Human‐induced activities around Lake Lilaste in the central Latvian sandy coastal area have been reconstructed over a 1300‐year period. We use a combination of well‐established geoarchaeological research methods (14C dating, pollen, nonpollen palynomorphs, REVEALS modeling, diatoms, C/N ratio, magnetic susceptibility, loss on ignition) to study the human impact on the environment. Historical context aids focus on records of resource (e.g., timber) exploitation in the area. The continuous record of human indicator pollen and agricultural landscape suggests this area was suitable for habitation well before the studied time period, likely due to the ecosystem services it provided. Our proxy‐based study, combined with historical background, reveals a significant human impact on the terrestrial environment since the 14th century. Deficiency of trees in the northern outskirts of Riga during the 17th–19th century was likely. Anthropogenic activity has led to both deforestation and change in species composition. Our paleo records indicate recognizable human‐driven legacy in current seacoast landscape.
The article deals with questions relating to the settlement in the area of Ventspils. Attention is gi-ven to environmental factors that could have had a greater or lesser influence on the settlement structure. The stream bank erosion along the River Venta had a relatively small impact on populated areas, while the wind erosion (sand deposition) caused the individual farms as well as villages to be abandoned. The Great Plague epidemic of 1710 was particularly devastating in the Ventspils area, during which about 40% of farms disappeared and most of them were not restored until the end of the 18th century. Final abandon-ment of farms, their renovation or addition of the former farmland to the land of the manor caused chan-ges in the population structure.
The publication under review consists of two sizeable volumes that summarise the results of the international project “The Ecology of Crusading: The Environmental Impact of Conquest, Colonisation and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic” (2010–2014). The research was conducted in several selected districts in Prussia and Livonia which were governed by the Teutonic Order; there a detailed study of aspects such as vegetation, farming, hunting, fishing, settlement life, reorganisation of the landscape, and environmental impact of the conquest was conducted and viewed in the context of Christianisation. One of the conclusions reached is that the conquering theocracy in the eastern Baltic pursued a complex and at times contradictory interaction between ideology and paragmatism. The abundance of facts, analysis, and views provided by the publication reveals many new aspects of how the Ordensland actually functioned. The analysis of palynological data deserves to be mentioned specially: through the cooperation of archaeologists, historians, and experts of natural sciences, this field considerably broadens our knowledge about the specific society and its impact on environment. The publication presents some aspects that need to be discussed further as well as aspects that show the need for and opportunities of further research.
Latvijas Universitātes Latvijas vēstures institūta realizētā projekta Cilvēks dinamiskā ainavā: Latvijas piejūras smiltāju biogrāfija ietvaros 2019. gada pavasarī tika veikta Engures apkārtnē konstatēto kokogļu ieguves vietu izpēte. Izpētes laikā apzināts ap 1000 kokogļu ieguves uzkalniņu, vienā no tiem veikti arī arheoloģiskie izrakumi. Atsegto kokogļu paraugu dendrohronoloģiskais un radio-aktīvā oglekļa (14C) datējumi rāda, ka pētītās kokogļu ieguves vietas saistāmas ar Kurzemes hercogistes Engures manufaktūru. Atklātās liecības sniedz informāciju par kokogļu ieguves veidu un izmantotajiem resursiem, kā arī papildina datus par manufaktūras darbību.
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