A landscape through time

The landscape paintings by the artist John Hodgson reconstruct how the Bleasdale area would have looked at six particular points in time. They are interpretations based upon detailed archaeological and environmental data, and are as close as possible to how we understand the landscape to have been shaped over time. The landscape is dynamic, and the main agent of change is human activity, which stretches back over hundreds and thousands of years.

Bjärehalvön - A unique Golf-Age landscape

The Bjäre peninsula was no less a treasure for the settlers of the Golf Age. At that period that lasted app. 80 years (1934-2013 AD), our climate was a few degrees milder than it is today. The light soil of Bjäre together with the easily bought politicians suited the players in the Golf Age. They preferred to place their Golf restaurants and the magnificent bunkers on heights with a panorama, and there were no shortage of these on Bjäre. The long coastline was a real goldmine during that period when trading with distant lands and contacts were flowering at the Market of Boarp and when the road 105 was the easiest road to travel between the airport directly to the golf course.

Wege in die Vorgeschichte Norddeutschland

Die Geest ist die älteste Landschaft Dithmarschens sowie allgemein der Westküste von Schleswig-Holstein. Sie hebt sich auch heute mit ihrer hügeligen Oberflächenform, den verstreut liegenden Waldungen und den von Knicks gegliederten Acker- und Wiesenflächen deutlich von der wesentlich jüngeren Marsch im Westen ab.

Archäologie und Umwelt, Denkmal und Landschaft - unter diesen Leitmotiven wird in Albersdorf für die Geest ein Archäologisch-Ökologisches Zentrum geschaffen, in dem eine über 5000 Jahre alte prähistorische Kulturlandschaft wiederersteht und das Zusammenspiel von Mensch und Natur in lebendigen Bildern dargestellt wird

Die Suche nach Yggdrasil

Fraxinus excelsior is the Tree of the Year 2001. In the nordic mythology it is known as Yggdrasil. According to the Edda, Thule is an Island where Yggdrasil grows. Conjectures are made to where Thule could be situated. There are indications that Thule could be the island Saaremaa in Estonia. Fraxinus excelsior is indeed growing at the border of a lake that resulted from a meteorite impact.

Trolls, mounds and tunnels

According to tradition a conflict once raged between the troll family in the mound on one hand and the chapel and priest on the other hand. The origin for the quarrel was connected to the bell by which the priests were calling the local villagers to service. The sound from the bell disturbed the trolls and they tried everything to silence it.

A window into the past

How has the landscape around Albersdorf changed over the past six millennia? What effect did cultivation of the land and grazing livestock have on the soils? Was there strong soil erosion in prehistoric times, the Middle Ages or the recent past? If so, did erosion over longer periods of time strongly change the landscape topography? How did man react to his changing environment?

These questions were studied at the Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (Archäologisch-Ökologischen Zentrum Albersdorf, AÖZA) in close co-operation with the Ecology Centre at the University of Kiel.

Zechstein and mining in the Spessart

Not only does Zechstein offer generally good soil conditions for most forms of agricultural practice, it also occurs in climatically favoured sites, making areas where it comes to the surface very interesting locations for man. It is presumed, that even prehistoric settlers preferably settled in its vicinity. One must also assume that the presence of ore in the lower layers of the Zechstein was already well known to prehistoric man. It is likely that Neolithic settlers had detailed knowledge on the spatial distribution of such useful ores. In this light, the peculiar accumulation of prehistoric ramparts in the area surrounding Bieber, which came to be one of the most important mining areas in the Middle Ages and early modern times, was no coincidence. The history of mining in Spessart began much earlier than documented records would suggest.

Archives in the peat

Dowris in the 1820s: One day in early summer around 1825, two men were trenching potatoes in the Derreens on the shore of Lough Coura at Dowris near Whigsborough. All thought of potatoes must have vanished from their minds at the sight of the fantastic hoard of gold-coloured bronze objects which they unearthed with their spades.

Prehistoric Hessian-Bavarian truckers

When visitors come to Frammersbach in the Spessart, they will notice the ever re-occurring image of the Fuhrmann - the carter - depicted on the houses in the village and especially on most souvenirs. The tradition goes back to the days when the continental transport of goods was of elemental importance for the Spessart community.

Gudme - a Focus of Archaeological Research since 1833

This first archaeological boom in Funen begun in 1833 and thus ended in 1882. 45 tumuli had been excavated, 45 megalithic tombs had been registrered, 407 Iron Age graves had been excavated and 72409 flint and stone artefacts had been collected.

The "Altvater"-Oak in Frammersbach

Near Frammersbach, deep in the Spessart, stood an ancient oak stood - weathered and worn - until 1916, when havoc was bestowed upon it by a fierce thunderstorm. At the time huge oak stood proud, with both massive healthy and withered grey branches reaching majestically toward the skies. Visitors to the forest were deeply impressed by the wooden giant, whom the locals from Frammersbach deeply respected. The Oak was even considered holy by some.

The turf spade

One of the most successful turf-cutting enterprises of the 19th century was in Mona Bog along the Shannon which provided work for several hundred people from around 1825 until the end of the century. At the height of the enterprise, 5,000 tons of turf a year were ferried down the Shannon to Limerick.

Buried butter

The high acid content of the soil gives bogs great preservative qualities. It turns out that between the 6th and 19th centuries A.D., people in Ireland and Scotland buried their butter in bogs, making butter one of the most widespread archaeological items found in bogs.

The Evidence from Pollen Analysis of a Bronze Age Mound in Bjäre, Sweden

Pollen analyses from different layers within archaeological features are considered to be connected with human activity. For instance, in a grave mound the pollen content in each layer may even have archaeological implications.

A bridge from the Viking Age in Wellinghusen

The fascinating North Sea region along the coast of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany is the result of the forces of nature and the influence of man, who founded first settlements 2000 years ago.

"Dorfwurten" economically leading collectives formed themselves andt took on responsibility for maintaining the dykes, drainage of bogs and the resulting colonization of peat covered mash areas.

A House from the Stone Age for Albersdorf

The Stone Age house in Albersdorf gives us a vivid picture of domestic life in the Neolithic Age. It was modelled after the best-preserved finding of a house from the Funnel Beaker Culture in Northern Germany, which was excavated in the 1970s in Flögeln in the Elbe-Weser Area.