Zielhofer Christoph, Leitholdt Eva, Werther Lukas, Stele Andreas, Bussmann Jens, Linzen Sven, Schneider Michael, Meyer Cornelius, Berg-Hobohm Stefanie, Ettel Peter
Institute of Geography, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Chair of Prehistory and Early History, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 24;9(9):e108194. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108194. eCollection 2014.
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.
中欧分水岭将莱茵 - 美因河流域和多瑙河流域分隔开来。在中世纪早期，船舶是重要的运输工具，查理曼大帝决定通过修建一条连接施瓦本雷扎特河和阿尔特米尔河的运河来连接这两个流域。这条人工水道将提供一条从北海到黑海的连续内陆航行路线。这条捷径被称为卡洛林运河，是欧洲中世纪早期最重要的工程成就之一。尽管该运河建设具有重要的地缘战略意义，但尚不清楚它是否实际用作通航水道。我们展示了新的地球物理数据和来自沟渠填充物的现场发现，首次证明了卡洛林时期建造的运河总长度至少为2300米。我们有证据表明人工水道的概念宽度在5至6米之间，水深至少为60至80厘米。这使得卡洛林时期载重数吨的货船能够通行。有强有力的证据表明沟渠填充物中有黏土层至粉砂层，这揭示了悬浮物负载限制下的静水沉积，因此证明了卡洛林时期及后卡洛林时期池塘的存在。沟渠填充物中的大量腐泥层有力地支持了这些发现。我们在本研究中呈现的结果表明，已知运河河道的建设水平非常先进。在这里，卡洛林时期沟渠底部的挖掘水平通常足以高效建造阶梯式池塘，并证明了山顶运河的最终概念。我们有证据表明卡洛林时期对分水岭进行了人工移位，并假设存在一个复杂的中世纪早期水文工程概念，用于为运河山顶提供充足的水源。
