Period: All periods

Project title: Watching the Climate change at Lejre

Researcher: Elisabeth Peacock, Archaeologist, University of Göteborg, Sweden.

Email: elisabeth.peacock(at)vm.ntnu.no

Year: 2008

Abstract:

All over the Danish country side lays remains from the past. Graves, sacrificial bogs, settlements and burial sites contain an unknown amount of thrilling stories from times long gone. Unfortunately not all sites can be investigated and the stories revealed. Archaeological investigations are expensive and always risk ruining more than it reveals – who knows maybe we will have much better techniques for unearthing the treasures of ancient life if we wait a hundred years or more. Therefore many prehistoric sites are left untouched by modern farming and building, in the hopes that the remain are best preserved in the ground. But perhaps the precious sites are endangered from an unseen threat!
In wet areas, at a meters depth, finds like bog bodies, clothes and foodstuffs are safely preserved from drying out, heat and air, which would otherwise turn these rare organic finds into dust. But changes in climate and temperature also effect the environment under ground, which could threaten the prehistoric remains.

Therefore Archaeologist Elisabeth Peacock has begun a series of experimental temperature measurements at a waterlogged bog at Lejre Research Center, in order to monitor changes in earth temperatures over time, so that we may have an indication as to the stability of the underground environment. So far the measurements of the past 9 years have shown that air temperature can change with up to 20 degrees, were as the temperature underground only changes about 5 degrees at a depth of 120 cm. This year the experiment will be expanded with yet another measurement site in a dry area to compare with the data from the waterlogged area.  However we may already reveal that there have been more changes in temperature over the latter years! Is global warming influencing the prehistoric remains? Or is it just natural fluctuations in the average temperature? Only continuous measurements will show

Reference number HAF 11/08