Prehistoric Landscape Change Around the Sources of Stonehenge’s Bluestones in Preseli, Wales

This article explores the evidence for environmental change at Beck Burn, Solway Moss, on the English/Scottish border. The analysed pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) and microscopic charcoal particles permit several palaeoenvironmental events to be interpreted, supported by radiocarbon dating. These and previously published data suggest the presence of very early Mesolithic water-edge activity, later Mesolithic woodland management, clearance and small-scale cultivation during the early Neolithic period, followed by low-level disturbance for pastoral farming in the early Bronze Age. Woodland clearance and cereal cultivation are dated to the middle Bronze Age, with significant clearance and cultivation identified during the late Iron Age or early Roman period. The medieval period is characterised by evidence for a mixed subsistence economy, with reduced activity possibly coincident with the Wars of Scottish Independence, famines and the Black Death of the fourteenth century, as well as the Little Ice Age. Renewed activity, with evidence for both arable and pastoral farming, is dated to the late medieval to early post-medieval period. Pine plantations were then created, possibly in the eighteenth century or later. The data reveal the importance of palaeoenvironmental archaeology, in the absence of significant finds or features, in creating a link with the past.

Agerbruget i enkeltgravskultur – Senneolitikum og ældre bronzealder i Jylland belyst ud fra plantemakrofossil

This paper suggests that sediment depth-age anomalies, and the lithological and palaeoecological properties of a peat core from Borve mire on the Outer Hebridean island of Barra, reflect the episodic impacts of rapid mass-movement of superficial peats and mineral soils from the adjacent hillslopes in the period 3000 to 1750 14C years BP. Alternative explanations such as mismeasurement of radiocarbon or contamination by floods, are thought less likely. The research implies that there is a general need for caution in the interpretation of mire deposits from sites which are adjacent to steep peat-covered hillslopes and which have not been investigated with the support of substantial radiocarbon and lithological studies programmes. The environmental and vegetational history of this exposed and isolated Atlantic island is shown to have not been one of treeless homogeneity. A variety of deciduous and coniferous tree species colonized early in the Holocene, with distinctive birch-hazel woodland developing at one point in time. The landscape became increasingly treeless in the Bronze Age, with most but not all trees having been lost by the Medieval period. Valley side peats provide palynological evidence of pastoral and arable farming on poor soils in the Dark Age-Early Medieval period, at sites beyond the present limits of cultivation.

Anthropogenic impact on vegetation and environment during the Bronze Age in the area of Lake Durankulak, NE Bulgaria: Pollen, microscopic charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs and plant macrofossils

The article analyses new data, which provides the opportunity to reconstruct the natural environment of peo-ple in the Tobol area (forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia) in the 3rd–1st millennia BC. The authors consider the issue associated with the consistency between off-site pollen data and on-site palynological data, as well as how correctly they reflect natural conditions defining the living environment of the ancient population. Materials for the study were obtained from the Oskino-09 swamp-lake located near the confluence of the Iset and Tobol Rivers in the immediate vicinity of a multilayer settlement (Oskino Boloto). The age of swamp-lake sediments was de-termined using an age-depth model developed on the basis of AMS dates. In this study, the authors analysed pollen and plant macro-remains, as well as the indicators of economic activity (non-pollen palynomorphs, weed pollen). The analysis of stratigraphy, the composition of plant macro-remains and local pollen revealed that up to 1.2 cal ka BC the water body in question was developing as a fresh lake, which allowed the inhabitants of the Oskino Boloto settlement to use it for fishing and as a source of water in the Eneolithic and in the Bronze Age. Its transformation into a swamp occurred in 1.1–0.8 cal ka BC, which coincided with the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. During the study period, the swamp-lake and the settlement were surrounded by forests confined to the terraces of the Iset River; starting from the middle of the Eneolithic, birch-pine forests ap-peared in the vicinity. However, pine forests were actively replaced with birch forests at the beginning of the Bronze Age; evidently, warmer temperatures and higher humidity resulted in the appearance of deciduous trees. Most of the Bronze Age is associated with a gradual decrease in humidity, with the signs of an increase in the water table level and the active expansion of birch forests being observed only at the turn of the Bronze and Iron Ages. A new stage of coniferous forest expansion in the Early Iron Age (ca 0.8 cal ka BС) is probably associated with a low level of the water table, as well as with a general fall in the temperature. The natural environment at the beginning of the Early Iron Age is very similar to that at the end of the Eneolithic. New data indicate that there were no completely treeless areas in the studied interval; forests always grew along river terraces. However, most of the settlements located nearby in the Ingala Valley were confined to open meadow-steppe areas forming an inhabited landscape. Despite the differences in the off-site pollen data obtained from the swamp and the on-site data, these data reveal similar trends in climatic changes in the 3rd–1st millennia BC.

