Abstracts of Symposium 55 and some papers from other related Symposia.

Environment Reconstruction Based on Soil Characteristics of the Lower Cycles of the Archaeological Site of Wallertheim (Rheinhessen, Germany) - A Soilscape and Soil System Dynamics Approach

Roger LANGOHR, Judit BESZE-DEAK, Soil Science Unit, Univ. Gent, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000, Gent, Belgium.

The study is focused on the lower cycles of the ± 45 m long section of the Middle Paleolithic site of Wallertheim, excavated since 1991 by N.J.Conard. During the field work 12 profiles have been sampled through the complicated contact zone of the alternating alluvial and colluvial deposits buried by eolian sediments. Special attention went toe the related distribution and the spatial variability (including absence) of the soil characteristics. The record included successively macro-, meso- and micromorphological observations.

Three examples of paleoenvironmental reconstruction are presented here: 1. Turbation processes related with faunal activity (puddling) have been detected in connection with one of the stability phases. Some of the involutions penetrate deeply in the underlying horizons. Evidently at the moment of that process the groundwater table was high. 2. The distribution gradient of various types of secondary carbonates permit a reconstruction of the paleotopography and paleoenvironment of the Last Interglacial alluvial plain. The absence of the secondary carbonates at the contact zone of the alluvial plain with the upland slopes indicates a permanent water saturated zone, possibly corresponding to a recharge area. Further to the alluvial plain the vertical infilling of former biogalleries correspond to a supply of carbonates from the zone of capillary rise, possibly in a period of rising and/or fluctuating ground water table. The abundant secondary carbonates farther away from the hill footslope correspond best to a long lasting discharge area under a climate with strong alternating wet and dry season. 3. At the end of the alluvial-colluvial soil-sedimentary processes a sharp, possibly not very long lasting climatic change is detected. The pedality, ranging from microgranular in top to coarse platy in depth, the density of the aggregates and their strong packing are clear indicators of severe freezing and thawing. The presence, below the coarse platy structure, of large prisms with conchoidal faces and locally open interped fissures, seem to indicate such a deep freezing that the presence of a permafrost is possible. The effect of the frost crosses several soil sedimentary units and it is responsible for the vanishing of most of the pre-existing soil characteristics.

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