Neolithic woodland management and land-use in south-eastern Europe: The anthracological evidence from Northern Greece and Bulgaria

Marinova, Elena; Ntinou, María

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.04.004

Cited by 32 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…As the increase in forest cover from 8000 cal yr BP coincided with the spread of Neolithic culture across South Eastern Europe (Bogaard et al, 2004;Kreuz 2008), a critical question in respect to grassland extent is whether anthropogenic impacts could have counteracted the climate-driven development of a closed forest (Pokorný et al, 2015). Archaeological datasets from this part of Europe indicate that Neolithic settlements tended to be established in open landscapes and that field sizes were small (Moskal-del Hoyo et al, 2013;Chapman, 2017;Marinova and Ntinou, 2017). As people first settled in naturally open landscapes, this tendency could explain the apparent lack of major deforestation at this time in the pollen records from Central Eastern Europe (Fig.…”

Section: Early Human Impact Counteracted the Encroachment Of Forest Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: Ancient, forgotten ecosystems

Feurdean

Ruprecht

Molnár

et al. 2018

Biological Conservation

128

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Worldwide reforestation has been recommended as a landscape restoration strategy to mitigate climate change in areas where the climate can sustain forest. This approach may threaten grassland ecosystems of unique biodiversity as such policies are based on the false assumption that most grasslands are man-made. Here, we use multiple lines of evidence (palaeoecological, pedological, phylogenetic, palaeontological) from Central Eastern Europe and show that various types of grasslands have persisted in this area throughout postglacial i.e. the past 11,700 years. A warm and dry climate, frequent fires, herbivore pressure, and early Neolithic settlements kept forests open until widespread forest clearance beginning 4000-3000 years ago. Closed forest cover has been the exception for the past two million years. This long-term persistence has likely contributed to the high biodiversity of these grasslands. Consequently, we call for a more cautious prioritisation of the protection of what may be erroneously considered natural, i.e. forests, by many environmental specialists and managers. Instead we provide a new framework for a better understanding of the evolution and persistence of different grassland types and their biodiversity, so that grasslands can be better understood, valued and conserved.

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Section: Early Human Impact Counteracted the Encroachment Of Forest Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: Ancient, forgotten ecosystems

Feurdean

Ruprecht

Molnár

et al. 2018

Biological Conservation

128

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“…4550 cal BC in the Dik4 pollen record corresponds with the first indications of cultivation almost 2 km from the settlement. This indicates a large expansion of cultivated fields around the Late Neolithic village (López-Sáez and López-Merino, 2005;Marinova et Ntinou, 2017). It is also associated with the beginning of the first long-term biomass burning, with almost two millennia of an increasing CHAR trend, attesting to repeated local fire episodes and the highest peak of "Large-Unbreakable" CHAR recorded in the Dik4 core since the Lateglacial (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Human-shaped landscape history in NE Greece. A palaeoenvironmental perspective

Glais

Lespez

Vannière

et al. 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Following palaeobotanical, sedimentological and archaeological research recently conducted on and around the tell of Dikili Tash (Eastern Macedonia, Greece), we present continuous palaeoenvironmental data on this multi-period site. This study combines pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), macro-charcoal and sedimentological analyses that are compared with archaeological data from the Middle Neolithic to Antiquity period. It provides an overview of the local environment near the former Tenaghi-Philippon marsh and a comprehensive view of human impact on vegetation cover in lowlands. As early as ca. 4550 cal BC, an initial phase of change in vegetation cover, has been recorded. This period, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is one of intensifying human activities and social interactions into the Balkan region, which resulting in the foundation and transformation of early Late Neolithic societies. Although the palynological record does not show the crops species grown, the intensive clearance resulted in the increase of open herbaceous landscapes with anthropogenic indicators. This, as well as the increase of macro-charcoal values strongly supports a more or less continuously shaping of the landscape by human induced fires. New tree species that also became established at this time include Olea and Castanea.. The presence of three main formations can be argued from the Early Neolithic to Antiquity: (1) riparian vegetation, (2) oak woodlands and (3) open vegetation in the form of wooded grasslands. Beyond the responses to climate changes, the vegetation composition reflects a regionally diversified land management system as indicated by a greater diversity in cultivated or harvested plants. The study reveals two phases of decline in land use directly on the edge of the marsh, although indicators of anthropogenic disturbance of the vegetation never entirely disappear during these periods between 3900-3300 cal BC at the transition from the Late Neolithic (LNII) to the Bronze Age and from 1650-800 cal BC when we observe a reorganization of the settlement on the higher slopes. In contrast, four periods are characterized by an increase in land use extension and intensification: Late Neolithic (4500-3900 cal BC); Early to Middle Bronze Age (3000-1600 cal BC), the Iron Age (1000-800 cal BC) and Antiquity during the Macedonian (ca. 357-148 cal BC) and Roman periods (148 cal BC-cal AD 395).

