Regional Settlement Systems in Southwest Germany

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With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Jochim and his colleagues will initiate a long term archaeological study of a 40 x 100 kilometer region which extends from the Danube River to the Alps in Southern Germany. In this first phase they will conduct three projects. First, they will synthesize the available site data for the period extending from the Aurignacian, ca. 35,000 years ago, through the Neolithic period when agriculture and stock raising was introduced. Material will be collated from museum collections and archaeological site reports. Secondly, the team will develop a GIS data bank which includes information on geomorphology and vegetation. It will also incorporate data on archeological sites. Finally, the group will conduct an archaeological survey of plowed fields in a subregion within this broader area. The results should provide detailed information on both the archaeological sequence and the density of sites. Archaeological work to date indicates that this region in Southern Germany contains a wealth of archaeological data with sites which extend from the early Upper Paleolithic through the Mesolithic and into Neolithic times. Therefore, this region provides insight into how humans at a hunting and gathering level of subsistence adapted to a harsh and highly variable Ice Age environment. It also documents the change at the end of the Ice Age to more temperate conditions as well as the succeeding shift to a more settled Neolithic way of life. However, the data are spotty and have never been analyzed within a single dichronic environmental perspective. Therefore, it is difficult to understand the processes which underlay the human adaptation and change. In this the first stage of a long term project, Dr. Jochim and his colleagues will establish the framework to make such a comprehensive analysis possible. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists. It will also increase our understanding of how humans adapt at a simple level of technology.