soil erosion in europe (boardman/soil erosion in europe) || past soil erosion in europe

Section 2

Introduction

Soil Erosion in Europe Edited by J. Boardman and J. Poesen# 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-85910-5

2.1

Past Soil Erosion in Europe

Andreas Lang1 and Hans Rudolf Bork2

1Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZT, UK2Okologie-Zentrum, Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel, Schauenburger Strasse 112,24118 Kiel, Germany

2.1.1 INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF A HISTORICALCONTEXT FOR SOIL EROSION RESEARCH

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905

When we look at the present-day soils in many European landscapes, it is immediately obvious that

Santayana’s statement is also important in terms of soil erosion: during the centuries phases of landscape

stability and soil formation were followed by phases of land use and soil erosion – in some cases even soil

degradation – until agriculture ceased and another phase of soil formation began. Thus today, erosional forms

and sediments related to past land use can be found widespread, such as deeply truncated soils on slopes,

ancient rills and gullies, and even plough marks, colluvial deposits on the lower slopes and clastic alluvial

deposits in the floodplains. As a result, the evolution and distribution of contemporary soils can only be

understood by taking into account impacts of the past.

The past is the key to the present and the future

IGBP PAGES

The palaeo-perspective is an essential research focus in much of global change research. Dearing (2002,

IGBP PAGES focus 5: HITE) lays out the general research agenda, which can easily be adapted for soil

Soil Erosion in Europe Edited by J. Boardman and J. Poesen# 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-85910-5

erosion. [PAGES: Past Global Changes project of the International Geosphere – Biosphere Programme

(IGBP) established by the International Council for Science (ICSU). Human Impact on Terrestrial

Ecosystems (HITE) activity in the thematic focus 5 of IGBP PAGES.] Thus, reconstructing past soil

erosion is necessary to:

� provide long-term trajectories of soil and landscape change up to the present;

� unravel background or pre-human impact conditions (e.g. ‘natural’ erosion rates) with which modern rates

can be compared and judged;

� quantify natural variability of erosion processes and define threshold conditions for change (e.g. extend the

temporal coverage of observations);

� provide historical analogues for extreme events, abrupt impacts and human–environment interactions;

� evaluate the relative impacts of climate and human activities on processes through time;

� develop and test predictive models by providing time series and system dynamics at appropriate temporal

and spatial scales.

Especially in Europe, with its long and diverse history of land use, the impacts of past soil erosion are

manifold and the historical perspective (historical in the sense of past and relating to the period before

process measurements and not sensu stricto the period of written documents only) should be an integral

part of any research that tries to understand soil–landscape systems. This is especially obvious where soil

erosion in the past was severe and original soils were only shallow. In several landscapes, such as the

South Downs in England (Favis-Mortlock et al., 1997) and the limestone hill country in southern

Germany (Lang et al., 2003a), soil erosion was sufficient to remove almost completely Holocene soils and

Pleistocene sediments (mainly loess) already before the Iron Age. This has clear implications for the

present day:

� The present day soils do not represent the Holocene climax soils;

� The present agricultural use is constrained (often limited) owing to impacts of past land use.

Reconstructing soil erosion of the past is not an easy task. Here we discuss scientific approaches and

techniques that are specific for palaeo-studies and present some results from characteristic case studies from

north-western, central and south-eastern Europe. We show that understanding the present soil landscape in

Europe is only possible by taking into account the longer term history of soil erosion and show that system

functioning itself is strongly contingent on the history of change.

2.1.2 SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES AND METHODS

The methods used to quantify past erosion differ clearly from the methods used for studies of present-day

processes and are much more related to methods that are used for Quaternary studies. Instead of direct process

measurements, palaeo-studies have to rely on the preserved sedimentary and morphological records. Instead of

using high-precision electronic clocks, they have to rely on chronometric techniques or historical sources.

