Speaker
Description
Fire, an important element of human land use strategies, was part of many early industrial activities but also of burning incidents that significantly impacted settlement structures and development. The spatial proximity of the historically well-documented medieval town and sediment archive deposited in its central lake (Stadtsee) was taken to investigate the interplay of fire and socio-environmental developments during the preindustrial phase of 750-150 B.P. (1200-1800 AD). The burning episodes were detected using sediment macroscopic charcoal record (>150 µm) and were interpreted considering sedimentological, palynological and historical evidence. Macro-charcoal analysis revealed two main phases of biomass burning: a late Medieval one (653-533 cal B.P.), followed by a distinct fire-free interval, and a second Modern Times phase (313 cal B.P. until today). During the late Medieval times and after 1750 AD (200 cal B.P.) low-magnitude local fires coincided with high-intensity land use pressure. Major historical events like the Thirty Years' war and the fire incident near the town (1386 AD - 174 cal B.P.) were also documented by the charcoal sedimentary record. The specific terrain morphology and the town microclimate impacted the chance, if certain local burning patterns were detectable at all. The present results demonstrate that during the Medieval period to the present day, fire events, mainly anthropogenic, were coupled with the main vegetation developments. Anthropogenic fire was an inseparable part of the Bad Waldsee landscape . as also recorded historically by the town archives.
