Climatic changes: new archaeological evidence from the Bohemian Karst and other areas.

Climatic changes: new archaeological evidence from the Bohemian Karst and other areas. A review of the scattered evidence for climate change in Bohemia Bohemia,Czech Čechy, historic region (20,368 sq mi/52,753 sq km) and former kingdom, in W and central Czech Republic. Bohemia is bounded by Austria in the southeast, by Germany in the west and northwest, by Poland in the north and northeast, and by andits region shows the importance as well as the difficulty of plotting abetter history. Newly identified phases, both dry and wet hint at otherfluctuations as yet only guessed at.The purpose of this contribution, the first version of which waspresented to a colloquium col��lo��qui��um?n. pl. col��lo��qui��ums or col��lo��qui��a1. An informal meeting for the exchange of views.2. An academic seminar on a broad field of study, usually led by a different lecturer at each meeting. organized by Halle University in 1988 (theplanned publication in STRIAE (Uppsala) has never appeared), is to givesome information about developments in the study of climatic developmentin Central Europe Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. In addition, Northern, Southern and Southeastern Europe may variously delimit or overlap into Central Europe. , as they relate to archaeology, within the frameworkof a more general programme conducted over the past 20 years with myfriends K.-D. Jaeger jaeger(yā`gər), common name for several members of the family Stercorariidae, member of a family of hawklike sea birds closely related to the gull and the tern. The skua is also a member of this family. and Vojen Lozek. Our first joint contribution tothe UISPP UISPP Union Internationale des Sciences Pr��historiques et Protohistoriques (French: International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences )congress at Nice in 1976 has never been published, but thenext report (Bouzek 1982) appeared in Harding (1982). Unlike most otherinspiring studies in this volume (for Central Europe cf. especially Beug1982), which used 14C dating of deposits, we attempted a directconfrontation of the scientific evidence with prehistoric pottery fromidentical layers (Jaeger & Lozek 1978; Bouzek 1982). Anothercontribution dealing with reciprocal interrelations between climaticfluctuations and prehistoric agriculture was presented to anotherconference (Bouzek 1983), and a more recent paper in Czech suggestedfurther research approaches in this field (Bouzek 1990).Occupation of caves and settlementsDeveloping the first outlines of the main changes in the interactionbetween prehistoric man prehistoric man:see human evolution. and the climate, our aim was to understand minorchanges in climatic evolution and to date them more precisely.One of the projects concerned the precise archaeological dates ofindividual layers at Tetin and Svaty Jan pod Skalou (Bohemian Karst Karst(kärst), Ital. Carso, Slovenian Kras, limestone plateau, W Slovenia, N of Istria and extending c.50 mi (80 km) SE from the lower Isonzo (Soča) valley between the Bay of Trieste and the Julian Alps. ),studied earlier by K.-D. Jaeger and V. Lozek (cf. especially Lozek1960). In both cases, the sequence consists of alternating layers formedunder terrestrial and subaquatic conditions. Examples of pottery fromtest excavations are shown in Bouzek 1990: figure 1.The finds illustrated there and other fragments allow us to date thelower dry-period layers in both sites to HaB2 (and, probably, to the endof HaB1). The Middle Eneolithic fragments of the Rivnac culture werecollected from Tetin, not from the damaged deposit itself, but in allprobability from one of the former layers formed during a terrestrialepisode on the site.This picture has parallels among the traces of cave settlements fromother parts of the Bohemian Karst (Sklenar & Matous ek 1992, cf.here FIGURES 1-4). The Late Bronze Age Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the pottery from the caves mainlydates from HaA1 and HaB2, while there are some traces of MiddleEneolithic occupation and much of the Early and Middle Neolithiccultures. TABLE 1 gives the quantities of known caves with pottery findsin this area.A survey of the prehistoric occupation of the Thuringian caves waspublished by Walter (1985). Neolithic finds of Linearbandkeramik arefairly common, those of Stichbandkeramik less so, and there are onlymodest traces of occupation during the Late Neolithic period Neolithic periodor New Stone Age.The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the use of stone tools, the existence of . A parallelevolution can be traced in the Moravian and Slovakian Karst areas, asfar as can be seen from the material published and from the test samplesfrom the profile test diggings by