Instead of being able to constrain experimental conditions (limit catchment size, isolate process domains, trap

sediment), in palaeo-studies one often needs to analyse the full range of possibilities. Thus, on expanding the

time-scale the complexity of the system increases (overview in Phillips, 2003). The immediately obvious

consequence is that the precision of results from palaeo-studies must be substantially reduced compared with

those of process measurements.

466 Soil Erosion In Europe

The major challenges that must be faced when targeting the past are:

� The state of a variable (dependent or independent) is time reliant. In many European landscapes, soil erosion

factors such as slope length, slope gradient and soil erodibility – which are usually set to be constant in

contemporary process studies – change over centuries and millennia.

� Sediments usually do not represent complete records. With the exception of lake sediments, deposits that are

stored in most continental sedimentary sinks will not all be preserved over time but might be subject to later

erosion.

� The coupling of slopes and sedimentary archives changes through time (Dearing and Jones, 2003). As long

as there is, for example, sufficient accommodation space on the lower slope, it will act as an efficient

sedimentary sink. When, after some decades of soil erosion, this trap is filled up, a higher percentage of the

sediment eroded on the slope will be transferred across the lower slope and into the rivers (Lang and

Honscheidt, 1999).

� Thresholds in system behaviour will change through time. Similar inputs can lead to dramatically different

responses depending on the evolution of a system’s sensitivity (Brunsden and Thornes, 1979; Schumm,

1991). Agricultural landscapes are more sensitive to climatic variability than natural landscapes because

tillage and grazing typically reduce water infiltration and increase rates and magnitudes of surface runoff

(Knox, 2001).

� Different processes can lead to similar deposits (equifinality). In many cases it will not be possible to

differentiate if – for example – a soil erosion-derived colluvium was formed in response to sheet and rill

erosion or gullying (Nemec and Kazancy, 1999).

Comparing soil profiles at eroded sites with profiles at preserved sites allows the reconstruction of total soil

truncation since agriculture started. Unfortunately, no information about the timing and intensity of past

erosion can be obtained. There are techniques available to determine erosion rates at a spot (e.g. based on

in situ-produced cosmogenic isotopes), but these usually are only applicable for much longer time-scales

(>105 yr). Points in time can often be reconstructed from archaeological finds. Prehistoric structures often

allow the reconstruction of land surfaces contemporaneous with the prehistoric remains (Lang et al., 1999).

However, again such information is temporally discontinuous. Temporally resolved information therefore has

to rely on translocated soil particles that are trapped in sedimentary deposits. Different types of sedimentary

archives originate from soil erosion and can be used for reconstructions: (1) slope deposits, (2) alluvial

sediments, (3) lake sediments and (4) coastal and marine sediments.

1. Slope deposits accumulated on the lower slopes or in gully fills can be used to derive detailed information

on past erosion on the adjacent hillslope (e.g. Lang and Honscheidt, 1999; Bork et al., 2003). These

sediments are rather difficult to analyse but potentially offer the highest resolution as the majority of eroded

soil is stored already on the slopes.

2. Alluvial sediments have been used extensively to gather information on smaller and larger catchments (e.g.

Macklin, 1999). Analytical techniques for this type of sediment are well developed. Results usually cannot

be linked to specific slopes but to catchments. Internal dynamics of rivers have to be well understood in

order to extract the soil erosion signal from alluvial sediments (e.g. Trimble, 1999).

3. Lake sediments form complete records and are used to extract spatially averaged but temporally highly

resolved erosion rates. Many lake deposits offer the possibility of looking at annual resolution (e.g. Foster

et al., 1985, 1990; Dearing and Foster, 1987; Dearing et al., 1990, Zolitschka et al., 2000).

