A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Exploring local and regional vegetation compositional changes during the Neolithic (5th-3rd millennium BC): A case study on the forager impact on vegetation in north-east Europe
Authors: Alenius, Teija Helena; Marquer, Laurent; Nordqvist, Kerkko
Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
Publishing place: LONDON
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Holocene
Journal name in source: HOLOCENE
Journal acronym: HOLOCENE
Volume: 34
Issue: 9
First page : 1304
Last page: 1320
Number of pages: 17
ISSN: 0959-6836
eISSN: 1477-0911
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241254492
Web address : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09596836241254492
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/457193511
This research explores the vegetation compositional changes between the fifth and third millennium BC on the Karelian Isthmus (north-west Russia). Special emphasis is placed on studying the timing and magnitude of the impact of hunter-fisher-gatherers on the vegetation. First, we reconstruct the local vegetation around Lake Bolshoye Zavetnoye by using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm modelling. The application of different scenarios to the relevant source area of pollen is used to assess the local vegetation around Lake Bolshoye Zavetnoye (BZL) at specific distances from 500 to 3000 m. The regional vegetation reconstruction is assessed by using the REVEALS model. Second, we present new pollen and charcoal data from adjacent Lake Ikmenlampi (LI). Third, we calculate indices of vegetation change for BZL, LI and the region. We further explore the potential causes for these differences between the spatial scales and compare all these outcomes with local and regional archaeological data. The results show that foragers actively manipulated their environment. A shift towards more heliophilous conditions is shown by ca 4800 BC. Between 4000 and 3000 BC, an increase in archaeological material suggests intensive resource procurement and landscape management activities, particularly near settlements. Around the BZL site a local decrease in birch is observed from 4100 BC, coinciding with an increase in the rate of vegetation changes. Additionally, a decline in tree species (spruce, hazel, Alder) from 3500 to 3300 BC suggests human activities. The high fire frequency recorded between 4090 and 3150 BC further supports the presence of local human disturbances by the deliberate use of fire to create favourable living conditions. The results from the LI site go in the same direction with fluctuating abundances of spruce and the presence of pollen from Cannabis, Hordeum, Urtica and Plantago lanceolata from ca 4000 to 3600 BC, indicating the use of spruce-dominated forests and an early, incipient cultivation.
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Funding information in the publication:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study was supported by the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) and the Academy of Finland through the Academy Research Fellow project ‘Land use, cultivation and animal husbandry during the Neolithic in North-Eastern Europe between c. 6000 and 1000 BC’ (Project 274851).