Et monumentalt midtsulehus ved Nørre Holsted i Sydjylland

Forests in the upper continental montane zone are important ecotones between lowland and subalpine forest ecosystems. A thorough understanding of the past vegetation dynamics at mid elevation is crucial to assess past and future altitudinal range shifts of tree species in response to climate change. Lake sediments from Lac de Champex (1,467 m a.s.l.), a small lake in the Canton Valais in the Central Swiss Alps were analysed to reconstruct the vegetation, land use and fire history for the last 14,500 years, using pollen, macrofossils, non-pollen palynomorphs and charcoal. The record indicates that the tree line had already reached the Champex area during the Allerød (14,000 cal bp) but dropped below the lake’s catchment during the Younger Dryas cooling (12,750–11,550 cal bp). Reforestation started again with Betula and Pinus sylvestris in the Early Holocene at 11,500 cal bp in response to rapid climate warming. Temperate tree species (Ulmus, Tilia, Quercus, Acer) may have reached the altitude of the lake during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (ca. 10,000–5,000 cal bp). Mixed forests with mesophilous Abies alba were dominant between 7,500 and 5,000 cal bp. The mass expansions of Picea abies after 5,000 cal bp and Alnus viridis thickets after 4,500 cal bp were directly linked to increasing human disturbance. High values of coprophilous Sporormiella fungal spores and cereal pollen suggest pastoral and arable farming at the site from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age onwards (5,000 cal bp). Our data imply that vegetation at intermediate elevation was less affected by human activities than at higher or lower elevations but that these areas served as important stations between the permanent settlements in the valleys and the seasonally occupied alpine huts at higher elevations. We argue that future climate warming will lead to drastic reorganizations of mountain ecosystems.

Fine-resolution sampling of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs and microcharcoal as well as sedimentological data in a 6-m sediment core were used to reconstruct both natural conditions and human impacts in the late fifth and early fourth millennia cal bc in the environs of the Nebelivka megasite in Kirovograd Oblast, Central Ukraine. This 238-ha site, dating to the Middle (or BII) Phase of the Trypillia culture, represents one of the first low-density urban establishments in Europe. Despite what was believed to be a sizable population, local human impacts reconstructed from the multi-proxy palaeo-ecological record were moderate in character. There was no positive evidence to indicate a depositional hiatus in the P1 core and no sign of a major ecological impact at any stage in the high-resolution record. The palaeo-ecological record indicates modest settlement agglomeration with less permanent populations rather than permanent populations of tens of thousands of people.

A mid to late Holocene chironomid-inferred temperature record from northwest Ireland

