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TO RECONSTRUCT THE HISTORICAL FOREST IN THE ORE MOUNTAINS
Studying archaeological remains of charcoal kilns has a long tradition, but this is the first study in the Western Ore Mountains (Germany). It was conducted in a currently spruce forest area at an altitude of 900–950 m. Until today, countless remains of charcoal production sites witness the tremendous charcoal production for the surrounding mining districts, where tin, silver and other ores were mined and smelted until the 19th century. Using a LiDAR-derived digital elevation model, potential relict charcoal kilns were identified and verified during a field survey. From five sites, historical charcoal was sampled. From the charcoal remnants, the tree species and the number of available annual rings was determined, and with radiocarbon dating an age estimate for each kiln was set.
At all sites, it was found that Norway spruce has been dominant also in the past, sometimes accompanied by larger proportions of European beech or silver fir. On the drier, warmer south-exposed slope, the proportion of beech is higher and it proofs that this tree species grew at higher altitudes of the Ore Mountains during the 16th–18th century. The higher proportion of fir in the 17th–19th century on the more humid west-exposed slope in the eastern area, is an indication that it disappeared very recently from this region, almost certainly due to regulated forestry and acid rain during the last century.
The first records of forest composition in Saxony date back to the 16th century, but they are very imprecise. Only at the beginning of the 18th century, the first forest inventories at individual stand level were initiated. Pollen analyses go back further in time, but do not offer insights in species composition at site level. Here, anthracological investigations of relict charcoal kilns may fill a major gap in our understanding of forest development.