Conifer Forest Dynamics in the Iberian Pyrenees during the Middle Ages

This study compares the Medieval (ca. 400–1500 CE; Common Era) dynamics of forests from low-mountain (Montcortès; ca. 1000 m a.s.l.) and high-mountain (Sant Maurici; 1900 m a.s.l.) areas of the Iberian Pyrenees, both of which experienced similar climatic forcing but different anthropogenic pressures. The main aim is to identify forest changes over time and associate them with the corresponding climatic and anthropogenic drivers (or synergies among them) to test how different forests at different elevations respond to external forcings. This can be useful to evaluate the hypothesis of general Pyrenean deforestation during the Middle Ages leading to present-day landscapes and to improve the background for forest conservation. The study uses the palynological analysis of lake sediments, historical documents and paleoecological reconstructions based on pollen-independent proxies. The two sites studied showed different forest trajectories. The Montcortès area was subjected to intense human pressure during regional deforestation up to a maximum of ca. 1000 CE. Further forest recovery took place until the end of the Middle Ages due to a change in forest management, including the abandonment of slash-and-burn practices. Climatic shifts indirectly influenced forest trends by regulating human migrations and the resulting shifts in the type and intensity of forest exploitation. The highland Sant Maurici forests exhibited a remarkably long-standing constancy and an exceptional resilience to climatic shifts, which were unable to affect forest extension and composition, and to local human pressure, from which they rapidly recovered. The Montcortès and Sant Maurici records did not follow the rule of an irreversible forest clearing during the Middle Ages leading to present-day landscapes. The present Montcortès landscape was shaped after a Medieval forest recovery, new Modern-Age deforestation and further forest recovery during the last centuries. The Sant Maurici forests remained apparently untouched since the Bronze Age and were never cleared during the Middle Ages. The relevance of these findings for forest conservation is briefly addressed, and the need for the development of more high-resolution studies on Pyrenean forest dynamics is highlighted.

Download Full-text

Medieval Forest Dynamics in the Iberian Pyrenees: A Comparison Between Low- and High-mountain Areas

10.20944/preprints202110.0218.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Valentí Rull ◽

Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Forest Dynamics ◽

Forest Conservation ◽

Forest Recovery ◽

High Mountain ◽

Human Pressure ◽

Anthropogenic Pressures ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

The Middle Ages

This paper compares the Medieval (ca. 400–1500 CE) dynamics of forests from low-mountain (Montcortès; ca. 1000 m a.s.l.) and high-mountain (Sant Maurici; 1900 m a.s.l.) areas of the Iberian Pyrenees, both of which experienced similar climatic forcing but different anthropogenic pressures. The main aim is to identify forest changes over time and associate them with the corresponding climatic and anthropogenic drivers (or synergies among them) to test how different forests at different elevations respond to external forcings. This could be useful to evaluate the hypothesis of general Pyrenean deforestation during the Middle Ages leading to present-day landscapes and to improve the background for forest conservation. The study uses palynological analysis of lake sediments, historical documents and paleoecological reconstructions based on pollen-independent proxies. The two sites studied showed different forest trajectories. The Montcortès area was subjected to intense human pressure during regional deforestation up to a maximum of ca. 1000 CE. Further forest recovery took place until the end of the Middle Ages due to a change in forest management, including the abandonment of slash-and-burn practices. Climatic shifts indirectly influenced forest trends by regulating human migrations and the resulting shifts in the type and intensity of forest exploitation. The highland Sant Maurici forests exhibited a remarkably long-standing constancy and an exceptional resilience to climatic shifts, which were unable to affect forest extension and composition, and to local human pressure, from which they rapidly recovered. The Montcortès and Sant Maurici records did not follow the rule of an irreversible forest clearing during the Middle Ages leading to present-day landscapes. The present Montcortès landscape was shaped after a Medieval forest recovery, a new Modern-Age deforestation and a further forest recovery during the last centuries. The Sant Maurici forests remained apparently untouched since the Bronze Age and were never cleared during the Middle Ages. The relevance of these findings for forest conservation is briefly addressed, and the need for the development of more high-resolution studies on Pyrenean forest dynamics is highlighted.

