Pollen Diagrams from Wolin Island (Nw Poland)
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Acta Palaeobot. 32 (1 ): 123-249, 1992 MAN AND VEGETATION IN THE POLLEN DIAGRAMS FROM WOLIN ISLAND (NW POLAND) Czlowiek i szata ro§linna w diagramach pylkowych z wyspy Wolin (Polska p6lnocno-zachodnia) MALGORZATA LATALOWA Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Protection, University of Gdansk, Aleja Legion6w 9, 80-441 Gdansk ABSTRACT. Pollen, charcoal and ash content data complemented by 26 14C dates from three small (4-5 ha) basins on Wolin Island (NW Poland) enabled a detailed chronological reconstruction of hu man impact on vegetation during the last 8000 years. Locally, woodland was already actively changed in the Mesolithic. Animal husbandry and cereal cultivation were probably initiated by the people rep resenting the Erteb~lle culture. The first Ulmus decline is radiocarbon dated in two profiles at ca. 5800 BP and seems to be caused mainly by human activity. In the Neolithic and Bronze Age coppicing changed the forest structure; animal husbandry was the main form of farming at that time. Cultivation incre ased in importance in the Lusatian culture and in the Iron Age, but the considerable extension of arable land did not take place until the early Middle Ages. On the poor sandy soils Calluna heath developed in the Neolithic due to intensive burning and grazing in the Pinus-Quercus-Betula forest. Several palaeohydrological events are analysed with respect to anthropogenic forest disturbances, climatic changes and fluctuations in the level of the Baltic Sea. KEY WORDS: pollen analysis, anthropogenic indicators, Wolin Island (NW Poland), vegetational history, prehistoric agriculture, Cal/una heath, palaeohydrology CONTENTS Introduction 125 Present-day natural environment . 127 Location and geomorphology . 127 Climate . 129 Water regime . 129 Soils . 129 Vegetation . 130 Archaeology . 131 Methods.......... 133 Sampling, laboratory work and 14C dating . 133 Pollen diagrams 134 124 Anthropogenic indicators . 135 General comments . 135 List of taxa . 140 Notes on the determination and occurrence of selected taxa . 141 The background to the palaeoecological interpretations . 145 Kokzewo................................................................... 145 The site . 145 Peat stratigraphy . 146 The peat accumulation rate and the reliability of the palynological and chronological data.................................................................... 147 Local pollen assemblage zones . 148 Charcoal particle and ash content . 150 Anthropogenic phases . 152 Lake Racze . 155 The site . 155 Sediment description . 155 The sedimentation rate and the reliability of the palynological and chronological data . 156 Local pollen assemblage zones . 157 Charcoal particle and ash content . 158 Anthropogenic phases . 159 Wolin II . 162 The site . 162 Peat stratigraphy . 163 The peat accumulation rate and the reliability of the palynological and chronological data.................................................................... 164 Local pollen assemblage zones . 165 Charcoal particle content . 166 Anthropogenic phases . 166 Vegetation history with special reference to anthropogenic changes . 169 Correlation of the local pollen assemblage zones and the anthropogenic phases . 169 Vegetation changes in the morainic landscape . 171 Quercus-Ulmus-Tiiia-Betula local paz, > 8000• - ?5820±130 (5500*) BP (Kokzewo and Lake Racze) . 171 Quercus-Corylus-Tilia-Ulmus-Fraxinus local paz, ?5820±130 (5500*) - 2860±110 BP (Kolczewo and Lake Racze) . 173 Pinus-Fagus-Gramineae local paz, 2860±110 - 2200* BP (Kokzewo) . 177 Fagus-Pinus-Carpinus local paz, 2200 - 1000* BP (Kolczewo) & Fagus-Alnus-Car- pinus local paz, 2470±100- 1000* BP (Lake Racze). 179 Pinus-Gramineae-Cerealia-Juniperus local paz, 1000*- 0 BP (Kolczewo and Lake Racze). 181 Vegetation changes in the sandy area of southeastern Wolin . 182 Alnus-Pinus-Betula local paz, 7320±520 - 6340±110 BP . 182 Pinus-Quercus-Betula-Pteridium local paz, 6340±110 - 4130±60 (4300*) BP . 182 Corylus-Quercus-Tilia-Calluna local paz, 4130±60 (4300•) - 2300• BP . 184 125 Pinus-Fagus-Calluna local paz, 2300• - ?1520±90 BP . 186 Pinus-Gramineae-Cerealia-Juniperus paz, ?1520±90 (980±60) - 0 BP . 186 Discussion and conclusions . 188 Vegetation changes on Wolin Island as a result of forest management in different ecologi- cal conditions . 188 Changes in the intensity of human impact; a comparison of pollen and archaeological data........................................................................ 194 General remarks . 194 The Mesolithic . 199 The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition . 199 The Neolithic . 200 The Bronze Age . 201 The Iron Age . 202 Final comments . 204 Prehistoric economy as reflected in pollen diagrams . 205 Forest changes in the Mesolithic . 205 The Ulmus decline . 207 Coppice woods in the early agricultural landscape . 209 Animal husbandry and cultivation . 210 Plantago lanceolata as an anthropogenic indicator in the light of palynological data from Wolin Island . 215 The history of selected plant communities . ..