2D-ERT data for localizing a Black Death mass grave in Erfurt, Thuringia (Germany)

DOI

Near-surface geophysical prospection combined with sediment coring was used to determine the exact location of a Black Death mass grave in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany. The focus was on exploring the natural stratigraphic and pedogenic environment using sediment coring and geophysical surveys to gain a broader contextual understanding of the site and to determine the most appropriate geophysical methods for locating a mass grave and characterising the natural background. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) proved to be the most suitable geophysical method. The ERT data were collected by using a PC controlled DC resistivity meter system (RESECS, GeoServe, Kiel, Germany). A total of seven ERT transects were measured, three transects in September 2022, two transects in January 2023 and two transects in June 2023. The electrode spacing was 0.5 m and the transect length varied from 31.5 to 87.5 meter. For the measurements in autumn 2022 we used a Wenner alpha configuration. For the subsequent measurements in 2023, we used Wenner alpha and Dipole-Dipole configuration. The coordinates and the heights of the electrodes in the central wooded area (ERT02, ERT03, ERT04, ERT06 and ERT07) were measured using a total station (Leica TPS1200+). The electrode positions and heights of ERT11 and ERT12 were measured with a differential GPS (Leica GPS1200).Further information on the measurement setup and data structure can be found in the explanation of the specific ERT transects.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.974818
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.974818
Provenance
Creator Silbermann, Matthias ORCID logo; Pohle, Marco ORCID logo; Jung, Peter; Werban, Ulrike ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2025
Funding Reference Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Crossref Funder ID BA 5914/1-1 Climate, Famine, and Plague: A Pilot Study of the 14th-century Mass Graves of Erfurt from an Interdisciplinary Perspective; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Crossref Funder ID WE 5518/3-1 Climate, Famine, and Plague: A Pilot Study of the 14th-century Mass Graves of Erfurt from an Interdisciplinary Perspective; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Crossref Funder ID ZI 721/20-1 Climate, Famine, and Plague: A Pilot Study of the 14th-century Mass Graves of Erfurt from an Interdisciplinary Perspective
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 28 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (11.031W, 51.020S, 11.033E, 51.021N); Erfurt, Thuringia, Eastern Germany
Temporal Coverage Begin 2022-09-14T08:05:56Z
Temporal Coverage End 2023-06-01T15:41:13Z