HISTORICAL CHARCOAL BURNING IN THE KAMIENNA RIVER BASIN (OLD POLISH INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT, CENTRAL POLAND) – FIRST RESULTS FROM LIDAR DATA

Abstract

The Kamienna River (length 156 km) is a left-bank tributary of the Vistula River. Its catchment area of 2007,9 km2 was one of the most important Old Polish Industrial District (OPID) area, where mining and metallurgy based on limonites, forest resources and water energy developed since the Middle Ages. The most common remnants of the metallurgical activity are charcoal hearth remains (CHRs). These forms were created during the charcoal burning. Charcoal was used as fuel in forge fires and blast furnaces. CHRs were identified on the basis of LIDAR data, in tens or even hundreds of thousands of forms in relatively small areas, e.g. in the Silesia Lowland (Southern Poland). However, no such studies have been carried out in OPID in the Kamienna River basin so far, so the determination of quantity, dimensions and distribution of CHRs was the main aim of this study. CHRs were identified using ArcGIS software, based on publicly available shaded relief models. More than 27,000 CHRs were identified during the prospectus. The next step will be field studies on the CHRs, including sampling for further laboratory analysis.

Keywords

• charcoal hearth remains
• lidar
• shaded relief models