4. Coastal and marine sediments: translocated soils were transported into the coastal areas but extracting soil

erosion records from coastal deposits is difficult. Several studies have shown enhanced sediment influx

following human impact during the Holocene (overview in Long, 2001). Owing to climatic and sea-level

Past Soil Erosion in Europe 467

fluctuations, the cause of this enhancement has so far rarely been determined unambiguously. Only recently

have marine sediments successfully been used: Oldfield et al. (2003) reconstruct human activity in the

sediment source area from deposits taken from the central Adriatic Sea.

Colluvial and alluvial deposits have the advantage that they are coupled more closely to the erosion events

on the slopes and can therefore be used to determine spatial variations with high resolution. Detailed

information was successfully derived for small catchments (e.g. Dotterweich, 2003; Schmidtchen and Bork,

2003). As sediments move from source to sink, the lag times due to intermediate storage (up to centuries and

millennia), fluvial erosion, sedimentation and reworking make reconstruction of a soil erosion history on the

slopes more difficult. Several authors have addressed the problems associated with sediment propagation (e.g.

Walling 1983, 1987; Wasson, 1996; Syvitski, 2003). Before being deposited, eroded soil particles are

transported over a certain distance depending on landform, vegetation and magnitude of a runoff event:

Particles transported by tillage will be deposited within a field parcel. Particles transported by water during

low- and medium-magnitude rainfall events are mainly deposited at concave lower slopes, in shallow zero-

order basins and in small alluvial fans. During high-magnitude rainfall events, different processes are

operating and eroded particles are often evacuated from the slopes and transported to the rivers (Lang

et al., 2003b).

Owing to these problems, integrated studies are needed that take into account all types of storage and try to

derive more robust and quantitative results. These studies are usually based on constructing sediment budgets

for different periods. In addition to its use in geological research, this approach has proved to be very helpful

for the study of past soil erosion on the shorter time-scales of decades (e.g. Trimble, 1999). At the moment,

studies of the full Holocene history of soil erosion with some temporal resolution are still rare (Macaire et al.,

2002; Foster et al., 2003). At present the most promising approach for more quantitative results is to combine

mathematical modelling with information extracted from sedimentary records (Lang et al., 2003c; Preston and

Schmidt, 2003). If independent records of climate and land-use history are available to drive the models, it

should be possible to construct more complete pictures of a region’s erosion history (Lang et al., 2003b).

Records of past temperature and humidity have recently become available from historical sources (e.g. Glaser,

2001) and ice cores and sedimentary archives (e.g. Alverson et al., 2003). Detailed records of land-use patterns

and farming techniques based on historical sources (e.g. Burggraaff, 1992) or archaeological information (e.g.

Luning, 1997) are also available, but their spatial coverage is still very limited.

Further details on the techniques and methods that are applied to reconstruct past soil erosion from

sediments can be found in Bork and Lang (2003).

2.1.3 EUROPE’S SOIL EROSION HISTORY

Past soil erosion is as widespread as past land use and is as old as the first farming activities during the

Neolithic period. In Europe, with its long and diverse history of land use, the great majority of present-day

soils have somehow been transformed by human impact. However, the transformation history varies widely for

different regions. This is partly due to the different natural settings, which is nicely documented in this volume.

However, different from today, levels of land-use technology were not similar at a given time. Especially in the

early periods, the spread of technology took a long time, starting in the eastern Mediterranean and not arriving

in north-west Europe until 2000 years or so later.

The widespread occurrence of past soil erosion is reflected in the wealth of case studies that exist from all

over Europe. The great majority of information on past soil erosion was gathered in the framework of genetic

studies and using more deductive approaches. Especially the sub-discipline of geoarchaeology has contributed

significantly to our present understanding of the effects and causes of past erosion. Over the years,


explanations of past soil erosion evolved rather dramatically: for example, in the Mediterranean (reviewed in

Bintliff, 2002) initially monocausal reasoning was used and first ‘natural’ (¼ climatic) processes (e.g. Vita-

Finzi, 1969) were thought to be responsible for past soil erosion. Later, in a similar monocausal fashion,

‘anthropogenic’ processes only were claimed to cause soil erosion (e.g. Van Andel et al., 1986). At present,

more pluralistic multicausal reasoning is applied. However, still today, the great majority of studies derive

rather descriptive information and quantitative results are largely missing. This is partly due to the difficulties

inherent to palaeo-studies (as above), but also to the different scientific approach used by the more classical

genetic studies. In addition, the complexity of land-use response to climatic change (e.g. Berglund, 2003) adds

several degrees of freedom to the way in which palaeodata can be interpreted.

