Long-term vegetation change in the Western and Northern Isles, Scotland

Bennett, K. D.; Bunting, M. Jane; Fossitt, J. A.

doi:10.1080/03746609708684861

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Thus peat accumulation began long before the first arrival of people, presumably through the well-established process of progressive leaching of nutrients and acidification as the soils matured through the Holocene (e.g., Crawford, 2000;Charman, 2002). This result stands in contrast to many situations in the North Atlantic region where human agency has been implicated in peat initiation (e.g., Bennett et al, 1997;Bunting, 1996;Charman, 1992;Moore, 1975Moore, , 1993Solem, 1989).…”

Section: Vegetationcontrasting

confidence: 78%

Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives

et al. 2005

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We present palaeoenvironmental, geomorphological, archaeological, and place-name data which allow a holistic assessment of the history of landscape change on Sandoy, Faroe Islands, especially in terms of the changes that occurred in response to the colonization of the island by humans. In contrast to other situations in the North Atlantic region, there is considerable continuity in the patterns and processes of landscape evolution across the initial Lawson et al. settlement horizon. Many of the characteristic features of post-settlement North Atlantic landscapes-absence of trees, widespread blanket mires, high rates of soil erosion-were already in place when the first people arrived.Although human impact on Sandoy appears to have been light, conversely, the unusual environment forced major alterations of the subsistence economy imported by the colonists. Settlement-era archaeological records suggest that, from the start, patterns of resource use differed substantially from the regional norm, and these differences became amplified over time as the Faroese economy created a locally sustainable cultural landscape.

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Section: Vegetationcontrasting

confidence: 78%

Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives

et al. 2005

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“…Woodland compositions were summarised for each zone, using regional and national vegetation reconstructions (Gunson, 1975;Birks, 1987Birks, , 1989Tipping, 1994Tipping, , 1997aTipping, , 1997bTipping, , 2007Bennett et al, 1997;Ramsay and Dickson, 1997;Edwards, 2000bEdwards, , 2004Edwards and Whittington, 2003;Church, 2006) and data from representative local and regional pollen sites from each zone (Table 3). Where local pollen diagrams were available from close to the Mesolithic archaeological sites in Table 1, these were used in conjunction with regional sequences (Table 3).…”

Section: Palynological Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bishop

Church

Rowley‐Conwy

2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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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.

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“…Solem 1986;Charman 1992;Tallis 1991;Bennett et al 1992Bennett et al , 1997Fossitt 1996;Huang 2002;Moe 2003) and other ombrotrophic mires (Smith & Cloutman 1988). The conclusion supports those who would suggest that natural processes may account for mire initiation and development in at least some instances (e.g.…”

Section: Human Impact and Peat Initiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peat initiation in the Faroe Islands: climate change, pedogenesis or human impact?

Lawson

Church

Edwards

et al. 2007

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Socie

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As an isolated island group lying off the NW European mainland which was uninhabited until the mid-first millennium AD, the Faroes offer a unique opportunity to study natural processes of Holocene ecosystem development in a region where anthropogenic activity is usually a complicating factor. In this paper new radiocarbon dates and pollen-analytical data from the island of Sandoy, in the centre of the Faroes archipelago, are presented. Together with existing pollen and plant macrofossil records, these data allow a reconstruction of patterns of Holocene vegetational and edaphic change. Basal peat dates indicate that large areas of blanket mire were established long before the first human settlement, demonstrating conclusively that human impact is not necessary for the development of such ecosystems. The timing of the initiation of the blanket peats varies markedly, both across the Faroes as a whole and at a landscape scale, with dates distributed evenly over 9000 years. This suggests that, in the Faroes at least, pedogenesis was more important than climatic change in determining the timing of the spread of blanket peat systems.

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Long-term vegetation change in the Western and Northern Isles, Scotland

Cited by 18 publications

References 20 publications

Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives

Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives

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

Peat initiation in the Faroe Islands: climate change, pedogenesis or human impact?

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