NDLI: Fifteen years of the Forchtenberg experiment—results and implications for the understanding of Neolithic land use

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Ehrmann, Otto Biester, Harald Bogenrieder, Ar Rösch, Manfred
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Experimental research into Neolithic agriculture has been underway in Forchtenberg, southwest Germany, since 1998. The experimental area is a medium age mixed-deciduous forest featuring different soils, mainly haplic and stagnic luvisols. In this experimental setting, research has focussed on comparisons of soil nutrients and crop yields resulting from slash and burn cultivation and from cultivation with hoeing. We show that slash and burn produces significantly higher yields, although always depending on soil quality. Hoe tilling is only profitable on the best soils in the first year after clearance. Continuous cultivation with hoeing produces too low yields, but repeated annual cultivation on slash and burn sites also resulted in progressively lower yields due to decreasing levels of nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen originates not from burned wood but from the burning and mineralisation of organic matter in the topsoil. After burning and cultivation, a break of about 10–15 years is necessary, not only for forest re-growth, but also for the regeneration of the top soil and its nitrogen content. Slash and burn agriculture is therefore an easy and reliable tool for food production by a small population living in a large forested area.
Starting Page	5
Ending Page	18
Page Count	14
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09396314
Journal	Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Volume Number	23
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	16176278
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2014-04-11
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Neolithic agriculture Experimental archaeology Slash and burn Paleontology Biogeosciences Climate Change Anthropology Archaeology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Plant Science Archeology (arts and humanities) Paleontology

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

An experimental approach to Neolithic shifting cultivation

Experiments on the effects of charring on Setaria italica (foxtail millet)

Macro-botanical evidence for plant use at Neolithic Çatalhöyük south-central Anatolia, Turkey

“Slash and burn” or “weed and manure”? A modelling approach to explore hypotheses of late Neolithic crop cultivation in pre-alpine wetland sites

Models of wetland settlement and associated land use in South-West Germany during the fourth millennium b.c.

Crop growing and gathering in the northern German Neolithic: a review supplemented by new results

Vicia peregrina: an edible early Neolithic legume

Continuity and changes in plant resources during the Neolithic period in western Switzerland

New evidence for Neolithic rice cultivation and Holocene environmental change in the Fuzhou Basin, southeast China

Fifteen years of the Forchtenberg experiment—results and implications for the understanding of Neolithic land use

Similar Documents

An experimental approach to Neolithic shifting cultivation

Experiments on the effects of charring on Setaria italica (foxtail millet)

Macro-botanical evidence for plant use at Neolithic Çatalhöyük south-central Anatolia, Turkey

“Slash and burn” or “weed and manure”? A modelling approach to explore hypotheses of late Neolithic crop cultivation in pre-alpine wetland sites

Models of wetland settlement and associated land use in South-West Germany during the fourth millennium b.c.

Crop growing and gathering in the northern German Neolithic: a review supplemented by new results

Vicia peregrina: an edible early Neolithic legume

Continuity and changes in plant resources during the Neolithic period in western Switzerland

New evidence for Neolithic rice cultivation and Holocene environmental change in the Fuzhou Basin, southeast China

Fifteen years of the Forchtenberg experiment—results and implications for the understanding of Neolithic land use