Schnidejoch (2756 m a.s.l., Western Bernese Alps, Switzerland). Did Holocene glacier advances close the alpine pass for human transhumance?

Hafner, Albert; Grosjean, Martin (5 September 2015). Schnidejoch (2756 m a.s.l., Western Bernese Alps, Switzerland). Did Holocene glacier advances close the alpine pass for human transhumance? (Unpublished). In: EAA Annual meeting, Glasgow, Session SA4: Climate and Settlement in Mountain Environments. Glasgow. 03.09.-05.09.2015.

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A series of more than 70 radiocarbon dates confirms that the Schnidejoch pass, linking the Bernese Highlands with the River Rhone valley, was in use at least from 4800–4500 BC on.
The pass was of easy access when the glaciers from the nearby Wildhorn mountain range (peak on 3248 a.s.l) were in a retreating phase e.g. as is the situation today. During holocene phases of advancing glaciers the pass was blocked for humans accompanied by herding animals. The presentation reviews the publication of Grosjean et al. (Ice-borne prehistoric finds in the Swiss Alps reflect Holocene glacier fluctuations, JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, 200, 22.3, 203–207) on a larger basis of radiocarbon dating and discusses the position of the pass within a system of prehistoric settlements, camp sites and passes.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of Archaeological Sciences > Pre- and Early History

UniBE Contributor:

Hafner, Albert, Grosjean, Martin

Subjects:

500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
900 History > 930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

Language:

English

Submitter:

Albert Hafner-Lafitte

Date Deposited:

13 Oct 2015 15:21

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:49

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/72129

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