Human impact and landscape utilization from the Mesolithic to medieval time traced by high spatial resolution pollen analysis and numerical methods

Hjelle, Kari Loe; Solem, Thyra; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve; Åstveit, Leif Inge

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.12.026

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This kind of approach finds important examples in the north European tradition (Hjelle et al 2012, and references therein). The geographical approach of landscape archaeology shows that even high altitudinal palaeoecological sequences are suitable to reconstruct informative patterns of past small-scale land-use variability in mountains (Ejarque et al 2010).…”

Section: Why This Special Issue?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoecology and long-term human impact in plant biology

Mercuri

Marignani

Sadori

2015

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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Human impact is a collective concept that requires a holistic approach. Human needs eventually caused the development of cultural landscapes that are at the base of the current landscapes. The papers included in this special issue are evidence that cooperation between different disciplines helps to deepen the trend of environmental transformation from past to future. Palaeoecology studies ecosystems of the past and needs archaeology to deepen sociocultural intervention in environmental patterns. In a similar way, ecologists have to include the complexity of societies and economies into landscape ecology by adding principles of human ecology into sustainability science. A brief history of previous actions encouraging the integration of palynology, archaeobotany, archaeology, botany and ecology is reported. The application of integrated studies comes to a new point, the research on the Long-Term Human Impact

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Section: Why This Special Issue?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoecology and long-term human impact in plant biology

Mercuri

Marignani

Sadori

2015

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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“…The recovery of botanical remains from archaeological contexts and subsequent analysis of ancient plant use relies upon the analysis of macroremains (e.g., charred seeds and stems) and microremains (e.g., pollen, phytoliths, and starch grains) [1][2][3][4]. One of the most prominent archaeobotanical methods of analyzing plant microremains is starch grain analysis, used increasingly since the 1980s, especially in the Americas [4][5][6][7], Oceania [8], and East Asia [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Possible Contamination of Ancient Starch Residues by Adjacent Sediments and Modern Plants in Northern China

Zhang

Quan

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:The potential contamination of ancient residues from both modern plant sources and sediments adjacent to archaeological contexts can complicate interpretation in the field of starch grain analysis, thus affecting the sustainable use of the method in archaeobotany. In this study, we examined two potential sources of contamination at a wheat field in Shandong Province and a maize field in Beijing, the Nanzhuangtou site in Hebei Province and the Zhuannian site in Beijing in Northern China. Surface soils from active farmland and its surrounds, as well as deposits from clearly-defined cultural layers, overlying layers, and underlayers at the archaeological sites were subjected to starch grain analysis. No starches were recovered from any of the 16 surface soil samples from fields of wheat and maize, or their environs. This outcome indicates that starches do not preserve well in active surface soils. Further results from the analysis of 33 samples from the two sites demonstrate that starches do not occur in either the overlying layers or underlayers of cultural deposits. Thus, starch grains extracted from the surface residues of artifacts were not deposited from adjacent sediments after the artifacts were abandoned or buried. Further, cultural sediments contained fewer starch grains than the surfaces of artifacts in the same horizon. Thus, if any starch grains on the surfaces of tools are the result of contamination, ancient cultural sediments are the primary source. In conclusion, we offer insights for the prevention of misinterpretation of extraneous residues and sustainable development for the use of starch grain analysis.

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“…These pollen data have not been published in English and are supplementing the pollen data from Nordbytjern to provide an additional perspective about agricultural practise over a long temporal scale in Vestfold. Prior to this investigation no cereal grains dated to Late Neolithic, Bronze Age and Merovingian Period (c. 2000 cal BC to cal AD 800) have been reported in Vestfold. Carbonised cereals are reported from post built longhouses, hearths and field layers elsewhere in Norway, from c. 2400 cal BC and onwards (Soltvedt 2000; Bårdseth and Sandvik 2010; Prøsch-Danielsen and Soltvedt 2011; Hjelle et al 2012). In Southwest Norway, the amount of carbonised cereals together with archaeological artefacts and vegetation development are interpreted as a cereal cultivation breakthrough around 2200 / 2000 cal BC (Høgestøl and Prøsch-Danielsen 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural and household activities in Vestfold, Southeast Norway, as illustrated by pollen data and the charred remains of crops and wild plants

Soltvedt

Henningsmoen

2014

Environmental Archaeology

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This paper presents and interprets two data sets from Vestfold, Southeast Norway: the pollen record is from a small lake basin, isolated from the sea in Mid Mesolithic (8100-6400 cal BC), and with a record of sediment deposition up to recent time. Charred plant remains from six settlement sites ranging in date from the Late Neolithic (2400-1800 cal BC) to the Merovingian Period (cal AD 570-800). Soil from archaeological contexts that was recovered from several prehistoric settlement features (two-and three-aisled houses, a rock shelter and a pit) has also been investigated. The number and concentrations of identifiable charred macro remains are low from all features except one, but the records contribute to the interpretation of agriculture and wild plant use. Carbonised cereals dated to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age are reported from a two-aisled house. Naked barley was the main cereal identified and a few weed seeds were found with the cereal grains. In a rock shelter nearby, cereals and seeds of flax were found, demonstrating cultivation in the Late Bronze Age. Pollen of ribwort plantain recorded in lake deposits in Nordbytjern, 0·5 km to the southwest, also indicates agricultural activity in the southern part of Vestfold during the Late Bronze Age. Archaeobotanical samples from Early Iron Age houses contained low concentrations of carbonised cereal remains, mainly hulled barley, but also wheat and oat. Seeds/fruits of weeds, plants of moist/wet habitats and grasses increase in abundance from the end of Roman Period. The high concentration of hulled barley found in a pit at the site of Ringdal 13 confirms that hulled barley was a cereal used in the Iron Age. Throughout the Iron Age, cereal pollen has a continuous curve in the Nordbytjern pollen diagram, demonstrating the significance of cereal cultivation in Vestfold. Flax was also cultivated in the vicinity of and probably processed in Nordbytjern. Large numbers of rush seeds and sedge nutlets indicate a possible involvement in basketry and cordage making and/or as animal fodder.

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Human impact and landscape utilization from the Mesolithic to medieval time traced by high spatial resolution pollen analysis and numerical methods

Cited by 25 publications

References 24 publications

Palaeoecology and long-term human impact in plant biology

Palaeoecology and long-term human impact in plant biology

Understanding the Possible Contamination of Ancient Starch Residues by Adjacent Sediments and Modern Plants in Northern China

Agricultural and household activities in Vestfold, Southeast Norway, as illustrated by pollen data and the charred remains of crops and wild plants

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