Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: A comparative study

Abstract

This paper offers a comparative study of land use and demographic development in northern and southern Greece from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. Results from summed probability densities (SPD) of archaeological radiocarbon dates and settlement numbers derived from archaeological site surveys are combined with results from cluster-based analysis of published pollen core assemblages to offer an integrated view of human pressure on the Greek landscape through time. We demonstrate that SPDs offer a useful approach to outline differences between regions and a useful complement to archaeological site surveys, evaluated here especially for the onset of the Neolithic and for the Final Neolithic (FN)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) transition. Pollen analysis highlight differences in vegetation between the two sub-regions, but also several parallel changes. The comparison of land cover dynamics between two sub-regions of Greece further demonstrates the significance of the bioclimatic conditions of core locations and that apparent oppositions between regions may in fact be two sides of the same coin in terms of socio-ecological trajectories. We also assess the balance between anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on vegetation and suggest that climatic variability was as an important factor for vegetation regrowth. Finally, our evidence suggests that the impact of humans on land cover is amplified from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) onwards as more extensive herding and agricultural practices are introduced.

MEGALO NISI GALANIS (6300–1800bc): CONSTRUCTING A CULTURAL SEQUENCE FOR THE NEOLITHIC OF WEST MACEDONIA, GREECE

“…We stress, however, that the sequence just described is intended as a model, not as factual history, especially since the date for the onset of forest clearing and upland erosion ( c. 3000 bc ) is poorly constrained. A recent review of Holocene pollen and other evidence from Greece is in partial agreement with our model, but it also indicates no significant expansion of agro-pastoral practices in west Macedonia until about 2000 years ago (Weiberg et al 2019, especially fig. 7).…”

Meta-Analysis of Geomorphodynamics in the Western Lower Bakırçay Plain (Aegean Region, Turkey)

“…8.5 ka BP [103]. [104]; b, c: [105]; d: [104]; e: [106]; f, g, h: [105]; i, j: [106]; k: [107]; l: [41], interpolated; m: [7]; n, o: [99]; p: [7]; q: [8]; r-u: this study.…”

“…The increased cumulative probability during that period in the western lower Bakırçay plain fit to the general trend of increased population dynamics and vegetation change in southeast Europe and Anatolia. In southern Greece, more clearly than in (Southern) Anatolia, palynological data show an increase in anthropogenic pollen indicator and grazing indicators (Figure 5g-i, [105,106]). Archaeological evidence points to the earliest known human activities around the western lower Bakırçay plain possibly between the 7th and the 5th millennium BCE (Late Ceramic Neolithic to Chalcolithic), although the settlement history might go back to the Aceramic Neolithic [110][111][112].…”

Landscape Change and Trade in Ancient Greece: Evidence from Pollen Data

“…Our estimates are consistent with these findings, while also showing that the local agriculture responded to the demand for olives and olive oil on the part of the local Greek colonists and perhaps also participated in the emerging Aegean olive oil market. Nevertheless, the abundance of olive pollen in Macedonia is much lower than in southern Greece as a result of the differences in bioclimatic conditions between the two regions (Weiberg et al 2018).…”