Landscape Evolution & Geoarchaeology

13th Belgium-France-Italy-Romania Geomorphological Meeting June 18-21, 2008 - Porto Heli, Greece

Environmental evolutions of the Moselle and Alzette valleys (Luxembourg) since Late Pleistocene : a first comparison Henri-Georges NATON1, Stéphane CORDIER2, Robert BAES3, Manfred FRECHEN4, Pascale RUFFALDI5, Richard MEYRICK6, Robert MAQUIL7, Robert COLBACH7, Birgit KAUSCH7, Alan STEAD8, Foni LE BRUN-RICALENS9, Laurent BROU9 and André SCHOELLEN8 Geoarchaeological research in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg especially focused on two main valleys of the country: the Moselle valley (presence of several gravel-pits in the “Wintrange basin”), and the valley of its tributary the Alzette (located in the centre of the Luxembourg), where important road works recently occurred. Preventive archaeological investigations revealed in both areas evidence of human occupation since the Palaeolithic. This poster presents the main results of geoarchaeological research in these two areas, leading to a preliminary comparison between these two sedimentary areas.

Alzette River

Moselle River

The Alzette River rises within France, approximately 4 km south of the French-Luxembourg border, and has a total length of 73 kilometres before joining the Sauer which is a left-bank tributary of the Moselle River. During the construction of the “Nordstrooss” motorway (going north from Luxembourg city towards Ettelbruck) a viaduct was built that crosses the wide alluvial plain (about 1 km) of the Alzette River valley near Lorentzweiler. A lot of drillings were also made for geotechnical purposes by the Geological survey of Luxembourg (SGL). The drillings were also able to provide informations about the sediments preserved in the Alzette River valley floor. This information has allowed the construction of a cross-profile through the valley showing the stratigraphy of the quaternary deposits, and showing that it was the result of a rather complex evolution (aggradation and incision periods leading to terraces formation, input of slope deposits at the valley margins, possible eolian input, …). A multidisciplinary research project thus started, aiming to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of the Alzette region during the late Pleistocene and Holocene periods.

The Moselle River is a left-bank main tributary of the Rhine River; it rises within the Vosges massif and flows through the eastern Paris Basin and the Rhenish massif. Archaeological research has been carried out for fifteen years in the Luxembourgian Moselle valley, and particularly in the Wintrange basin downstream from the village of Schengen. This research is coordinated by the Survey of Prehistorical Archaeology of the Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (MNHAL) and includes multidisciplinary approaches, like archaeological, morphological, and sedimentological analyses. The research has intensified in the past few years, with the obtention of relative and numerical (AMS and IRSL) dating making it possible to propose the first reconstruction of Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoenvironmental evolution of this part of the Luxembourgian Moselle valley. NGL

Rem VI

150.85 m

Em

PS s

PS

Present soil 150.50 m

G

Erosion

Undifferenciated slope deposits

e

us Me

G2

149.50 m

Clear slope deposits

E

sell

e

Som me

FR-195-119

0

FR-201-311

FR-200-123

FR-201-118 FR-201-119

r Ri ver

FR-200-320

FR-201-109

FR-200-319

FR-201-108

FR-201-106

FR-201-111

FR-201-105

FR-201-104 FR-200-357

FR-200-356

FR-200-353

FR-200-369

FR-200-350

FR-200-368 FR-202-040 FR-202-041

FR-200-354

FR-178-242

FR-178-241

FR-200-355

FR-200-367

FR-178-227

FR-200-351 FR-200-366

FR-178-240 FR-178-228

FR-200-305

FR-200-364

FR-178-201

FR-200-363

FR-201-053 FR-200-352 FR-201-052 FR-201-051 FR-200-358

FR-200-362

FR-201-055

FR-200-361

FR-200-360

FR-200-359

FR-201-054 FR-200-365

FR-198-013

Sau e

?

te zet

Al

1 000 m

Ri

ver 10

D

Silty unit characterized by the presence of calcite concretions in its lower part, while the top shows no calcification. Cryoturbation features have been recognized in this unit including a terrestrial cold malacofauna (notably with Pupilla muscorum). Its grain-size and facies lead to identify this unit as loess reworked under periglacial conditions

C

Succession of thin sandy and silty layers (ca 1 to 3 cm), similar to a facies recently described in several European valleys (Van Huissteden et al., 2000). These layers may be interpretated as natural levee sediments, deposited during minor floods

