Urban archaeology

As urban archeology, the archaeological study of the history is now called yet existent cities. In German area, the term refers mostly to the study of medieval cities, in which the archeology of the Middle Ages has been engaged in the postwar period to a great extent. The initiative comes from the part of the land and construction of monuments which has increasingly recognized the importance of the " archive under the pavement ."

Phases

According to the history of postwar urban archeology has undergone several phases:

• Pre-war period: few studies lay archaeologists, mostly as construction observation
• Reconstruction: in the war-torn cities has been variously used the opportunity to accompany the archaeological reconstruction. Investigations were carried out with limited resources and under the pressure of reconstruction. Examples are the urban archeology in Frankfurt am Main or in Ulm ( City History Research Centre). In many cases, it did not come to the publication of the excavations, as their evaluation proved difficult.
• The car-oriented city: In the 1960s and 1970s established a restructuring of the inner cities in favor of car traffic. The installation of underground car parks led to flat ground interventions. It originated city archaeological work groups or focus programs in numerous cities. Mentioned here is next to Lübeck especially Braunschweig, Göttingen and Cologne, since the 1980s also Konstanz and Freiburg im Breisgau.
• In the former GDR, especially the investments meant by the turn of a boost for the city of archeology, many places could be used, and has contributed significantly to the establishment also an archeology of modern times.

In the Rhineland, but also in Western and Southern Europe, the city of archeology employed in preference to the ancient findings Roman times and works here with the provincial Roman archeology together.

Issues of urban archeology are generally development and topography of cities, but also the daily life in different periods.