Prehistory and history of human impact on landscape relief: And overview of current directions in the study and the importance of case studies

Humans became an important factor in the development of Holocene relief. They began to significantly influence a plant cover and retention of the landscape with the advent of agriculture. The consequences of deforestation and an economic land use on erosion and accumulation processes are evaluated by comparing case studies from areas of Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. The main erosive processes belong to the end of Eneolithic, Late Bronze Age, the end of the Roman Period, and early Middle Ages in the area of interest. On a microscale, a stronger influence of archaeological situations arisen before the start of the erosion events and a substantial reduction of artefacts stored in situ can be expected.