C

147.80 m

E 147.30 m

MOS09 20.3 ± 1.6 ka BP (MAA) 21.0 ± 1.5 ka BP (SAR)

MOS 9

B

Km

? E

Remerschen VI - Enner dem Wëntrengerwee Position of IRSL samples

145.75 m

Seisselbaach stream Molluscan analysis from a tufaceous holocene deposit by Richard Meyrick: three local mollusc zones are proposed. From the bottom to top: - PS1: Moist, open conditions predominate but some shade is available: Arctic/Alpine and Boreal elements present (Vertigo genesii, Vertigo geyeri, Discus ruderatus). A radiocarbon age of 9820±120 BP (Beta-181807) was obtained on charcoal fragments too small for identification. - PS2: Open woodland: base defined by the expansion of Carychium tridentatum, Arctic/Alpine elements now lacking, but Discus ruderatus characteristic). Comparison of this assemblage with other radiocarbon dated molluscan successions from the Rheinland region suggests an age of about 9700 yr BP. - PS3: Open woodland: base defined by the expansion of Discus rotundatus, Discus ruderatus disappears. The “Discus ruderatus/rotundatus transition” is a significant biostratigraphical marker in the early-mid Holocene throughout North West and Central Europe As such, it has been observed in several land snail records from the Rheinland Region, where it has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 8400 yr BP (Meyrick, 2001).

PS

146.00 m

145.25 m 145.10 m

MOS12 19.9 ± 1.4 ka BP (MAA) 21.3 ± 1.5 ka BP (SAR)

A

MOS08 - expected

?

144.60 m

Middle Keuper marls

NGL

146.50 m

Km

Rem II PS

146.20 m

221.47 m

NGL

?

146.25 m

B

A

A

Study area 1993-2008

The drilling FR-207-353

MOS11 - expected

B

146.50 m

140.75 m

Various paleoenvironmental evidences

F

Coarse alluvial sheet, which is composed of matrix-supported pebbles (sometimes more than 20 cm in length) and gravels, also including small sandy lenses (10 to 20 cm in thickness, several metres in length)

A

km

148.75 m

147.75 m

Sandy fluvial sediments with few gravel clasts, presence of trough-cross-bedded layers also suggests that its deposition occured in braiding channels

B

Mo sell eR iver

FR-199-019

FR-200-125

Alzette River

MOS 10

Slope-deposits carried by solifluction processes from Liassic marls preserved on the western slope of the Wintrange basin onto the floodplain. These slope-deposits may be directly in contact with the alluvial formation (unit C), when the loess (unit D) has not been deposited or was further eroded. Units D and E characterize by various cryoturbation features such as involutions, plications or icewedge casts. These features can be attributed to a periglacial context (Van Vliet-Lanoë, 2005) and to the degradation of a pre-existing permafrost (Vandenberghe, 1988)

E

200 m

500

200 km

r

200 m

0

100

ive Sauer R

250 m

? G

148.35 m

MOS10 17.0 ± 1.4 ka BP (MAA) 20.3 ± 1.5 ka BP (SAR)

Ice-wedge casts filled by well-sorted red sands of probable fluvial origin. It is very likely that the sands were removed during a subsequent erosional period, except where preserved in ice-wedge casts (it has been seen nowhere else in the gravel-pits)

Coarse fluvial sediments

see details below

Sandy sediments, likely to be accumulated by the Moselle River during floods. This unit however characterizes by massive pedogenic weathering (tongue-like structures, ferro-manganese oxides, root traces), preventing from a precise recognition of its sedimentary structures. This pedogenic evolution reflects the development of temperate conditions in the Wintrange basin during or after the deposition of unit F

F

Loi re

Fine fluvial sediments

Pre-Quaternary basement

D

Dark slope deposits 148.50 m

FR-201-318 FR-201-320

Slope deposits

FR-199-018

FR-198-001

FR-198-006

Anthropic fill (railway dam)

G1

e Sein

300 m

FR-201-321

300 m

250 m

149.00 m

Mo

Location of drillings and inferred main sedimentary units

Sword "Eglingen" type end of middle Bronze Age

F

ine

Rh

G

150.05 m

G

Rem IV

Late Bronze Age

147.75 m

145.40 m

PS 147.35 m

Anthropic fill

144.40 m

F 2 windfalls with charcoal of Quercus sp. 3770±50 BP 4030±50 BP

Molluscs

D

218.47 m

Drilling FR-200-365 A radiocarbon age of 7250±40 BP (Beta-240994) was obtained on peat located near 217 m.

