On-site data cast doubts on the hypothesis of shifting cultivation in the Late Neolithic (c. 4300-2400 cal. BC): Landscape management as an alternative paradigm

This article brings together in a comprehensive way, and for the first time, on- and off-site palaeoenvironmental data from the area of the Central European lake dwellings (a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 2011). The types of data considered are as follows: high-resolution off-site pollen cores, including micro-charcoal counts, and on-site data, including botanical macro- and micro-remains, hand-collected animal bones, remains of microfauna, and data on woodland management (dendrotypology). The period considered is the late Neolithic (c. 4300–2400 cal. BC). For this period, especially for its earlier phases, discussions of land-use patterns are contradictory. Based on off-site data, slash-and-burn – as known from tropical regions – is thought to be the only possible way to cultivate the land. On-site data however show a completely different picture: all indications point to the permanent cultivation of cereals (Triticum spp., Hordeum vulgare), pea (Pisum sativum), flax (Linum usitatissimum) and opium-poppy (Papaver somniferum). Cycles of landscape use are traceable, including coppicing and moving around the landscape with animal herds. Archaeobiological studies further indicate also that hunting and gathering were an important component and that the landscape was manipulated accordingly. Late Neolithic land-use systems also included the use of fire as a tool for opening up the landscape. Here we argue that bringing together all the types of palaeoenvironmental proxies in an integrative way allows us to draw a more comprehensive and reliable picture of the land-use systems in the late Neolithic than had been reconstructed previously largely on the basis of off-site data

Conversion of biomass to charcoal and the carbon mass balance from a slash-and-burn experiment in a temperate deciduous forest

Anthropogenic burning, including slash-and-burn, was deliberately used in (pre)historic Central Europe. Biomass burning has affected the global carbon cycle since, presumably, the early Holocene. The understanding of processes and rates of charcoal formation in temperate deciduous forests is limited, as is the extent of prehistoric human impact on the environment. We took advantage of an experimental burning to simulate Neolithic slash-and-burn, and we quantified the biomass fuel and charcoal produced, determined the resulting distribution of the charcoal size fractions and calculated the carbon mass balance. Two-thirds of the charcoal particles (6.71 t/ha) were larger than 2000m and the spatial distribution of charcoal was highly variable (15–90% per m2). The conversion rate of the biomass fuel to charcoal mass was 4.8%, or 8.1% for the conversion of biomass carbon to charcoal carbon, and 58.4 t C/ha was lost during the fire, presumably as a component of aerosols or gases

Influence of Climate, Species Immigration, Fire, and Men on Forest Dynamics In Northern Italy, from 6000 Cal. BP To Today

Pollen records reflect integrated effects of abiotic and biotic processes such as establishment, competition, climatic change, fire history and human impact. To disentangle these processes we compared a pollen record of Lago di Annone (Northern Italy) in the time interval 6000 cal. BP till today with simulations of a forest-dynamic model (DisCForm) under different combinations of climate, species immigration, human impact, and fire scenarios. Circularity was prevented by using input data that were independent of pollen data. While species competition, climatic change, and species immigration seem to produce model outputs with little similarities with the evaluated pollen record, the simulation of lire events and human activities reflect the main patterns of the original pollen record. The scenario for human impact slightly improves the simulation output. Species composition and abundance of Insubric forests of the time investigated seems therefore to be highly determined by fire and human impact. The simulation runs show that introduced species such as Castanea sativa are not able to coexist with indigenous species

Plant macrofossils and pollen in goat/sheep faeces from the Neolithic lake-shore settlement Arbon Bleiche 3, Switzerland

Over 300 goat/sheep faeces from the Neolithic lake-shore settlement of Arbon Bleiche 3 (3384-3370 bc) were analysed for macrofossils and 22 of them for pollen. Two main types of fodder could be detected, which were both consumed in winter. The more frequent type is characterized by remains of blackberry (Rubus fruticosus s. l.) probably showing the use of pasture in the near surroundings of the settlement. The second type is dominated by leaf fragments of silver fir (Abies alba) and by pollen and anthers of early-flowering shrubs such as hazel (Corylus avellana) and alder (Alnus sp.), pointing in the latter cases to additional foddering of twigs to livestock inside the settlement in times of shortage. Comparison with other Neolithic sites of Switzerland reveals differences that may indicate local adaptations in the keeping of goats or sheep