Prehistoric moor path
Prehistoric trackways are from prehistoric times dating paths consisting of wooden material, such as piles ( logs ), piles or shrub bundles were built. They led up to several kilometers over boggy and swampy areas, which year-round and safe crossing would not be possible without aids. So far, around 350 such routes have been found in Lower Saxony and around 40 in the neighboring Netherlands .
Research history
For about 200 years in northwestern Germany on the basis of discovered bog bodies and bog trails peat archeology operated. The Lohner historian and politician Carl Heinrich Nieberding probably carried out the first investigations on prehistoric moor paths in the Großer Moor , which, according to his publication from 1812, he considered to be “newly discovered old military paths”. Further investigations on moor paths were carried out in the 19th century by the Oldenburg museum director Friedrich Kurt von Alten in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and the Diepholz district building inspector Hugo Prejawa in the region around the Dümmer . In the 20th century, Hajo Hayen carried out moor archaeological investigations as an employee of the State Museum for Natural History and Prehistory after the Second World War .
Construction
In the case of prehistoric moor paths, a distinction must be made between pile paths with logs and plank paths with planks , depending on the material used as the walking surface . In the case of plank paths, however, not only classic square planks, but also logs split in other ways, such as half planks, quarter planks, triangular planks and edge planks. The earlier moor archaeologists each had their own typifications of moor paths. It was not until the 20th century that the moor researcher Hajo Hayen developed the terminology currently used for moor paths with the following basic types:
- Plank path with planks laid across the direction of travel on a substructure of 2 to 3 rows of longitudinal timbers
- Plank embankment with at least two lengthways laid planks on a substructure made of transverse timbers
- Plank bridge with a single plank on a substructure made of crossbars
- Pile path with piles laid across the direction of travel on a substructure of 2 to 3 rows of longitudinal timbers
- Pile embankment with piles laid lengthways on pieces of wood, clubs or bundles of bushes
- Pile walkway with tree-length posts in the longitudinal direction on a substructure made of transverse timbers
- Billet dam with a top layer of billets, bundles of bushes and wood
- Shrub path with a layer of bushes, woods and stakes
- Row of stakes with wooden sticks in the peat floor to mark passable areas in the bog
The oldest known moorland trails, dating back to the Neolithic around 4500 BC. Originated in BC, were pile paths with round timber. Initially, mainly pine wood was used, later alder and birch wood predominated. From the middle Bronze Age around 1300 BC. In BC, plank paths came up using split wood, which had a better craftsmanship. According to the moor researcher Hajo Hayen, moor paths could only be used temporarily, around 10 to 30 years.
Path surface
In the case of the moor paths, the question arises as to whether the wood of the path surface was exposed or was covered with other material in order to make it easier to walk and drive on. The leveling of the surface of the path through the use of planks - instead of the round posts initially used, according to Hajo Hayen , must be seen against the backdrop of Bronze Age traffic. In several cases, a layer of heather or grass sod was observed on the layer of planks . The importance of this application layer has been discussed controversially. After several reports of plagging orders in the 19th century , Hugo Prejawa generally questioned them. More recent studies have also emphasized that no edition could be determined. Reinhardt observed during the investigation of the route XV (Le) in the Meerhusener Moor in some places a woven mat as a top layer. Hayen was able to identify a sod layer several times. Some of the plant remains showed a different growth. The roots were upright, so that upturned heather was to be assumed. The local evidence of such path requirements can be considered secure, but many paths were wholly or partially not required. In the case of Dutch prehistoric bog trails, for example, a layer of peat sod is known to exist in only one case. The overlay leveled out uneven areas in the pile layer, increased the surface of the path compared to the moor and prevented slipping on the wet wood embedded in the moor. The covering of the surfaces prevented any signs of use on the wood.
Found location
From the Neolithic , Bronze Age and more recent epochs, wooden path structures overgrown by the bog have been preserved in situ in some regions due to the good conservation properties .
Lower Saxony
The maritime climate and the rise in the Holocene sea level promoted peatland in northwestern Europe. To the north of the low mountain range , the old mapping shows areas of land that were covered by moorland and penetrated by Geest islands. With around 6300 km², around one sixth of the state of Lower Saxony was covered by moors until the 18th and 19th centuries, of which raised moors took up around 55% of the area. Until they were drained and cultivated , bogs formed natural spatial barriers outside the frost period for the connection between the colonizable areas, which were only apparently overcome by laying boarded paths.
The oldest path, which is up to five meters wide in places, with the archaeological name Pr 31, is one of six stilted paths discovered in Campemoor . They once ran through a forest in the Campemoor near Damme in the Vechta district . According to C14 data, the Pr 31 path existed between 4835 and 4715 BC. And was on 4550 BC. Chr. Dendrodatiert , more than a thousand years before the oldest Raddatierung. In this case, there is no context between pile paths and the use of vehicles.
Even later routes were in very few cases suitable for vehicle traffic. 14 wider paths suitable for wagons in Lower Saxony were the exception. As Burmeister describes: "Most of these (200) paths are narrow walkways that bridge the wet edge moor area and lead to the high moor area"
British Islands
The 1.8 km long Sweet Track on the British Isles is the oldest safely dated boardwalk in Great Britain to date. It runs across a marshland in the Somerset Levels in Somerset . According to the dendrochrological analysis , the tree trunks used were found around 3800 BC. Like.
The Belmarsh Trackway , a wooden boardwalk for crossing a bog, was discovered in 2009 in [Plumstead], a borough of London, and dates back to about 4000 BC. Dated. There is no scientific publication yet. The four meter wide Corlea Trackway in Ireland is dated to 147 BC. One of the youngest so far discovered ways.
See also
- Transport in prehistory and early history
- Boardwalk in Emsland
- Bohlenweg in Wittemoor
- Bohlenweg in Wittmoor
- Cudgel dam
- Pathways in the camp moor
- Moor path in the Aschen Moor
literature
- Hajo Hayen : Boardwalk bridges over the moors. In: Of spearheads and stone graves. Prehistory and early history in the Emsland . Emsländischer Heimatbund (Ed.), 1982, ISBN 3-88077-104-X
- Hajo Hayen: Construction and function of the wooden moor paths. Some facts and conclusions. In: Herbert Jankuhn et al. (Ed.): Investigations on trade and traffic of prehistoric times in Central and Northern Europe V. Traffic: traffic routes, means of transport, organization. Treatises of the Academy of Sciences Göttingen, Phil.-Hist. Class 3, series 180, 1989 pp. 11-62.
- St. Burmester: Neolithic and Bronze Age bog finds from the Netherlands, Northwest Germany and Denmark. In: Mamoun Fansa , St. Burmeister (Ed.): Rad und Wagen. Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 2004 ISBN 3-8053-3322-6
- Mamoun Fansa, Frank Both (ed.): "Oh, it's scary to walk over moor ..." 220 years of moor archeology , 2011
Web links
- Moor archeology in the moor and fen museum Elisabethfehn ( Memento from July 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
swell
- ↑ Red Map 2017, Significant archaeological monuments are literally vanishing into thin air: The “Pr VI” plank path and other prehistoric moor paths are threatened with ultimate destruction as they dry out! ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Pp. 31–32 (pdf)
- ↑ a b Burmeister: wheel and carriage. 2004, p. 336 f.
