediterranean or Boreal areas. However, the role of fire in central European ecosystems is less understood. To contribute to fill this central European (especially German) “Gap” of fire records, we investigated different fire signal recording archives in two young morainic regions of Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany: Stodthagen-Kaltenhofen north of Kiel and the Belauer See region south of Kiel. Micro- and macro-charcoal records from peat and lake sediment sequences, as well as mega-charcoals from soils were combined to detect the presence/absence of synchronicity in the fire history. All records contained fire signals, in different quantities and frequencies. Overall, periods of higher fire activity were 11500-10000 BP in the early Holocene, when pine-dominated woodlands burned when ignited in dry periods by lightning. During Mesolithic, until 6000 BP, only in the Belau region fire activity could be evidenced, which corresponds with a richer archaeological record for this period compared to the Stodthagen-Kaltenhofen region. Mesolithic huntergatherer might have used fire as a hunting tool. A significant increase in fire activity happened during the Neolithic, especially during the Early Neolithic. Fire was probably used to gain farmland. Fire occurrences are however most frequent in Bronze Age (4000-2800 a BP) and Iron Age (2800-2000 BP), with less fire activity during Medieval Times. Overall, asynchronisms between fire signals in the two regions in mid- and late Holocene, as well as different signal recording in macro-, micro- and soil charcoal records point to a patchiness of the occurrences of fires, and seem to be related to human activity.
