NDLI: Charlemagne's Summit Canal: An Early Medieval Hydro-Engineering Project for Passing the Central European Watershed

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Christoph, Zielhofer Leitholdt, Eva Werther, Lukas Stele, Andreas Bussmann, Jens Linzen, Sven Schneider, Michael Meyer, Cornelius Stefanie, Berg-hobohm Ettel, Peter
Editor	Hart, John P.
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	The Central European Watershed divides the Rhine-Main catchment and the Danube catchment. In the Early Medieval period, when ships were important means of transportation, Charlemagne decided to link both catchments by the construction of a canal connecting the Schwabian Rezat and the Altmühl rivers. The artificial waterway would provide a continuous inland navigation route from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The shortcut is known as Fossa Carolina and represents one of the most important Early Medieval engineering achievements in Europe. Despite the important geostrategic relevance of the construction it is not clarified whether the canal was actually used as a navigation waterway. We present new geophysical data and in situ findings from the trench fills that prove for the first time a total length of the constructed Carolingian canal of at least 2300 metres. We have evidence for a conceptual width of the artificial water course between 5 and 6 metres and a water depth of at least 60 to 80 cm. This allows a crossing way passage of Carolingian cargo scows with a payload of several tons. There is strong evidence for clayey to silty layers in the trench fills which reveal suspension load limited stillwater deposition and, therefore, the evidence of former Carolingian and post-Carolingian ponds. These findings are strongly supported by numerous sapropel layers within the trench fills. Our results presented in this study indicate an extraordinarily advanced construction level of the known course of the canal. Here, the excavated levels of Carolingian trench bottoms were generally sufficient for the efficient construction of stepped ponds and prove a final concept for a summit canal. We have evidence for the artificial Carolingian dislocation of the watershed and assume a sophisticated Early Medieval hydrological engineering concept for supplying the summit of the canal with adequate water.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108194
Starting Page	108194
File Format	PDF
ISSN	19326203
e-ISSN	19326203
Journal	PLoS ONE
Issue Number	9
Volume Number	9
Language	English
Publisher	Public Library of Science
Publisher Date	2014-09-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	Public Library of Science
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) Medicine(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Multidisciplinary

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