Methodological approach and case study for the reconstruction of a (pre) historic land use model

The land use pattern is a constantly developing and changing component of a cultural landscape. This paper presents a working scheme based on different working levels to reconstruct the land use pattern of prehistoric times in a model. The theory is explained by applying it to a case study. Using the data of different geoarchives analysed by multifarious methods helps to develope a Physiotope model to divide potential open land (farming) and potential closed land (wood) of a study area. The properties of the sediments and soils and the analysis of the relief are the main components of this Physiotope model. Subsequent working levels like the reconstruction of the vegetation pattern and the plant species, archaeological mapping or establishing a sediment chronology step by step fill up the Physiotope model with information. Blending all the data results in a land use model containing settlement locations, areas of woodland with tree species, fields and their possible seeds, potential agricultural areas or grassland, bogs and type and course of streams. The case study was focused on the Latène Age (- 500 -15 BC) where a distribution of about 30% definite fields and grassland and 18% potential fields and about 30% woodland and 2% potential woodland as well as 20% bogs were calculated.