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

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 4123-4157 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Late Holocene vegetation changes in relation with climate fluctuations and human activity in Languedoc (southern France)

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1769-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Azuara ◽  
N. Combourieu-Nebout ◽  
V. Lebreton ◽  
F. Mazier ◽  
S. D. Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Recovery ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Southern France ◽  
Climate Fluctuations

Abstract. Holocene climate fluctuations and human activity since the Neolithic have shaped present-day Mediterranean environments. Separating anthropogenic effects from climatic impacts to better understand Mediterranean paleoenvironmental changes 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 high-frequency climate variability coincide in time with the rapid climatic events observed 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 sclerophyllous taxa and loss of forest cover result from anthropogenic impact. Classical Antiquity is characterized by a major reforestation event related to the concentration of rural activity 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 the 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.

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

The Holocene ◽  
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.

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

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.

scholarly journals Zur jungholozänen Oberflächen- und Bodenentwicklung der Siegaue im Hennefer Mäanderbogen

1996 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-31
Author(s):  
Karl Heusch ◽  
Johannes Botschek ◽  
Armin Skowronek
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Late Middle Ages

Abstract. The flood loams in the Sieg valley near Hennef were investigated with geomorphological, sedimentological and pedological methods. They are free of carbonate. Four late Holocene floodplain terraces can be seperated and dated. On the Upper Floodplain Terrace an Auenparabraunerde-Auenbraunerde (Fluvi-Luvic Cambisol) of early Iron Age was found. The pedogenesis on the older Middle Floodplain Terrace lead to a Typische Auenbraunerde (Fluvi-Eutric Cambisol) of Latene Age. The younger part of this terrace is covered by a Braunauenboden (Eutric Fluvisol) of late Middle Ages/modern times. The Lower Floodplain Terrace is the youngest formation, at most 200 years old. It is characterized by an Auengley/Auenregosol (Fluvi-Eutric Gleysol). The Parabraunerde (Luvisol) on the Weichselian Low Terrace is supposed to be of Bronze Age. That anthropogenic flood loams bury traces of a presumably early Holocene soil on the Low Terrace.

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

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.

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

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

Holocene evolution of closed depressions and its relation to landscape dynamics in the loess areas of Poland

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Kołodyńska-Gawrysiak
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Landscape Dynamics ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Atlantic Period

Past Pleistocene topography of the loess uplands is rich in local sinks (closed depressions (CDs)) influencing sediment fluxes. Soil-sediment sequences from CDs constituting geoarchives where landscape changes under natural and anthropogenic conditions have been recorded. Pedo-sedimentary archives from 10 CDs in the Polish loess belt and human settlements were analysed. Phases of the Holocene evolution of the CDs were correlated with landscape dynamics in loess areas in Poland and Central Europe. Phases of infilling of CDs occurring (2) from the late Boreal/early Atlantic Period until the (middle) late Bronze Age/early Iron Age and (4) since the early Middle Ages until today were documented. These were phases of long-term soil erosion and colluviation corresponding to the increasing agricultural land use of Polish loess uplands. Phases of soil formation related to geomorphic stabilization of CDs occurred (1) from the late Vistulian until the late Boreal/early Atlantic Period and (3) from the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age until the early/high Middle Ages. These were phases of decreased soil erosion and landform conservation in a considerable part of Poland’s loess areas. Pedo-sedimentary archives from the CDs have recorded soil erosion strongly related with human-induced land-use changes. The mean soil erosion rate in the catchment of CDs was 0.33 t·ha−1·yr−1 during prehistory and 4.0 t·ha−1·yr−1 during the last approximately 1000 years. Phases of CD evolution are representative for the main phases of sediment and landscape dynamics in Poland’s loess areas recorded in various archives, and are not synchronous with some of these phases in Central Europe.

scholarly journals Sedimentation and vegetation history of a buried Meuse terrace during the Holocene in relation to the human occupation history (Limburg, the Netherlands)

2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frieda S. Zuidhoff ◽  
Johanna A.A. Bos
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation History ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
River Terraces ◽  
Main River Channel

AbstractDuring several archaeological excavations on a river terrace of the river Meuse near the village of Lomm (southeast Netherlands) information was gathered for a reconstruction of the sedimentation and vegetation history during the Holocene. Various geoarchaeological methods – geomorphological, micromorphological and botanical analyses – were applied, while accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating provided an accurate chronology for the sediments.During the Early Holocene, many former braided river channels were deepened due to climate amelioration. Later, river flow concentrated in one main river channel to the west, at the location of the modern Meuse. The other channels were only active during floods, and infilling continued until the Bronze Age. Because of the higher setting of the Lomm terrace, it was only occasionally flooded and therefore formed an excellent location for habitation. Humans adapted to the changing landscape, as most remains were found on the higher river terraces or their slopes, a short distance from the Maas river. The Lomm terrace was more or less continuously inhabited from the Mesolithic onwards.During the Early Holocene, river terraces were initially densely forested with birch and pine. From the Boreal (Mesolithic) onwards, dense mixed forests with deciduous shrubs and trees such as hazel, oak, elm and lime developed. During the Atlantic (Meso/Neolithic), the deciduous forests became dominated by oak. Due to human activities from the Late Subboreal (Late Bronze Age) onwards, forests slowly became more open, yet remained relatively dense in comparison to other Dutch areas. The botanical data, however, show that within the Lomm study area there was a large difference in the composition, distribution and openness of the vegetation. The spatial variation in openness came into existence during the Late Bronze Age, as soon as the higher areas started to be used for human activities (i.e. habitation, agriculture and livestock herding). Due to human activities, the northern part of the study area became very open during the Early Roman period. In the lower-situated areas of the southern part, however, forests remained present much longer, until the Early Middle Ages. Due to large-scale deforestation in the Lomm area and hinterland during the Roman period and Middle Ages, the sediment load of the river increased, large floods occurred and overbank sediments were deposited, burying the archaeological remains. The largest increase in sedimentation occurred after the Middle Ages.

