Insect assemblages and local environment of the medieval town Uppsala, south-eastern Sweden

• Insect remains from a mediaeval settlement in the town of Uppsala, S. Sweden, were analysed. Eighty-one insect taxa were identified from samples dating from the 12th to the 15th century. The insect assemblages are totally dominated by beetles. Only a few remains of butterflies, true flies and a bumble bee were found. The insects imply that the settlement was situated in open landscape. The settlement most likely consisted mainly of farm buildings throughout the studied period. Crops such as wheat, barley and cabbage were probably cultivated, particularly during the early settlement phases. Later, at the beginning of the 15th century, stock rearing seems to have dominated. The results suggest that the climate, during Mediaeval time in southern Sweden, was similar to the present or characterized by slightly higher summer temperatures. A number of currently very rare species were also recorded. SciVerse ScienceDirect Journals

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Medieval settlement

insects

local environment

climate

Quaternary geology

Kvartärgeologi

Geovetenskap med inriktning mot kvartärgeologi

Earth Science with specialization in Quaternary Geology

Paleoecology

Miljöhistoriska studier av förhistoriska bosättningar i Mälardalsregionen

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)