Geoarchaeological evidence of marshland destruction in the area of Rungholt, present-day Wadden Sea around Hallig Südfall (North Frisia, Germany), by…

2018

Abstract Geophysical and geoarchaeological investigations were carried out in the Wadden Sea of North Frisia (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) to elucidate major environmental changes that considerably altered the coastal landscape since medieval times. Between the 12 th and 14 th cent. AD, the present-day tidal flats around the marsh island Hallig Sudfall belonged to the historical Edomsharde district and its main settlement Rungholt . For North Frisia, it is well known that during medieval and early modern times, extreme storm surges caused major land losses associated with a massive landward shift of the coastline. Today, cultural traces like remains of dikes, drainage ditches, terps or even…