Anthropogenic changes to the vegetation

Behre, Karl-Ernst; van der Knaap, W.O. (Pim); Lang, Gerhard; Morales-Molino, César; Tinner, Willy (2023). Anthropogenic changes to the vegetation. In: Lang, Gerhard; Ammann, Brigitta; Behre, Karl-Ernst; Tinner, Willy (eds.) Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of Europe (pp. 363-408). Bern: Haupt Verlag

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Archaeobotany and palaeoethnobotany
The strong increase in human activities during the course of the Holocene led to a growing acceleration of their impact on the vegetation, which resulted in the open and completely remodelled landscape of today. Due to the close interrelationship between vegetation and human settlements, archaeological excavations provide important and mostly well-dated plant material especially for the time before written sources. It is primarily macro-remains, such as fruits and seeds but also vegetative particles, particularly wood, that are unearthed. Most of these are carbonized but waterlogged sites with fresh material also exist.
In contrast to pollen, these remains can often be determined to species level and thus they complement the pollen evidence. Taken together they enable the reconstruction of the prehistoric environment of the settlements and the nature of the human interference: clearing, grazing, and the various types of arable farming as well as the impact of mining, salt extraction and glass making on the forests.

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