Download Full-text

Late-Holocene forest resilience in the central Pyrenean highlands as deduced from pollen analysis of Lake Sant Maurici sediments

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/09596836211033207 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095968362110332

Author(s):

Valentí Rull ◽

Núria Cañellas-Boltà ◽

Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Holocene ◽

High Elevation ◽

Roman Period ◽

High Mountain ◽

Southern Central ◽

Central Pyrenees ◽

The Middle Ages

Palynological analysis of the last ca. 4300 cal year BP using a sediment core taken from high mountain (ca. 1900 m elevation) Lake Sant Maurici sediments (southern-central Pyrenees) showed remarkable vegetation constancy during the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages. Records of the Iron Age and the Roman period were missing due to a major sedimentary gap. During the studied periods, the vegetation around the lake was largely dominated by pine ( Pinus) forests with birch ( Betula), oak ( Quercus) and hazel ( Corylus) trees, as is the case today. The composition of these forests and the abundance of their components remained quite stable, despite the occurrence of temperature and moisture shifts. The degree of human disturbance, notably that of pastoralism and cereal cultivation by scattered and temporary settlements, was very low and had little or no effect on the dominant forests. This situation contrasts with most high-elevation (subalpine and alpine) environments of the central Pyrenees that were massively anthropized during the Middle Ages. Further research should be aimed at finding sediments corresponding to the Iron Age and the Roman period to verify whether the vegetation constancy can be extended throughout the Late-Holocene. Past records of this type may allow the estimation of natural and anthropogenic thresholds for irreversible forest changes, which would be useful for conservation purposes.

Download Full-text

Late-Holocene forest resilience in the central Pyrenean highlands as deduced from pollen analysis of Lake Sant Maurici sediments

10.31233/osf.io/mnp3e ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Valentí Rull ◽

Núria Cañellas-Boltà ◽

Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Holocene ◽

High Elevation ◽

Roman Period ◽

High Mountain ◽

Southern Central ◽

Central Pyrenees ◽

The Middle Ages

Palynological analysis of the last ca. 4300 cal yr BP using a sediment core taken from high mountain (ca. 1900 m elevation) Lake Sant Maurici sediments (southern-central Pyrenees) showed remarkable vegetation constancy during the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages. Records of the Iron Age and the Roman period were missing due to a major sedimentary gap. During the studied periods, the vegetation around the lake was largely dominated by pine (Pinus) forests with birch (Betula), oak (Quercus) and hazel (Corylus) trees, as is the case today. The composition of these forests and the abundance of their components remained quite stable, despite the occurrence of temperature and moisture shifts. The degree of human disturbance, notably that of pastoralism and cereal cultivation by scattered and temporary settlements, was very low and had little or no effect on the dominant forests. This situation contrasts with most high-elevation (subalpine and alpine) environments of the central Pyrenees that were massively anthropized during the Middle Ages. Further research should be aimed at finding sediments corresponding to the Iron Age and the Roman period to verify whether the vegetation constancy can be extended throughout the Late Holocene. Past records of this type may allow the estimation of natural and anthropogenic thresholds for irreversible forest changes, which would be useful for conservation purposes.

Download Full-text

A spatiotemporal gradient in the anthropization of Pyrenean landscapes. Preliminary report

10.31233/osf.io/9u2b5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Valentí Rull ◽

Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Preliminary Analysis ◽

Preliminary Report ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

High Mountain ◽

Mountain Ranges ◽

Southern Central ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

The Middle Ages

A preliminary analysis of the timing of landscape anthropization in the southern-central Pyrenees shows the occurrence of an elevational gradient from the Bronze Age (basal belts) to the Middle Ages (alpine belts). This relationship is statistically significant and suggests an average anthropization rate of 40 m in elevation per century. The elevational gradient is most clear between the Bronze Age and the Roman occupation, suggesting a progressive upward anthropization trend from the south with the likely involvement of Iberian cultures. During the Middle Ages, a massive anthropization pattern of subalpine/alpine areas is observed; this pattern is chronologically consistent with the incursion of northern cultures crossing the Pyrenees and the development of extensive high-mountain pastoralism and horizontal transhumance. In general, the progression of upward anthropization has occurred during warm climatic phases. Further work is needed to confirm these observations, especially in areas with few available paleoecological studies, notably the basal and montane belts. It could be interesting to develop similar studies of other Pyrenean regions and other mountain ranges.

