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Erlitou (Henan province, China) is a Bronze Age site which occupies a prominent position in the study of early state and civilization of China. 359 charcoal fragments >4 mm and 40 charred fruit stones unearthed during the 2010 and 2011 excavation seasons at Erlitou have been analysed. Wood charcoals belong to 18 taxa: Platycladus, Pinus, Picea, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus persica, Quercus (deciduous oaks), Celtis, Zelkova, Broussonetia, Ziziphus, Salix, Toona, Koelreuteria, Sophora, Melia, Bambusoideae and 2 unidentified broadleaved species. In addition, 39 Prunus persica stones and 1 Ziziphus stone have been identified. The anthracological results indicate that the main types of woodland vegetation were Quercus broadleaved forest, and coniferous and broadleaved forest during the Erlitou Culture period (1750-1520 BC) including Platycladus orientalis coniferous forest and deciduous vegetation composed of oak, Zelkova, Salix, Toona and some fruit trees such as apricot, peach and Chinese date. Our study indicates a vegetation adapted to a warmer and more humid climate in phases 2 and 3 of the Erlitou Culture period (1680-1560 BC) becoming drier in phase 4 (1560-1520 BC). By the late Erligang period (1400-1300 BC) climate becomes again warmer and more humid. It also suggests that oak played an important role as firewood and possibly for wooden artefacts and as a food source. The appearance of charcoals of apricot, peach and Chinese date also suggests that fruits were consumed, while Chinese hackberries could have been used either as food or fodder.

A pollen record (ca. 21,700–8100 cal. yr BP) from swamp deposits reveals a detailed history of vegetation and climate changes in Gwangju area, South Korea. The remarkable abundance of Quercus (Lepidobalanus) and Ulmus/Zelkova from ca. 21,700 to 20,700 cal. yr BP indicates deciduous broadleaved forest development under cool and wet conditions. A strong rise in herbs ( Artemisia and Gramineae) and a remarkable decline in deciduous broadleaved trees between ca. 20,700 and 11,500 cal. yr BP imply vegetation change from closed deciduous broadleaved forest to open woodland with herbaceous understory indicating climate deterioration. After ca. 11,500 cal. yr BP the consistent increase of deciduous broadleaved trees and decrease of xerophytic herbs suggest that the previous open woodland with herbaceous understory was progressively replaced by cool temperate deciduous broadleaved forest with a fern understory in response to climate amelioration during the early Holocene. More humid conditions are also indicated by abundant fern spores and higher pollen concentration.

A new 2.6-m long archaeological sedimentary profile from Kuahuqiao, Zhejiang Province, was examined for pollen-phytolith-charcoal microfossil content. The results bring a new and improved insight into the previously established vegetation sequence, contributing to better understanding the interaction between vegetation, fire and human activity in the early Neolithic Lower Yangtze, discussed in the context of archaeological record and published available data. Three distinctive phases were well represented: the nature-dominated phase (c. 8250–7950 cal. BP), the human-affected phase (c. 7950–7400 cal. BP) and the marine-controlled phase (post-7400 cal. BP), considering vegetation changes, human impact, and environment dynamics. Around 8300 cal. BP, the mixed broadleaved evergreen and deciduous forest, mainly consisting of Quercus , Pinus , Cyclobalanopsis , Liquidambar, and Ulmus/Zelkova , developed at Kuahuqiao. It was initially opened by the early local Neolithic hunters and foragers by means of fire since c.7950 cal. BP, indicated by abundant microfossil charcoal in cultural layers. The disturbed forest in the lowlands progressively retreated and was predominately replaced by a Poaceae-dominated vegetation pattern, suggesting increasingly intensified human interference including rice cultivation since 7760 cal. BP. Quercus and Pinus were the main components among the woods targeted by humans in the local small basin, strongly supported by archaeological records as well. However, the short period of Alnus flourishing reported elsewhere is not documented in the pollen sequence. In addition, the combined pollen and archaeological evidence shows that the well recorded local spread of Typha around 7400 cal. BP could mainly be a natural response to the expansion of water regime in addition to the result of human management of the environment. The increasing water level was presumably induced by the local blocked hydrological ecosystem as a result of its retrogression prompted by rising sea level, before the Kuahuqiao Culture ended in the subsequent marine transgression.