The Lusatian Urnfield culture (LUc, Lausitzer Kultur, kultura łużycka) was one of the most important cultural developments during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age of central-eastern Europe, 1500–500 bc. In this article, we focus on the impact of the LUc and later cultures on the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at Bruszczewo on a microregional scale and within the broad context of analogous processes in central-eastern Europe. We did high resolution multi-proxy analyses of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), diatoms and plant macrofossils, supplemented with a lithological and geochemical study of lake and peat deposits from near the archaeological site. The results revealed that between ca. 1020 and 920 bc, woodland clearance took place, possibly connected with farming. This probably contributed to the spread of the weeds Xanthium cf. strumarium and Convolvulus arvensis in the newly created disturbed habitats. Woodland clearance and other human activities contributed to better preservation of diatoms in the lake sediments, probably as a result of increased acidity in this environment. Diatoms, especially taxa preferring eutrophic waters and tolerant of large amounts of dissolved organic matter, were the most frequent at that time. Climate deterioration associated with the 2.8 ka event probably lessened human impact around the lake shore. The diatom records suggest prolonged ice cover on the lake and/or colder springs at that time. Another intensification of human impact occurred at ca. 530 bc and was probably related to activity by people of Pomeranian culture (kultura pomorska, Pommerellische Gesichtsurnenkultur). Later, from ca. 330 bc, arable farming activity declined and grazing was suggested by an abundance of coprophilous fungi spores which, however, should not be regarded as definitive indicators of pasture.

Resenlund og Brøndumgård bronzedepoter – Kult og samfund i yngre bronzealder

The late Holocene environmental history of two karstic uplands in the Burren, western Ireland is reconstructed. The palaeoecological investigations focus on species-rich, upland plant communities of high biogeographic interest that include Sesleria-dominated grasslands and heath communities with Dryas octopetala, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Empetrum nigrum. Short monoliths taken from shallow peats were pollen analytically investigated. Particular attention was paid to non-pollen palynomorphs, and especially coprophilous fungal spores as indicators of environmental change and pastoral activity at local level. The exposed north-west Burren uplands carried Pinussylvestris-dominated woodland during the mid and late Bronze Age. The demise of pine on these uplands at ca. 600 B.C. is ascribed to human impact. Evidence is presented for increased pastoral activity in the uplands from early medieval times (ca. sixth century A.D.) onwards. Farming, involving intensive grazing of the uplands, attained greatest intensity during the late 18th and early 19th century, and resulted in more or less total clearance of Corylus scrub which, prior to that, was common in both the upland and lowland Burren. The potential of non-pollen palynomorphs and especially the coprophilous fungal spore record for elucidating traditional Burren farming practices, including winterage (a type of transhumance), is highlighted.

Pollen analytical data and the archaeological record for the Isle of Man identify increased human impact on the landscape during the Bronze Age. Pollen profiles from seven sites are presented, all identifying a greater scale of activity than existed during the preceding Neolithic. The archaeological record shows similar increases in both the number and the distribution of finds. Both the archaeology and palaeoecology indicate an increase in human presence in the lowlands, with some sustained arable and pastoral farming and increased evidence of burials. The uplands were perhaps less affected. Four sites have yielded palaeoecological information from archaeological contexts that unambiguously link pollen analytical evidence for disturbance with archaeological evidence for the presence of people. The scale of human disturbance of woodlands on the Isle of Man is similar to that found in southern Scotland and northern England during the Bronze Age, but less intensive than that encountered in northern Ireland. Cereal pollen indicates limited cultivation in lowland areas of the Isle of Man throughout the Bronze Age, perhaps on a lesser scale compared with surrounding regions and with some periods of woodland regeneration.

Lake Nussbaumersee, located SW of Lake Constance (Switzerland/Germany), was studied at high temporal resolution for non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) within a calcareous gyttja sediment core from the deepest part of the lake. At the Nussbaumersee lakeshore, three pile-dwelling settlements have been excavated and dendrochronologically dated (to the Neolithic, 3840–3695 bc; late Early Bronze Age, 1580–1538 bc; and Late Bronze Age, 850–780 bc). The NPP study revealed three peaks of cyanobacteria, likely related to three settlement phases causing phosphate eutrophication of the lake water. The fast decline in cyanobacteria and reduction in green algae blooms after the abandonment of the Neolithic village and the quick recovery of the lake water back to oligotrophic conditions indicate a high prehistoric resilience of the lake ecosystem. After the second eutrophication phase starting around 2500 bc, the density of NPP eutrophication indicators remained at much higher levels, probably showing a loss of resilience of the lake ecosystem due to repeated human disturbance.

Palynological study of archaeometallurgical artefacts from the Late Bronze Age copper smelting sites (Georgia): First results