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Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights Author's personal copy Quaternary Science Reviews 68 (2013) 200e215 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Quaternary Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quascirev Environmental conditions in the SE Balkans since the Last Glacial Maximum and their influence on the spread of agriculture into Europe Simon E. Connor a,b,*, Shawn A. Ross c, Adela Sobotkova c, Andy I.R. Herries d, Scott D. Mooney e, Catherine Longford f, Ilia Iliev g a Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, Campus de Gambelas, University of the Algarve, Faro 8005-139, Portugal b School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia c School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia d Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Archaeology Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, LaTrobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia e School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia f Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET, United Kingdom g Yambol Regional Historical Museum, 2 Byalo More St., Yambol 8600, Bulgaria article info abstract Article history: The Thracian Plain in the SE Balkans was one of the main corridors through which Neolithic agriculture Received 28 May 2012 spread into continental Europe. Previous studies have invoked rapid sea-level and climatic changes to Received in revised form explain the timing of agricultural expansion. We present a new record of vegetation, fire and lacustrine 5 February 2013 sedimentation from Bulgarian Thrace to examine environmental change in this region since the Last Accepted 7 February 2013 Glacial Maximum. Our record indicates the persistence of cold steppe vegetation from w37,500 to Available online 17,900 cal. a BP, semidesert vegetation from w17,900 to 10,300 cal. a BP, forest-steppe vegetation from w10,300 to 8900 cal. a BP, and mixed oak woods from w8900 to 4000 cal. a BP, followed by widespread Keywords: Pollen deforestation, burning and grazing. Early-Holocene forest expansion in Bulgarian Thrace closely followed ’ fl Charcoal changes in the Black Sea s regional moisture balance and appears to have been in uenced by solar-forced Magnetic susceptibility changes in seasonality. We suggest that climatic aridity and/or enhanced seasonality e lasting until at Late Quaternary least w8900 cal. a BP e could have delayed the spread of early agriculture from the Aegean coast into Early agriculture the continental lowlands of the Balkans and thence into the rest of Europe. Neolithic transition Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction climatic event and Black Sea flood, had major impacts on the Neolithic transition (Ryan et al.,1997; Weninger et al., 2006; Turney Climate changes during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene and Brown, 2007; Pross et al., 2009). While the precise timing of the triggered major migrations of species and biomes in temperate arrival of Neolithic agriculture in SE Europe remains contentious, latitudes (Roberts, 1998; McGlone et al., 2012). A potential example there is general agreement that farming reached the Aegean coast of this is the spread of Neolithic farming into Europe, which somewhat earlier than the Balkans’ inland valleys and plains resulted in the transmission of technology, cultural traditions, ge- (Boyadziev, 1995, 2009; Perles, 2004; Turney and Brown, 2007; netic heritage and multiple plant and animal species from Western Reingruber and Thissen, 2009; Pinhasi et al., 2012). Asia. The degree to which environmental change influenced this Geographical factors mean that the Thracian Plain is one of the complex and essentially cultural event remains the topic of a vast probable corridors through which agriculture made its way into the scientific debate (e.g. Weninger et al., 2006; Turney and Brown, rest of Europe (Bocquet-Appel et al., 2009; Özdogan, 2011). The first 2007; Bocquet-Appel et al., 2009; Pross et al., 2009; Haak et al., agricultural settlements in Bulgarian Thrace date to around 2010; Özdogan, 2011; Magyari et al., 2012). It has been argued 8000 cal. a BP (Boyadziev, 1995, 2009). Until now there has been no that rapid environmental changes, such as the 8200 cal. a BP direct palaeoenvironmental evidence from this area to enlighten debate about the causes of the apparent delay in agricultural expansion. Here we present a late-Quaternary pollen, non-pollen paly- nomorph, magnetic susceptibility and charcoal record from a site * Corresponding author. School of Geography and Environmental Science, Mon- ’ ash University, VIC 3800, Australia. Tel.: þ61 3 