V. Lozek, which he enabled me tostudy. In Slovakia, following rich Neolithic settlements (notably of theBuekk culture) there are traces of many caves being used in the Lausitzand Puchov cultures (cf. Bouzek 1990).Of the Eneolithic cultures, the Middle Eneolithic is best represented(Rivnac in TABULAR DATA OMITTED Bohemia, later Baden in the east) andsome Early Eneolithic has also been recorded; traces of Late Eneolithicoccupation are fairly rare. Finds of the Early Bronze Age seem to bealso missing except for the Late Unetice, Veterov and contemporarycultures (BrA2 late -- B 1). Even so, many of the caves with LateUnetice pottery seem more probably to have served for cult thansettlement purposes. The former seems also to be true of the scarceMiddle Bronze Age finds of pottery from the caves in Moravia andBohemia, except for the last stage BrC2, which seems to be slightly morecommon.The Urnfield period is characterized (if the last Tumulus culture This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details. finds of BrC2/D 1 are discounted) by the two horizons mentioned above.HaC is missing, but HaD2/LtA is represented in some caves; this was thelast case of more intensive use of caves during Central Europeanprehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to .In general, caves can only be inhabited under terrestrial conditions,but occupation in the post-Neolithic times also depended on thepolitical situation (caves served as places of refuge until moderntimes) and on the particular economy of individual cultures (thetemporary shelters of shepherds leave slighter traces than, for example,the seasonal overnight stays of agricultural groups during the harvest).Even if in post-Neolithic times caves were no longer 'normal'dwellings and cult (ritual) use of caves did not need dry floors, thestudy of their human occupation contributes to the study of climaticfluctuations, if the levels with sherds are characterized bothgeologically and malacologically as warm and dry.At least one wet interphase interphase/in��ter��phase/ (in��ter-faz) the interval between two successive cell divisions, during which the chromosomes are not individually distinguishable. in��ter��phasen. during the otherwise dry Urnfield periodhas been demonstrated in several profiles by Jaeger (cf. Jaeger &Lozek 1987), and the existence of a dry phase during C2 is indicatedboth by the activity of lacustrine la��cus��trine?adj.1. Of or relating to lakes.2. Living or growing in or along the edges of lakes.[French or Italian lacustre (from Latin lacus, lake) + sites (palafitte) in the Swiss andNorth Italian areas, followed by their submergence in the Peschierahorizon, and by settlement traces of the same period in the recentlyinundated in��un��date?tr.v. in��un��dat��ed, in��un��dat��ing, in��un��dates1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters.2. strips along rivers in Bohemia (Benes 1978: 389) and Hessen(Jockenhoevel 1991). Even the Tumulus culture cemeteries in inundatedstrips along the Danube, such as Pitten in Lower Austria Lower Austria,Ger. Niederösterreich, province (1991 pop. 1,480,927), c.7,400 sq mi (19,170 sq km), NE Austria. Vienna, although outside its boundaries, is the seat of the provincial government. (Benkovsky1985) or Deggendorf-Fischerdorf in Bavaria (Schmotz 1985), may testifyto a lower ground-water level during the Late Tumulus culture period.Another important contribution is that by Guhne & Simon (1986) onthe settlement site close to the Elbe in Dresden-Neustadt; the evidenceis summarized on pp. 308-20 of their paper. The dry periods withoccupation traces close to the river date from the end of the EarlyBronze Age, from the earliest Urnfield period (c. 1300-1200 BC), fromHaB1, HaB3 and HaD2/LtA. Of the two later settlement phases of the LaTene La T��ne?adj.Of or relating to a late Iron Age Celtic civilization dating from the fifth to the first century b.c. period, the first dates from La Tene B2/C1 and the latter from the1st century BC. The last two dry phases to be considered here date fromthe 3rd and 6th centuries AD. The authors combine their results withmany other curves gained by scientific methods in different parts of theworld, including pollen analysis Analysis of the distribution of pollen grains of various species contained in surface layer deposits, especially peat bogs and lake sediments, from which a record of past climate may be inferred. , sea-level fluctuations, snow, glacierand forest level changes in the Alps, and even corrections of the 14Ccurve, and they consider the development on this site to becharacteristic for climatic fluctuations in Central Europe in general.The first attempts to study the occupation of the inundated strip alongthe Danube in Slovakia also seem to show an analogous situation (Chebenet al. 1981; Kuzma & Rajtar 1982; Baxa 1990).Lake settlements (Pfahlbauten)Another interesting source for the study of climatic changes inCentral Europe is the development of lacustrine settlements(Pfahlbauten) in the Swiss lakes. FIGURE 6 shows the main buildingactivities there according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. their dendrochronological dating (Becker1983; Becker-Schmidt 1982; Schmidt 1983), as based on the survey byGross (1984, with his later improvements from 1985). Of interest is theslow start of building activities after the hiatus hiatus/hi��a��tus/ (hi-a��tus) [L.] an opening, gap, or cleft.hia��talaortic hiatus? the opening in the diaphragm through which the aorta and thoracic duct pass. of BrD2 in HaA1, thenits interruption in HaB1, followed by only a minor revival during thetransition HaB2/3; after that phase, the Pfahlbauten disappearcompletely. Since the rising water level in the lakes (connected with awetter climate) is generally considered to be the reason why buildingactivity on lacustrine sites was interrupted (even the study of thedevelopment of Alpine glaciers seems to confirm this explanation, cf.Joos 1982; Gamper & Suter 1982), the main transition may be placedtowards the end of HaA1, when a more dry climate started, and in laterHaB3, when a much moister climate brought building activity to an end.There is a decrease of lacustrine settlements during HaB1, withshort-time revivals in HaB2 and HaB3.Settlement densityFurther important sources for studying climatic development are thedensities and size of prehistoric settlements in different regions.These reflect the possibilities of land-use in geographically differentareas, most notably for agriculture, under changing climatic conditions.For the development in northwest Bohemia, a survey has been pursuedelsewhere (Bouzek 1982), and there are several useful studies on theBronze and Early Iron Age in Slovakia (Furmanek 1985; Veliacik &Romsauer 1987).Neolithic settlement and that of the Urnfield period was especiallydense, less so in the Middle Neolithic, in BrA2, HaD/LtA and LtDperiods. In the Urnfield period, HaA1 is marked by a large increase ofpopulation in most parts of Bohemia, with continuous development untilearly HaB1, but the essential change of settlement patterns in Hungaryand Slovakia in HaA1, connected with the disappearance of some culturesand the depositing of many hoards, may have been related with a spreadof a dry climate there (cf. Romsauer & Veliacik 1985).The end of HaB1 also means a moist interphase in Bohemia connectedwith changes in the settlement pattern (Bouzek et al. 1966: 107); thecultural changes connected with the former were of historicalsignificance (Bouzek 1985a). The finds from Thuringia mentioned byJaeger (Jaeger & Lozek 1987) seem to mark a similar transition,while no significant changes have been observed in the microregion ofthe Luzicky creek in northwest Bohemia (Smrz 1987). The valleys in thehill country were not, under normal conditions This article is about the philosophical argument; for normal conditions in the sense of standards see the corresponding articles, e.g. Standard conditions for temperature and pressure. , influenced by smallerchanges; the three or four altitude zones (meadows along rivers, fieldsabove them and even more highly situated forest or pasture land) movedslightly upwards or downwards, but the whole pattern of agriculturalactivities was little affected by these shifts.The history of agricultural settlement in climatically lessfavourable parts of Bohemia, where the conditions for good crops wereonly achieved from time to time, shows peaks similar to the otherphenomena studied: Middle Eneolithic (Cham culture), the end of theEarly Bronze Age (Vrcovice etc.), late Tumulus culture and two peaks inthe Urnfield period (Smejtek 1987), HaD2/LtA and LtD (the South Bohemianoppida). In these areas, however, groups engaged mainly incattle-breeding were active during other periods, without thecharacteristic traces of agricultural activities such as the common useof grain pits (notably the Middle Bronze Age Tumulus culture and that ofHaC).A more complex climate history for Central EuropeIt may be concluded that neither the old scheme of Boreal bo��re��al?adj.1. Of or relating to the north; northern.2. Of or concerning the north wind.3. Boreal , Atlantic,Subboreal and Subatlantic climates nor our more refined system (Bouzek1982: 182f., 189, figure 4; 1983: 266) gives a sufficiently exact curvefor climatic development in the later Holocene. The two short newlyidentified phases reported here (the first dry towards the end of theMiddle Bronze Age, and a second wet in HaB1) are certainly not the onlytwo modifications of the old scheme to be expected: there also seems tohave been another wet phase during the earlier Urnfield culture