217.47 m

Very fine sediments (silt/clay)

144.65 m

Drilling FR-201-055 Palynological study from a organic deposit by Pascale Ruffaldi : pollen analysis indicates a dry and cold climat (allocated to Weichselian period) . A radiocarbon age of 25280±220 BP (Beta-182249) was obtained on moss (bryophyta) near 215.5 m.

?

E

145.05 m

C

F

E

145.75 m

219.47 m

G

?

146.75 m

C Charcoal of Juniperus sp. 30770±300 BP

NO STUDY

220.47 m

F

G

Remerschen II - Klosbaam Late Bronze Age, incineration

? NGL

147.50 m

B

144.05 m

Rem I PS

147.20 m

G2

B

?

Roman

146.80 m

A

G1

Mesolithic artifacts

Federmesser point

Early Neolithic

146.40 m

Protohistory

143.05 m

A

F

? Km

216.47 m

Drilling used for cross section Drilling with analysis Boring with analysis Unexpected discovery

30 cm

Motorway

500

1 000

1 500

2 000 m

Epipaleolithic/ Mésolithic settlements

Protohistoric settlements

Sample for radiocarbon dating

Neolithic settlements

150.00 m

Protohistoric graves

PS

Romans buildings

Merovingian graves

Roman graves

Settelment extension

Roman monument

G2

Clay

G1

Mesolithic artifacts

148.90 m

The Quaternary sediments in the Alzette valley floor

214.47 m

Fine fluvial sediments

NGL

14C 151.75 m

Roman

E

Protohistory

Alzette River

147.10 m

213.47 m

?

212.47 m

?

Coarse alluvial deposits

Pre-Quaternary rocks

Km

E

E

D

C

E

150.15 m

D 149.45 m

? B

145.10 m

208.47 m

207.47 m

NO STUDY

C calcite concretions

A Molluscs 141.25 m

The preliminary comparison between the valley evolution of the Moselle and Alzette in Luxembourg made it possible to recognize important similarities : both valley floors actually consist of three alluvial units, the alluvial floodplain and two lower alluvial terraces located at +3 and + 10-12 m, respectively, and locally overlain by slope-deposits. Despite numerous gaps, the chronological framework also seems in good agreement, which made it possible to identify the passage from a periglacial context to interglacial conditions leading to increase of human activities. These research has however to be continued and improved : in the Moselle valley, by the acquisition of complementary luminescence age estimates and the possibility to develop research on the alluvial floodplain M0 ; and in the Alzette valley by analyses of the undisturbed sequences observed in the recent drillings, which cover the whole valley-floor (in opposition with the Moselle). As recognized in the north-western France (Antoine et al., 2003), the upstream course of small river valleys (like the Alzette near Lorentzweiler) offers very convenient conditions to study the end of the glacial period and the beginning of the warmer period in a continental setting. Further results should then lead to improve the global environmental evolution in the Luxembourg area since the last cold period. ANTOINE P., MUNAUT A.-V., LIMONDIN-LOZOUET N., PONEL P., DUPÉRON J., and DUPÉRON M. 2003 – Response of the Selle River to climatic modifications during the Lateglacial and Early Holocene (Somme Basin-Nothern France), Quaternary Science Reviews, 22, p. 2061-2076. BROU L. avec la collaboration de GAFFIÉ S., LE BRUN-RICALENS F., STEAD-BIVER V. (2001) – Découverte d’une occupation Epipaléolithique ou Mésolithique ancien à RemerschenEnner dem Raederbierg (Grand-duché de Luxembourg), Présentation et implications, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 1998-99/20-21, p. 197-223. CORDIER S. 2004 - Les niveaux alluviaux quaternaires de la Meurthe et de la Moselle entre Baccarat et Coblence : étude morphosédimentaire et chronostratigraphique, implications climatiques et tectoniques, Thèse de doctorat Nouveau Régime, Univ. Paris-XII Val de Marne, 2 vol., 455 p. CORDIER S., HARMAND D., LOSSON B., & BEINER M., 2004 - Alluviation in the Meurthe and Moselle valleys (Eastern Paris Basin, France): Lithological contribution to the study of the Moselle capture and Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, Quaternaire, 15, (1-2), 65-76. CORDIER S., FRECHEN M., HARMAND D., & BEINER M. 2005 - Middle and upper Pleistocene fluvial evolution of the Meurthe and Moselle valleys in the Paris basin and rhenish massif, Quaternaire, 16, (3), 201-215. CORDIER S., HARMAND D., FRECHEN M., & BEINER M. 2006 - Fluvial system response to Middle and Upper Pleistocene climate change in the Meurthe and Moselle valleys (Eastern Paris basin and Rhenish Massif), Quaternary Science Reviews, 25, 1460-1474. FECHNER K. & LANGOHR R., 1994a - Sols anthropiques et alluvions anciennes sur le site de Remerschen-Schengerwis : une longue histoire faite d’événements naturels, état de la question, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 15-1993, 99-113. Notae Prehistoricae, 13, 115-117.

