Archaeopalynology of synanthropic vegetation in the chora of Chersonesos, Crimea, Ukraine

Abstract

Palynological analyses of Late Holocene soils and sedimentary deposits within the agricultural territory ( chora) of the ancient city of Chersonesos provide information on landscape transformation of the Heraklean Peninsula of the Crimea prior and after the Greek colonization (5th–2nd centuries BC). Pollen research focused on the interpretation of anthropogenic indicators in pollen assemblages as a method to reconstruct synanthropic flora, including local secondary plant communities of sub-Mediterranean type (shiblyak and phrygana), cultivated plants, and segetal vegetation (weeds). The interpretation of the fossil pollen record is partially based on modern pollen spectra obtained from several plant communities and managed environments in the Heraklean Peninsula. In the deposits studied, there is no evidence that the grapevine ( Vitis) was cultivated before Greek colonization, or that walnut ( Juglans) was present before the Roman period. Cerealia-type pollen appears in pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic deposits in low frequencies, only acquiring greater significance in more recent deposits. Olea pollen was absent in the deposits studied here, suggesting that its adaptation to Crimea was never achieved in antiquity. The incursion of Mediterranean floristic elements in the pollen records show that the “mediterranization” of the southwestern Crimean landscapes began during the Middle Holocene with the warming and intensification of summer drought, which is also testified by the development of cinnamonic soils. The adaptation of Mediterranean managed environments intensified during last 3000 years.