Firewood, food and human niche construction: the potential role of Mesolithic hunter–gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands

Abstract

a b s t r a c tOver the past few decades the potential role of Mesolithic hunteregatherers in actively constructing their own niches, through the management of wild plants, has frequently been discussed. It is probable that Mesolithic hunteregatherers systematically exploited specific woodland resources for food and fuel and influenced the 'natural' abundance or distribution of particular species within Mesolithic environments. Though there has been considerable discussion of the pollen evidence for potential small-scale human-woodland manipulation in Mesolithic Scotland, the archaeobotanical evidence for anthropogenic firewood and food selection has not been discussed in this context. This paper assesses the evidence for the active role of Mesolithic hunteregatherer communities in systematically exploiting and managing woodlands for food and fuel in Scotland. While taphonomic factors may have impacted on the frequency of specific species in archaeobotanical assemblages, it is suggested that hunteregatherers in Mesolithic Scotland were systematically using woodland plants, and in particular hazel and oak, for food and fuel. It is argued that the pollen evidence for woodland management is equivocal, but hints at the role of hunteregatherers in shaping the structure of their environments, through the maintenance or creation of woodland clearings for settlement or as part of vegetation management strategies. It is proposed that Mesolithic hunteregatherers may have actively contributed to niche construction and that the systematic use of hazel and oak as a fuel may reflect the deliberate pruning of hazel trees to increase nut-yields and the inadvertent e or perhaps deliberate e coppicing of hazel and oak during greenwood collection.

Mesolithic hearth-pits: fact or fantasy? A reassessment based on the evidence from the sites of Doel and Verrebroek (Belgium)

“…BC, vegetation changed from a rather open coniferous to a more closed deciduous forest. This most likely had an important impact on wildfires, as it is commonly known that pines are very fire-sensitive while wildfires hardly occur in dense deciduous woods (Bishop et al, 2015;Dreibrodt et al, 2010;Moore, 2000). This is also corroborated by the radiocarbon evidence from "hearth-pits", which indicates that 75% date to a period in which pines were dominating the forest (Cromb e, submitted).…”

“…Preference should be given to samples of short-lived materials spatially connected to surface-hearths which are generally associated with settlement debris. In particular charred hazelnut shells are very suitable, since they occur on many Mesolithic sites throughout NW Europe (Bishop et al, 2015;Cromb e et al, 2013).…”

Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects for the Mesolithic and Medieval Periods in the Western Isles of Scotland

“…All the flots and residues were air-dried and sorted using a low-powered stereo/binocular microscope at 15 × to 80 × magnification. Hazel nutshell (Corylus avellana L.) were chosen as the terrestrial single-entity samples from the Mesolithic sites, as hazelnuts are short-lived, single-season plant remains and are very common on Mesolithic sites in Scotland (Bishop et al 2014(Bishop et al , 2015. Barley grains were chosen from the Medieval phase at Guinnerso as they too are short-lived, singleseason plant remains.…”

Ecology of a widespread large omnivore, Homo sapiens, and its impacts on ecosystem processes

“…In addition, there are undoubtedly negative impacts of H. sapiens range expansions. The small-scale disturbances of hunter-gatherer H. sapiens may locally minimize biodiversity at certain spatiotemporal scales (Anthony, Marriner, & Morhange, 2014;Barlow, Gardner, Lees, Parry, & Peres, 2012;Bishop, Church, & Rowley-Conwy, 2015;Feurdean et al, 2012;Kuneš, Pokorný, & Šída, 2008;Muler et al, 2014). But the hunter-gatherer phenotype can also have negative ecosystem impacts.…”