A high-resolution palaeoecological study of land use change during late prehistory on Exmoor

Palaeoecological studies have proven to make significant contributions to two large ongoing debates that include the influential power of climate and the impact of human land management on the vegetation patterns in certain areas in the UK and Northwest Europe. The need and importance for higher resolution vegetation reconstructions has long been recognised in the wider literature. The main focus of this research is to further understand the relationship between human behaviour, climate and land cover change on Exmoor, of which the upland areas are comparable with others found in Britain and Northwest Europe. High resolution records of pollen, NPP and charcoal data are presented, stemming from three upland sites on Exmoor: Great Buscombe, Spooners and Codsend Moors. Sequences are dated with the use of radiocarbon dates and recently identified tephra layers, enabling a better comparison between sequences from different sites on Exmoor. Additionally, a long-term climate reconstruction from a fourth site, The Chains, is presented and was produced through peat humification analysis. Vegetation reconstructions were produced through pollen analysis, whereas archives of past grazing intensities and fire histories were created with the use of NPP (non-pollen palynomorph) and charcoal data. Statistical analyses of pollen, NPP, charcoal and climate data was conducted in order to test the relative importance of grazing, climate and burning on identified changes in the vegetation compositions. Palaeoecological data from Exmoor shows a general trend of woodland clearance from the late Neolithic onwards, which was largely completed by the late Iron Age. This trend has been associated with an increase in the charcoal data and a coinciding decrease of pastoralism. Results further suggest that climatic changes did not necessarily directly affect the vegetation patterns on a larger, regional scale, but may have played a key role in societal changes. Finally, changes in vegetation patterns and land use on Exmoor did not occur simultaneously across all sites, resulting in a dynamic and heterogeneous landscape from the late Neolithic until the late Iron Age.Exmoor National ParkSouth West Water

Palynological Sampling in Western Jutland 2021-22: Anthea Work Package #2

A palynological sampling programme was carried out in three areas of Western Jutland in 2021-22. Our goal was to collect new sediment samples from archaeological excavations and peat deposits to reconstruct patterns in past heathland use and development. The location of the case areas was determined by the potential of the sites for combination with existing palynological data (Solsø Hede) and/or archaeological data (the Vejen area). At Solsø Hede, a pollen core was obtained near Solsø. At Vejen, two separate sediment collections took place. To the north of Vejen, in Gammelby Mose, peat sediments were collected. To the south of Vejen, at Kongehøj, 15 samples were collected from a Bronze Age house floor plan. The sampling programme formed part of the research project called ANTHEA (Løvschal 2021), which focuses on the deep history of anthropogenic heathlands. The project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 853356)

The Protected Burial Mound ‘Store Vejlhøj’, Vinderup, Denmark: First Results

An archaeological excavation of the protected burial mound Store Vejlhøj in northwestern Denmark was carried out in October-November 2021. The excavation formed part of the ERC-funded research project called ANTHEA, focusing on the deep history of anthropogenic heathlands. It was conducted by Aarhus University in collaboration with Holstebro Museum and Moesgaard Museum. The aim was to test a new method of sampling pollen data from different construction stages in a burial mound and comparing them with pollen data from nearby lake sediments with a view to improving our understanding of prehistoric anthropogenic heathland dynamics. Prior to the excavation, soil cores were collected from two nearby peat sediments as well as six burial mounds (including Store Vejlhøj) within a 1 km range of Lake Skånsø, where previous pollen analyses had been carried out. Based on these preliminary corings, Store Vejlhøj was selected for further archaeological investigation. A dispensation for excavating the protected mound was granted by the Danish Palaces and Culture Agency. The excavation was based on a 5 m long trench through the barrow, moving from its foot inwards. The surface vegetation and 40 cm topsoil were removed by an excavator, after which the remainder of the trench was manually dug in horizontal layers. Observation conditions were good. The excavation revealed a series of well-defined barrow construction stages, as well as unusually wellpreserved turf structures. Only two archaeological finds could be related to the barrow, both of which were later than its initial construction: a secondary urn in the top layer, and the base of a second urn at the foot of the mound. The burial mound was constructed using a minimum of three shells, which could be observed in the trench profile. Turfs were most probably collected locally in a landscape dominated by grass pastures, where no previous turf cutting had taken place. A total of 34 soil samples were collected for paleoecological analyses (pollen, Non-Pollen Polymorphs (NPPs), macrofossils) and geoarchaeological analyses (micromorphology, bulk samples). Preliminary pollen and macrofossil results from the burial mound revealed poor preservation conditions, which prompted a trench extension of 0.5 m by 0.2 m to find better preservation conditions. This extension resulted in the collection of a single final macrofossil sample, although there was no identifiable change in the in-situ preservation conditions. The dating results of the mound have not yet been completed and will be included as appendix 4-6 in 2023

Data associated with \u27Rowney et al. (2023). Historical anthropogenic disturbances explain long-term moorland vegetation dynamics. Ecology and Evolution\u27

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/centre-for-research-in-environment-and-society-ceres/reclaiming-exmoor Dataset Description: Data associated with \u27Rowney et al. (2023). Historical anthropogenic disturbances explain long-term moorland vegetation dynamics. Ecology and Evolution\u27 Citation: Rowney, F. et al. (2023). Data associated with \u27Rowney et al. (2023). Historical anthropogenic disturbances explain long-term moorland vegetation dynamics. Ecology and Evolution\u27. PEARL Research Repository https://doi.org/10.24382/0ps2-6t7