| 31. |
- Hristova, Ivanka, et al.
(författare)
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Plant remains preserved in products of metal corrosion : source of evidence on ancient plant materials and environment from burial contexts
- 2024
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 33:1, s. 121-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By-products of metal corrosion, when coming into contact with organic matter, have the capacity to preserve it from decay. A pilot study was conducted aiming to explore the potential and limitations of plant remains preserved in by-products of metal corrosion for archaeobotanical research. The organic remains considered come from the surface/immediate proximity of the metal funerary artefacts of two ancient cemeteries—Varna and Messambria, Eastern Bulgaria. Metal corrosion by-products were observed and sampled, under a low magnification stereo microscope. Subsequently, the plant macrofossils recognised were analysed under reflected light and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Additionally, pollen was extracted from the metal corrosion by-products, using standard acetolysis. The analyses from the graves of both cemeteries allowed identification of textiles and plant fibres, as well as wood (Cornus sp., Pinus sp., Viburnum sp.). At Varna cemetery epidermis fragments of Juncus sp. were recognized, while at Messambria necropolis fruits of almond were found. The pollen analysis from Varna points to use of flowers in the ritual (Daphne tetrads were recorded) and shows a notably open landscape with 77% non-arboreal pollen (NAP). The palynological analysis from the Messambria necropolis revealed the use of flowers in the burial ritual indicated by clusters of Vitis, Cistus and Rosaceae pollen. The surrounding vegetation was dominated by open oak woodland and open habitats (43% NAP) with a strong presence of anthropogenic indicators. The outcome of the study proved to be promising for reconstructing details of the burial rituals including associated plant materials, as well as the surrounding plant habitats during the functioning of the cemeteries.
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| 32. |
- Hultberg, Tove, et al.
(författare)
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Reconstruction of past landscape openness using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) applied on three local pollen sites in a southern Swedish biodiversity hotspot
- 2015
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 24:2, s. 253-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Hornso-Allgunnen area in south-eastern Sweden has been known as a biodiversity hotspot for insects for about a century and is considered to host the most species-rich insect fauna in northern Europe. Several hypotheses for the causes behind this biodiversity have been put forward, but never tested for more than small parts of the area. We analyse here the possible role of the area's vegetation-cover history, in particular vegetation openness. We use pollen data from three sites in the Hornso-Allgunnen area and apply the recently developed Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) for quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation abundance at the local spatial scale. The study suggests that the area was dominated by diverse, relatively open forest during at least the last 3,000 years. Several tree taxa, such as Pinus, Betula and Quercus that were all suggested to be important for the present diversity, have a long continuity at the local spatial scale and were common until recently. Small proportions of anthropogenic pollen indicators were found, suggesting small-scale agriculture, which however did not considerably affect the area's overall tree species composition. We propose that fire was the main cause for the open character of the area's wooded landscape during the Holocene and, indirectly, an important agent behind the high insect diversity. However, the richness of insects was (and is) most likely also favoured by the long continuity of Quercus, and by the warm and dry local climate. The LRA provides a more realistic estimate of the taxa composition as compared to pollen percentages alone, both for arboreal and non-arboreal taxa. The differences between pollen percentages and LRA-estimates of plant abundance can be important to consider when causes behind high modern diversity are interpreted from fossil pollen records. Our results demonstrate the benefits of using the LRA along with traditional pollen percentages.
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| 33. |
- Josefsson, Torbjörn, et al.
(författare)
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Cereal cultivation from the Iron Age to historical times: evidence from inland and coastal settlements in northernmost Fennoscandia
- 2017
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 26, s. 259-276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For several decades researchers have debated when cereal cultivation was introduced to northernmost Europe. Most previous studies have concentrated on sites along the coast or close to major rivers; these are areas well-suited to agriculture and represent routes for people and knowledge transfer, but omit other vast areas suitable for cultivation and sedentary settlement. Here, we present strong evidence of permanent cultivation from ad 480 onwards at a settlement located at the 64th parallel North in northern Sweden, currently situated 30 km inland from the Gulf of Bothnia. This predates the beginning of permanent cultivation at sites along the present coastline mentioned here and in results from previous studies of places at approximately the same latitude. Our results are based on continuous finds of cereal pollen grains at certain sites, selected on the basis of archaeological records, old maps, plus past and present elevations above sea level. We highlight the importance of taking factors into account such as access to waterways, communication routes and coast displacement following land uplift when choosing study sites in order to pinpoint early cultivation and sedentary settlements. We suggest that these results have implications for attempts to resolve the question of the history of early agriculture in other parts of northern Fennoscandia.
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| 34. |
- Josefsson, Torbjörn, et al.