1 Roots, Research Team in Archaeo- and Palaeo- Sciences, 18 rue de la Moselle F-57100 Manom, France - [email protected] - http://geoarch.free.fr 2 Laboratoire Géodynamique des Milieux Naturels et de l’Environnement, Université Paris 12 - Val de Marne, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, F-94010 Créteil Cedex, France, [email protected] 3 Roots, Research Team in Archaeo- and Palaeo- Sciences, 197 rue Belliard, bte 3, B-1040 Bruxelles, Belgium 4 Leibniz Institute for Applied Geosciences (GGA), S3: Geochronology and Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, D-30631 Hannover, Germany, [email protected]

C

Km

B A Remerschen V - Enner dem Raedererwee Stratigraphical sequency

Palaeoenvironments and human settlements in the Wintrange basin over Late pleistocene

Ages Cal. ka BP

Chronozones

The story begins in the Upper Pleniglacial: this cold period corresponded in the Middle Moselle valley to a periglacial environment likely associated to the presence of permafrost. Owing to the morphology of the basin, the Moselle River here developed a braided channel system, associated with the deposition of coarse sediments (unit A). Ice-rafting events are evidenced by the presence of quartzite blocks in this unit.

2

Subatlantique

The end of the Upper Pleniglacial corresponds to a period of increased precipitation, possibly associated with the degradation of the permafrost (Van Huissteden et al., 2000), both generating solifluction deposits (unit E). The cryoturbation features recognized in units D and E, however, point to the persistence of periglacial conditions in the basin. The red sand with an assumed fluvial origin in the core of ice-wedge casts is attributed to increased fluvial activity indicating an aggradation phase.

4

GAFFIÉ S., BAES R. avec la collaboration de BROU L., LE BRUN-RICALENS F. et STEAD-BIVER V. (2001) - Etude géo-pédologique du site préhistorique de Remerschen-Enner dem Raederbierg (Grand-Duché de Luxembourg), Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 1998-99/20-21, p.197-223. HAUZEUR A. (2006) – Le Rubané au Luxembourg, ERAUL, 114, Dossiers d’Archéologie du Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art, MNHA, Luxembourg, volume X, 668 p. HAUZEUR A., LE BRUN-RICALENS F., JADIN I., RUIJTER A. de (1994a) - Présentation du site archéologique de Remerschen-Schengerwis, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 15-1993, p. 23-28. HAUZEUR A., LE BRUN-RICALENS F., RUIJTER A. de, JADIN I. (1994c) - Poursuite des fouilles de sauvetage à Remerschen-Schengerwis (G.-D. de Luxembourg) : Les structures rubanées, Notae Prehistoricae, 14, p. 155-158.

Rem IV Windfalls Quercus

Subboreal

5

Late Atlantic

6 7

Early Atlantic

9

11

14

16

Erosion

?

?

Younger Dryas

Flood deposits Unit F

?

Palaeoenvironment

?

Rem VI-IRSL datings

19

MOS-9 (unit B)

20

?

21

MOS-12 (unit B)

22 23 24

Upper Pleniglacial

2

Ice wedge cast cryoturbations Unit E

(Alluvial red sands)

Aeolian deposits Unit D

Alternation of sandy and silty deposits Unit C Sandy deposits Unit B

27

Coarse deposits Unit A ?

28 29

Roman

1

Hunsrück-Eifel

C

Opening of the forest environment

?

?

6

Mesolithic

Forest environment

?

5

?

8

?

9

Ahrensbourgian

10

Federmesser

Molluscs periglacial fauna

11 12 13 14 15 16

17

18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

incision

32

? ?

33

Middle Pleniglacial

29 30 31

?

34

37

7

28

31

36

2

Early Neolithic

30

35

1

4

?

