The role of Medieval road operation on cultural landscape transformation

Michał Słowiński,Florian Ott,Piotr Guzowski,Markus Schwab,Roman Czaja,Tomasz Związek,Achim Brauer,Rik Tjallingii,Milena Obremska,Elizabeth Dietze,Mirosław Błaszkiewicz,Martin Theuerkauf

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-00090-3

Abstract

Connecting pathways are essential for cultural and economic exchange. Commonly, historians investigate the role of routes for cultural development, whereas the environmental impacts of historical routes attract less attention. Here, we present a high-resolution reconstruction of the impact of the major trade route via Marchionis in the southern Baltic lowlands on landscape evolution since more than 800 years. We combine precisely dated annually laminated sediments from Lake Czechowskie alongside via Marchionis and pollen data at 5-year resolution together with historical data. The transformation from a quasi-natural to a cultural landscape occurred in three phases (1) an early phase until the mid-fourteenth century with slowly increasing human impact. (2) an intensification of environmental disturbance until (3) the mid-nineteenth century when via Marchionis became a modern traffic route with strong environmental impacts. Superimposed on the long-term development were repeated interruptions by short-term downturns related to societal crisis and political decisions.

Highlights

Connecting pathways are essential for cultural and economic exchange
The proxy records from Czechowskie lake sediments demonstrate that the long-term landscape transformation from a quasi-natural to cultural state did not continuously occur but took place in three main phases, which were repeatedly interrupted by short-term setbacks, mostly due to wars
The environmental situation in the first phase was characterized by dominating mixed forest cover (65 up to 83% cover) with a large share of the Carpinus betulus (25 up to 32% cover) and Pinus sylvestris

Summary

Introduction

Connecting pathways are essential for cultural and economic exchange. Commonly, historians investigate the role of routes for cultural development, whereas the environmental impacts of historical routes attract less attention. It was of particular importance during the development of the state of the Teutonic Order in the lands of Prussia, when troops regularly used this route to support the Teutonic Knights, first in the battles with the pagan Prussia “Holy War”, and in the following centuries in wars with Poland and Lithuania[27] The importance of this road in the early modern period is evidenced by the fact that in 1524 the Polish king established custom points between its two branches to collect tolls from passing merchants[28] and in 1549 the VM was described as “great and significant”[29]. Thereby, the VM eventually became a modern multiple transport route

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