Several authors have produced reviews on past erosion studies: Bell and Boardman (1992) and Dearing

(1994) give excellent synopses. A recent compilation of case studies from fluvial sediments was put together

by Howard et al. (2003) and from lake sediments by Brauer and Guilizzoni (2004). Regional overviews of

impacts of past erosion can be found for Central Europe by Bork et al. (2003), Kalis et al (2003) and

Zolitschka et al. (2003), for Poland by Klimek (2002, 2003), for the Mediterranean by Grove (1996), for

nothern Italy by Marchetti (2002), for France by Neboit-Guilhot (1991) and Macaire et al., (2002), for

Belgium by Verstraeten et al. (see Chapter 1.30) and for Great Britain by Macklin (1999) and Edwards and

Whittington (2001).

Here we will review some recent studies from three contrasting areas: south-eastern Europe with almost

9000 years of soil erosion, central Europe with almost 7000 years and north-western Europe, where the history

of human impact is rather short but nevertheless dramatic.

2.1.3.1 South-eastern Europe

Today in many parts of south-eastern Europe, soils are almost missing and unweathered rocks and sediments

are exposed at the earth surface. On the slopes, remnants of Holocene red and brown Mediterranean soils

(Yassoglou et al., 1997) are found mainly in erosion-protected depressions or buried under colluvium on the

foot slopes. This clearly indicates severe soil erosion. Clearly, modern agricultural practices contributed

substantially to the overall loss of soil, but past processes also had severe impacts.

Fuchs et al. (2004) showed from soil erosion-derived colluvium that on the Greek Peloponnesus peninsula

colluvium formation was dominated by the intensity of land use. Holocene climatic fluctuations seem to be of

only secondary importance, as sufficiently erosive rainfall events may have occurred during all agricultural

periods. During the early Holocene, before agriculture started, Fuchs et al. (2004) found very low

sedimentation rates. With the onset of the Neolithic in the 7th millennium BC, sedimentation rates increased,

stay high during the Neolithic and decreased in the following Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods

(4500–2050 BC). Higher rates are found for the Middle Bronze Age to Early Iron Age and the beginning of

Classical Antiquity. Very high sedimentation rates occurred at the end of Classical Antiquity and during the

Roman period. The sedimentation rate decreased during medieval times and since then it has increased again.

The general conclusion of Fuchs et al. (2004) is that the pattern of sedimentation matches the pattern of

cultural development and population density. The critical factor for soil erosion was the sensitivity of the land

surface to erosion, and thus the size of the arable land and the intensity of agricultural practices. Phases of high

colluviation coincide with known periods of higher settlement density and pronounced farming activities.

Rates of reduced colluviation occurred during periods where also the settlement density was reduced. The

exception is the Early Bronze Age, where the settlement activity was high but low sedimentation rates were

detected. According to the authors, this may be explained by the introduction of soil conservation measures

(probably terracing).

