Holocene demographic fluctuations, climate and erosion in the Mediterranean: A meta data-analysis

As part of the Changing the Face of the Mediterranean Project, we consider how human pressure and concomitant erosion has affected a range of Mediterranean landscapes between the Neolithic and, in some cases, the post-medieval period. Part of this assessment comprises an investigation of relationships among palaeodemographic data, evidence for vegetation change and some consideration of rapid climate change events. The erosion data include recent or hitherto unpublished work from the authors. Where possible, we consider summed probabilities of 14C dates as well as the first published synthesis of all known optically stimulated luminescence dated sequences. The results suggest that while there were some periods when erosion took place contemporaneously across a number of regions, possibly induced by climate changes, more often than not, we see a complex and heterogeneous interplay of demographic and environmental changes that result in a mixed pattern of erosional activity across the Mediterranean

Human-Environment relationships in eastern Macedonia (northern Greece) since the early Holocene. : Multiscalar and palaeoenvironmental approach.

Les perturbations environnementales enregistrées aujourd’hui dans le cadre du changementclimatique global exacerbent les craintes des sociétés quant au développement durable. Si l’impact desactions anthropiques sur les changements contemporains est désormais reconnu scientifiquement, lesspécialistes des sociétés anciennes et des géosciences se demandent si les changementsenvironnementaux d’origine naturelle ou anthropique n’ont pas déjà et à plusieurs reprises, affecté ledéveloppement des sociétés au cours des derniers millénaires. Les investigations menées, dans le cadrede cette thèse, proposent de contribuer à ce débat à partir de l’étude sur le temps long de la basse valléedu Strymon (Grèce du Nord) depuis le début de l’Holocène. L’enjeu est de comprendre les relationsqu’ont entretenues les sociétés avec leur environnement afin d’examiner les questions d’éventuelseffondrements culturels d’origine environnementale comme le suggèrent certains chercheurs pour la findu Néolithique ou l’Âge du Bronze, et celles des conséquences des actions des sociétés (néolithisation,conquête grecque, etc.) sur l’environnement et la durabilité de son exploitation. Pour dépasser les étudesde cas, nous proposons une approche géographique multiscalaire et géoarchéologique. Elle s’appuie surune étude des archives paléoenvironnementales combinant (1) une analyse géomorphologique et (2) uneanalyse palynologique des cours d’eau et des zones humides afin de renseigner les changementsenvironnementaux au plus près des lieux de vie des populations et de leurs pratiques agropastorales.Les résultats obtenus sont ensuite confrontés aux recherches archéologiques et historiques pourcomprendre les interactions Sociétés/Environnement de l’échelle de l’habitat à celle de la région étudiéeà différentes époques, et participer activement aux discussions multidisciplinaires sur la question.Environmental disturbances recorded nowadays in global changes rise up society fears aboutsustainable development. Even if the responsibility of activities on contemporary changes is now wellknown,the specialists of past societies are still wondering if such environmental changes, either fromnatural or from anthropogenic origin, have not already affected societies development in last thousandsof years. This research project contributes to this debate on the base of long time study of Strymona lowvalley (northern Greece), from Early Holocene. The aim is to understand the relationships betweensocieties and environment by questioning the possibility of cultural collapses from environmentalorigin, and to examine the consequences of human activities (Neolithisation, Greek conquest, ...) onenvironment and his sustainability. To overcome case studies, we suggest a geographical andgeoarchaeological approach. Based on study of palaeoenvironmental archives which combinegeomorphological and palynological analyses of streams and wetlands. Our aim is to analyze the role ofagropastoral practices and climate events and oscillations on environmental changes, and on thedynamics of mosaic landscapes. Results will be compared with archaeological and historical researchesto understand the interactions between societies and their environment from sites to regional scale, fromthe Neolithic to Ottoman period and to take part actively to multidisciplinary discussions on this debate

Chapitre 8. Les carottages et les investigations paléoenvironnementales

International audienc

Archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations at the EBA layer of Tell Sokol, Nova Zagora region

National audienc

Times of historical developments and environmental changes in the Minoan town of Malia, Crete: an intra and off-site geoarcheological approach.

The site of Malia, on the northwest coast of Crete, is a good case study for geoarchaeology. A Minoan palatial town developed during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages in an area that was occupied for a long occupied, and has been the subject of archaeological excavations for a century. A small marsh located near the sea and close to the archaeological site offers rich natural archives and new record. They can now be combined with archaeological data and allow to address some important issues: the questions of chronology and causes of apparent changes are especially important and tricky in the Minoan world where the absolute chronology is still under debate. How can we link the temporal frames of extra and intra-site, for events/breaks but also for more durable situation? Improvements in defining local archaeological sequence, based on artefacts typologies and stratigraphical evidence from recent excavated areas, lead to a better understanding of relative chronology and historical developments of the settlement, especially during the palatial period: researches in the Area Pi show that the Middle Minoan III phase was not a “gap” after the great fire destruction of the first palace and town of Middle Minoan II, but an extensive occupational phase marked by one or two important earthquakes; a last massive destruction affected the area during LM IA, possibly in relation with the Santorini eruption. Duration of these phenomena, factors and rates of change are difficult to precise and call for a dialogue with specialists of natural sciences. The investigations conducted off-site offer the opportunity to assess the long-term changes of the environment due to climatic, tectonic or sea level changes or to land use changes related to the change of the human activities. 11 new core-drillings have been added in 2015 to the first investigations of the 1990's. The 40 radiocarbon dates obtained show that all the cores cover the Minoan period. The first geomorphologic, sedimentologic and palynologic results offer the opportunity to reconstruct the landscape at the bottom of the Minoan site from the Late Neolithic to the historic periods and to discuss the causes of the environmental changes. In particular, the question of the direct and indirect impact of the Santorini eruption on the landscape and the town and the effect of the agropastoral practices on the wetland is raised. More generally, based on the results obtained, the methodology of comparison of in-site and off-site and of archaeological and environmental data is discussed

