The Kochersberg loess area, west of Strasbourg France , has been explored in order to reconstruct the Holocene landscape dynamics. Sediments, pollen and plant macro-remains were analysed from an organic rich sediment core, sampled in the thalweg of a small catchment. The several proxies are offering a multiscalar view of landscape evolution from the Neolithic to the Middle Age.
At the catchment scale, major changes in the landscape are always associated with intense phases of occupation revealed by archaeological excavations. Prior to this infrastructure project, which has destructive consequences on the sedimentary and cultural relics, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out on the future railway track by using mechanical means fig.
In addition to the traditional archaeological survey, geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental surveys were carried out. Here we focused on the eastern part of the railway track, the Kochersberg area, covered by thick loess deposits.
The Pleistocene loess stratigraphy has been extensively studied on the reference site of Achenheim, Bas-Rhin Wernert, ; Heim et al. However, the morphogenesis of the Holocene and its resulting stratigraphy was never explored. Plant macrofossil remains and charcoal, deriving from archaeological features of different excavation sites on the railway track were investigated during post-excavation studies Durand et al. Therefore, in addition to systematic excavations, four sediment cores were sampled from four different catchments.
The most interesting sediment record was found in the small valley Ungerbruchgraben Mittelhausen, Bas-Rhin; fig. Pollen and other microfossils, waterlogged plant remains, and sediment analysis were compared to the rich archaeological heritage in and around the catchment. Sites of the Michelsberg culture Middle Neolithic, ca. Evidence of a Bronze Age occupation is almost non-existent and signs of the Roman occupation are relatively scarce.
