Is Neolithic land use correlated with demography? An evaluation of pollen-derived land cover and radiocarbon-inferred demographic change from Central Europe

Abstract

The transformation of natural landscapes in Middle Europe began in the Neolithic as a result of the introduction of food-producing economies. This paper examines the relation between land-cover and demographic change in a regionally restricted case study. The study area is the Western Lake Constance area which has very detailed palynological as well as archaeological records. We compare land-cover change derived from nine pollen records using a pseudo-biomisation approach with 14 C date probability density functions from archaeological sites which serve as a demographic proxy. We chose the Lake Constance area as a regional example where the pollen signal integrates a larger spatial pattern. The land-cover reconstructions for this region show first notable impacts at the Middle to Young Neolithic transition. The beginning of the Bronze Age is characterised by increases of arable land and pasture/ meadow, whereas the deciduous woodland decreases dramatically. Changes in the land-cover classes show a correlation with the 14 C density curve: the correlation is best with secondary woodland in the Young Neolithic which reflects the lake shore settlement dynamics. In the Early Bronze Age, the radiocarbon density correlates with open land-cover classes, such as pasture, meadow and arable land, reflecting a change in the land-use strategy. The close overall correspondence between the two archives implies that population dynamics and land-cover change were intrinsically linked. We therefore see human impact as a key driver for vegetation change in the Neolithic. Climate might have an influence on vegetation development, but the changes caused by human land use are clearly detectable from Neolithic times, at least in these densely settled, mid-altitude landscapes.

European Neolithic societies showed early warning signals of population collapse

“…A possible explanation is that interactions between fast human demographic cycles and slower ecosystem recovery cycles may explain the observed pattern of demographic collapse in Neolithic Europe. Similar cycling patterns have been observed among prehistoric agrarian populations in the US Southwest (54,55), and the hypothesis is consistent with recent paleoenvironmental research that finds correlations between deforestation and human population growth during the European Neolithic (60)(61)(62). Using the framework introduced in the previous section, this deforestation hypothesis would suggest that MII cycle interactions between rapidly increasing human population levels and environmental dynamics during the early Neolithic may have contributed to the observed demographic collapses.…”

Centralisation and long-term change in farming regimes: Comparing agricultural practices in Neolithic and Iron Age south-west Germany

“…Evidence for use of cattle for traction (which could be associated with transport or ard-ploughing) is demonstrated by 'traction pathologies' at Arbon Bleiche on the southern shore of Lake Constance (3384-3370 BC; Deschler-Erb et al 2006) and by cattle mortality profiles at sites at the northern end of Lake Zurich (c. 3300-2700 BC; Hüster-Plogmann & Schibler 1997). Settlement occupation at Sipplingen spans this period, but despite weed and pollen data indicating that the landscape became more open (Jacomet 1990;Lechterbeck et al 2014), and initial occurrences of species regarded as arable weeds today (Jacomet 1990;Billamboz et al 2013), there is no corresponding decrease in crop δ 15 N values that would indicate a reduction in the intensity of manuring (Styring et al 2016a). Rather, manuring levels seemed to have been maintained, perhaps due to the growing availability of manure from larger numbers of cattle.…”

Seven Millennia of human impact as reflected in a high resolution pollen profile from the profundal sediments of Litzelsee, Lake Constance region, Germany

“…The Fagus maximum is shortest in the profiles from Lake Constance itself. We would interpret this as a shift of the settlement focus towards the lake shore and an abandonment of the hinterland, correlated with a demographic decline (Lechterbeck et al 2014a).…”