Formation, Classification, and Properties of Soils at Two Relict Charcoal Hearth Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

Hirsch, Florian; Schneider, Anna; Bauriegel, Albrecht; Raab, Alexandra; Raab, Thomas

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2018.00094

Cited by 33 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…This is consistent with detailed observations on other RCH soils in the area (Hirsch et al, 2018) and with the suggestion made in the royal Prussian order regulating charcoal burning in the region (Friedrich, 1779) to directly construct the hearth on top of the undisturbed ground vegetation for sandy soils. A slight disturbance of the uppermost centimeters of the topsoils, however, cannot be excluded, and might be indicated by the sharp upper boundary of the buried topsoil on site P. As it might be expected, high LOI was determined for the technogenic layers of the RCH profiles ( Table 1, Supplementary Table 1a), where LOI reflects both pyrogenic and pedogenic SOM.…”

Section: Soil Profile Description and Propertiessupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The buried topsoil horizons have similar thickness, colors and grain size distributions as the topsoil horizons in the undisturbed soil profiles. In parts of the profiles, the upper 2-4 cm of these topsoils have a slightly more reddish color, most probably as a result of thermal alteration of iron (hydr-)oxides (Hirsch et al, 2018). The uppermost centimeters of the buried topsoils, similar to the topsoils of reference profiles, show signs of podzolic eluviation.…”

Section: Soil Profile Description and Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

Schneider¹,

Hirsch²,

Raab³

et al. 2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Anthropogenically modified soils are often characterized by a high heterogeneity of substrates and show unique patterns of water infiltration. Such effects are not limited to intensively used or disturbed agricultural and technogenic soils, but can also occur as legacies of former land use in forested areas. The remains of historic charcoal hearths represent a widespread legacy of historic land use. Soils at relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) are most prominently altered by the deposition of a layer of charcoal-rich substrate on top of the natural soil surface. The presence of such a technogenic layer can considerably influence infiltration and soil wetness patterns on the sites. This study describes the spatial patterns of infiltration and soil wetness at charcoal hearth sites compared with undisturbed sandy forest soils for a historic charcoal production area north of Cottbus, Germany. We characterized six plots on RCH and reference soils under pine, oak, and mixed forest by visualizing preferential flow patterns of infiltrating water in dye tracer experiments. Additionally, we characterized bulk density, soil organic matter (SOM) contents and water repellency, using water drop penetration time (wdpt) tests, of the RCH and reference soil horizons. The results reflect that the persistence of water repellency of both the technogenic substrates and the natural topsoils is extremely high under dry conditions, but is drastically reduced after wet antecedent conditions. The dye tracer experiments reflect increased preferential flow on the RCHs for dry soil conditions, for which infiltration is limited to very few flow paths in the technogenic substrate layer. Differences between RCH and reference soils are less clear for higher antecedent soil wetness, for which the results indicate more uniform wetting of the technogenic substrates. We conclude that the structural properties of the additional technogenic substrate layer of RCHs have characteristic effects on water infiltration, causing a high temporal variation of preferential flow in relation to antecedent soil moisture conditions. These effects can result in high heterogeneity of soil moisture for dry conditions, and generally in a high temporal variation of soil wetness in RCHs soils.

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Section: Soil Profile Description and Propertiessupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Soil Profile Description and Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

Schneider¹,

Hirsch²,

Raab³

et al. 2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Similar preparations that included removing of surface soil horizons platform preparation are reported for RCHs in Belgium(Hardy, 2017). In contrast, our studies and archaeological excavations of RCHs in Brandenburg (Germany) suggest that the colliers placed the wood stack atop an undisturbed soil profile, without the removal of rootstocks(Figure 2a) or mechanical preparation of the site(Hirsch, Schneider, Bauriegel, Raab, & Raab, 2018).Circular RCHs on flatland, which are surrounded by a circular ridge (type 2c), are reported for the Harz as well as Belgium and the F I G U R E 2 (a) In situ charred rootstock on an RCH platform in the open-cast mine Jänschwalde (Brandenburg, Germany). The trees were cut for the preparation of the charcoal hearth but the rootstock have not been removed and remained on the platform during the operation of the hearth.…”