Urnfield cultureLate Bronze Age culture of Europe, so called because its people placed their cremated dead in urns. This culture spread from east-central Europe and northern Italy in the 12th century BC and later to Ukraine, Sicily, Scandinavia, France, and Spain. , andperhaps a dry one towards the transition of LtB/C, while other minorfluctuations can as yet only be guessed.The recent studies also seem to show that no precise curve would bevalid for the whole of Central Europe. The drier continental climateusually penetrated from east to west, and the moister Atlantic from westto east; the time difference between their beginnings in the individualparts of the area studied (i.e. from Thuringia to Slovakia) may oftenhave been one or two generations. This also seems to be confirmed bystudies in the Pontic area (Glacier Variations 1984).The development, however, should also be studied also as part of achain of interactions between man and nature: clearing of forests,exhaustion of soil and erosion of cultivated land accelerated or sloweddown the rhythmic fluctuation of worldwide phenomena, of the'breathing of our earth'.The human economy, notably agriculture and cattle breeding, wasinfluenced or forced to change in some areas, while other areas wereless affected. It is generally true that extreme dryness brought asteppe-like climate to some Central European lowlands (most notably tothe Hungarian plain, less so to more western areas) and benefitedpastoralists living on sheep and cattle breeding, but the widening ofthe Atlantic climatic zone Noun 1. climatic zone - any of the geographical zones loosely divided according to prevailing climate and latitudegeographical zone, zone - any of the regions of the surface of the Earth loosely divided according to latitude or longitude with less sharp differences between summersand winters towards the east had a similar effect. Cattle breedingbecame more significant than agriculture, which enjoyed its mostfavourable conditions during the warmest, but not yet too dry times,with a long vegetation period in the year's cycle. Thus the warmerand drier climate in the 6th century AD favoured the penetration of theSlavonic tribes into the west, while Germanic tribes, who preferredcattle breeding using small fields, were forced to move westwards west��ward?adv. & adj.Toward, to, or in the west.n.A westward direction, point, or region.west by thesame change. The earlier significant change in the opposite directionwas one of the reasons for the end of Celtic civilization in CentralEurope. As the most favourable warm climatic conditions in central andnorthern Europe were contemporary with droughts in the Mediterranean,this situation changed the balance of power between the Mediterraneancivilizations and northern barbarians, the latter moving to the south(cf. Bouzek 1985b: 26f., 242f.).Other smaller groups in prehistoric times also used the seasonaltranshumance system: in their summer pasture lands they burried the deadunder barrows, characteristic symbols of clan identity forcattle-breeding populations, while for agriculturalists the village wasan adequate symbol of identity, cemeteries being less monumental.Certain lowlands where even nowadays the precipitation rate is onlyjust sufficient for agriculture (Central Thuringia, the Ohre lowland innorthwest Bohemia, parts of South Moravia, South Slovakia and theHungarian plain) were much more sensitive to precipitation changes, likethe karst areas in Thuringia, Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, than mostof the hill country in these regions, where small shifts in thevegetation pattern made little impact. The mountainous zone underwenthardly any important changes during these fluctuations. Pollen is poorlypreserved in most lowlands with alkaline soils, but these are preciselythe most significant territories for the study of climatic changes andof their impact on ancient populations.More evidence, studied jointly by archaeologists, pedologists,malacologists, palynologists and other specialists in their particularfields is the only way in which the present rough sketch of climaticdevelopment during the Central European Holocene may be improved.In addition to these long-term changes, the short-term fluctuationswere also of importance for prehistoric populations: a few years of badcrops often caused migrations, wars and other forms of unrest. Generaltendencies of a similar character have also been traced in northernEurope (Kristiansen 1980).ReferencesBAXA, P. 1990. 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Thuringer Hohlen und ihre holozanen Bodenaltertumer.Weimar: Landesmuseum.JAN BOUZEK, Institut d'Archeologie Classique del'Universite de Charles, Celetna 20, Prague 1, Czech Republic Czech Republic,Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. .