Revised human impact in north‐western Germany during the Neolithic: methodological limits and challenges

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe present study aims to improve our understanding of the chronology of vegetation changes in north‐western Germany during the Neolithic. Therefore, four archived peat profiles from small mires that had been pollen analysed and partly conventionally radiocarbon dated during the 1990s were re‐evaluated. Based on new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates, there are considerable differences between the existing and the newly developed age–depth models. These are also caused by the exclusion of pollen events that were previously assumed to be synchronous, and results from archaeological investigations as dating horizons, hence avoiding circular reasoning in the present study. In addition to the re‐evaluation of archived material, a new profile was recovered, pollen analysed and AMS radiocarbon dated to gain insights into the regional vegetation development and to put local human impact on the landscape in a broader context. The results indicate three different phases of human‐induced vegetation changes. The local vegetation changes do not follow this general pattern, but reflect a very patchy landscape which in turn probably refers to quite small pollen source areas. The study emphasizes that vegetation changes seen in local pollen profiles should neither be regarded as general trends nor be used as dating horizons for neighbouring sites.