The study of two sedimentary records sampled in the fluvio-lacustrine succession of high Salto river valley (Rieti, central Italy) was originated in the frame of the Geomorphologic Map of Italy ( APAT, 2008 ) field survey and improved with a multidisciplinary approach addressed to a better knowledge of the Plio-Pleistocene continental environments of central Apennines. The two successions are associated to different sedimentary facies, with lateral heteropic relations: the deposits cropping out at Marano de' Marsi are thought to represent deposition in the distal portion of a lacustrine delta, while those of Borgorose took place in a frankly lacustrine environment. The sediment succession from Marano de' Marsi (11 m) was sampled from an outcrop, the one from Borgorose (24.5 m) from a drillhole. Palaeomagnetic investigations carried out on both sediment records indicate a normal magnetic polarity and very low magnetic susceptibility values. In the record from Marano de' Marsi section, gymnosperm pollen is prevailing. Four main and short angiosperm arboreal pollen oscillations can however be observed, the oldest of which more marked. The gymnosperms are mainly represented by Pinus haploxylon type, Pinus sylvestris type, Cedrus , Picea , Abies , Cathaya , Tsuga , Taxodium type. Among angiosperms the dominant taxa , some of which at present extinct in Italy, are Quercus , Zelkova , Ulmus , Carya and Pterocarya . The presence of pollen of subtropical taxa as Nyssa , cfr. Rhoiptelea , Liquidambar , Engelhardia is worth to be mentioned. The investigation was integrated also by a preliminary study of macrofossils. Fossil impressions with some organic matter of angiosperm and gymnosperm leaves and seeds/fruits were ascribed to Acer cfr. monspessulanum , Carpinus cfr. orientalis , Engelhardia , Fagus , Hedera , Liquidambar , Quercus , Rosa , Abies and Pinus . The 24.5 m long sediment core from Borgorose resulted very poor in pollen, with the same list of arboreal taxa, at present extinct in Italy, found at Marano de' Marsi, and a diagram was drawn only for the stretch of the core between 3 and 8.2 m. Gymnosperms ( P. haploxylon type is dominant, and accompanied by P. sylvestris type, Picea , Taxodium type, Cedrus , and Tsuga ) are always prevailing. The results obtained by this interdisciplinary investigation indicate that Marano de' Marsi and Borgorose successions can be possibly attributed to the Upper Pliocene (normal polarity Olduvai subchron) even if an older age, considering the present state of the art on Pliocene continental records, and the peculiarity of the site and of the region, cannot be excluded.

Samples were taken from five outcrops that formed from late Pliocene to early Pleistocene on the main island of Okinawa. The five sites are located in Sonan, Yabu, Oyakawa, Akakimata and Goga. The age of Sonan and Yabu is ca. 1.0–0.8 Ma, that of Oyakawa is ca. 1.5 Ma, that of Akakimata is ca. 1.7 Ma and that of Goga predates ca. 1.9 Ma. Pollen analysis of these sediments revealed the following types occur together: the coniferous trees of Pinus subgen. Haploxylon and Cryptomeria , the deciduous broadleaved trees of Ulmus , Zelkova , Liquidamber and Lagerstroemia , and the evergreen broadleaved trees of Castanopsis and Symplocos . This pollen profile is similar to that of the last interglacial period in the Japanese mainland. The coniferous trees of Abies , Tsuga , Pinus subgen. Haploxylon , Keteleeria and Cryptomeria appear until the late Pliocene. Presently these taxa are not present on the Ryukyu Islands. Abies , Tsuga and Keteleeria pollen disappeared by the end of the Pliocene (1.78 Ma). The climate became cold rapidly and many Tertiary plants disappeared from late Pliocene to early Pleistocene in the Japanese main islands, as well as on the main island of Okinawa. At ca. 1.7 Ma, Lagerstroemia pollen suddenly increased. Tectonic activity was rapid and the other vegetation species could not adapt. Subsequently, ca. 1.5 Ma, Pinus subgen. Haploxylon , Ulmus , Zelkova and Cryptomeria pollen increased. This period is associated with regression and the climate was cool and wet. Pinus subgen. Diploxylon and evergreen broadleaved tree pollen grains increased, ca. 1.0–0.8 Ma, and the climate was warm. Subsequently, the climate became similar to the present climate in the main island of Okinawa. The formation of the modern evergreen broadleaved forest, dominated by Castanopsis sieboldii , dated from ca. 0.8 Ma.

