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This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary research initiative examining human responses to environmental change at the intersection of the southern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea and the foothills of the Alborz Mountains during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our palaeo-environmental analysis of two sedimentary cores obtained from a lagoon in close proximity to four caves, occupied by human groups during the transition from hunting and gathering to food-producing ways of life in this region, confirms Charles McBurney's 1968 hypothesis that when Caspian Sea levels were high, Mesolithic hunters were reliant on seal and deer, but as water levels receded and a wide coastal plain emerged, hunters consumed a different range of herbivorous mammalian species. Palynological evidence obtained from these two cores also demonstrates that the cool and dry climatic conditions often associated with the Younger Dryas stadial do not appear to have been extreme in this region. Thus, increasingly sedentary hunting and gathering groups could have drawn on plant and animal resources from multiple ecological niches without suffering significant resource stress or reduced population levels that may have been encountered in neighbouring regions. Our analyses of botanical, faunal and archaeological remains from a recently-discovered open-air Mesolithic and aceramic Neolithic site also shows an early process of Neolithization in the southern Caspian basin, which was a very gradual, low-cost adaptation to new ways of life, with neither the abandonment of hunting and gathering, nor a climatic trigger event for the emergence of a low-level, food-producing society. • Southern coastal plain of Caspian Sea at foothills of Alborz Mountains. • Multidisciplinary analyses of two lagoonal cores and five archaeological sites. • Mesolithic and Neolithic period diets linked to changes in Caspian Sea levels. • Palynology shows benign Younger Dryas with diverse ecological niches. • Multiple lines of evidence for long-enduring process of Neolithization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying arboriculture and agroforestry in Polynesian Societies has usually relied heavily upon the ethnographic record in the absence of direct archaeological evidence. In this paper we outline a multi-proxy research design, including ethnography, palynology, anthracology, archaeology and a high precision chronology to evaluate arboriculture and agroforestry as components of Moriori subsistence practices before the arrival of Europeans in 1791. The colonisers of Rekohu brought with them a mainland New Zealand endemic tree, Corynocarpus laevigatus, and the technology to propagate the tree in a less than ideal climate and to process its drupe into a storable source of carbohydrate in what was a difficult environment for Polynesian cultivation practices. We also present a conceptual model of forest change due to Moriori fuel selection practices which suggests that Moriori were actively managing these forest spaces for food, fuel, medicine, construction material and as a habitation space, therefore making agroforestry an important component of Moriori subsistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elucidates the nature of human–environment interactions in a mountainous landscape (the southern zone of the Ecrins, French Alps) from the Mesolithic through to the Post-Medieval Period. We present an integrated programme of palynology, pedo- and archaeo-anthracology, and archaeology. These data permit the development of a historical ecology that allows us to differentiate between climatic and anthropogenic influences on vegetation, and the development of anthropogenic landscapes in an Alpine region. This study is of profound relevance for the broader understanding of human–environment interactions in ecologically sensitive environments both within the Alpine arc, but also beyond this region. We identify and explain evidence for possible human landscape management practices in a high altitude landscape. Palynology defines the broad floral context and evolution of the environment through the Holocene. Palynology also permits an assessment of human activities and practices (arable agriculture, pastoralism and haymaking). The combination of these data with anthracological and archaeological evidence permits a nuanced assessment of human interaction with the landscape. We consider phases of anthropological–ecological succession across the range of altitudes, from valley-bottom to the alpine zones in the Ecrins National Park. Four important stages of landscape use and change have been inferred from our evidence: the Mesolithic, the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman, and (Post)Medieval. During the Mesolithic ( c. 8000–4500 BC), a major event is the expansion of fir in the montane stage. At higher altitudes, people exploit the ecotone, defined by the forest edge (or tree-line): an ideal zone for hunting. The Neolithic sees low-altitude clearances, but a continuation of hunting and low levels of human impact on high-altitude vegetation. The Chalcolithic/Bronze Age (2400–1000 BC) sees complex interplay of climatic changes, and the appearance of direct human intervention in the high altitude landscape as part of a new transhumant system. Although the Roman Period is characterised by phases of climatic amelioration after the deterioration of the Iron Age, the increase in human activity that is usually seen in low-lying areas is not reflected in the sub-alpine and alpine altitudes. The Medieval Period, including the Little Ice Age, witnesses a steady increase in human use of these landscapes, with forest manipulation and clearance becoming the defining characteristics of these areas. Despite the supposed inclement nature of the Little Ice Age, human activity achieves its zenith, and the combination people and climate produces the most open and managed landscape of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates changes in the vegetation and hydrology at Ljubljansko barje (Slovenia) using a multi-proxy approach (pollen, diatoms, geochemical and stable isotope analysis). During the Lateglacial Ljubljansko barje was a deep, oligotrophic lake surrounded by open woodland comprised predominantly of Pinus and Betula which in the early Holocene, when the lake became shallower and mesotrophic (Fragilaria pinnata, δ 15N~3.3‰, δ 13C~−33.7‰, C/N~7.9), was replaced by broadleaved tree taxa (Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus, Corylus) and Picea. This was followed by the spread of Fagus and after ~9200 cal yr BP Abies and planktonic and oligotrophic diatom taxa (Aulacoseira italica, Gomphonema angustum) as well as an increased allochthonous influx (silt, SiO2, Al2O3). Between ca. 6750 and 6000 cal yr BP the diatom data suggest shallower and oligotrophic conditions, whereas the stable isotope record (increased δ 13C and decreased δ 15N) indicates terrestrial input. Changes in forest composition (increase of Quercus, Alnus, Corylus) and the spread of herb taxa were probably advanced by human impact on the environment. The beginning of organic sedimentation, dated to 6000 cal yr BP, was followed by an increase of Fagus and Abies and by eutrophication and peat growth at ~5200 cal yr BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores some of the new perspectives resulting from re-examination of the pollen data from my 1978 comprehensive analysis of 100 coprolites from one of the earliest identified prehistoric latrines in North America. Of particular interest are the empirical results of previously unavailable pollen concentration calculations for some of the prehistoric specimens as well as a time-series of 82 modern fecal specimens produced during an experiment yielding data on the rate of elimination of specific pollen grains from the human system. Experimental data of all sorts are needed to extend coprolite analyses and interpretations, particularly from pollen-ingestion studies conducted with more volunteers over long periods of time. Parasitological studies of human coprolites will benefit from experimental data to determine the fate of the constituents of human feces ingested by dogs. The application of specialized techniques at the microscope, such as Intensive Systematic Microscopy ([Dean, G., 1998. Finding a needle in a palynological haystack. In: Bryant, V.M., Wrenn, J.H. (Eds.), New Developments in Palynomorph Sampling, Extraction, and Analysis. Am. Assoc. of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation., Contribs Series No. 33, pp. 53–59]), to locate and quantify rare pollen types needs to be explored. Easy and useful ways to express the abundance of macroremains in a coprolite are also needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recognition of the contribution of Marlies Teichmüller to archaeology, this paper highlights some of the work carried out by Marlies and others in this field during the past half century using the methods of organic petrology and palynology. The account is preceded by a brief historical review of the methods of investigation. The value of this work for archaeology lies in the ability to identify the true nature of the artefacts sculpted from coaly material by the Bronze Age craftsmen and their descendants. The provenance of coals used for jewellery and as fuel by the Romans and in medieval and recent times from a variety of archaeological contexts provides evidence of patterns of usage and trading routes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]