A mid to late Holocene chironomid-inferred temperature record from northwest Ireland

Taylor, Karen; McGinley, Seamus; Potito, Aaron P.; Molloy, Karen; Beilman, David W.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.06.006

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, in contrast to many of those records (e.g. Ghilardi and O'Connell 2013;Chique et al 2017, Taylor et al 2018, and others from southwest Ireland (Mighall et al 2007;Overland and O'Connell 2008;Kearney 2019), evidence for agriculture at Derrycarhoon becomes more muted after c.1800 BC into the Middle Bronze Age. Herbaceous taxa indicative of farming are greatly reduced, and ribwort plantain ceases to be recorded at Derrycarhoon until the Late Bronze Age, c.900 BC, suggesting a cessation or at least a reduction of agricultural activity.…”

Section: Bronze Age Farming and Mining Impactscontrasting

confidence: 57%

Palynological investigation of a later Bronze Age copper mine at Derrycarhoon in south-west Ireland

Kearney¹,

O’Brien²

2021

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents the results of a recent palynological analysis at a prehistoric mine in the Mizen Peninsula of West Cork. Archaeological survey and excavation confirm Derrycarhoon is the first copper mine in Ireland dated to the later Bronze Age, c.1400-1000 BC. The production there represents the end of a mining tradition in the south-west region that began a millennium or so earlier at Ross Island, Co. Kerry. The palynological study at Derrycarhoon examines the contemporary environment of the early mine, to understand its effect on local vegetation during the later second millennium BC. This environmental impact was reduced by the small scale of ore extraction over several centuries, and by a mining technology that did not significantly impact local woodland at a location where contamination from surface ore-processing was both short-lived and localised. The results add to information on the variability of environmental impacts caused by mining and metal production in prehistoric Europe. Finally, this study contributes to a wider understanding of vegetation history and anthropogenic influences during the Holocene in the West Cork region.Public concern with mining today often centres on the negative consequences for the natural environment, as well as health and quality of life implications for local communities. This includes the physical alteration of landscape, atmospheric and groundwater pollution, and resulting effects on vegetation and the food chain. There were also various environmental impacts around the extraction of metal in prehistory, the scale of which largely depended on the intensity and duration of mining at different locations. This ranged from short-lived operations, often seasonal, producing small amounts of metal for local needs, to more sustained activity undertaken by established mining communities that supplied significant amounts of metal over a wide area through organised trade.The environmental impact of most prehistoric copper mines was confined to the extraction site and its immediate surroundings. There are examples where the scale of operations had greater consequences for the local or wider

show abstract

Section: Bronze Age Farming and Mining Impactscontrasting

confidence: 57%

Palynological investigation of a later Bronze Age copper mine at Derrycarhoon in south-west Ireland

Kearney¹,

O’Brien²

2021

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are few comparative palaeotemperature datasets for this period; although a recent chironomid-based reconstruction (expressed as mean July air temperature, referred to as Chironomid-inferred temperatures: C-ITs) is available from Lough Meenachrinna, Co. Donegal (Taylor et al, 2018). These data indicate C-ITs of 11.5℃ during the Early Bronze Age ( c. 1390 BC), rising into the Middle Bronze Age ( c. 1310–1100 BC) to peak at 13.5℃ ( c. 1260 BC), then falling to c. 12℃ at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age ( c. 1150–960 BC).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-proxy Holocene palaeoenvironmental record of climate change and prehistoric human activity from Lough Cullin, southeast Ireland

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A multiproxy (pollen, microcharcoal, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry) sequence from Lough Cullin, southeast Ireland, supported by a high-resolution radiocarbon chronology, modelled using Bayesian approaches, provides a record of environmental change for much of the Holocene. Following the establishment of mixed deciduous woodland, climatic deterioration was likely responsible for pronounced vegetation change and erosion, 7615–6500 cal. BC to 6245–5575 cal. BC, evidence for the ‘8.2 Kyr’ BP climate event. The so-called ‘elm decline’ is dated to 4220–3980 cal. BC and whilst there are possible indications of an anthropogenic cause, clear evidence of woodland clearance with cereal pollen is recorded at 3900–3700 cal. BC, 3790–3580 cal. BC and 3760–3650 cal. BC, during a period of clearance and farming of 320–450 years duration. A reduction in farming/settlement and woodland regeneration during the Middle Neolithic parallels the archaeological record, with low levels of activity during the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic after 2960–2525 cal. BC, prior to increases during the Bronze Age then woodland clearance and agriculture between 1500–1410 and 1275–1000 cal. BC, corresponding with the archaeological evidence. A subsequent ‘step-wise’ reduction in human activity follows, from the latter date to 815–685 cal. BC, and a brief but pronounced cessation at 690–535 cal. BC. Renewed woodland clearance and agriculture commenced until 415–250 cal. BC. From the latter date until cal. AD 390–540, the Late Iron Age/Early Medieval period, a phase of woodland recovery is attested, followed by renewed landscape disturbance and arable agriculture in particular, continuing to the close of the record at cal. AD 780–1035.

show abstract

Arthropoda as Proxies of Paleoenvironmental Conditions

Guerrero-Arenas,

Vega

2024

Springer Geology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A mid to late Holocene chironomid-inferred temperature record from northwest Ireland

Cited by 14 publications

References 39 publications

Palynological investigation of a later Bronze Age copper mine at Derrycarhoon in south-west Ireland

Palynological investigation of a later Bronze Age copper mine at Derrycarhoon in south-west Ireland

A multi-proxy Holocene palaeoenvironmental record of climate change and prehistoric human activity from Lough Cullin, southeast Ireland

Arthropoda as Proxies of Paleoenvironmental Conditions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About