scholarly journals SHIMAILY – A NEW LOCATION OF PETROGLYPHS IN EASTERN KAZAKHSTAN 

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
З. Самашев
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
New Information ◽  
Mountain Goats ◽  
East Kazakhstan ◽  
Animal Images ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Bronze Age

В статье приводятся сведения о петроглифах урочища Шимайлы на территории Тарбагатайского района Восточно-Казахстанской области Республики Казахстан. Наскальное искусство этого памятника охватывает время от эпохи бронзы до раннего средневековья. Основные мотивы изображений бронзового века антропоморфная фигура, зооморфные изображения, колесница, знаки-символы и предметы вооружения. Основу звериного образа наскальных изображений Шимайлы бронзового века составляет триада рогатых животных: бык, горный козел/архар, олень. В репертуар петроглифов эпохи бронзы входят также и другие травоядные животные, хищные звери и птицы. Последние представлены изображениями дрофы, которые чаще всего включены в состав многофигурных композиций. Хищники представлены фигурами волков, которые преследуют или терзают парнокопытных. К переходному периоду от эпохи бронзы к раннему железному веку в Шимайлы относятся образы птицеголовых или клювастых оленей, идентичные фигурам на так называемых оленных камнях. К раннесакскому и развитому сакскому периодам относятся изображения оленей поджарых, в летящей позе и/или стоящих на кончиках копыт, с большими глазами, ветвистыми откинутыми назад рогами. Зафиксированы тамги средневековых народов. The article includes new information on the petroglyphs of the Shimaily (Tarbagatai district of the East Kazakhstan region of the Republic of Kazakhstan). The imagery of this rock art site is related to the period from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages. The main images of the Bronze Age are an anthropomorphic figure, numerous zoomorphic images, a chariot, depictions of weapons, signs and symbols. Animal images are basically represented by the figures of bulls, mountain goats and deer. Other herbivores are also depicted as well as predators and birds. The latter are represented by images of bustards, which are most often included in the multi-figure compositions. Predators are mostly wolves that shown in the scenes of pursuing or tormenting the artiodactyls. Another series of images in Shimaily refers to the transitional period from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. These are birdheaded or beaked deer, identical to the figures depicted on the so-called deer stones. The Early Saka and developed Saka periods include a series of typical deer figures: theiy are lean, flying and/or standing on the tips of the hoofs, with large eyes, with branchy antlers thrown back. The tamga-signs of the medieval peoples are also recorded in Shimaily.

scholarly journals Early human impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems: Multi-proxy geoarchaeological analyses from La Narse de la Sauvetat (France)

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1780-1800
Author(s):  
Alfredo Mayoral ◽  
Salomé Granai ◽  
Anne-Lise Develle ◽  
Jean-Luc Peiry ◽  
Yannick Miras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Societal Factors ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

We analysed the late-Holocene pedo-sedimentary archives of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic depression in the southern Limagne plain (central France), where chronologically accurate studies are scarce. The multi-proxy geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of two cores from different areas of the basin was carried out through sedimentological, geochemical, micromorphological and malacological investigations. Integration of these datasets supported by a robust radiocarbon-based chronology allowed discussion of socio-environmental interactions and anthropogenic impacts from Late Neolithic to Early Middle Ages. Until the Middle Bronze Age, there was no clear evidence of anthropogenic impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary dynamics of the catchment, but two peaks of high alluvial activity probably related to the 4.2 and 3.5 kyr. BP climate events were first recorded in Limagne. Significant anthropogenic impacts started in the Late Bronze Age with increased erosion of the surrounding volcanic slopes. However, a major threshold was reached c. 2600 cal BP with a sharp increase in the catchment erosion interpreted as resulting from strong anthropogenic environmental changes related to agricultural activities and drainage. This implies an anthropogenic forcing on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems much earlier than was usually considered in Limagne. These impacts then gradually increased during Late Iron Age and Roman periods, but environmental effects were certainly contained by progress in agricultural management. Late Antiquity environmental changes are consistent with regional trend to drainage deterioration in lowlands, but marked asynchrony in this landscape change suggests that societal factors implying differential land management were certainly predominant here.

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