Soil Erosion and Sedimentation in Central Europe From the Neolithic to the Industrial Revolution-The German and Polish Records

Abstract

The dynamics of Holocene geomorphic processes were characterized by transformations of the societal-environmental systems. Superimposed by climatic variability, these transformations constituted the evolution of the cultural landscapes in Central Europe. Driven by socio-economical improvements and population growth, this resulted in the long-term view in increasingly opened and connected landscapes, which became increasingly susceptible for processes of erosion of fertile soils and flooding. Phases of societal breakdown, such as the early Middle Ages (“migration period”), resulted in a measurable restoration of the soils—although the continuation of flooding might provide an example of an enduring change of geomorphic processes as a result of the human impact on sensitive mountain ecosystems since the Bronze Age. The subsistence economies of early human groups influenced the geomorphic processes on a local scale, namely during Neolithic Times. Increased land-use intensity on the regional scale, associated with evolving market economies outside (Metal Ages) and within central Europe (Middle Ages and Modern Times), facilitated geomorphic processes on a regional scale. The thresholds for soil erosion were lowered and the connectivity of slopes and river systems were increased. Thus, recurrent erosive precipitation events met very different preconditions during the Holocene. The disastrous socio-environmental consequences of such events, in particular in the year 1342, remain warning signals for the disaster control of the present and the future. The connection between mountain land use and flooding, the causes and recurrence intervals of extreme erosive precipitation events, and the overall role of economical systems, including the export of ecological costs (as soil erosion and degradation) to distant regions on earth, should be foci of future research on Holocene geomorphic processes.