hinterland, influence, environs

Hinterland, Influence, EnvironsThe analysis of Celtic “Princely Sites” with the

help of Geographic Information Systems

Dr. Axel G. Posluschny M.A.

EU-Project ArchaeoLandscapes Europe

Roman-Germanic Commission of the

German-Archaeological Institute

Palmengartenstr. 10-12

D-60325 Frankfurt

[email protected]

http://www.archaeolandscapes.eu

Uppsala University – 22/10/2012

Content

• Defining an “Early Celtic Fürstensitz”• Examples of “Princely Sites”• Data and Methodological Background• Rethinking “Princely Sites” – Examples of GIS

Analyses• Central Places, Central Functions & the Hinterland• Summary, Some Kind of Synthesis

• Beyond GIS and “Fürstensitze”: The ArchaeoLandscapes Europe Project


Defining an “Early Celtic Fürstensitz”


“Fürstensitze” – “Princely Sites”

“Fürstensitz”

Area ofResearch


Definition “Fürstensitz” / “Princely Site”

W. Kimmig (1969):1. Fortified settlement on an

outstanding hill site

2. Imported goods from the Mediterranean (Greek tableware, transport amphorae, … )

3. Settlement with associated rich graves

4. Acropolis and suburbium

Burial mound “Kleinaspergle”Burial mound “Kleinaspergle”

““Fürstensitz” HohenaspergFürstensitz” Hohenasperg


Examples of “Princely Sites”


The Heuneburg “Fürstensitz”


The Glauberg “Fürstensitz”


The Ipf “Fürstensitz”


The Marienberg “Fürstensitz”


Data and Methodological Background


Research Questions of the “Fürstensitze” Project

- Concentration of Power?- Concentration of Economic Wealth?- Integration of Local and Microregional Societies into Supraregional Societies?

Research Basis:-Analysis of Settlement Structures

• (Source: http://www.fuerstensitze.de/)


Project Regions1: Marienberg (Würzburg)

2: Glauberg (Wetterau)

3: Heuneburg (Obere Donau)

4: Ipf (Ries)

5: Ehrenbürg (Oberfranken)

6: Münsterberg (Breisach)

7: Straubinger Donautal

8: Hohenasperg (Neckar)

9: Vladař (Böhmen)

10: Zavist (Böhmen, nicht erfasst)

11: Altmühltal

12: Bad Dürkheim (Pfalz, nicht erfasst)


Archaeological Data• All Settlement Sites (ca. 5800)• All Burial Sites (ca. 7700, thereof

ca. 5000 undated burial mounds)• Other Sites (single finds, caves,

road structures, ...; ca. 1400)

• 3 Epochs:- Late Bronze Age Urnfield Period(ca. 1200–750 v. Chr.)- Early Iron Age Hallstatt Period (ca. 750–450 v. Chr.)- Early Iron Age Early Latène Period (ca. 450–250 v. Chr.)


Environmental Data• Topography:

• Height

• Slope

• Aspect

• Distance to water

• Geology:• Distance to Löß soils

• Soil type

• …

• Climate:• Annual precipitation

• Beginning of Spring and beginning of late Summer

• Environmental classes• ...


16.09.2006

source: V. Gaffney/Z. Stančič, GIS approaches to regional analysis: A case study of the island of Hvar2 (Ljubljana 1996)


Centralisation

• “Concentration of Power”• Centralisation of Power• Economic Wealth = Power?• Central Power = Central Place?


Central places – central functions

(after Gringmuth-Dallmer 1999)

governance/administration

protection

trade

commerce/craft/ ...

cult/religion

settlements with several central functions

complex centre

settlements with one central function settlements with one central function

self-sustaining autarkic rural settlements


Central places – central functions

governance/administration

protection

trade

commerce/craft/ ...

cult/religion

strong relationship/dependency

weak relationship/dependency


Methods and Theory

„With experience, GIS becomes simply an extension of one's own analytical thinking. The system has no

inherent answers, only those of the analyst. It is a tool, just like statistics is a tool. It is a tool for thought.

...In many ways, learning GIS involves learning to think—

learning to think about patterns, about space and about processes that act in space.“

J. R. EASTMAN, IDRISI Kilimanjaro.Guide to GIS and Image Processing

(Worcester/MA 2003) 20


Landscape Archaeologyand Settlement Archaeology

"The key point to emphasis is that externalfactors influenced behaviour, and this

behaviour left patterns in space that could be objectively measured and quantified."

D. Wheatley/M. Gillings, Spatial technology and archaeology. The archaeological application of GIS (London, New York 2002) 7


Rethinking “Princely Sites”Examples of GIS Analyses


Viewshed Heuneburg ( )Viewshed Bussen ( )

Prominence and ViewshedsThe area around the Heuneburg “Fürstensitz”


The Glauberg and its Environs

Ha Ha/Lt eLt

Visibility of the Glaubergs from contemporary settlements in the Wetterau (max. visibility 10 km [top] und 20 km [bottom])

Ha Ha/Lt eLt


The Glauberg – a Wealthy Place


The Glauberg and its Connections

Hunsrück area


Routes According to Traditional ResearchAssumptions:1. It is possible to

reconstruct ancient routes by projecting back from modern ones

2. Ancient roads always run along crests of hills and mountains

3. Prehistoric routes follow lines of prehistoric burial mounds – Prehistoric burial mounds were built along roads and paths

after Loewe 1956


Testing the Traditional ModelWalking on Hilltops?

