Human Impacts and Landscape Dynamics in Burgundy, France:

This project, a collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s French Project, is a multi-disciplinary study of landscape dynamics in Burgundy, east-central France, over the last ~800 years.  Specifically, we are examining sediment records from medieval-aged farm reservoirs and mill ponds.  Comparison of sediment core stable isotope, grain size, scanning x-ray fluorescence, pollen, and other data with known local land use histories derived from French Project archaeological, ethnographic, and geomatic datasets will provide a unique opportunity to examine the direct cause-and-effect relationships between human activities, natural environmental changes, and long-term watershed dynamics. This has broad implications not only for local research, but also for the global community of researchers interested in understanding the resilience and stability of agricultural and industrial landscapes over time.   

Initial field work in the Burgundian region was completed over a two week period in July 2006.  During the field campaign, fifteen sediment cores were recovered from six sites.  We are now working to effectively integrate sediment core environmental records and sociocultural data to provide a history of the Burgundian landscape from the Middle Ages to the present day and thereby complete a complex analysis of both the diversity and consistencies in long-term land-use and water management in response to changing climate, economy, politics, and social organization.

Related Programs:

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania - Geosciences Department (Dr. Eric Straffin)
French Project (Multiple Collaborators)
Kalmar University, Sweden - Environmental Science Section (Dr. Marie-Jose Gaillard-Lemdal)
Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) (Dr. Scott Madry)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Department of Anthropology (Dr. Carole Crumley)
University of Wisconsin - Madison - Department of Geoscience (Dr. Stephen Meyers)