Abstract
Pollen analytical studies of four radiocarbon dated sediment records from Switzerland suggest distinct phases of forest clearances and intensified land use from 1450-1250 BC, 650-450 BC, 50 BC-100 AD, and around 700 AD. These land use ex- pansions coincided with periods of warm climate as recorded by Alpine dendroclimatic and Greenland oxygen isotope records. Our results suggest that harvest yields increased synchronously over wide areas of central and southern Europe during periods of warm and dry climate. Positive long-term trends in pollen values of Cerealia and Plantago lanceolata indicate that technical innovations during the Bronze and Iron Ages (e.g. metal ploughs, scythes, hay production, fertilizing methods) gradually increased agricultural productivity. However, our data imply that human societies were not able to compensate rapidly for harvest failures when the climate deteriorated. Agriculture in marginal areas was abandoned, and spontaneous reforestations took place on unoccupied land both north and south of the Alps.
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