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confidence: 58%

An initiative for a morphologic‐genetic catalog of relict charcoal hearths from Central Europe

et al. 2020

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The increasing availability of high-resolution topographic data, coupled with image analysis and machine learning techniques, is rapidly changing the way archaeological sites are digitally identified and mapped. We present a catalog of common forms of relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) in Central Europe to improve the evaluation of morphologic and genetic features in future mapping approaches. RCHs are important historical landscape features created from the production of charcoal. RCHs are noted in Central Europe from the Medieval Period, but also are widespread near (pre-)industrial mining centers. Different forms of charcoal hearths were created by workers known as colliers, and their hearth building techniques may have differed on a regional scale. Our catalog is based on a morphologic-genetic grouping of RCHs. Due to topographic effects, reuse of production sites, or local techniques, this catalog is nonexhaustive, but most RCHs in Central Europe can be grouped into one of seven types. K E Y W O R D S anthropogenic relief features, charcoal kilns, charcoal pits, digital mapping, pre-industrial charcoal production platforms 1 | INTRODUCTION The study of relict charcoal hearths (RCHs), also referred to as charcoal kiln sites, is an emerging topic in environmental sciences and archaeology. The charcoal/biochar enriched substrate found in these sites not only affects carbon sequestration in soils (Kerré, Bravo, Leifeld, Cornelissen, &

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“…5). There are also more other environmental effects especially on soil physical and chemical properties which was proved by Schneider et al (2018Schneider et al ( , 2019 and Hirsch et al (2018). These issues should be also examined in the future, for the Mała Panew River basin.…”

Section: Other Environmental Effects Of Charcoal Burningmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Charcoal hearths reached a height of about 2-3 m and had a diameter of about 8 to even 30 m (Tyrol 2011). The wood in charcoal hearths was ignited and then the pyrolysis process took place, which could last up to 20 days (Hirsch et al 2018). After the charcoal burning process, charcoal hearth remains have survived as small elevations inside of which charcoal fragments are present, which is typical for flatlands while on sloped terrain there is normally a well-established step (Raab et al 2017b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental effects of historical charcoal burning associated with water-powered ferrous metallurgy (Mała Panew basin, southern Poland)

Rutkiewicz¹,

Malik²

2019

geol

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The main aim of this study was the reconstruction of the environmental changes (identifiable at this stage of research) resulting from large-scale charcoal production for the needs of historical water-powered metallurgy in selected sites in the Mała Panew basin. The identification of the remains of charcoal hearths was carried out by analysing shaded relief models. Shaded relief models were created from data from Airborne Laser Scanning (LIDAR). In order to verify the charcoal hearth remains identified in digital images, ground proofing was carried out. The charcoal hearth remains were subjected to sampling. Fragments of charcoal were extracted from the samples, which were then sent for analysis to identify tree species. In order to determine the age of chosen charcoal hearth remains, 10 charcoal pieces were submitted for radiocarbon dating. The following taxa were identified: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), alder (Alnus sp.), birch (Betula sp.), oak (Quercus sp.), Norway spruce / larch (Picea abies / Larix sp.), Silver fir (cf. Abies alba) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior). The taxa identified are dominated by Scots pine (56%). This research demonstrates that valuable wood of deciduous species might have been overexploited at the initial stage of metallurgical production and very quickly exhausted, being replaced by fast-growing coniferous species. The excessive exploitation of the forests might have had negative environmental effects such as the transformation/modification of the species composition of the forest cover, significant deforestation of exploited areas, intensification of floods or the initiation of aeolian transport of sands. All the charcoal hearth remains investigated date to the period from 1677 to 1957 AD.

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Formation, Classification, and Properties of Soils at Two Relict Charcoal Hearth Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

Cited by 33 publications

References 55 publications

Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

Dye Tracer Visualization of Infiltration Patterns in Soils on Relict Charcoal Hearths

An initiative for a morphologic‐genetic catalog of relict charcoal hearths from Central Europe

Environmental effects of historical charcoal burning associated with water-powered ferrous metallurgy (Mała Panew basin, southern Poland)

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