Books by Dieter Schaefer
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Congress papers by Dieter Schaefer
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H. Kerschner et al (Ed.) From the forelands to the Central Alps. Field trips to selected site of Quaternary research in the Tyrolean and Bavarian Alps (DEUQUA Excursions) 2014.
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Papers by Dieter Schaefer
The Holocene, 2023
Peatlands are receiving increasing attention in palaeoenvironmental research and represent very u... more Peatlands are receiving increasing attention in palaeoenvironmental research and represent very useful terrestrial archives for reconstructing vegetation, climate and human history. Previous palaeoenvironmental studies in the Fotsch Valley, Stubai Alps, Austria, focused on geoarchaeological investigations on the Ullafelsen representing a very important prehistorical encampment site used by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (10.9-9.5 cal. kyr BP). In order to contribute to a better understanding of the landscape evolution of the Fotsch Valley, we here studied the close-by subalpine 'Potsdamer Hütte Mire' by applying radiocarbon dating as well as elemental, biomarker, compound-specific stable isotope, palynological and macrofossil analyses on bulk peat samples. The calculated age-depth model using R Bacon indicates the beginning of peat formation during the Early Holocene and shows a strongly reduced peat accumulation rate (PAR) from 170 to 121 cm depth (8.5-2.1 cal. kyr BP) and/or a striking hiatus. Results of leaf wax-derived nalkane biomarkers as well as macrofossils and palynological indicators reflect the local presence of coniferous trees and the synchronous expansion of deciduous trees during the Early Holocene. The above-mentioned strongly reduced PAR and/or hiatus coincides with the Neolithic, the Bronze and the Iron Age, and goes hand in hand with strong changes in vegetation and an increase of micro-charcoal and black carbon. Despite age uncertainties, these changes can be explained with strongly increasing human and livestock activities in form of deforestation, domestic fires and the beginning of Alpine pastoralism. The latter is confirmed by the finding of pasture and cultural indicator pollen (Cerealia-type, Rumex, Plantago lanceolata, Poaceae) occurring since the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The oxygen isotope composition of sugar biomarkers (δ 18 O sugars) likely reflects the dry versus humid climatic variability associated with the Holocene climatic optimum during the Mesolithic, the Roman Age, the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the Middle Ages and the Little Ice Age.
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Biogeosciences, 2022
The Ullafelsen at 1869m above sea level (a.s.l.) in
the Tyrolean Stubai Alps next to Innsbruck is... more The Ullafelsen at 1869m above sea level (a.s.l.) in
the Tyrolean Stubai Alps next to Innsbruck is an important
(geo)archeological reference site for the Mesolithic period.
Buried fireplaces on the Ullafelsen plateau were dated at 10.9
to 9.5 ka cal BP and demonstrate together with thousands of
flint stone artifacts the presence of hunter-gatherers during
the Early Holocene. Grazing livestock has been a predominant
anthropozoological impact in the Fotsch Valley presumably
since the Bronze Age (4.2–2.8 ka). In order to study
the human and/or livestock faeces input on the Ullafelsen,
we carried out steroid analyses on 2 modern ruminant faeces
samples from cattle and sheep, 37 soil samples from
seven archeological soil profiles, and 9 soil samples from
five non-archeological soil profiles from the Fotsch Valley
used as reference sites. The dominance of 5-stigmastanol
and deoxycholic acid in modern cattle and sheep faeces
can be used as markers for the input of ruminant faeces in
soils. The OAh horizons, which have accumulated and developed
since the Mesolithic, revealed high contents of steroids
(sterols, stanols, stanones and bile acids); the eluvial light
layer (E (LL)) horizon coinciding with the Mesolithic living
floor is characterized by medium contents of steroids.
By contrast, the subsoil horizons Bh, Bs and BvCv contain
low contents of faecal biomarkers, indicating that leaching
of steroids into the podsolic subsoils is not an important factor.
High content of 5-stigmastanol and deoxycholic acid in
all soil samples gives evidence for faeces input of ruminants.
The steroid patterns and ratios indicate a negligible input of
human faeces on the Ullafelsen. In conclusion, our results
reflect a strong faeces input by livestock, rather than by humans
as found for other Anthrosols such as Amazonian dark
earths. Further studies need to focus on the question of the
exact timing of faeces deposition.
