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

仅在几十年前，弗兰肯西部石膏喀斯特地区的天坑作为考古遗迹的一个独立类别，成为德国南部史前研究的焦点。Windsheimer Bucht的有据可查的所谓“Dolinenbefunde”（来自漏斗的考古发现）为该地区的定居历史提供了独特的见解。在史前时期，人类曾多次光顾形成和充填的各个阶段的岩溶洼地，但迄今为止，人们还没有详细研究它们在空间利用方面的作用。本研究项目的总体目标是以跨学科的方法重建从旧石器时代晚期到金属时代晚期的Windsheimer Bucht定居区的人与环境关系。根据目前的意见，Gipskeuper景观，这是迄今为止一直被认为是不利的解决，这是位于边缘的古代定居区的法兰克黄土地区，只是暂时解决。该项目打算调查人类活动的影响和土地利用及其与自然环境变化的关系，这可以从漏斗的地层学中推断出来。通过这种方式，可以获得不同史前时期的景观发展和定居历史的模式概念。另一个基本目标是在土地使用和环境发展的框架内调查漏斗的自然和人为沉降过程。调查区域的空间概念包括三个相互关联的景观分区：Marktbergel附近石膏岩溶的天坑;附近的斜坡和山顶，提供了广泛的考古发现以及溪谷和盆地。计划中的项目包括一个考古、一个土壤地理和一个考古-土壤地理联合单位。考古部分的目的是在工作区遗址的基础上重建Windsheimer Bucht石膏喀斯特景观的历时性定居和土地利用，并解释各个漏斗的功能。此外，重点放在人类影响发生之前的自然条件的重建，以及对人类引起的土壤和景观变化的评估。作为我们的跨学科方法的一个主要成果，可验证的古地形图重建和史前土地利用。对于第一次在北方巴伐利亚州，我们打算将超过5000年的占领和定居的连续性与环境变化的历史。

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.