MOS-10 (unit C)

Ages Cal. ka BC-AD

3

Bølling Oldest Dryas

Archaeology

Late Bronze Age

Older Dryas

18

26

?

Erosion

Allerød

17

25

Fluvial dynamic

?

Rem I Corylus

Preboreal

12

13

1

Rem I 13 dates Linear-potery Neo.

Terrestrial dynamics Actual pedogenesis Anthropic slope deposits Erosion Anthropic slope deposits

Boreal

10

The upper sediments (units F and G) record the development of more temperate conditions in the basin. This return of interglacial conditions allowed the development of human settlements and activities, as evidenced by the numerous Neolithic to Medieval remains found in the basin. Human occupation has also driven major landscape evolutions, resulting in deforestation and agricultural activities. While the increased forestry started during the Neolithic, in the diversity of forest species, farming generated major soil erosion, evidenced by two main phases of slope deposition (unit G) in the Iron Age and/or Roman period.

FRECHEN M., OCHES E. A., KOHFELD K. E. (2003) - Loess in Europe - mass accumulation rates during the Last Glacial Period. Quaternary Science Reviews, 22, p. 1835-1857.

Datings

Rem I 3 dates Iron Age

3

15

The second part of Upper Pleniglacial time corresponds to a progressive decrease of the fluvial energy of the river, which deposited mainly sands and silts (units B and C). This decrease is linked to a reduction in precipitation affecting the whole of Western Europe (Frechen et al., 2003). Another consequence of this change could be the deposition of aeolian deposits correlating with unit D, with their cold malacofauna remains.

OIS

1

8

References:

E D

147.25 m

Combining sedimentological, chronological, archaeological and anthracological results has allowed the reconstruction of landscape evolution and human occupation in the Wintrange basin during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, as summarized in the adjoining table. There is however several remaining questions about the chronology of each event.

Conclusion:

FECHNER�

Location of the charcoal of Juniperus with date of 30770±300 BP (Beta-182248)

Km

Permafrost

The organic sediments observed in coarse alluvial deposits contain molluscs from the FR-207-353 drilling

C

?

B

fluvial sedimentation (floodplain M0)

209.47 m

D

14C

Alluvial sheet M1

210.47 m

? A

148.25 m

Unit G

The drilling results make it possible to reconstruct the geometry of the quaternary sedimentary units of the Alzette valley. Three stepped alluvial units are also recognized along the cross profile: the lower one (Az0) corresponds with the maximal incision of the Alzette. It is preserved in the western part of the floodplain, with base being located at about 212 m a.s.l.. In the eastern part of the valley the contact between the fluvial deposits and the substratum is located at about 215 m a.s.l.: these deposits may also be allocated to a lower terrace Az1 (relative height : +3 m). A third alluvial unit Az2 was recognized in two drillings, with a bedrock located at about 224 m a.s.l. (+12 m). The drillings however provide no information about the transition between this upper unit and Az1. The channel migration in the valley and the assumed meandering dynamics (suggested by the weakness of the longitudinal slope) led to meander downcuttings and to the formation of oxbow lakes. These former oxbow-lakes are subjected either to a mineral or organic filling, the predominance of this latter leading to the formation of peat bogs. A radiocarbon dating of 7250±40 BP (Beta-240994) was obtained on a peaty level from an ancient drilling (FR-200-365) towards 217 m a.s.l. Taking account of this dating, sequences of peats found in the recent drillings (e.g. FR-207-353, see adjoining), could belong to the first part of the Holocene. In the FR-207-353 drilling, it is also important to note presence of an organic level within the coarse sediments. It is located at approx. 211 m a.s.l., and contains numerous rests of molluscs shells (see adjoining photo). Further radiocarbon dating and palynological study will consequently be realised for this level. In the drilling FR-201-055 (located at the western part of the valley), the dating of moss remains (bryophyts) preserved in a clayey level gave an age estimate of about 25280±220 BP (Beta-182249). This result is in good agreement with palynological data, suggesting a dry and cold environment. This age has however to be confirmed due, first to a possible reservoir effect (more study of the bryophyts remains is needed), and secondly to the incoherences and heterogeneity of the drilling samples (mix of alluvial and slope deposits).

