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Tree rings provide not only a precise dating tool, but also contain information on environmental change. The well replicated tree ring record of northwest Germany therefore provides environmental implications with immanent, absolute and precise dating from 6703 BC to 931 AD. This offers the opportunity to investigate the environmental context of archaeological finds, if they, too, are dated by dendrochronology. We investigated 13 peat-preserved trackways from the Northwest-German lowland between 4629 BC (Neolithic) and 502 AD (Migration Period) for contemporaneousness with water table rise in the landscape. Such environmental change is well reflected in the clearly notable die-off phases of trees preserved in the mires. As an environmental proxy, the parameter “tree die-off rate a-30” is introduced: The annual number of tree die-off events is divided by the number of live trees 30 years previously. Overall, the majority of trackway constructions were found to be contemporaneous to mire water table rise and mire expansion. Possibly, a period of water table rise was a motivation for trackway construction. IANSA 2015 ● VI/1 ● 19–29 Inke Achterberg, Andreas Bauerochse, Thomas Giesecke, Alf Metzler, Hanns Hubert Leuschner: Contemporaneousness of Trackway Construction and Environmental Change: a Dendrochronological Study in Northwest-German Mires 20 in the study area. The tree-ring record consists of 4700 trees, oak (Quercus spec.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris), from the mires of the northwest-German lowland. The chronologies span from 6703 BC to 931 AD (at various stages described by, for example, Delorme 1983; Leuschner et al. 2002; Eckstein et al. 2011). The peat-preserved trees grew at sites strongly affected by hydrological change (e.g. Schweingruber 1993; Linderholm 2002; Eckstein 2010). The trees show phases of woodland establishment, growth and collapse (Eckstein et al. 2011). These phases show much synchrony across different sites in the study area (Eckstein et al. 2011), and also with the Netherlands, Ireland (Leuschner 2002) and Southern Sweden (Edvardsson 2011). They therefore qualify as an indicator for environmental change in the region, which ought to be mostly climatically driven (Leuschner 2002). The phases of high tree mortality (die-off phases) have been identified to indicate mire expansion and mire water table rise. This was evident on the basis of upward growing roots, the composition of peat forming plants and the degree of decomposition (Leuschner et al. 2002; 2007; Eckstein et al. 2009; 2010). Tree die-off phases are a good indicator for mire water table rise (Leuschner et al. 2002; 2007; Eckstein 2009; 2010), whereas tree-ring-width (TRW) has been found to reflect hydrological changes not exclusively at central European mire sites (Dauskane et al. 2011). The meteorological implication of mire water table rise and mire expansion varies, but here, we focus on the timing of such landscape-level changes rather than their causes. This study investigates a possible correlation of trackway construction with mire water table rise and mire expansion. In the following, dendrochronological dates for wooden trackways are evaluated for contemporaneity to die-off phases of the peat-preserved trees from the area. 2. Material and methods 2.1 The peat-preserved trees of northwest Germany The tree species regarded in this study only include oak (Quercus spec.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris). The woodland remains were preserved in peat, and mostly exposed by peat-harvesting. A total of 2090 oak and 2610 pine trees from northwest-German mires, spanning from 6703 BC to 931 AD, form the environmental record. These remains are only tree stumps and stems; no timbers from human constructions, like the trackways or buildings, are included in the environmental record. The chronology of peat-preserved oaks cross-dates well with the Göttingen chronology of timbers from buildings and other constructions, which reaches back from the present (2009 AD) to 610 BC. The main sections of both (oak and pine) chronologies of peat-preserved tree remains cross-date well with the Göttingen chronology of riverine oak from central and northwest Germany, which covers from 7197 BC to 1136 AD. All sections of the peat-preserved pine chronology are securely cross-dated with the peat-preserved oak chronology. Figure 1. Study area in northwest Germany. Elevations are shaded and sampling sites indicated.