Neolithic to Bronze Age (4850–3450 cal. BP) fire management of the Alpine Lower Engadine landscape (Switzerland) to establish pastures and cereal fields

Abstract

Agro-pastoral activities in the past act as environmental legacy and have shaped the current cultural landscape in the European Alps. This study reports about prehistoric fire incidents and their impact on the flora and vegetation near the village of Ardez in the Lower Engadine Valley (Switzerland) since the Late Neolithic Period. Pollen, charcoal particles and non-pollen palynomorphs preserved in the Saglias and Cutüra peat bog stratigraphies were quantified and the results compared with the regional archaeological evidence. Anthropogenic deforestation using fire started around 4850 cal. BP at Saglias and aimed at establishing first cultivated crop fields (e.g. cereals) and small pastoral areas as implied by the positive correlation coefficients between charcoal particles and cultural and pastoral pollen indicators, as well as spores of coprophilous fungi. Pressure on the natural environment by humans and livestock continued until 3650 cal. BP and was followed by reforestation processes until 3400 cal. BP because of climatic deterioration. Thereafter, a new, continuous cultivation/pastoral phase was recorded for the Middle to Late Bronze Age (3400–2800 cal. BP). After rather minor human impact during the Iron Age and Roman Period, intensive agriculture was recorded for the Medieval Period. The area around Ardez was used for crop cultivation from about 1000 cal. BP until the start of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (600 cal. BP). Despite a land-use reorganisation, the following gradual decrease in agricultural activities led to the extant mixture of a cultivated, grazed and forested landscape in the Lower Engadine. In addition, this study demonstrates the excellent value of the fungus Gelasinospora as a highly local marker of past and today’s fire incidents, as well as of the use of micro-charcoals from pollen slides and macro-charcoals (>150 µm) from pollen sample residues for the reconstruction of short- and long-term fire histories.

The role of climate-fuel feedbacks on Holocene biomass burning in upper-montane Carpathian forests

“…Together, this data suggests that intensified human activities at high elevation areas may have contributed to the change in forest density. However, while there is no large-scale change in CHARC at Popradské pleso, fire frequency increases at this time ( Figure 5 (Schumacher et al, 2016;Vincze et al, 2017), similar to a well-documented process in the Alps where seasonal pastoralism has resulted in a lowered treeline (Dietre et al, 2016;Tinner, 2007). Figure 5), and a concurrent increase in microcharcoal an indicator of regional biomass burning (SI Figure 1).…”

Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe

“…The latter is supported by a widespread opening-up of landscapes in some regions for grazing animals (Andersen 1993, 1995; Doppler et al 2015; Dietre et al . 2016). The analysis comprises 60 individuals and covers the period from the early Corded Ware to the mature and late Corded Ware; in other words, from 2900/2800–2300 BC.…”

Steady transformation of primeval forest into subalpine pasture during the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (2300−1700 BC) in the Silvretta Alps, Switzerland

“…Past land-use practices have shaped today's vegetation and landscape of the European Alps (Fischer et al, 2008). Since the mid-Holocene, human activities affected the position of the timber-and treeline, for example, through fires or pastoralism (Dietre et al, 2017(Dietre et al, , 2014Staffler et al, 2011). In the Swiss Alps, vertical transhumance of livestock (sheep, goat and cattle) might have occurred since the Neolithic 7000 years ago (Hafner and Schwörer, 2018;Reitmaier et al, 2018).…”