Late Glacial to mid Holocene lacustrine ostracods from southern Anatolia, Turkey:A palaeoenvironmental study with pollen and stable isotopes

This study investigates the ostracod assemblages obtained from a sediment core from a paleolake in the Sağlık plain in south-central Anatolia (Turkey). In addition to ostracods, oxygen and. carbon stable isotopes of ostracod shells were analysed and pollen analysis of the core undertaken. The sediments comprise the Late Glacial and early Holocene interval with an approximate 14C age from 18,000 to 6700 14C years ago, after applying a correction for reservoir effects. Eight podocopid ostracod species were recorded, among them Cyprideis torosa and Candona sp. which were used for stable oxygen and carbon isotope analyses. C. torosa dominated during the Late Glacial while Candona sp. dominated most of the early Holocene assemblages. Both forms of C. torosa disappear abruptly close to the onset of the Holocene. Around this time, ostracod preservation was dominated by many black coloured valves and carapaces. Based on ostracod assemblage data and isotope analyses, relatively wet phases were identified for the Older Dryas, Younger Dryas, and during the mid-Holocene at around 7500 14C years ago. Relatively dry phases were identified during the Allerød interstadial, at the end of YD, and at about 6700 14C years ago. An oligotrophic and brackish lake persisted until shortly before the end of the YD, when, according to the δ 13C values, conditions gradually became more eutrophic. The sudden disappearance of C. torosa at the end of the YD seems the consequence of anoxic bottom water conditions and/or eutrophication. Alternating wet and dry phases characterize the early Holocene, with a longer period of wet and oligotrophic conditions around 7500 14C years ago (ca. 8300 calBP). Ostracod assemblages and isotope records indicate a dry and more productive lake around 6700 14C years ago (ca. 7550 calBP)

The origin and spread of olive cultivation in the Mediterranean Basin:The fossil pollen evidence

Olive (Olea europaea L.) was one of the most important fruit trees in the ancient Mediterranean region and a founder species of horticulture in the Mediterranean Basin. Different views have been expressed regarding the geographical origins and timing of olive cultivation. Since genetic studies and macro-botanical remains point in different directions, we turn to another proxy \u2013 the palynological evidence. This study uses pollen records to shed new light on the history of olive cultivation and large-scale olive management. We employ a fossil pollen dataset composed of high-resolution pollen records obtained across the Mediterranean Basin covering most of the Holocene. Human activity is indicated when Olea pollen percentages rise fairly suddenly, are not accompanied by an increase of other Mediterranean sclerophyllous trees, and when the rise occurs in combination with consistent archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence. Based on these criteria, our results show that the southern Levant served as the locus of primary olive cultivation as early as ~6500 years BP (yBP), and that a later, early/mid 6th millennium BP cultivation process occurred in the Aegean (Crete) \u2013 whether as an independent large-scale management event or as a result of knowledge and/or seedling transfer from the southern Levant. Thus, the early management of olive trees corresponds to the establishment of the Mediterranean village economy and the completion of the \u2018secondary products revolution\u2019, rather than urbanization or state formation. From these two areas of origin, the southern Levant and the Aegean olive cultivation spread across the Mediterranean, with the beginning of olive horticulture in the northern Levant dated to ~4800 yBP. In Anatolia, large-scale olive horticulture was palynologically recorded by ~3200 yBP, in mainland Italy at ~3400 yBP, and in the Iberian Peninsula at mid/late 3rd millennium BP

Pollen-inferred regional vegetation patterns and demographic change in Southern Anatolia through the Holocene

Southern Anatolia is a highly significant area within the Mediterranean, particularly in terms of understanding how agriculture moved into Europe from neighbouring regions. This study uses pollen, palaeoclimate and archaeological evidence to investigate the relationships between demography and vegetation change, and to explore how the development of agriculture varied spatially. Data from 21 fossil pollen records have been transformed into forested, parkland and open vegetation types using cluster analysis. Patterns of change have been explored using non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and through analysis of indicator groups, such as an Anthropogenic Pollen Index, and Simpson’s Diversity. Settlement data, which indicate population densities, and summed radiocarbon dates for archaeological sites have been used as a proxy for demographic change. The pollen and archaeological records confirm that farming can be detected earlier in Anatolia in comparison with many other parts of the Mediterranean. Dynamics of change in grazing indicators and the OJCV (Olea, Juglans, Castanea and Vitis) index for cultivated trees appear to match cycles of population expansion and decline. Vegetation and land use change is also influenced by other factors, such as climate change. Investigating the early impacts of anthropogenic activities (e.g. woodcutting, animal herding, the use of fire and agriculture) is key to understanding how societies have modified the environment since the mid–late Holocene, despite the capacity of ecological systems to absorb recurrent disturbances. The results of this study suggest that shifting human population dynamics played an important role in shaping land cover in central and southern Anatolia

The Constitutional State in the Political Philosophy of Johannes Althusius

Johannes Althusius, Jean Bodin, John Calvin, Franç, ois Hotman, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Calvinism, Constitutional state, Corporative state, Federative state, Natural law, Political economy, Political philosophy, Sovereignty of the people, Private associations, Public associations,

Een terp op de schop : archeologisch onderzoek op het Oldehoofsterkerkhof te Leeuwarden

Met lit. op