Iron Age routes, river and swamp bridgesin Switzerland (after Jud 2003)

Swamp bridge in Bavaria(after Schußmann 1996)


Testing the Traditional ModelHilltops?


Testing the Traditional ModelHilltops?

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

325

350

0 2500 5000 7500 10000 12500

Cross Section

Met

ers

Meters


Testing the Traditional ModelRoutes and Burial Mounds


Testing the Traditional ModelRoutes and Burial Mounds

-1.2

-0.8

-0.4

0

0.4

0.8

1.2

lpi burials lpi burials visible from roads (1000m) lpi random points


But ...

Routes and roads depend on the aim of the traveller:

• Trade (carriage, load)

• Social contact

• Migration

• …

They depend also on:

• The climate: Winter/Summer vs. Spring/Autumn

• Personal/social experience

• Tradition

• Regularity vs. “spontaneity”

There is not one single road or track, there is a large variety of options, based on different needs and circumstances There is no proof of prehistoric roads/routes being the basis of the economic wealth and power of the Glauberg


The Glauberg - Explaining Meaning


Explaining Meaning – A Calendar Buildingafter Deiss 2008


Explaining Meaning – A Calendar Building


Central Places, Central Functions & the Hinterland


The Importance of the Environs

Aspect of settlement sites


Site Catchment

Site Soil types

Site surrounding

Soil types in the site’s hinterland


source: V. Gaffney/Z. Stančič, GIS approaches to regional analysis: A case study of the island of Hvar2 (Ljubljana 1996)


‘Cost dependent’ Settlement Hinterlands

Each point within the catchment area can be reached from the settlement (red spot) with the same maximum effort (time, calorie expenditure, …)(Basis: slope, large streams)


Hinterland Strategies


The Marienberg costbuffers


Defining borders by limits of visibility:5 km cumulative viewsheds (green) and the burial mounds in the Glauberg vicinity


Excursus:LiDAR scans and burial mounds in the forests


LiDAR /Airborne Laser Scanning


The “hinterland” and its size


Natural resourcesSoil – suitability for plant cultivation


Hinterland Sizes

IpfIpf

GoldbergGoldberg„Bugfeld“„Bugfeld“

„Zaunäcker“„Zaunäcker“


[email protected]

Hinterland & Alimentation

• Elske Fischer ([email protected])=> palaeobotany

• Axel G. Posluschny ([email protected]) => archaeology, GIS analyses

• Manfred Rösch ([email protected]) => palaeobotany

• Kristine Schatz ([email protected]) => archaeozoology

• Elisabeth Stephan [email protected]) => archaeozoology

• Astrid Stobbe ([email protected]) => pollen analyses


Environmental Basics

• Soil• values based on the

“Reichsbodenschätzung”

• > 40 --> potential fields

• Topography• slope < 10% --> ploughable• slope > 10% --> potential grazing

land• meadows --> potential grazing

land

<20

20-2728-4041-6061-75

>75

E. Fischer


Data CombinationHeuneburg (Baden-Württemberg)

Utilisation/suitability:fields, medium (48.9%)

fields, medium/high (2.2%)

fields, high (2.2%)

meadows, wetland/pasture (37.6%)

woods, dryland/pasture (8.4%)

indeterminable/nondescript (0.6%)


Environmental Basics


Dynamics of Soil Development


Calculating Needs and Supply


Calculation of Potential - Crops

400

0

200

0

150

0


Calculation of Potential - Livestock


Outlook

• Refinement of the model, taking into account the possibilities of replacing exhausted nitrogen and phosphate

• Rechecking the used parameters for times of fallow, calorie consumption, hinterland sizes, ...

• Revision of the model on the basis of the environmental reconstruction with the help of pollen analyses

• Conversion of the Excel file in use into a runtime database (FileMaker) for a free distribution


Outlook

• Development of a calculation model within a GIS software (gvSIG) based on the actual model

• Calculation and analysis of the feeding potential of about 5500 settlement sites


Densities and Gaps

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Maindreieck, Uk-SiedlungenMaindreieck, Ha-SiedlungenMaindreieck, fLt-Siedlungen

A. Zimmermann/J. Richter/Th. Frank/K. P. Wendt, Landschaftsarchäologie II – Überlegungen zu Prinzipien einer Landschaftsarchäologie. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 85, 2004 (2005) 37–95.