Discriminación fitosociológica y ecológica de las comunidades de ciprés (Cupressus sempervirens) en Creta (Grecia) mediante análisis polínico

[EN] Sixty modern surface samples collected from mosses in different cypress forest communities (Cupressus sempervirens L.) on the island of Crete (Greece) were analysed for their pollen content. The samples were taken from six different cypress phytosociological associations between 23 and 1600 m asl, and fall within distinct rainfall and temperature regimes. The aims of this paper are to provide new data on the modern pollen rain from the Aegean islands, and to perform these data using multivariate statistics (hierarchical cluster analysis and canonical correspondence analysis) and pollen percentages. The discrimination of pollen assemblages corresponds to a large extent to the floristic differentiation of Cupressus sempervirens forest vegetation and indicates the existence of three new associations[ES] Sesenta muestras de lluvia polínica actual recolectadas en cepellones de musgos, procedentes de distintas comunidades de ciprés (Cupressus sempervirens L.) en la isla de Creta (Grecia), fueron analizadas palinológicamente. Las muestras proceden de seis asociaciones fitosociológicas dominadas por el ciprés entre 23 y 1600 m asl, bajo regímenes de precipitación y temperatura diferentes. El objetivo de este trabajo es prover datos novedosos acerca de la lluvia polínica actual en las islas del Egeo, así como tratar éstos mediante análisis multivariantes (análisis de cluster jerárquico y análisis de correspondencias canónicas) y a partir de sus porcentajes polínicos. La discriminación de los espectros polínicos corresponde en gran medida a la diferenciación florística de la vegetación de los bosques de Cupressus sempervirens e indica la existencia de tres nuevas asociacionesThis study is part of the international PALEOMEX-INEE Research Program, itself a component of the Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional and Local Scales (MISTRALS) of the CNRS, France

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

International audienceFollowing 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)

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

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 multiperiod 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 BCE, 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 and 3300 cal BCE at the transition from the Late Neolithic (LNII) to the Bronze Age and from 1650 to 800 cal BCE 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 BCE), the Iron Age (1000–800 cal BCE) and Antiquity during the Macedonian (ca. 357–148 cal BCE) and Roman periods (148 cal BCE–cal 395 CE)This study is part of the framework of the international PaleoMexINEE Research Program, itself a component of the Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional and Local Scales [MISTRALS] support by the INEE and INSU of the CNRS. Funding for the present study was also obtained from the RELICTFLORA (P11RNM-7033) project, provided by the Junta de Andalucía (Spain). J.A. López-Sáez is currently supported by a research grant (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport) at Caen Normandy University and Boris Vannière is supported by the Région Franche-Comté (project GDRI HETSE - RECH-EXCEL). We express our gratitude to all of the institutions that support, directly or indirectly, the research carried out at and around Dikili Tash, in particular the Archaeological Society, the French School at Athens, the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Institute of Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP). For their assistance, we also thank the heads of the Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Kavala (Ministry of Culture, Greece). Special thanks to Zoï Tsirtsoni for her comments on the archaeological data, Francisca Alba-Sánchez for their age-model advice and collaboration and Rebecca Miller for revising the original manuscript. Finally, this manuscript benefited from the stimulating comments of two anonymous reviewer

Modern Pollen\textendashVegetation Relationships along an Altitudinal Transect in the Lefka Ori Massif (Western Crete, Greece)

The paucity of modern pollen rain data from the Aegean islands is a significant barrier to understand the lateQuaternary vegetation history of this globally important south-eastern Mediterranean region. This paper pre-sents the study of 30 modern pollen and non-pollen palynomorph assemblages carried out along an altitudinalgradient from 0 to 2453 m in the Lefka Ori massif (eastern Crete, Greece). This research aimed to analyze lowlandand highland pollen and NPP in relation to vegetation, climate and grazing, and to evaluate the regional and localsignificance of modern pollen deposition. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that altitude, precipitationof the driest month, annual mean temperature, precipitation seasonality and grazing are the most significantvariables to explain pollen and NPP variability in this area. It also made it possible to characterize pollen andNPP indicators of types of highland and lowland vegetation and grazing pressure. Results obtained corroboratethe significant role of coprophilous fungi as local indicators of herbivores in south-eastern Mediterranean mountain areas and suggest the local presence of domestic animals.This study is part of the international PALEOMEX-INEE Research Program, itself a component of the Mediterranean Integrated Studies at Regional and Local Scales (MISTRALS) of the CNRSPeer Reviewe