The Iron Age central place of Sievern in the District of Cuxhaven provides conditions which are not only conducive to archaeological research. The special position of the area is also highlighted by the exceptionally high soil phosphate content extending over a large area, along with evidence for deep humic soils. Investigations considering soil science and landscape formation are currently addressing questions of how to interpret these findings as well as whether the settlements in the area around Sievern were accessible via waterways and would thus have been connected to the transport routes along the North Sea coast. This research is funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture. The researcher in charge of the investigations, Imke Brandt, M.A., intends to submit the results within the scope of her doctoral thesis at Kiel University (Supervisor: Prof. H.-R. Bork). Further information is available here.

Bibliography

Brandt, I., 2015: Sievern, Ldkr. Cuxhaven, und sein Umland – Paläotopographie des ersten nachchristlichen Jahrtausends. Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet, 38, 287-296.