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Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte, 2021
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Supplement of E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 2021
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E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 2021
of the copper age mummy called “Ötzi” in the Ötztaler Alps in 1991. In the Tyrolean Stubai Alps, ... more of the copper age mummy called “Ötzi” in the Ötztaler Alps in 1991. In the Tyrolean Stubai Alps, the
Mesolithic site Ullafelsen at 1869ma.s.l. (above sea level) close to the recent upper timberline in the
Fotsch Valley represents, on the one hand, a very important archaeological reference site and offers,
on the other hand, intriguing research questions related to, amongst others, pedogenesis. Given that no
biomarkers and stable isotopes have been hitherto investigated, we aimed at contributing with respective
analyses and additional radiocarbon dating to a better understanding of the landscape evolution
and pedogenesis on and around the Ullafelsen.
Our results for modern vegetation suggest that leaf-wax-derived n-alkanes allow us to chemotaxonomically
distinguish between subalpine deciduous trees (nC27 predominance) versus (sub)alpine
grasses, herbs and dwarf shrubs (nC29, nC31 and/or nC33 predominance). Except for Juniperus, conifers produce no or extremely low n-alkane contents. Although no clear vegetation changes could
be inferred from the n-alkane patterns of the investigated soil profiles, the total n-alkane content (TAC)
was developed for the first time as an unambiguous proxy for distinguishing between buried (= fossil)
topsoils (2Ahb horizons) and humus-enriched subsoils such as Bh horizons of podzols. Based on
this leaf wax proxy, we can rule out that the 2Ahb?/Bh? horizons under question on the Ullafelsen
are buried topsoils as suggested previously. Dating of the H2O2-pretreated soil samples yielded 14C
ages for the podzol Bh horizons ranging from 6.7 to 5.4 cal kyr BP. This is clearly younger than the
overlying Mesolithic living floor (LL) (10.9 to 9.5 cal kyr BP) but pre-dates the assumed intensification
of alpine pasturing from the Bronze Age onwards. Both the LL and the directly overlying
OAh3 horizon yielded black carbon maxima and benzene polycarboxylic acid patterns reflecting fireinduced
human impact during the Mesolithic. The discrepancy between the Mesolithic charcoal 14C
ages (ages of 9.5 cal kyr BP) versus the 14C ages obtained for bulk n-alkanes ranging from 8.2
to 4.9 cal kyr BP suggests that non-alkane-producing conifers predominated the vegetation on and
around the Ullafelsen after the Mesolithic occupation. Only with the anthropo-zoological lowering of
the timberline associated with alpine pasturing since the Neolithic and especially the Bronze Age has
an n-alkane-producing vegetation cover (grasses, herbs or dwarf shrubs) started to predominate.
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Überlegungen zur internen Organisation Ullafelsen (Kind Festschrift), 2019
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Stone Age hunters on transalpine trails Nat Resource Environment and Humans 9, 2019 [Japanese], 2019
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The landscape archaeological Project Ullafelsen (Austria) -updated results Lecture for: Palaeoenvironemnt and lithic raw material acquisition during MIS2 and early MIS1: a comparative perspective -in press
The landscape archaeological Project Ullafelsen (Austria) -updated results Lecture for: Palaeoenv... more The landscape archaeological Project Ullafelsen (Austria) -updated results Lecture for: Palaeoenvironemnt and lithic raw material acquisition during MIS2 and early MIS1: a comparative perspective -in press
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The landscape-archaeological Ullafelsen Project (Tyrol, Austria), 2016
The early Mesolithic site at Ullafelsen is at the centre of a landscape-archaeological project on... more The early Mesolithic site at Ullafelsen is at the centre of a landscape-archaeological project on the Mesolithic in Tyrol (Austria). In this project, for the first time in a subalpine open air site in Austria, mesolithic living floors were identified and explored in great detail. The analysis of the natural sedi-mentation and soil-scientific processes confirmed that Mesolithic people had manipulated the surface of the living floor, for instance to produce organic tar from birch bark through controlled, oxygen reduced burning processes. Our C14 dating indicates that the use of subalpine sites in the Austrian Alps started as early as the early Preboreal. Analyses of the introduced cherts revealed that they originated from sometimes quite distant geological sources in Bavaria and in northern Italy. This is proof of people crossing the Alps even in the early Holocene and makes contacts between the southern alpine Sauveterrian and the southern German Beuronian technocomplexes highly likely. Riassunto Il sito Ullafelsen, datato al Mesolitico antico, è al centro di un progetto di Archeologia del paesaggio che riguarda il Mesolitico in Tirolo (Austria). Questo progetto, per la prima volta in un sito all'aperto in Austria, propone una identificazione e una dettagliata indagine di superfici di abitato mesolitici. L'analisi della sedimentazione naturale e dei processi della formazione del suolo hanno confermato la manipolazione della superficie di abitato da parte dei Mesolitici, per esempio per produrre masti-ce organico dalla corteccia di betulla attraverso processi di combustione controllati e in ambiente scarso di ossigeno. Le nostre datazioni C14 indicano che nelle Alpi Austriache l'utilizzo dei siti della fascia subalpina ha già avuto inizio nel primo Preboreale. Le analisi delle materie prime silicee hanno rivelato la loro derivazione anche da affioramenti geologici di notevole distanza, ubicati in Baviera e nell'Italia settentrionale. Ciò dimostra l'attraversamento delle Alpi fin dal primo Olocene e rende altamente probabile l'esistenza di contatti tra i techno-complessi del Sauveterriano sudalpi-no e del Beuroniano della Germania meridionale.