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“…In north-facing river valleys, including the area of Pelagonia, these Mediterranean habitats are alternated with sub-Mediterranean oak forests (dominated by Quercus ilex, Q. coccifera, Q. trojana, Q. macedonica) with hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) and ash (Fraxinus ornus). Higher altitudes include Sub-mediterranean Mountain forests dominated by beech and pine trees (Walter, 1985;Marinova, Ntinou, 2017). An important tree species in the study area is Cornus mas: used in the Neolithic period for the construction of fences and wattle-and-daub structures, while its fruits were also collected (Marinova et al, 2013).…”

Section: Natural Setting Of the Southern Balkansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Palaeoecological research already offers much rich and well-structured data for the reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation -and the natural conditions of the Neolithic period in particular. The archaeobotanical data provides comprehensive knowledge about plant macroremains, pollen or charcoal, as well as many other aspects of palaeoecology (Marinova et al, 2012;Cvetkoska et al, 2014;Thienemann et al, 2016;Lespez et al, 2016;Marinova, Ntinou, 2017).…”

Section: Natural Setting Of the Southern Balkansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast to the best monothematic studies of the 1970s and 1980s, the multi-proxy approach is based on the synergy of two or more analytical methods. The combination of particular methods has been steeply increasing in number up until today (Marinova, Thiebault, 2008;Karkanas et al, 2011;Pappa et al, 2013;Garnier, Valamoti, 2016;Marinova, Ntinou, 2017;Kreuz, Marinova, 2017;Ivanova et al, 2018;Whitford, 2018). In the last 10-15 years, the "critical mass" of specialists and awareness of the necessity to apply multiproxy approaches has increased.…”

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confidence: 99%

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An Archaeobotanical Onsite Approach to the Neolithic Settlements in Southern Regions of the Balkans: The Case of Vrbjanska Čuka, a Tell Site in Pelagonia, Republic of Macedonia

Beneš¹,

Наумов²,

Majerovičová³

et al. 2018

IANSA

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Introduction 1.1 Neolithic bioarchaeological knowledge from the Balkans in context Current bioarchaeological research over the last two decades has comprised archaeobotany, archaeozoology and biological anthropology (human bioarchaeology) and in a broader concept of bioarchaeology, as postulated by J. G. D. Clark already in the 1970s (Clark, 1973). In current research, this broader perspective of bioarchaeology has been adopted mostly by European scholars (e.g.

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Neolithic woodland management and land-use in south-eastern Europe: The anthracological evidence from Northern Greece and Bulgaria

Cited by 32 publications

References 34 publications

Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: Ancient, forgotten ecosystems

Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: Ancient, forgotten ecosystems

Human-shaped landscape history in NE Greece. A palaeoenvironmental perspective

An Archaeobotanical Onsite Approach to the Neolithic Settlements in Southern Regions of the Balkans: The Case of Vrbjanska Čuka, a Tell Site in Pelagonia, Republic of Macedonia

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