Vegetation development and introduction of agriculture to Saaremaa Island, Estonia: the human response to shore displacement

Abstract

Three pollen profiles from Saaremaa Island (West Estonian Archipelago) record vegetation history from the early Holocene up to the present, and land-use history since the late Mesolithic. A new numerical zonation approach for distinguishing between human and climatic impacts in the pollen record in boreal forest is suggested. Zonation and correlation of the studied profiles suggests four pollen-assemblage zones, regarded as regionally significant. Land uplift, in interaction with a milder climate and easily cultivated soils, facilitated by changing economy, has been the most important factor during the colonization and management of coastal areas. Human impact on Saaremaa Island may be divided into four main phases: (a) Mesolithic and Early Neolithic forest disturbance by hunter-gathering people; (b) forest clearances, pastoral farming and first attempts of cereal cultivation by Neolithic people; (c) more regular cultivation with introduction of slash-and-burn agriculture since the Late Neolithic; (d) permanent field cultivation since the Migration Period/Viking Age.