Pollen-inferred regional vegetation patterns and demographic change in Southern Anatolia through the Holocene

Abstract

Southern Anatolia is a highly significant area within the Mediterranean, particularly in terms of understanding how agriculture moved into Europe from neighbouring regions. This study uses pollen, palaeoclimate and archaeological evidence to investigate the relationships between demography and vegetation change, and to explore how the development of agriculture varied spatially. Data from 21 fossil pollen records have been transformed into forested, parkland and open vegetation types using cluster analysis. Patterns of change have been explored using non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and through analysis of indicator groups, such as an Anthropogenic Pollen Index, and Simpson's Diversity. Settlement data, which indicate population densities, and summed radiocarbon dates for archaeological sites have been used as a proxy for demographic change. The pollen and archaeological records confirm that farming can be detected earlier (around 7000 cal. yr. BP) in Anatolia in comparison with other parts of the Mediterranean. Dynamics of change in grazing indicators and the OJCV (Olea, Juglans, Castanea, and Vitis) index for cultivated trees appear to match cycles of population expansion and decline. Vegetation and land use change is also influenced by other factors, such as climate change. Investigating the early impacts of anthropogenic activities (e.g. woodcutting, animal herding, the use of fire and agriculture) is key to understanding how societies have modified the environment since the mid-late Holocene, despite the capacity of ecological systems to absorb recurrent disturbances. The results of this study suggest that shifting human population dynamics played an important role in shaping land cover in central and southern Anatolia.

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].…”

“…This phase was identified from a pollen diagram originating from southwestern Anatolia [107]. The meta-analysis of Woodbridge et al [106] showed an increase in OJCV-pollen and grazing indicator species in Anatolia during the Beyşehir occupation phase. Pollen data indicate a contemporaneous decrease in forest cover around the Bay of Elaia (Figure 5l).…”

“…The city area of Pergamon quadrupled in the 2nd century BCE [129]. The area of the lower city further grew under the reign of Trajan (98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(103)(104)(105)(106)(107)(108)(109)(110)(111)(112)(113)(114)(115)(116)(117), including the location of residential quarters, major buildings, and bathes in the surroundings. In the 2nd century BCE, also the city of Elaia grew [128].…”

A landscape-oriented approach to urbanisation and early state formation on the Konya and Karaman plains, Turkey

“…During the early Holocene (ca 9500-5000 BCE), standing water was interspersed throughout the region, but after ca 5000 BCE drier climatic conditions prevailed and considerably reduced the extent of marshland. Bioarchaeological records show that, as marshlands receded, most of the area previously under water became covered with steppe throughout the mid-and late Holocene (Bottema, Woldring 1984;Woodbridge et al 2019). Contemporary with settlement at Çatalhöyük and Canhasan III, the mountainous landscapes that encircle the Konya and Karaman plains were characterised by oakdominated semi-arid woodlands; after the mid-Holocene, however, forest cover was considerably reduced by human activity (Kabukçu 2017).…”