Object structure
Title:

The rise, development and destruction of the medieval port of Puck in the light of research into palaeoclimate and sea level change

Subtitle:

Archaeologia Polona Vol. 49 (2011-2013)

Creator:

Uścinowicz, Szymon ; Miotk-Szpiganowicz, Grażyna ; Gałka, Mariusz ; Pawlyta, Jacek ; Piotrowska, Natalia ; Pomian, Iwona ; Witak, Małgorzata

Publisher:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2013

Description:

ill. ; 24 cm

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

drowned medieval harbor ; sea level change ; climate variability ; coastal peatland ; radiocarbon datings ; stable isotops ; pollen ; diatoms ; southern Baltic ; Puck Lagoon

Abstract:

Multidisciplinary study of a peat profile from the coast near the drowned remains of a medieval harbour at Puck have allowed the reconstruction of the environmental conditions at the time when the port was in operation. The research included AMS 14C dating, and analysis of 13C and 18O isotopes, pollen, plant macrofossils, diatoms, total organic carbon, phosphorous, and heavy metals. In the period around 800–900 AD, when the port was created, sea level was about 0.75–0.70 m lower than today and hydrodynamic conditions were relatively calm. Stable or slowly increasing level of water in the Puck Lagoon continued until about 1100–1200 AD. A decrease in port activity , during about 1300–1350 AD, occurred at a time of marked climatic cooling at the beginning of the Little Ice Age, together with frequent and heavy storms. During the interval 1100 to 1400 AD, the lagoon water level rose by about 0.4 m. However, climate and hydrological changes were not then sufficiently catastrophic to destroy the port. The decline in port activity is connected to a clear breakdown in human economic activity in the area, as reflected in the results of pollen analysis and a drop in Cu and Pb content. The sediments of this period are also characterized by a large amount of wood charcoal, suggesting the possibility of conflagration

References:

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Relation:

Archaeologia Polona

Volume:

49

Start page:

87

End page:

104

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

0066-5924

Source:

IAiE PAN, call no. P 357 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P 358 ; IAiE PAN, call no. P 356 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Rights Reserved - Restricted Access

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. Access only on terminals at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, may be used within the limits of statutory user freedoms.

Digitizing institution:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Access:

Closed

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