From the basin of Drama (eastern Macedonia, Greece), Lespez (2003) reports distinct phases of soil erosion and

stream aggradation over the past 7000 years, and ties them directly to long-term land-use changes. Alluvial fill


accumulated rapidly during the Middle and Late Holocene. For the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (5400–

2000 BC), low levels of aggradation were detected. Moderate rates of alluviation occurred during the Late Bronze

Age (1600–1000 BC), high rates in the Antique and the Early Byzantine Era (3rd century BC–7th century AD) and

the highest rates in the Ottoman period (15th to early 20th century AD). Lespez (2003) explains the late onset of

aggradation – almost three millennia after the first farming activity and the onset of erosion – by the settlement

pattern during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods. Early farmers preferred to cultivate more stable soils

on gentle slopes. Only when during the Late Bronze Age the land-use pattern changed and less stable soils and

steeper slopes were cultivated did alluvial aggradation increase. According to Lespez (2003), the two periods of

accelerated alluviation in historical times are also mainly linked to land-use changes: deforestation and the

extension of agriculture into more sensitive mountainous areas. These two impacts also enhanced the sensitivity of

the river system: during the Ottoman period, already modest changes in climate led to strong aggradation.

The two studies show that in south-eastern Europe soil erosion occurred already during the Neolithic –

9000 years ago.

2.1.3.2 Central Europe

Especially in the loess-covered areas of central Europe, impacts of past soil erosion are widespread and dramatic.

The majority of soils are strongly truncated and often soils are completely missing. A large body of results from

case studies on impacts of former agriculture is available from this region, but attempts to regionalize results are

rare. Here we portray initial attempts from Bork and Lang (2003) to derive more regional pictures for Germany

for the periods (1) from the Middle Ages to modern times and (2) for pre-1200 AD.

2.1.3.2.1 Middle Ages and Modern Times in Germany

Information on past soil erosion from more than 2200 study sites in south-east Lower Saxony was compiled

(Bork, 1983, 1988) and integrated by clustering results for regions with largely similar substratum, soil

evolution and soil translocation history. Then, in a hierarchical approach, a few km2 large landscape elements

were chosen randomly and within each landscape element catenas were selected, again randomly. Subse-

quently, for each catena the volume of eroded soil and the volume of sediment stored were calculated (Bork et

al., 1998). Finally, mean values were calculated for all landscape elements and taken to represent the whole

region. Results show that at the upper and middle slopes an average of 2.3 m of soil is missing. More than 80%

of this material was not transported out of the catchment but deposited on the lower slopes. At many study

sites, high-resolution chronologies are available, allowing the determination of erosion volumes for specific

land-use periods. This allowed the identification and quantification of single extreme events, e.g. in the first

half of the 14th century (Bork, 1988; Bork et al., 1998).

Data for other regions in central Europe are based on a different approach: for eastern Brandenburg, for

example, catenas were selected that are typical of a larger area. From medieval to modern times, a mean soil loss

of 0.5 m was determined, the main part of which occurred in the first half of the 14th century. This approach was

also applied to other German landscapes. Finally, spatial averages for soil erosion were calculated for each

landscape region. Areas with clearly different character, e.g. the Alps, were excluded from the analysis.

The results of this regionalisation attempt are given in Figure 2.1.1. Changes in land cover/land use and

estimated rates of soil erosion are plotted versus time for the period since the Early Middle Ages. The high

resolution of the data allows the correlation of soil erosion maxima with high-magnitude rainfall events.

Extreme soil erosion occurred during the first half of the 14th century – a period during which extreme

rainfalls coincided with the all-time low in woodland cover in Germany (Bork et al., 1998). A second, less

pronounced, extreme period is evident during the second half of the 18th century. This again is a period for

which documentary evidence of extreme rainfalls and high runoff exists.


2.1.3.2.2 South Germany Before the Middle Ages

For periods earlier than the Middle Ages – as usual when going further back in time – the quantity and quality

of information are even further reduced. Written records are largely missing for Germany and, even where they

are available, they should be treated with caution. However, approaches based on soils and sediments have to

face more challenges: the sedimentary record is less and less complete as earlier periods are considered. The

chance of older sediments being eroded is higher, as is the risk of a total overprint of traces of earlier soil

formations. Also, chronometric information is harder to obtain as reworking of artefacts and organic remains is

frequent and indirect dating approaches can be misleading (Lang and Honscheidt, 1999).