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Hochgebirgsarchaeologie im Waldgrenzbereich Tirols - ein Erfahrungsbericht aus transdisziplinaerer Sicht, 2011
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Zur Archaeologie der Travertine von Weimar-Ehringsdorf, 2001
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Grundzüge der technologischen Entwicklung und Klassifikation vor-jungpaläolithischer Steinartefakte in Mitteleuropa, 1993
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CFS Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg
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Books by Dieter Schaefer
Congress papers by Dieter Schaefer
Papers by Dieter Schaefer
the Tyrolean Stubai Alps next to Innsbruck is an important
(geo)archeological reference site for the Mesolithic period.
Buried fireplaces on the Ullafelsen plateau were dated at 10.9
to 9.5 ka cal BP and demonstrate together with thousands of
flint stone artifacts the presence of hunter-gatherers during
the Early Holocene. Grazing livestock has been a predominant
anthropozoological impact in the Fotsch Valley presumably
since the Bronze Age (4.2–2.8 ka). In order to study
the human and/or livestock faeces input on the Ullafelsen,
we carried out steroid analyses on 2 modern ruminant faeces
samples from cattle and sheep, 37 soil samples from
seven archeological soil profiles, and 9 soil samples from
five non-archeological soil profiles from the Fotsch Valley
used as reference sites. The dominance of 5-stigmastanol
and deoxycholic acid in modern cattle and sheep faeces
can be used as markers for the input of ruminant faeces in
soils. The OAh horizons, which have accumulated and developed
since the Mesolithic, revealed high contents of steroids
(sterols, stanols, stanones and bile acids); the eluvial light
layer (E (LL)) horizon coinciding with the Mesolithic living
floor is characterized by medium contents of steroids.
By contrast, the subsoil horizons Bh, Bs and BvCv contain
low contents of faecal biomarkers, indicating that leaching
of steroids into the podsolic subsoils is not an important factor.
High content of 5-stigmastanol and deoxycholic acid in
all soil samples gives evidence for faeces input of ruminants.
The steroid patterns and ratios indicate a negligible input of
human faeces on the Ullafelsen. In conclusion, our results
reflect a strong faeces input by livestock, rather than by humans
as found for other Anthrosols such as Amazonian dark
earths. Further studies need to focus on the question of the
exact timing of faeces deposition.
Mesolithic site Ullafelsen at 1869ma.s.l. (above sea level) close to the recent upper timberline in the
Fotsch Valley represents, on the one hand, a very important archaeological reference site and offers,
on the other hand, intriguing research questions related to, amongst others, pedogenesis. Given that no
biomarkers and stable isotopes have been hitherto investigated, we aimed at contributing with respective
analyses and additional radiocarbon dating to a better understanding of the landscape evolution
and pedogenesis on and around the Ullafelsen.
Our results for modern vegetation suggest that leaf-wax-derived n-alkanes allow us to chemotaxonomically
distinguish between subalpine deciduous trees (nC27 predominance) versus (sub)alpine
grasses, herbs and dwarf shrubs (nC29, nC31 and/or nC33 predominance). Except for Juniperus, conifers produce no or extremely low n-alkane contents. Although no clear vegetation changes could
be inferred from the n-alkane patterns of the investigated soil profiles, the total n-alkane content (TAC)
was developed for the first time as an unambiguous proxy for distinguishing between buried (= fossil)
topsoils (2Ahb horizons) and humus-enriched subsoils such as Bh horizons of podzols. Based on
this leaf wax proxy, we can rule out that the 2Ahb?/Bh? horizons under question on the Ullafelsen
are buried topsoils as suggested previously. Dating of the H2O2-pretreated soil samples yielded 14C
ages for the podzol Bh horizons ranging from 6.7 to 5.4 cal kyr BP. This is clearly younger than the
overlying Mesolithic living floor (LL) (10.9 to 9.5 cal kyr BP) but pre-dates the assumed intensification
of alpine pasturing from the Bronze Age onwards. Both the LL and the directly overlying
OAh3 horizon yielded black carbon maxima and benzene polycarboxylic acid patterns reflecting fireinduced
human impact during the Mesolithic. The discrepancy between the Mesolithic charcoal 14C
ages (ages of 9.5 cal kyr BP) versus the 14C ages obtained for bulk n-alkanes ranging from 8.2
to 4.9 cal kyr BP suggests that non-alkane-producing conifers predominated the vegetation on and
around the Ullafelsen after the Mesolithic occupation. Only with the anthropo-zoological lowering of
the timberline associated with alpine pasturing since the Neolithic and especially the Bronze Age has
an n-alkane-producing vegetation cover (grasses, herbs or dwarf shrubs) started to predominate.
the Tyrolean Stubai Alps next to Innsbruck is an important
(geo)archeological reference site for the Mesolithic period.