Zimmermann et al. 52, fig. 5


Marienberg: Settlement Densities

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Maindreieck, Uk-Siedlungen

Maindreieck, Ha-Siedlungen

Maindreieck, fLt-Siedlungen

Uk period Ha period


Glauberg: Settlement Densities

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1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 12. 15 17.

km

Zuw

achs

Wetterau, Uk-Siedlungen

Wetterau, Ha-Siedlungen

Wetterau, fLt-Siedlungen

Wetterau, Ha/fLt- und fLt-Siedlungen

Uk period Ha period Ha/eLt & eLt period

Uppsala University – 22/10/2012 Dijon, 23.-25.6.2008

good poor

SlopeSoil quality

flat steep

Wetterau: Settlement Gaps


Summary and Some Kind of Synthesis


Central meaning vs. central locationDistance of „Princely Sites“ to macrochore

borders

Distance of „Princely Sites“ to main water streams


Settlement sitesper 100 years

Beyond GIS and “Fürstensitze”:

The ArchaeoLandscapes Europe Project

www.archaeolandscapes.eu

ArchaeoLandscapes Europe

Roman-Germanic Commission

• Agreement Number: 2010-1486• Start: 15th September 2010• End: 14th September 2015• EU Advancement: 2,5 Mio €• Total Budget: 5 Mio €• Partner Institutions: 61(at present)• Project Leadership: Roman-Germanic Commission of the

German Archaeological Institute

ArchaeoLandscape Europe is supported by the EU within the framework of the Culture 2007-2013 programme




Coordinator/Project Leader 1. Roman-Germanic Commission, German Archaeological Institut (DE)

Co-organisers:1. In Flanders Fields Museum, Belgium (BE)2. Cyprus Research and Education Foundation (STARC) (CY)3. Holstebro Museum (DK)4. State Heritage Service Baden-Württemberg (DE)5. Institute for Mediterranean Studies (FORTH) (GR)6. Baranya County Museum Authority (HU)7. Institute of Archaeology (IS)8. Discovery Programme (IE)9. University College Dublin (IE)10. University of Foggia (IT)11. University of Salento (LabTAF), Lecce (IT)12. University of Siena (LAP&T) (IT)13. University of Klaipeda (LT) 14. University of Leiden (NL)15. Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) (NO)16. Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań (PL)17. Institute for Cultural Memory (CIMEC) (RO) 18. Institute of Archaeology (RS)19. Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)20. Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) (SI) 21. University of Ljubljana (SI)22. Instituto de Estudos Galeos Padre Sarmiento (ES)23. English Heritage (UK)24. University of Exeter (UK)25. University of Glasgow (UK)26. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (UK)

Associated Partners:1. University of Vienna (AT)2. University of West Bohemia (CZ)

3. Estonian Heritage Society (EE)4. Aalto University School of Science and Technology (FI)5. National Museum of the Faroe Islands (FO)6. Université de Franche Comté (FR)7. University of Applied Sciences - i3mainz (DE)8. University of Bamberg (DE)9. University of Frankfurt (DE)10. Aerial Archaeology Research Group (international)11. Culture Lab - International Cultural Expertise (BE)12. Dutch Expertise Centre for Archaeological Remote Sensing (NL/BE)13. Dundalk Institute of Technology (IE)14. Latvian Academy of Culture (LV)15. University of Granada (ES)16. University of Uppsala (SE)17. University of Ulster (IE)18. Landscape & Geophysical Services (IE)19. Macquarie University, NSW (AU)20. The DART Project - University of Leeds (UK)21. Leuven University (BE)22. Department of Earth and Environment of the Italian National Research

Council (IT)23. University of Zagreb (HR)24. VU Amsterdam (NL)25. Moesgaard Museum (DK)26. The Rathcroghan Heritage Centre (IE)27. The Landscape Research Centre (UK)28. Polytechnic Institute of Tomar University (PT)29. ArchaeoPhysica (UK)30. University of Bologna (IT)31. Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)32. Szczecin University - Institute of History and International Relations,

Department of Archaeology (PL)33. University of California, Merced (USA)34. Cyprus University of Technology (CY)

...

61 Project Partner from all over Europe




Project Aims

• "To increase public appreciation, understanding and conservation .....

• of the landscape and archaeological heritage • of Europe ....

• through the application and international sharing of skills and experience ....

• in airborne and other forms of remote sensing"




Activities

• At least 6 Technical Workshops• More than 4 Aerial Archaeology Training Schools• 2 International Conferences (2013 Dublin, 2015 Frankfurt)• Symposia, Workshops, Meetings, Conference Sessions, ...• Travelling Exhibition (Start: 8th May 2013 in Dublin)• Publications (2 Monographs, Flyer, Conference Papers, Best

Practices Guides, ...)• Website http://www.archaeolandscapes.eu

(the site will be updated continuously during the 3 coming years of the project)

• Grants for Students and Young Researchers to participate in Workshops, Schools and Conferences




Thank you very much for your attention

hinterland, influence, environs

Education

uppsala university

heuneburg frstensitz

ipf frstensitz

glauberg frstensitz

central power

marienberg frstensitz

settlement sites

central functionself