(författare)
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The history of early cereal cultivation in northernmost Fennoscandia as indicated by palynological research
- 2014
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer-Verlag New York. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 23:6, s. 821-840
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The age of the introduction of cereal cultivation in northern Europe has long been debated by researchers from many disciplines, in particular archaeology and palaeoecology. Over the past 40 years extensive palynological data have been collected concerning pre-industrial land use in northern Fennoscandia. This paper reviews palynological studies that include records of fossil cereal pollen from northernmost Sweden, Finland and Norway at latitudes north of 63A degrees N. The geographical extent of known early cultivation sites is constantly expanding, with more than 100 records of cereal pollen pre-dating ad 1700. The oldest records of scattered cereal pollen derive from Neolithic times. Periods of continuous cultivation, indicated by cereal pollen recorded recurrently in the sediment profiles, derive from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Collectively, the reviewed pollen records indicate that cereal cultivation was first introduced into areas close to the coast and later to the interior, and that it may have been practiced locally long before sedentary settlements based on intensive cultivation were established during medieval times. The data do not indicate a latitudinal spread of cultivation from south to north. However, methodological problems relating to pollen morphology of cereals, site characteristics and lack of connections to archaeologically excavated sites imply that the value of many early cereal pollen finds remains unclear. To increase our understanding of the context in which cereal cultivation was introduced in northernmost Fennoscandia, multidisciplinary studies integrating palaeoecology, archaeology and history are needed.
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| 35. |
- Karlsson, Jon, et al.
(författare)
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Tracing a bog-iron bloomery furnace in an adjacent lake-sediment record in Ängersjö, central Sweden, using pollen and geochemical signals
- 2016
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 25:6, s. 569-581
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent studies of bloomery sites in Sweden indicate the amount of iron produced with this early low-technology smelter was greater than previously thought, which implies greater economic importance. Little is known about the history of bloomery technology, not least the timeframe over which individual bloomeries were operated, as well as their impact on the landscape because of resource consumption and pollution. In this study we performed pollen and geochemical analyses of the lake-sediment record from Rortjarnen, which is 120 m from the remains of a documented bloomery [one radiocarbon date: ad 1300-1435 (1 sigma)], in A"ngersjo, Halsingland. A surface-soil transect shows a limited geochemical signal only within 20 m of the bloomery, and the sediment pollen record provides little direct evidence of an active bloomery and is consistent with other studied sites in the area linked to forest grazing or cultivation. Instead, we find major changes in sediment geochemistry during ad 800-1200, centered on a unique peak in Pb at ad 1030-1060. These changes include, e.g., Si (biogenic) and P, together with changes in pollen (e.g., Betula, Picea, Cyperaceae), which together indicate disturbance in the forest and especially the adjoining fen. We attribute these changes to a period of bloomery-related activities predating the radiocarbon date of the charcoal from the bloomery, and suggest that date represents a late phase for the site.
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| 36. |
- Klaminder, Jonatan, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape of ice and fire : uniquely well-preserved scots pine trunks reveal forest fires near the retreating weichselian ice margin
- 2024
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 33, s. 519-527
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental conditions for trees that established in central Fennoscandia shortly after the final retreat of the Weichselian ice sheet remain poorly understood. In this study we examine tree rings of five well-preserved Pinus sylvestris (Scots pines) that grew in the area in front of the retreating ice sheet in northern Sweden. They became buried in flood sediments deposited by a glacial outburst flood (jökulhlaup) about 9.5–9.9 kyr cal bp and the aim of our study was to search for information regarding damage from fires and bioclimatic conditions in their ancient tree ring records. Our analysis, providing a glimpse into the local early Holocene environment in north-central Sweden, suggests that: 1, there were repeated fires (four fire events detected) during the early Holocene; and 2, bioclimatic conditions when the ancient pines were growing resembled those of modern sub-alpine pine woods. The latter is indicated by their patterns of tree ring growth (growth rate and variation), which were statistically similar to those of pines growing in sub-alpine woods with an open canopy, but different from pines in protected and managed boreal forests. Lower δ13C for the ancient latewood in comparison to pine wood from trees growing near the Scandinavian mountains before the 1850s were probably caused both by stomata fractionation due to lower atmospheric CO2 during the early Holocene and by the moist local environment created by the nearby ancient Ancylus lake, which preceded the Baltic Sea. Periods with cloudy and cold summers were also indicated by the occurrence of ‘false rings’. Finds of charred fragments of Calluna vulgaris (heather, ling), an understory shrub that can burn even with a relatively high moisture content, suggest that heath vegetation was crucial to make fire a reoccurring ecological factor in the area during the early Holocene.
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| 37. |
- Kolstrup, Else
(författare)
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Vegetational and environmental history during the Holocene in the Esbjerg area, west Jutland, Denmark
- 2009
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 18:5, s. 351-369
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A pollen diagram from a site in the Esbjerg area, western Denmark, is used for reconstruction of the Holocene vegetational and environmental history there. During the Atlantic there was a parallel development of the landscape to that of other areas in Jylland (Jutland). From the late Neolithic onwards the development took its own course related to the approaching North Sea, which periodically inundated parts of the Esbjerg area. The record reflects landscape development in a formerly marine valley where sediments seem to be missing from parts of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. Consequently the landscape development during these times is only reflected in glimpses in the vegetation record, which shows gradually more open woodland and increasing human impact. During the late part of the Iron Age, Viking period and Middle Ages, the woodland was diverse in taxa but became increasingly open, finally reaching a stage during which there may have been too little wood even for daily use. At the same time the use of the land intensified. During the Sub-Atlantic, the Esbjerg area offered good natural resources with extensive grazing areas in the marine marshes in addition to good possibilities for farming and use of the woodland on higher ground, but devastating floods occurred.
