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The full extent of past military events can be difficult to appreciate using only historical and documentary accounts. By combining these visual and textual sources with archaeological and geoarchaeological evidence, the authors propose and test an interdisciplinary approach that aims to establish a processoriented understanding of the genesis and transformation of conflict landscapes. Using the battle site at Vossenack Ridge in Germany as a case study, they demonstrate that such an approach can maximise our understanding of war-related transformations of the landscape, while minimising the damage to subsurface archaeological materials. Keywords: Germany, Second World War, archaeological prospection, geoarchaeology, battlefield archaeology, Introduction The Second World War arguably produced more documentary evidence than any other major historical conflict (Moshenska 2013), with military files, maps, films, photographs, reports and testimonies preserved in many [...]

For several years, photogrammetric surveys are quite often applied for surveying cultural heritage. For a detailed and accurate result, it is indispensable that the calculated point cloud represents the original geometry of the building in high quality, with vertical and horizontal structures in the same manner. Whereas many published papers in the field of digital heritage documentation are dealing with creating such models or using photogrammetric data for damage detection, only a few papers are investigating the crucial fact of accuracy and how it can be influenced by the used camera resolution. We want to present a case study, in which we compare the photogrammetric point cloud of a normal consumer drone with a high-end device. Beside the actual survey results showing the details of a Romanesque church, a statistical calculation of deviation is shown. It becomes evident that there is only a difference within some millimetres between the corresponding point clouds in most parts of the monument. Hence, it can be stated that, for most applications in heritage protection, affordable consumer unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are sufficient. Only if faint details have to be resolved will a better resolution of the mounted camera be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within this paper, a case study on the application of drone photogrammetry at the Second World War armament bunker Weingut I is presented. The aim of the project was the mapping of the preserved remains in advance to the installation of a memorial site. In particular, the preserved concrete arch and one of the ventilation shafts were mapped by this method in high quality. Therefore, even small details of the building structure as well as several damage spots needing remediation became visible. One important advantage of drone prospecting is an enhanced occupational safety and a cost and time reduction as no further manual resources are necessary. In areas without finalized clearing for Unexploded Ordnance, other manual survey method would be especially dangerous. By comparing the photogrammetric model of the bunker Weingut I with corresponding ALS Digital Surface Models (DSM) of varying resolution, the increase in information is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based magnetometer systems became more and more attractive for large‐scale archaeological prospection in recent years. Although their sensors exhibit the same sensitivity than the ground‐based prospecting systems, UAV prospecting is seriously handicapped by the magnetic and mechanical disturbances of the drone and by limitations of a low‐level flight. To minimize these disturbances, scalar magnetometers are attached only on a tether 2.5–10 m beneath the drone to be flown as close as possible above the ground. First, test measurements with UAV‐fixed fluxgate magnetometers provide more accurate results than the scalar magnetometers in any configuration but have to overcome disturbance by vibrations. Here, we present a case study choosing the compact set‐up of the Sensys MagDrone R4. The high sampling rate of 200 Hz of the three axis fluxgate sensors of the R4 allows sufficient filtering of the interferences generated by the UAV and external disturbances. High‐precision flight control of the drone allows operating the sensors by radar‐controlled flight height ∼1 m above the ground, which is a fundamental and indispensable prerequisite for archaeological prospecting. For our test, we choose the site Ganacker (southern Bavaria), where we expected a large range of archaeological structures and features with high magnetic contrast. We compare and verify the magnetogram with historical and recent geodata. Our results show that the R4 system offers an outstanding step forward regarding a successful application for archaeological prospection. Already now, the system is well suited for the fast mapping of large areas and archaeological sites with intense magnetic anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern archaeo‐geophysical radar surveys are often executed with multichannel antenna arrays, which allows a much faster survey progress combined with a denser profile spacing. Furthermore, from a methodological point of view, a full 3D dataset is necessary to resolve small targets of a few decimetre diameter. However, only a few test surveys deal with the evaluation of the real improvement in data quality by applying such multichannel arrays. In this paper, a test survey with the IDS Stream‐C 600‐MHz radar device on a small area covering the Roman Bath of Kempten‐Cambodunum is presented. The aim of the study is to figure out whether faint archaeological remains like hypocaust pillars, that is, the pillars of a Roman floor heating system, that are missed by single‐channel devices, are detectable in an ultra‐dense antenna array. Thus, the same area was simultaneously mapped with both GPR configurations. The results of this case study demonstrate the benefit of such antenna arrays for the archaeological prospection of small subsurface features with a diameter of 25 cm or less. For ground‐truthing of the results, a comparison with old excavation maps was executed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floodplain wetlands are complex systems influenced by many natural and anthropogenic operators. Due to the influence of high and varying groundwater table and high organic contents, geophysical prospection in wetland floodplains quickly reaches the limits of its effectiveness. At the Early Medieval canal Fossa Carolina in southwest Germany, a study design employing magnetometry, drillings, sampling, and in situ rock magnetic measurements was used for environmental magnetic interpretation of magnetic anomalies in magnetograms and sediment layers. This approach offers reliable archaeological interpretation of magnetic anomalies and magnetic properties under the site specific sedimentological conditions of a floodplain wetland. It was also found that man‐made magnetic anomalies in the floodplain are due to the genesis of different remanent magnetizations – specifically, greigite (Fe3S4) can cause distinct magnetic anomalies in floodplains that can be recognized readily in surface magnetic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central European Watershed divides the Rhine-Main catchment and the Danube catchment. In the Early Medieval period, when ships were important means of transportation, Charlemagne decided to link both catchments by the construction of a canal connecting the Schwabian Rezat and the Altmühl rivers. The artificial waterway would provide a continuous inland navigation route from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The shortcut is known as Fossa Carolina and represents one of the most important Early Medieval engineering achievements in Europe. Despite the important geostrategic relevance of the construction it is not clarified whether the canal was actually used as a navigation waterway. We present new geophysical data and in situ findings from the trench fills that prove for the first time a total length of the constructed Carolingian canal of at least 2300 metres. We have evidence for a conceptual width of the artificial water course between 5 and 6 metres and a water depth of at least 60 to 80 cm. This allows a crossing way passage of Carolingian cargo scows with a payload of several tons. There is strong evidence for clayey to silty layers in the trench fills which reveal suspension load limited stillwater deposition and, therefore, the evidence of former Carolingian and post-Carolingian ponds. These findings are strongly supported by numerous sapropel layers within the trench fills. Our results presented in this study indicate an extraordinarily advanced construction level of the known course of the canal. Here, the excavated levels of Carolingian trench bottoms were generally sufficient for the efficient construction of stepped ponds and prove a final concept for a summit canal. We have evidence for the artificial Carolingian dislocation of the watershed and assume a sophisticated Early Medieval hydrological engineering concept for supplying the summit of the canal with adequate water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland environments, with their excellent conservation conditions, provide geoarchaeological archives of past human activities. However, the subsurface soil is difficult to access due to high groundwater tables, unstable sediments, and the high cost of excavation. In this study, we present a ground-based non- and minimal-invasive prospection concept adapted to the conditions of wetlands. We investigated the Fossa Carolina in South Germany, a canal that was intended in 792/793 AD by Charlemagne to bridge the Central European Watershed. Although the resulting Carolingian banks and the fairway with wooden revetments are very imposing, archaeological traces of off-site construction activities have not been identified hitherto. Based on a geophysically surveyed intensive linear magnetic anomaly parallel to the Carolingian canal, we aimed to prove potential off-site traces of Carolingian construction activities. In this context, we built up a high-resolution cross-section using highly depth-accurate direct push sensing and ground-truthing. Our results showed the exact geometry of the canal and the former banks. Thus, the magnetic mass anomaly could be clearly located between the buried organic-rich topsoil and the Carolingian banks. The thermoluminescence dating showed that the position of the magnetic mass anomaly reflected Carolingian activities during the construction phases, specifically due to heat exposure. Moreover, we found hints of the groundwater supply to the 5-metre wide navigable fairway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Medieval Fossa Carolina is the first hydro-engineering construction that bridges the Central European Watershed. The canal was built in 792/793 AD on order of Charlemagne and should connect the drainage systems of the Rhine-Main catchment and the Danube catchment. In this study, we show for the first time, the integration of Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geoarchaeological subsurface datasets with the aim to create a 3D-model of Charlemagne's summit canal. We used a purged Digital Terrain Model that reflects the pre-modern topography. The geometries of buried canal cross-sections are derived from three archaeological excavations and four high-resolution direct push sensing transects. By means of extensive core data, we interpolate the trench bottom and adjacent edges along the entire canal course. As a result, we are able to create a 3D-model that reflects the maximum construction depth of the Carolingian canal and calculate an excavation volume of approx. 297,000 m3. Additionally, we compute the volume of the present dam remnants by Airborne LiDAR data. Surprisingly, the volume of the dam remnants reveals only 120,000 m3 and is much smaller than the computed Carolingian excavation volume. The difference reflects the erosion and anthropogenic overprint since the 8th century AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limited availability of high-resolution continuous archives, insufficient chronological control, and complex hydro-climatic forcing mechanisms lead to many uncertainties in palaeo-hydrological reconstructions for the Western Mediterranean. In this study we present a newly recovered 19.63 m long core from Lake Sidi Ali in the North African Middle Atlas, a transition zone of Atlantic, Western Mediterranean and Saharan air mass trajectories. With a multi-proxy approach based on magnetic susceptibility, carbonate and total organic C content, core-scanning and quantitative XRF, stable isotopes of ostracod shells, charcoal counts, Cedrus pollen abundance, and a first set of diatom data, we reconstruct Western Mediterranean hydro-climatic variability, seasonality and forcing mechanisms during the last 12,000 yr. A robust chronological model based on AMS 14 C dated pollen concentrates supports our high-resolution multi-proxy study. Long-term trends reveal low lake levels at the end of the Younger Dryas, during the mid-Holocene interval 6.6 to 5.4 cal ka BP, and during the last 3000 years. In contrast, lake levels are mostly high during the Early and Mid-Holocene. The record also shows sub-millennial- to centennial-scale decreases in Western Mediterranean winter rain at 11.4, 10.3, 9.2, 8.2, 7.2, 6.6, 6.0, 5.4, 5.0, 4.4, 3.5, 2.9, 2.2, 1.9, 1.7, 1.5, 1.0, 0.7, and 0.2 cal ka BP. Early Holocene winter rain minima are in phase with cooling events and millennial-scale meltwater discharges in the sub-polar North Atlantic. Our proxy parameters do not show so far a clear impact of Saharan air masses on Mediterranean hydro-climate in North Africa. However, a significant hydro-climatic shift at the end of the African Humid Period (∼5 ka) indicates a change in climate forcing mechanisms. The Late Holocene climate variability in the Middle Atlas features a multi-centennial-scale NAO-type pattern, with Atlantic cooling and Western Mediterranean winter rain maxima generally associated with solar minima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]