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This paper deals with an attempt to understand the meaning of a unique, small and isolated La Tène mountain site, discovered by chance in the forested part of the Šumava National Park, Šumava Mts., Czech Republic, using available archaeological and environmental methods. The activities of a person/small group of people took place repeatedly in an area ca. 20 × 20 m on a small platform above a distinct river meander between ca. 300 and 90 BC. Radiocarbon dating of lipids from the pottery fragment supports its typological dating, and it is in accordance with 14C data from plant macro-remains. Some 500 pottery fragments, charcoal, plant macro-remains, soil chemistry and vegetation changes observable in an adjacent pollen profile provide evidence of unspecifiable human activity which caused a small-scale clearance of the closed canopy forest. The 'pottery' phase of the site was preceded by around 100 years of activity which left only traces of fire and the preparation of cereals and pulses for cooking. Lipid residue analysis of pottery vessels revealed the processing of animal carcass products, mostly ruminants. The detection of heating biomarkers confirmed that some of the original pots were heated at temperatures above 300 °C. Considering the nature of the site, the cooked or roasted meat probably reached the site already potted. The idea of food being brought in was supported by the finding of a vessel containing plant lipids derived from either olive or hazelnut oil. The analysis of all known data shows that this secluded site was not an ordinary settlement, or a hunting or prospector's camp, but must have had some other meaning, such as a road-worker camp on a long distance trade route, a guardhouse, or perhaps a hermitage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities have shaped the environment since long before the advent of agriculture and resulted in anthropogenic landscapes, which are sometimes perceived as natural, but are clearly shaped by dozens of previous generations. This study is the first to apply ecological niche modelling on a long time-series of archaeological data to illuminate the development of the landscape from the perspective of settlement behaviour and its dependence on environmental conditions. Using a large dataset of evidence of prehistoric settlement activities covering the area of the Czech Republic and spanning 6600 years from the beginning of agricultural prehistory, we analyse to what degree settlement was related to environmental parameters. We quantified the strength of this relation in terms of the predictive power of ecological niche models generated with the MaxEnt method. We observed a significant variability of settlement behaviour over time, but also landscape occupation, which has retained similar general characteristics to now. This shows that settlement strategies were remarkably stable and the presence of previous settlement was beneficial for subsequent land-use. Comparison of prehistoric settlement with contemporary landscape typology also points to a long-term legacy pre-dating historical periods, which makes the landscape our largest and most important heritage monument. • First ecological niche modelling on a long time-series of archaeological data. • Settlement behaviour changes over 6600 years covering 78,871 sq km. • Stability and continuity of settlement throughout the agricultural prehistory. • Origins of contemporary landscape traced back to the advent of farming economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the long-term role and drivers of fire in the central European temperate spruce-beech forests from Prášilské jezero, Czech Republic. The results illustrate the complex relationship between broad-scale climate, vegetation composition, and local human activities on fire throughout the Holocene. Biomass burning was the highest (average 3 fires/1000 years) and most severe during the early Holocene when fire resistant taxa ( Pinus , Corylus and Betula ) dominated. Using a Generalized Additive Model to assess the response of dominant canopy taxa to changes in biomass burning and fire severity, response curves demonstrate a positive relationship ( p  < 0.01) between fire resistant taxa and increases in biomass burning. Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) established ∼10,000 cal yr BP and expanded during peak biomass burning. Response curves show a slight negative relationship with Picea and increasing biomass burning, and a positive relationship with increasing fire severity. This suggests that central European spruce forests may not be significantly impacted by fire. Regional biomass burning dramatically decreased with the expansion of fire sensitive taxa (e.g. Fagus sylvatica ) ∼6500 cal yr BP, yet no dramatic reduction in local fire frequency occurred. This suggests either human activities or rare fire-promoting climatic events were important in shaping local fire regimes. Fire activity peaked (6 fires/1000 years) ∼2500 cal yr BP and paralleled increases in anthropogenic pollen indicators. Fagus response curves illustrates a negative ( p  < 0.01) relationship with increasing biomass burning and fire severity suggesting that natural Fagus forests may be increasingly vulnerable to projected increases in wildfire occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental conditions of the evolution of chernozems in Central Europe have not been satisfactory explained. In this paper, seven buried chernozems were investigated using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in order to get information about the former vegetation cover. Near-infrared (NIR) data were collected from organic matter of recent natural grasslands and forests. The spectra from these two groups of soils were perfectly discriminated by a multivariate statistical analysis. The statistical model was applied on the buried soils. There are four types of vegetation development within the chernozems before the burial. Comparison to other paleoenvironmental proxies shows no major contradiction and confirms the potential of the NIRS as a paleopedological proxy. The identified changes of vegetation are from grassland vegetation to forest vegetation and vice versa. These changes bring new data to the discussion about the pedogenesis of chernozems. According to the radiocarbon dating, buried soils developed and were preserved not only in the Preboreal and the Boreal, but also in later phases of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]