Quaternary and geoarcheology in Lower Lusatia

Open-cast lignite mines in Lower Lusatia provide unique insights into human-induced environmental changes in the Northern European Lowland and improve our understanding of Quaternary landscape dynamics. The excursion will focus on soils and sediments of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age that have been modified by land use since the Slavic Middle Ages. In the vicinity of the open-cast mine Jänschwalde and in the Tauer forest north of Cottbus characteristic remains of historical charcoal production, a ridge-and-furrow system and late Quaternary rubification in soils are presented.