Still, numerous local studies have been carried out in the loess hills of south Germany and therefore detailed

information on soil erosion and sediment storage exists especially from the surroundings of archaeological

sites. Unfortunately, for most of the study sites only stratigraphic and chronological information exists and

volumes of erosion and deposition were not determined. Hence, the extrapolation of findings from local case

studies to a more regional scale is problematic and at present only a first graphical analysis is available (Lang,

2003). OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) ages of soil erosion derived colluvial sediments were analysed

to construct a frequency analysis of phases of soil erosion. The period covered is from the beginning of

agriculture until 1200 AD. The frequency distribution was constructed by: (1) representing the OSL ages by

Gaussian distributions and (2) summing all the single curves (Figure 2.1.2). A first significant increase in

colluviation occurred during the Bronze Age. During the Iron Age/Roman period and at around 800 AD,

distinct maxima appear in the distribution and the highest frequencies are present towards the end of the period

analysed, around 1100 AD.

100

10

1

0.1

0.01600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

100

80

60

40

20

0

Land

cov

er /

land

use

(%

)

Ave

rage

soi

l ero

sion

(m

m y

r –1

)

Calendar year AD

arable land

grass landfallow land

wood land

Figure 2.1.1 Land cover/land use (shaded) and soil erosion (black line) in Germany (excluding the Alps) since the Early

Middle Ages (data from Bork et al., 1998). The average soil erosion in mm yr�1 is plotted as solid line (left scale). For

three land-use classes the proportion of land cover is plotted as grey tints (right scale). [Reproduced from Bork Hr, Lang A,

Quantification of past soil erosion and land use/land cover changes in Germany. In Long Term Hillslope and Fluvial System

Modelling – Concepts and Case Studies from The Rhine River Catchment, Lang A, Hennrich K, Dikau R (eds). Lecture

Notes in Earth Science, 101. Springer, Heidelberg, 2003; 232–239, with permission from HR Bork]


Conclusions that can be drawn from such an approach are restricted by the still rather limited amount of

data, sampling bias and other factors. The oldest colluvial sediments were deposited during Neolithic times.

Colluviation occurred more frequently during phases of stronger human impact such as the Iron Age and

Roman periods, while the maximum number of optical ages relate to medieval times. This indicates that

colluviation during this period was dominated by the intensity of land use. Climatic fluctuations seem to play a

secondary role, considering that sufficiently erosive rainfall events occurred during all agricultural periods.

Probably the critical factor was the landscape’s sensitivity to erosion.

2.1.3.3 North-western Europe

North-western Europe has the shortest history of land use, but past impacts are widespread and responsible for

many present soil characteristics (overview in Bell, 1992). Favis-Mortlock et al. (1997) simulated the effects

of past erosion on a hillslope in the UK South Downs from 5000 BC to the present. According to their finding,

the major period of soil loss was between 2000 BC and 200 AD, followed the permanent clearance of woodlands

and the gradually intensifying agriculture. Already before the medieval period the Pleistocene loess and

Holocene soils were stripped off the slope completely. Studies on valley fills also revealed the long-term

impact of agriculture on north-western European landscapes: Wilkinson (2003) investigated colluvial

sequences infilling dry valleys of chalk escarpments in southern England. He shows that different spatial

and temporal patterns of sedimentation are due to regional variations in past land use, storm impact and

Figure 2.1.2 Probability density distribution of 60 OSL ages for soil erosion-derived colluvium from southern Germany

for the period 0.8 to 7.5 yr. Inset: enlargement for the period 0.8 to 3.5 yr. (Reprinted from Lang A, Phase of soil erosion-

caused colluviation in the loess hills of south Germany. Catena 51: 209–221. Copyright 2003, with permission of Elsevier)


topography. Foster et al. (2000) identified medieval soil erosion from a minerogenic sediment deposit in a

wetland in southern England. They link the origin of the deposit to increased soil erosion due to a series of wet

winters in between 1200 and 1400 AD.

