Suchergebnisse

The authors acknowledge the following funding sources: Max Planck Independent Research Group, Palaeo-Science and History Group (A.I., A.M. and C.V.); Estonian Research Council #PRG323, PUT1173 (A.Pos., T.R., N.S. and S.V.); European Research Council #FP7 263735 (A.Bro. and A.Plu.), #MSC 655659 (A.E.); Georgetown Environmental Initiative (T.N.); Latvian Council of Science #LZP-2020/2-0060 (N.S. and N.J.); LLNL-JRNL-820941 (I.T.); NSF award #GSS-1228126 (S.M.); Polish-Swiss Research Programme #013/2010 CLIMPEAT (M.Lam.), #086/2010 CLIMPOL (A.W.); Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education #N N306 275635 (M.K.); Polish National Science Centre #2019/03/X/ST10/00849 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/01656 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/03430 (M.So.), #2018/31/B/ST10/02498 (M.So.), #N N304 319636 (A.W.); SCIEX #12.286 (K.Mar.); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness #REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (J.A.L.S.); Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports #FPU16/00676 (R.L.L.); Swedish Research Council #421-2010-1570 (P.L.), #2018-01272 (F.C.L. and A.S.); Volkswagen Foundation Freigeist Fellowship Dantean Anomaly (M.B.), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation #RTI2018-101714-B-I00 (F.A.S. and D.A.S.), OP RDE, MEYS project #CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728 (P.P.). ; The Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, 'big data palaeoecology', which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death's mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death's mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics. ; Max Planck Independent Research Group ; Palaeo-Science and History Group ; Estonian Research Council PRG323 PUT1173 ; European Research Council (ERC) European Commission FP7 263735 MSC 655659 ; Georgetown Environmental Initiative ; Latvian Ministry of Education and Science LZP-2020/2-0060 LLNL-JRNL-820941 ; National Science Foundation (NSF) GSS-1228126 ; Polish-Swiss Research Programme 013/2010 086/2010 ; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland N306 275635 ; Polish National Science Centre 2019/03/X/ST10/00849 2015/17/B/ST10/01656 2015/17/B/ST10/03430 2018/31/B/ST10/02498 N N304 319636 ; SCIEX 12.286 ; Spanish Government REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P FPU16/00676 ; Swedish Research Council ; European Commission 421-2010-1570 2018-01272 ; Volkswagen Foundation Freigeist Fellowship Dantean Anomaly ; Spanish Government RTI2018-101714-B-I00 ; OP RDE, MEYS project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728

This work presents the palinological analysis undertaken at Castro Ventosa's Roman deposit (El Bierzo, León). Reading the pollen diagram makes it possible to perceive the different stages of occupation of the site in Roman times and possibly also medieval. The change in the paleo-economic bases related to the cultivation of cereals and chestnut trees between the two periods and the impact of pastoral pressure are discussed. This work has been carried out within the framework of the Joint Research Programme in Technologies for the valuation and conservation of cultural heritage — TCP-CSD2007-00058, and has also been funded by the CSIC Intramural Border Project 'Cultural and natural landscapes of the Bierzo: Geoarqueology, Paleoambio and Paleobiology (BierzoRVN)' (PIF 06-055) and under the cooperation agreement between the Government of Castile-Leon and the CSIC on ancient mining areas of Castile-Leon (CyLIA-24.044.0006.07). ; Peer reviewed ; This work presents the palinological analysis undertaken at Castro Ventosa's Roman deposit (El Bierzo, León). Reading the pollen diagram makes it possible to perceive the different stages of occupation of the site in Roman times and possibly also medieval. The change in the paleo-economic bases related to the cultivation of cereals and chestnut trees between the two periods and the impact of pastoral pressure are discussed. This work has been carried out within the framework of the Joint Research Programme in Technologies for the valuation and conservation of cultural heritage — TCP-CSD2007-00058, and has also been funded by the CSIC Intramural Border Project 'Cultural and natural landscapes of the Bierzo: Geoarqueology, Paleoambio and Paleobiology (BierzoRVN)' (PIF 06-055) and under the cooperation agreement between the Government of Castile-Leon and the CSIC on ancient mining areas of Castile-Leon (CyLIA-24.044.0006.07). ; Este trabajo presenta el análisis palinológico emprendido en el yacimiento romano de Castro Ventosa (El Bierzo, León). La lectura del diagrama polínico ...