99054619; fax: þ61 3 99052948. that was formerly Bulgaria s largest inland water body. Our aim is to E-mail address: [email protected] (S.E. Connor). address the following questions: 0277-3791/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.02.011 Author's personal copy S.E. Connor et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 68 (2013) 200e215 201 1. How did the vegetation of the Thracian Plain respond to These studies unanimously assert that the Thracian Plain was climate changes since the Last Glacial Maximum? dominated by oak forests prior to clearing associated with agri- 2. Could the environment have influenced the Neolithic transition culture, but none provide direct palynological evidence that would to agriculture? support such a claim. Oak pollen never exceeds 20% in mid to late 3. Is Neolithic and later human activity registered Holocene pollen records from Sadovo and Straldzha, leading the palaeoecologically? authors of these studies to conclude that the Thracian Plain’s oak forests were destroyed prior to w4000 cal. a BP (Filipovitch and 1.1. Regional setting Stojanova, 1990; Tonkov et al., 2008a, 2009). Chapman et al. (2009) suggest that oak trees grew around the Ezero wetlands The Thracian Plain is a fertile basin wedged between the (Fig. 1) in the early-mid Holocene, but present pollen and macro- e mountain chains of the Balkans and the coastlines of the Aegean, fossil diagrams covering a later period (3200 2200 cal. a BP) and Marmara and Black Seas. Throughout its history, the plain has acted indicating deforested, agricultural landscapes. Only marine sedi- as a cultural conduit between East and West, criss-crossed by trade ments from the Black Sea provide good evidence for the early-mid routes and rich in archaeological remains. It was one of the main Holocene expansion of Quercus; the timing of subsequent defor- routes by which agriculture made its way into Europe from West- estation is unclear, however, with some marine and coastal records ern Asia, and was home to Europe’s earliest metalworking cultures showing an abrupt decline in Quercus around 6000 cal. a BP and (Renfrew, 1978; Bailey, 2000; Bocquet-Appel et al., 2009; Haak others showing no decline at all (Bozilova and Beug, 1994; et al., 2010). Archaeobotanically, six Neolithic sites on the Thra- Atanassova, 2005; Filipova-Marinova et al., 2011, 2012; see also cian Plain and adjacent foothills have been analysed, showing that Shumilovskikh et al., 2012). In the marine cores, moreover, palae- the full range of Near Eastern crops was cultivated here (Marinova, oecological responses to human impact, climatic changes and sea- fi 2006; Leshtakov et al., 2007). level rise can be dif cult to disentangle (Filipova-Marinova et al., In contrast to other parts of Europe, surprisingly little is known 2011; Shumilovskikh et al., 2012). about the environmental context of early agriculture on the Thra- cian Plain. Previous palynological studies of Bulgaria’s past vege- 2. Material and methods tation have focussed on the mountains (e.g. Tonkov et al., 2011; Marinova et al., 2012) or on present-day coastlines (e.g. Filipova, 2.1. Site description 1985; Bozilova and Beug, 1992). Mountain sites were too remote from early farming populations to directly register the arrival of The Straldzha Mire is located in the Karnobat Lowlands at the agriculture and pastoralism in the region, while the coastal sites foot of the Stara Planina Mountains (Fig. 2). These lowlands are part began to form as sea-levels rose 8000e6000 years ago, usually of the pre-Balkan sunkland that extends westward to the Bulgarian missing the early-Holocene advent of agriculture altogether. The capital, Sofia(Georgiev, 1991). The mire occupies a large, shallow lowlands, where most of the Neolithic settlements were situated, depression underlain by Pleistocene silts and gravels and is sur- lack detailed palaeoenvironmental records (Marinova and rounded by low hills of Upper Cretaceous limestones, marls and Thiebault, 2008; Marinova et al., 2012). The few pollen data that volcanic deposits (Stoyneva and Michev, 2007; Tonkov et al., exist from Bulgaria’s Thracian Plain miss the early Holocene alto- 2008a). The mire formerly covered an area of around 14,000 ha gether (Filipovitch and Stojanova, 1990; Magyari et al., 2008; (Bonchev, 1929), making it the largest freshwater wetland basin in Tonkov et al., 2008a, 2009). Bulgaria. 22º 24º 26º 28º BUCHAREST 44º ROMANIA Danube R. 11 EUROPE 8 BULGARIA Straldzha 4 SOFIA BLACK 5 Mire SEA 1 LEGEND 3 10 9 Upper Thrace 42º Maritsa 14 Straldzha Mire Struma 6 7 Other pollen sites 2 12 Capital cities Eastern ISTANBUL Rivers and lakes 13 Western Thrace Thrace MARMARA 100m isobath GREECE SEA 0 - 200 m a.s.l.