Download Full-text

Ship anchors in the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages: An analytical and experimental study

مجلة کلية الآداب . جامعة الإسکندرية ◽

10.21608/bfalex.2016.155041 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 86 (86) ◽

pp. 1-30

Author(s):

منة الله ابراهيم

Keyword(s):

Experimental Study ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

The Middle Ages

Download Full-text

CERAMICS OF THE PESTRYAKOVO LAKE SETTLEMENT (SOUTH OF WESTERN SIBERIA)

Preservation and study of the cultural heritage of the Altai Territory ◽

10.14258/2411-1503.2021.27.32 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 ◽

pp. 205-212

Author(s):

KIRYUSHIN K. ◽

◽

KIRYUSHIN Yu. ◽

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Western Siberia ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

The South ◽

Animal Hair ◽

The Middle Ages

The article is devoted to the publication of finds of fragments of ceramic dishes discovered at the settlement of Pestryakovo Lake (Zavyalovsky district of Altai Territory). A group of ceramics which belongs to the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, is pointed out. Single fragments find analogies in the materials of the sites of the Early and Late Bronze Age. The ceramic collection of the Pestryakovo Lake settlement includes groups of ceramics that belong to the Neolithic or Eneolithic. These are fragments of vessels ornamented with prints of a “string”, pricks, imprints of a short comb stamp, a dingle-dingle stamping. Linear-pricked and receding-pricked ceramics are quite informative. On the outer and inner surfaces, as well as in the fractures, traces of burnt-out organic matter (animal hair) are recorded. Such ceramics are widely represented in the south of Western Siberia and are associated with various settlement and burial complexes from the Ob to the Irtysh and various cultural formations of the Neolithic and Eneolithic. Keywords: settlement, ceramics, ornamentation technique, comparative typological analysis, neolithic, eneolithic

Download Full-text

Late Holocene vegetation changes in relation with climate fluctuations and human activities in Languedoc (Southern France)

Climate of the Past Discussions ◽

10.5194/cpd-11-4123-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 4123-4157 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. Azuara ◽

N. Combourieu-Nebout ◽

V. Lebreton ◽

F. Mazier ◽

S. D. Müller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Human Activities ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Forest Recovery ◽

Southern France ◽

Climate Fluctuations ◽

Climatic Impacts

Abstract. Holocene climate fluctuations and human activities since the Neolithic have shaped present-day Mediterranean environments. Separating anthropogenic effects from climatic impacts to reconstruct Mediterranean paleoenvironments over the last millennia remains a challenging issue. High resolution pollen analyses were undertaken on two cores from the Palavasian lagoon system (Hérault, southern France). These records allow reconstruction of vegetation dynamics over the last 4500 years. Results are compared with climatic, historical and archeological archives. A long-term aridification trend is highlighted during the Late Holocene and three superimposed arid events are recorded at 4600–4300, 2800–2400 and 1300–1100 cal BP. These periods of climatic instability coincide in time with the rapid climatic events depicted in the Atlantic Ocean (Bond et al., 2001). From the Bronze Age (4000 cal BP) to the end of the Iron Age (around 2000 cal BP), the spread of evergreen taxa and loss of forest cover result from anthropogenic impact. The Antiquity is characterized by a major reforestation event related to the concentration of rural activities and populations in coastal plains leading to forest recovery in the mountains. A major regional deforestation occurred at the beginning of the High Middle Ages. Around 1000 cal BP, forest cover is minimal while cover of olive, chestnut and walnut expands in relation to increasing human influence. The present day vegetation dominated by Mediterranean shrubland and pines has been in existence since the beginning of the 20th century.

Download Full-text

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON 14C DATA

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2020.88 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Giacomo Capuzzo ◽

Christophe Snoeck ◽

Mathieu Boudin ◽

Sarah Dalle ◽

Rica Annaert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Kernel Density ◽

Cultural Changes ◽

Social Transformations ◽

Density Analysis ◽

Funerary Ritual ◽

Kernel Density Analysis ◽

Mesolithic Period ◽

The Middle Ages

ABSTRACT The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

Download Full-text