Past fuel wood exploitation and natural forest vegetation in the Black Forest, the Vosges and neighbouring regions in western Central Europe

Abstract

Results and perspectives of charcoal research in Central Europe are highlighted, with special regard to the dependence of past fuel economy on the tree species composition of the natural forest vegetation. The main topic is how analyses of archaeological macrocharcoals from sites of historical mining, archaeo-metallurgical processes and charcoal burning (kiln site anthracology) can provide answers to questions on vegetation history, geography and ecology at the landscape level. This paper primarily focusses on the spatial differentiation at the regional scale. A synoptic overview is given for a diversified pilot area in the western part of Central Europe, with special regard to the natural diversity of growth conditions, forest vegetation and tree species composition at the regional scale. It includes results of 876 historical sites in the Black Forest, the Vosges and neighbouring regions. The material analysed spreads over a time scale of 7000 years from the Neolithic period to Modern Times. Most samples have been selected from postmedieval charcoal burning in the Black Forest and the Vosges as well as from medieval mining in the western part of the Black Forest. Generally, no selection of distinct species for fuel wood use was made in the past. All of the tree taxa to be expected for the natural conditions were exploited. Moreover, their frequencies also reflect a natural situation. The tree species of the climax vegetation were mainly used and all other species were quantitatively unimportant. The individual sample sites show considerable differences in tree taxa composition and frequency, from which regular spatial patterns of the past tree species distribution have been deduced on local and regional scales. Linking the results of charcoal analyses with those of recent site ecology and vegetation science, these patterns can be explained by regional and local differences in the ecological conditions of the exploited forests in the vicinity of the sites studied. A pronounced dependence of the fuel wood use on the natural site specific distribution of the tree species is discernible. Moreover, taxa composition and the diameter of the wood used often indicate the exploitation of close-to-nature non-degraded forest stands in the past. The local natural availability of wood and the restricted possibilities of wood transport were important criteria for past fuel wood exploitation.