Buried fireplaces on the Ullafelsen plateau were dated at 10.9
to 9.5 ka cal BP and demonstrate together with thousands of
flint stone artifacts the presence of hunter-gatherers during
the Early Holocene. Grazing livestock has been a predominant
anthropozoological impact in the Fotsch Valley presumably
since the Bronze Age (4.2–2.8 ka). In order to study
the human and/or livestock faeces input on the Ullafelsen,
we carried out steroid analyses on 2 modern ruminant faeces
samples from cattle and sheep, 37 soil samples from
seven archeological soil profiles, and 9 soil samples from
five non-archeological soil profiles from the Fotsch Valley
used as reference sites. The dominance of 5-stigmastanol
and deoxycholic acid in modern cattle and sheep faeces
can be used as markers for the input of ruminant faeces in
soils. The OAh horizons, which have accumulated and developed
since the Mesolithic, revealed high contents of steroids
(sterols, stanols, stanones and bile acids); the eluvial light
layer (E (LL)) horizon coinciding with the Mesolithic living
floor is characterized by medium contents of steroids.
By contrast, the subsoil horizons Bh, Bs and BvCv contain
low contents of faecal biomarkers, indicating that leaching
of steroids into the podsolic subsoils is not an important factor.
High content of 5-stigmastanol and deoxycholic acid in
all soil samples gives evidence for faeces input of ruminants.
The steroid patterns and ratios indicate a negligible input of
human faeces on the Ullafelsen. In conclusion, our results
reflect a strong faeces input by livestock, rather than by humans
as found for other Anthrosols such as Amazonian dark
earths. Further studies need to focus on the question of the
exact timing of faeces deposition.
Mesolithic site Ullafelsen at 1869ma.s.l. (above sea level) close to the recent upper timberline in the
Fotsch Valley represents, on the one hand, a very important archaeological reference site and offers,
on the other hand, intriguing research questions related to, amongst others, pedogenesis. Given that no
biomarkers and stable isotopes have been hitherto investigated, we aimed at contributing with respective
analyses and additional radiocarbon dating to a better understanding of the landscape evolution
and pedogenesis on and around the Ullafelsen.
Our results for modern vegetation suggest that leaf-wax-derived n-alkanes allow us to chemotaxonomically
distinguish between subalpine deciduous trees (nC27 predominance) versus (sub)alpine
grasses, herbs and dwarf shrubs (nC29, nC31 and/or nC33 predominance). Except for Juniperus, conifers produce no or extremely low n-alkane contents. Although no clear vegetation changes could
be inferred from the n-alkane patterns of the investigated soil profiles, the total n-alkane content (TAC)
was developed for the first time as an unambiguous proxy for distinguishing between buried (= fossil)
topsoils (2Ahb horizons) and humus-enriched subsoils such as Bh horizons of podzols. Based on
this leaf wax proxy, we can rule out that the 2Ahb?/Bh? horizons under question on the Ullafelsen
are buried topsoils as suggested previously. Dating of the H2O2-pretreated soil samples yielded 14C
ages for the podzol Bh horizons ranging from 6.7 to 5.4 cal kyr BP. This is clearly younger than the
overlying Mesolithic living floor (LL) (10.9 to 9.5 cal kyr BP) but pre-dates the assumed intensification
of alpine pasturing from the Bronze Age onwards. Both the LL and the directly overlying
OAh3 horizon yielded black carbon maxima and benzene polycarboxylic acid patterns reflecting fireinduced
human impact during the Mesolithic. The discrepancy between the Mesolithic charcoal 14C
ages (ages of 9.5 cal kyr BP) versus the 14C ages obtained for bulk n-alkanes ranging from 8.2
to 4.9 cal kyr BP suggests that non-alkane-producing conifers predominated the vegetation on and
around the Ullafelsen after the Mesolithic occupation. Only with the anthropo-zoological lowering of
the timberline associated with alpine pasturing since the Neolithic and especially the Bronze Age has
an n-alkane-producing vegetation cover (grasses, herbs or dwarf shrubs) started to predominate.