Palynological investigations at the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age lakeshore settlement of Luokesa 1 (Moletai District, Lithuania): a contribution to the Middle-Late Holocene vegetation history of the south-eastern Baltic regions

Abstract

Today, the settlement site of Luokesa 1 (L1) lies under water at the northern edge of Lake Luokesa in the Baltic Uplands, southeastern Lithuania. Its 60 cmthick Late Bronze-Early Iron Age cultural layer lies on top of lake marl. During excavations in 2008 and 2009, core samples at L1 were taken for the purpose of multidisciplinary investigations. From this material, five on-site pollen diagrams were created in parallel with geoarchaeological investigations and the examination of the botanical macro-remains. Two of these cores mainly comprised the cultural layer, another two consisted largely of the underlying lake marl and the fifth contained primarily the transition from the lake marl to the cultural layer. The chronological sequence was established through 11 AMS dates. The woodland history, starting from the Late Atlantic period, was recorded. The Quercetum mixtum values are quite low in the Subboreal, with the coniferous forest consisting mainly of Pinus and, though significantly less, Picea. At the transition to the cultural layer (Subatlantic) the pollen curves are highly variable, showing peaks in the curves for Betula and Alnus. Pollen from aquatic plants is also present. Changes in riparian vegetation and turbulent sedimentation conditions are to be expected and can be explained by a drop in the water level. As L1 was located on damp ground at that time, water influxes alternating with dry episodes were observed. In the area around L1 the sedge belt was less pronounced, and riparian woodland extended all the way to the shores of the lake. Pollen analyses of four sheep/goat dung samples provide information on the grazing season and pasture location of these domestic animals. The paper also discusses layer formation processes such as water level fluctuations and hiatuses. Keywords Pollen Á On-site investigation Á Lake level fluctuation Á Cultural layer Á Riparian woodland Á Human impact Communicated by F. Bittmann.

The potential of micromorphology for interpreting sedimentation processes in wetland sites: a case study of a Late Bronze–early Iron Age lakeshore settlement at Lake Luokesa (Lithuania)

“…Higher areas towards the island in the north-east were more affected by dehydration and runoff. This area may well be regarded as semi-terrestrial, as the preservation of pollen was also comparatively worse (profile LALU 4;Heitz-Weniger 2014). A correlation of the layers fits well for the base of the sequences (Fig.…”

“…3 in Pollmann 2014a and Fig. 3 in Heitz-Weniger 2014). Up to the present it has not been determined whether the profiles were taken from the alleyways or from places within the houses, as the ground floor plans of the houses are not known (Bleicher 2014).…”

“…This is indicated by the sharp transition between the dense lake marl and the organic layers. The good preservation state of the mollusc shells and pollen, such as the lack of ferric precipitations, indicates only a short hiatus in terms of several weeks before the platform was settled (see also Motuzaite Matuzeviciute 2008;Heitz-Weniger 2014). There is evidence of a slight superficial compaction of the lake marl surface, which was due to anthropogenic (and animal) trampling during the building activities.…”

“…However, in lakeside settlements floods are a limiting factor that can lead to reworking, relocation and erosion of deposits (Ismail-Meyer and Rentzel 2004;Huber and Ismail-Meyer 2012). At the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age (LBA-EIA) site Lake Luokesa 1 (L1), beside the archaeological investigation, botanical macro remains, pollen, dendrochronological and micromorphological analyses were done contemporaneously, in an interdisciplinary way (Pranck_ enait_ e 2014;Pollmann 2014a;Heitz-Weniger 2014;Bleicher 2014). This contribution will give an overview of the micromorphological results from the site.…”