Edwards and Whittington (2001) reviewed results from 50 lakes on the British islands and analysed

indicators for erosion. Accelerated erosion occurs only at lakes with clear indications of human impact. Lakes

with uniform sedimentation through time are mainly located in northern Scotland and have no, very little or

only rather recent signs of human impact. The beginning of the increased sediment accumulation usually

occurs only after the first signs of human impact, thus showing a delay in system response. Ages for the

beginning of increased sedimentation cluster at 3300–3000 BC 2500–2200 BC and 1000–800 BC, and broadly

coincide with the early Neolithic, the mid-Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age, respectively.

Towards the northern, more marginal agricultural areas, past soil erosion had dramatic effects. Often the

high sensitivity of the landscapes was paired with high vulnerability of the pioneer settlements. In detailed

results from Iceland, Simpson et al. (2001) explain settlement success and failure by the presence or lack of

appropriate grazing regulations and associated presence or lack of land degradation. In southern Iceland,

where the period of occupation started at 874 AD, regulations to prevent overgrazing were in place already

from ca 1200 AD onwards. For north-eastern Iceland, Simpson et al. (2004) show how adaptive land

management techniques reduced erosion rates already in the 15th century below the regional average. Both

studies prove that management practices were a major factor in past land degradation and important for

explaining settlement success and failure, especially in agriculturally marginal regions.

2.1.4 CONCLUSIONS

The results presented here reflect only a limited extract from the large body of information available on past

soil erosion in Europe and its significance for the present. Still, we hope that we were able to show that soil

erosion is not just a modern problem. Past soil erosion was as widespread as past land use and is as old as the

first farming in the Stone Age. Differences in the temporal pattern of erosion history across Europe reflect not

only differences in natural settings but also the time lags in technological spread.

Amounts of soil erosion varied largely through time. Over the longer term, changing landscape sensitivity

seems to be more important than climatic changes. Of course, extreme events leave their imprints in the

landscape. However, the rainfall threshold for initiating soil erosion is much lower on arable land than under

woodland. This sensitivity is determined by the type and intensity of a landscape’s agricultural use. Especially

for highly vulnerable pioneering settlements (Messerli et al., 2000), landscape sensitivity was of immense

importance. Without successful management practices, soil erosion and land degradation lead to settlement

failure. This has been speculated to be a reason for the short lifetime (a few generations of inhabitants) of many

Neolithic settlements in the loess areas of central Europe (after soil erosion had stripped off the uppermost soil

horizons, farming techniques could not cope with the clay-enriched B-horizons that were then at the surface) and

is clearly documented for a very different time and region: the medieval settlements in Iceland.

Especially during the Iron Age or medieval period, amounts of soil erosion were in excess of today’s erosion

in several areas. Many of the barren landscapes in the Mediterranean, but also in the hill landscapes of central

and north-western Europe, are products of past soil erosion. Holocene soils were completely truncated already

several centuries ago and the resultant rock surfaces are often without soil and without agricultural use today.

Almost everywhere in European agricultural landscapes, pre-modern soil erosion significantly truncated soils.

The present day soils can therefore only be understood by taking into account their erosion history.

The present state of knowledge is based on mainly qualitative and conceptual information. The further

integration of new results will, it is hoped, allow refining of the history of soil erosion in Europe. Clearly, more

quantitative results are needed. Most promising in this respect are approaches based on mathematical


modelling of soil erosion processes over the long term. Independent records of climate and land-use history are

recently becoming detailed enough to be used as drivers for the models. The information extracted from

sedimentary records could then be used to validate and calibrate the modelled scenarios. This should allow the

integration of results from different scales and the construction of more complete and quantitative pictures of a

region’s erosion history.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank Gerardo Benito, Tom Rommens, Dino Torri, Tom Vanwalleghem and Gert Verstraeten

for their critical and helpful comments.

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