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| 38. |
- Larsson, Mikael
(författare)
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Barley grain at Uppåkra, Sweden : evidence for selection in the Iron Age
- 2018
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 27:3, s. 419-435
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A metric analysis on hulled barley grain from the Iron Age regional centre of Uppåkra and surrounding sites in southern Sweden has identified a variation in the size of the grain found on these archaeological sites. Large, high-quality grain was found more frequently at Uppåkra when compared to sites in the surrounding area, where smaller grain was more frequent. The observed large grain found at Uppåkra was, however, restricted to only a few house contexts, including hall-buildings, while other contexts on the site, such as areas dedicated to craft production, had barley assemblages containing smaller grain, similar to the size range found on the surrounding sites. The intra-site variation between different contexts at Uppåkra points to a degree of sorting for larger grain and that this variation between grain assemblages was the result of selection after the crop processing was completed. The distribution of grain size at Uppåkra shows a pattern that indicates that the high-quality barley grain was indented for specific individuals or households. The different contexts at Uppåkra have together produced a record spanning the first millennium ad, representing almost the whole existence of the site. The evidence for selection of larger grain can be seen in the hall-buildings throughout most of the first millennium ad, although less prominently during the Late Roman Iron Age (ad 200–400), while during the Migration Period (ad 400–550) several houses on the main site Uppåkra had assemblages of large grain size. The distribution of grain size at the regional centre Uppåkra shows a pattern that indicates that the handling of large high-quality barley grain was part of a spatial organization, and such organization is similar to other functions observed on the site. The long-term record of grain size patterns across time shows that a structure for handling grain was already in place during the early phase of the settlement and that it remained for centuries. This study indicates that the affluence otherwise seen at the regional centre Uppåkra from an abundance of high-status objects, could also include agricultural wealth, with extensive access to high-quality grain.
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| 39. |
- Larsson, Mikael
(författare)
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Cultivation and processing of Linum usitatissimum and Camelina sativa in southern Scandinavia during the Roman Iron Age
- 2013
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 22:6, s. 509-520
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Charred seed conglomerates of Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Camelina sativa (gold of pleasure) were found at UppAyenkra 2:25, a Roman Iron Age site in SkAyenne, southern Sweden. The conglomerates showed no mixing with each other, as they were almost pure flax and gold of pleasure respectively. Together with other archaeobotanical data from the site, they provide new evidence on the use, processing and cultivation of these two plants in early Iron Age in Scandinavia. Metric analyses were applied to flax seeds from both conglomerates and other contexts at this site, and compared to seed assemblages from other Roman Iron Age sites in Europe. The comparison showed that the flax cultivation at UppAyenkra 2:25 was intended for the production of oil-rich seeds. The contextual relationship indicates that both flax and gold of pleasure seeds were processed in a similar way and used for oil. Furthermore, the pure seed conglomerate of gold of pleasure suggests that this plant was not a weed, but rather an intentionally grown crop which was cultivated separately from flax.
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| 40. |
- Li, Furong, et al.
(författare)
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Relative pollen productivity estimates for major plant taxa of cultural landscapes in central eastern China
- 2017
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Ingår i: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 26:6, s. 587-605
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study we estimate relative pollen productivity (RPP) for plant taxa characteristic of human-induced vegetation in ancient cultural landscapes of the low mountain ranges of Shandong province in eastern temperate China. RPP estimates are required to achieve pollen-based reconstructions of Holocene plant cover using modelling approaches based on Prentice's and Sugita's theoretical background and models (REVEALS and LOVE). Pollen counts in moss samples and vegetation data from 36 sites were used in the Extended R-Value (ERV) model to estimate the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) of moss polsters and RPP of major plant taxa. The best results were obtained with the ERV sub-model 3 and Prentice's taxon-specific method (using a Gaussian Plume dispersal model) to distance weight vegetation data. RSAP was estimated to 145 m using the maximum likelihood method. RPP was obtained for 18 taxa of which two taxa had unreliable RPP (Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae and Vitex negundo). RPPs for Castanea, Cupressaceae, Robinia/Sophora, Aster/Anthemis-type, Cannabis/Humulus, Caryophyllaceae, Brassicaceae and Galium-type are the first ones for China. Trees, except Robinia/Sophora (RPP = 0.78 +/- 0.03) have larger RPPs than herbs other than Artemisia (RPP = 24.7 +/- 0.36). The RPPs for Quercus, Pinus and Artemisia are comparable with other RPPs obtained in China, the RPPs for Pinus, Quercus, Ulmus, Cyperaceae and Galium-type with the mean RPPs obtained in Europe, and RPP for Cupressaceae with that for Juniperus in Europe. The values for Aster/Anthemis-type, Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae SF Cichorioideae and Juglans differ from the few RPPs available in China and/or Europe.
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