Sediments of Last Glacial and Holocene age from two different locations in the basin of Lago di Pergusa have been palynologically and isotopically investigated. New data have been integrated with those available from previous researches carried out by the authors. This study indicates once more that Lago di Pergusa was and still is very sensitive to climate changes. In particular, during the Last Glacial, it played an important role in preserving the biodiversity as thermophilous and mesophilous taxa never completely disappeared. In particular, Zelkova pollen indicates that the distribution area of this tree (still living as a relic plant in south-eastern Sicily) was wider during the Last Glacial, where its last spread is found around 20,000 years BP. The δ 18 O record, mirroring the arboreal concentration trend, confirms the climate inferences based on vegetation features. Both the Late Glacial and the Postglacial reforestation periods show slower vegetation dynamics and forest development than expected, with trends mirroring the slow and sustained decline of δ 18 O record. The Younger Dryas oscillation is not pronounced in any of the lacustrine palaeoenvironmental proxies, its termination occurring around 11,100 cal. years BP. The opening of the woodland recorded by a slow trend ranging from the Neolithic (around 8000 cal. years BP) to the Eneolithic (few centuries before 4000 cal. years BP) seems to be a natural forest clearance and not due to human impact. Anomalies in pollen, microcharcoals and positive correlations between δ 18 O and AP curves are found after a climate change occurring at 4500 years BP, and interpreted as a signal of human impact. The new δ 18 O data presented in this paper throws new light to propose this hypothesis, confirming an early aridification trend detected from pollen, and a relatively late human impact inferred from fire dynamics in this central and montane region of Sicily.

This study presents vegetation and environmental history of the Subboreal to Subatlantic periods for Cauduntou, located ca. 200 km to the west of the southern Yangtze Delta, Southwest (SW) Jiangsu Province, East China. Relative and absolute pollen analyses and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating were performed. The Subboreal (prior to 2500 BP) vegetation was a well-diversified deciduous forest of Ulmus/Zelkova, Quercus (Lepidobalanus and Cyclobalanopsis), Celtis/Aphananthe, Sapindus, etc. The Subatlantic (following 2500 BP) vegetation was deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved mixed oak (Cyclobalanopsis) forest associated with Lepidobalanus and Liquidambar. No distinct influence of human activities is observed in the earliest Subatlantic palynoflora, showing that the mixed oak forest represents the natural vegetation of the Cauduntou area. Intense deforestation and spread of agriculture are recognised in the mid- to late Subatlantic period. Pollen of Artemisia, Poaceae, Brassicaceae, Tubuliflorae, Polygonum and Fagopyrum increases indicating the onset of rapeseed and buckwheat cultivation. Reduction of total pollen concentration results from increased erosion and sediment supply to the study site, as a consequence of loss of vegetation cover from the surrounding hills.

The summarized pollen records from the crater lakes of Valle di Castiglione, Lagaccione, Lago di Vico and Stracciacappa, in the Lazio region, are presented and correlated with each other. They outline the history of the vegetation during the last glacial period. The local name ‘Lazio Complex’ is used to describe seven main fluctuations of trees during the Pleniglacial. The succession of the main forest and non-forest periods of the last climatic cycle is generally similar to what is known in central and northern Europe, but the floristic composition and the vegetational configurations seem much more complex and sensitive to climatic changes. The history of Zelkova , Abies , Picea , Corylus , Ulmus , Carpinus betulus , Tilia and Fagus in central Italy is outlined.