Environmental imprints of landscape evolution and human activities during the Holocene in a small catchment of the Calanques Massif (Cassis, southern France)

Abstract

International audienceThis paper is based on a multidisciplinary study using both paleoenvironmental methods (biological, sedimentological, magnetic and geochemical) and archaeological data in order to characterize landscape and hydrological network changes as well as human impact on a littoral catchment in the Western Mediterranean area. Sedimentary records obtained around a coastal alluvial plain (Cassis, Southeastern France) reveal local environmental changes and human activities since the Neolithic (ca. 6000 cal. BP). Anthropogenic impact is already noticeable in the earliest record, and we follow its evolution through time. According to biological markers, the Holocene landscape of the Calanques is dominated by a mosaic of open herbaceous formations partly generated by human activity. The prevalence of Cernuella virgata in malacofauna successions and of coprophilous fungal spores in the pollen record testifies to the spread of agro-pastoral activities. Two increases of anthropogenic impact are highlighted during the Roman (ca. 2000 cal. BP) and Modern (from ca. 1450 to today) periods. Lead isotope analyses indicate an anthropogenic release of lead, possibly originating from the Greek Cyclades (ca. 2000 cal. BP). Hydrographic and agricultural work is also enhanced during the Roman period. Magnetic parameters and lead isotopes indicate that the Modern anthropogenic impact may be associated with high temperature activities (e.g. lime kiln, fossil fuel)

Land snail fauna and Holocene environmental changes in Mediterranean France: A digest from three representative sedimentary sequences

“…At Platanes we find C. virgata at the beginning of the Middle Neolithic (we are probably missing older Neolithic deposits) and its population considerably increases from the Bronze Age to reach its maximum in the Roman and Post-Roman periods (zone PL VI). These data confirm and clarify the regional evolution already described (Magnin and Martin, 2012;Martin, 2004;Martin et al, 2005;Moreau et al, 2017;Romey et al, 2015). The dynamics of Oxychilus hydatinus can be compared to that of C. virgata although its arrival can sometimes be delayed.…”

“…Until the Older Atlantic, the palaeoenvironments of the Torse evolved unambiguously under the sole control of climate: replacement of the last assemblages of "cold" steppe environments with Xerocrassa geyeri (MN 1; Dryas Ancien) by steppe assemblages with Candidula gigaxii and other Mediterranean species lato sensu (MN II, LA I; Allerød/Younger Dryas); development of less open environments during the Boreal with the presence of particularly thermophilic species around 9000 cal yr BP when the average temperature equaled or exceeded present day values (Romey et al, 2015); finally, around 8000 cal yr BP, the growth of an open woodland with Mediterranean traits, which marks the forest optimum in the watershed. Regarding this first half of the Holocene, however, it is difficult to describe the nuances of the climate with precision.…”

“…The land snail assemblages of the Torse lost their forest character around 6500 cal yr BP and possibly before 7300 cal yr BC, at the same time as artefacts remains appear regularly in the sequences. On the coastline, malacological analysis had already highlighted non-forest Mediterranean environments since at least 6200 cal yr BP (Romey et al, 2015). The contrast is considerable between these open environments, rich in synanthropic snails, and those of the ephemeral forest optimum during the Older Atlantic.…”

Is a restricted niche the explanation for species vulnerability? Insights from a large field survey of Astragalus tragacantha L. (Fabaceae)

“…The fact that these conditions are limited within the realized niche suggests that the habitat of A. tragacantha has changed. In the past, the strong grazing pressure by cattle on woody plant regeneration (Romey et al, 2015) may have been favorable to A. tragacantha and the abandon of pastoral activities contributed to current fragmentation. In the OMI analysis, the scattered occurrences on the left part of the diagram (Fig.…”

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

“…While this is certainly the case in a broad sense, increasingly sophisticated archaeological and environmental methods for geochemical analysis and chronological determinations have opened the doors for more nuanced explanations of landscape degradation that account for coupled human and natural impacts (Romey et al, 2015), site abandonment processes (Iavazzo et al, 2011), and economic and land-use practices (LopezMerino et al, 2014). This socio-natural perspective on ancient human environmental impacts motivates the research of Wadi Faynan's complex archaeological and environmental history presented here.…”