Sedimentary evidence of paleovegetation and human activity at Pope manor in the 17th – 19th centuries

Abstract

Sediments are an important archive, containing evidence of natural events and human activity in a given place. For this reason, a 49-cm-long sediment monolith of a section from the slope of an elevation at Pope, where the hunting castle is situated, was taken during archaeological excavations with the aim of finding out the environmental conditions during formation of the cultural layer. Samples were studied using a multidisciplinary approach, including sediment composition, granulometric and mineralogical composition analysis, as well as paleobotanical analysis of plant macroscopic remains and pollen analyses. The results obtained in all analyses complement each other and give the impression that naturally accumulated sediments were mixed by human activity. This is evidenced by their similar composition throughout the section. The results of analyses of macroscopic plant remains and pollen contained in the sediments indicate the environmental conditions at the time during the existence of the hunting castle at Pope. According to the data of paleobotanical analyses, and the considerable amount of grasses, especially weeds, the landscape was relatively open and cultivated.