Funding: This study was supported by Spanish government: State R&D Program Oriented to the Challenges of the Society, Project references RTI2018-101714-B-I00 and CS02017-83576-P; FEDER/ Andalusian Government - Ministry of Economy and Knowledge / Project reference B-RNM-404-UGR18; and Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation, PAIDI 2020, Project reference P18-RT-4963 ; Human impact on western Mediterranean mountains is gaining more attention, as they harbour a rich plant diversity threatened by global change. This paper presents an analysis of two pollen records from both sides of Sierra Nevada, the prime plant-diversity centre of the Mediterranean, spanning the last 5400 years. The analysis sought to answer the following key questions: When did natural systems transform to cultural landscapes? What was the intensity and extent of alterations driven by the diverse civilizations? A compilation of archaeological and paleaeoclimatic data supported this analysis, as well as a multi-proxy palaeoecological study using pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs and microcharcoal, searching for the imprint that diverse societies left on these mountains. Results suggest that human influences started earlier than expected, with a strong impact on forest cover, oriented more towards crops on the southern face and towards livestock on the northern one, whereas mining and metallurgy were initial key drivers of population dynamics. Irrigation has supported farming since at least the Islamic period. More recent anthropogenic control and land-use management have allowed a further spread of the tree cover. Proper conservation strategies need long-term perspectives, including palaeoecological studies. The preservation of traditional human activities like grazing, high-elevation cropping or irrigation systems become essential to maintain current biodiversity. ; DEpartamento de Botánica. Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de Granada

[EN] Salt exploitation in the Villafáfila lagoon complex (Tierra de Campos, Zamora) is one of the most important events since Prehistory in the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula. Salt production is documented from the Bell Beaker (ca. 2450 cal BC). In 2013, a core drilling was performed in the salty swamp of the Laguna de las Salinas. The analysis of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs of this record suggests the origin of the lagoon eight thousand years ago linked to the 8,2 ky cal BP climatic event, a very anthropized environment from the beginning of the Chalcolithic period ca. 3300 cal BC and the subsequent exploitation of salt, the gradual and definitive degradation of the holm oak forest from the Bronze Age onwards, and, in general, a wide climatic variability, with alternate humid and arid phases throughout the palaeoenvironmental sequence ; [ES] La explotación de la sal en el complejo lagunar de Villafáfila (Tierra de Campos, Zamora) es uno de los eventos más importantes de la meseta norte de la península ibérica desde la Prehistoria. La producción de sal se documenta a partir del periodo Campaniforme (ca. 2450 cal BC). En 2013, se efectuó un sondeo mecánico en los pastizales húmedos anexos a la Laguna de las Salinas. El análisis de polen y microfósiles no polínicos de este registro sugiere el origen de la laguna hace al menos ocho mil años vinculado al evento climático 8,2 ka cal BP, un ambiente muy antropizado desde los inicios del Calcolítico ca. 3300 cal BC y la posterior explotación de la sal, la degradación paulatina y definitiva del bosque de encinas a partir de la Edad del Bronce, y, en general, una amplia variabilidad climática alternando fases húmedas y áridas a lo largo de toda la secuencia paleoambiental. Los autores agradecen al organismo gestor de la Reserva Natural Lagunas de Villafáfila, dependiente de la Fundación Patrimonio Natural de la Junta de Castilla y León, las facilidades ofrecidas para el desarrollo de este trabajo. Éste ha sido financiado por una ayuda de investigación ...

Persistence of relict tree species in Mediterranean environments is becoming increasingly unlikely in view of ongoing and future global change. The variability in the Holocene climate and more recent anthropogenic impacts have driven many populations to fragmentation and isolation, and even to extinction. However, some have persisted to the present day. The understanding of their evolution requires long-term studies, in which pollen analysis is a key approach both for formulating hypotheses and supporting results from other disciplines. Mountain ranges have played and still play an essential role as both glacial and interglacial refugia during the Quaternary. The Spanish Central System harbors an exceptional diversity due to its geographical location and complex topography. Some cold-adapted species have survived here with significant proportions of their southernmost populations, often displaying striking adaptations to their changing environments. This work contains a comprehensive review of the palynological investigations conducted in the Spanish Central System, and reveals the distribution of genera such as Taxus, Betula, Fagus, Carpinus and Tilia throughout the Holocene. We also highlight the scarcity of well-dated and high-resolution works, which may contribute to a better understanding of their recent and future evolution. ; This paper is part of the research carried our within the project "Dinámicas socio-ecológicas, resiliencia y vulnerabilidad en un paisaje de montaña: el Sistema Central (9000 cal. BC-1850 cal. AD) " (R&D National Plan of the Spanish Government, HAR2013-43701-P).