Unit Az 2

E

C

Pedogenesis process

Unit Az 1

D

E

Lateglacial

Unit Az 0

Coarse alluvial deposits

211.47 m

14C

C

Slope deposits

200 m

Molluscs (Trichia hispida, Pupilla muscorum, Succinea oblonga)

Keuper Marls

200 m

Organic sediments

Palynological sample

FR-200-365 7250±40 BP

? A

151.20 m

Coarse fluvial sediments

FR-201-055 25280±220 BP

? B

148.10 m

F

Organic sediments Peat

PS G2 G1

152.25 m

Protohistory

F

Rem V

152.50 m

C

Ahrensbourgian tools

Permafrost degradation

Slope deposits

250 m

Roman

149.30 m

Dispersion area

Remerschen IV - Enner dem Schengenerwee Ice wedge cast filled by red sands

Peat

?

149.70 m

14C

215.47 m

Sand Peat Clay

Anthropic fill (railway dam)

E

Motorway

NGL

14C

250 m

?

145.40 m

Km

Peat

0

?

NO STUDY

Drilling

Organic sediments Clay

Mammoth tusk An excavation for a building construction allows the discovery of a mammoth tusk from coarse sediments near 225 m (terrace Az 2).

32

3

33 34

The AMS date serie (table 2) is calibrated at 2σ by Calibration Program Version Oxcal 4.0 on the Intcal 2004 curve (Reimer et al. 2004; Bronk Ramsey, 1995; Bronk Ramsey 2001).

35

NATON H.-G., CORDIER S., BROU L., DAMBLON F., FRECHEN M., HAUZEUR A., LE BRUN-RICALENS F., & VALOTTEAU F. submited - Fluvial evolution of the Moselle valley in Luxembourg during Late Pleistocene and Holocene: palaeoenvironment and human occupation, Quaternaire. RIDDER N.A. de, 1957 - Beiträge zur Morphologie der Terrassenlandschaft des Luxemburgischen Moselgebietes. Geog. Inst. Rijks Univ. Utrecht, 13, 138 p. SPIER F., LE BRUN-RICALENS F. (1994) - Eléments épipaléolithique et mésolithique du site de Remerschen-Schengerwis, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 15-1993, p. 29-35. VALOTTEAU F., BROU L. & FISCHER R. (2005) – Une épée de l’âge du Bronze à Remerschen, Musée info, Bulletin d’information du Musée national d’histoire et d’art de Luxembourg, 18, p.46-47. VANDENBERGHE J., 1988 - Cryoturbations, in CLARK M. J. Advances in Periglacial Geomorphology, 179-198.

LE BRUN-RICALENS F., RUIJTER A. de (1994) - Les tombes de l’âge du Bronze final de Remerschen-Schengerwis, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Luxembourgeoise, 15-1993, p. 7376.

VAN HUISSTEDEN J., VANDENBERGHE J., VAN DER HAMMEN T., & LLAAN W., 2000 - Fluvial and aeolian interation under permafrost conditions: Weichselian Late Pleniglacial, Twente, eastern Netherlands. Catena, 40, 511-541.

MEYRICK R.A. 2001 - The development of terrestrial mollusc faunas in the ‘Rheinland region’ (western Germany and Luxembourg) during the Lateglacial and Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 20, p. 1667-1675.

VAN VLIET-LANOË B., 2005 - La Planète des Glaces, 470 p., Paris, Vuibert.

NATON H.-G. 2008 – Évolution morphosédimentaire et paléoenvironnementales de la vallée de l’Alzette, étude préliminaire. Rapport interne du Service géologique de l’Administration des ponts et chaussées du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, 30 p., 32 fig. 5 Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement UMR 6249 CNRS-UFC 16, route de Gray F-25030 Besançon Cedex, France 6 Head of Quaternary Molluscs, Forschungsinstitut für Quartärpaläontologie, Steubenstrasse 19a, D-99423 Weimar, Deutschland 7 Service géologique de l’Administration des ponts et chaussées du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (SGL), Bd G.-D. Charlotte 43, L-1313 Luxembourg city, Luxembourg 8 Archéologue, 14 rue de Mersch L-9155 Grosbous, Luxembourg 9 Service d’archéologie préhi� 10 Service de la carte arché�

ZOLITSCHKA B., & LÖHR H., 1999 - Geomorphologie der Mosel-Niederterrassen und Ablagerungen eines ehemaligen Altarmsees (Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz): Indikatoren für jungquartäre Umweltveränderungen und anthropogene Schwermetallbelastung, Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 143, 1999/5+6, 401-416.

Research Team in Archaeo- and PalaeoSciences

G r a n d -D u c h é d e L u x e mb o u r g M inist è r e de la C u lt ur e