The Mangshan Plateau is located on the south bank of the Huang He (Yellow River) just west of the city of Zhengzhou, well outside the Loess Plateau in central China. Mixing models of the grain-size data indicate that the loess deposits are mixtures of three loess components. Comparison of the mixing model with existing models established for a series of loess-palaeosol sequences from the Loess Plateau indicates that the Mangshan loess has been supplied from a proximal dust source, the Huang He floodplain, during major dust outbreaks. The high accumulation rates, the composition of the loess components, and especially the high proportions of a sandy loess component support this. Owing to the exceptionally high accumulation rates, the Mangshan grain size, magnetic susceptibility and carbonate records provide a high-resolution archive of environmental and climate change.

The limited availability of historical and archaeological evidence means that much is still unknown about the development of Sami reindeer herding in Fennoscandia in both the recent and more distant past. To address this problem, high-resolution palynological analyses, 14 C and 210 Pb dating were undertaken on two adjacent (\25 m apart) peat profiles collected at a recently abandoned reindeer gathering pen (renvall) near Jokkmokk (*66.6°N, 19.8°E) in the boreal forest of northern Sweden. The aim was to assess the impact of Sami reindeer herding on the local environment through a study of pollen, coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and sedimentology. The samples collected from within an annex to the renvall indicate cycles of use and abandonment of the pen on a multi-decadal timescale between *AD 1800-2008, most obviously in the coprophilous fungal spore archive. The pattern and timing of these cycles confirm events previously known only from oral histories. Although the local pollen assemblage zones associated with the phasing of activity were reproducible in a second peat core beyond the boundary of the renvall, the coprophilous fungal spore signal in this paired profile was much less distinctive, possibly due to the typically shorter dispersal distances for these microfossils in comparison to pollen grains.

Analyses of high-resolution pollen data, coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and sedimentology, combined with radiocarbon dating, allow the assessment of the impact of Sami and Nordic land use in the region surrounding the winter market town of Lycksele in northern Sweden. Such winter markets were established by the Crown during the seventeenth century AD to control the semi-nomadic movements of the Sami who traded here with Finnish settlers and were also taxed and educated. Little is known about Sami and Nordic co-existence beyond these market places, mainly due to a lack of archaeological evidence relating to Sami activity. Vegetation and land-use changes in the region between ~ AD 250 and 1825 reveal no signal for pre-seventeenth century agricultural activity, but the coprophilous fungal spore records suggest the increased regional presence of grazing herbivores (possibly reindeer) between ~ AD 800 and 1100. Sami activity in the parish of Lycksele has been suggested by rich metal finds dated to ~ AD 1000–1350 and they may have been attracted by an abundance of reindeer.

Despite being an important location in the Viking/Norse world, and containing a wealth of Norse archaeological remains, little is known about the impact that Norse communities had on the landscape of Orkney. To redress this, a palaeoenvironmental investigation of sediments was conducted from the infilled Loch of Tuquoy, located within 500m of the high-status Norse farmstead and Crosskirk at Tuquoy on Westray, Orkney. Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, microscopic charcoal, sediment geochemistry and mineral magnetic measurements were performed on a 2.25 metre-deep core. The 2 results suggest that a cultural landscape was created before the Loch of Tuquoy record commenced and was characterised by the near-continuous activity of a mixed agrarian economy that intensified during two periods: c. 900 to 150 cal. BC and between cal. AD 700 and 1550, which encompasses the Norse occupation of the Tuquoy farmstead. Pollen evidence suggests that during both periods the land was used to cultivate barley and oats/wheat, as well as for pasture. While the landscape was largely treeless from 900 cal BC onwards, minor woodland/scrub clearance occurred in both periods.The palaeoeconomy of the Norse seems to have been a continuation of earlier practices but caused a significant change in the source of sediments deposited into the loch. Whilst the sediment geochemistry found little evidence of possible ironworking, lead concentrations show a series of peaks during the Iron Age and Roman periods indicative of more regional-scale pollution.