Climatic change and contemporaneous land-use phases north and south of the Alps 2300 BC to 800 AD ...

• Main Authors: Lotter, André F., Tinner, Willy, Ammann, Brigitta, Wehrli, Michael, Conedera, Marco, Van Leeuwen, Jacqueline, Hubschmid, Priska
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2003
• Subjects: 580 Plants Botany; Greenland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.73362; http://boris.unibe.ch/73362/

Fluctuations in the Δ14C curve and subsequent gaps of archaeological findings at 800–650 and 400–100 BC in western and central Europe may indicate major climate-driven land-abandonment phases. To address this hypothesis radiocarbon-dated sediments from four lakes in Switzerland were studied palynologically. Pollen analysis indicates contemporaneous phases of forest clearances and of intensified land-use at 1450–1250 BC, 650–450 BC, 50 BC–100 AD and around 700 AD. These land-use expansions coincided with periods of warm climate as recorded by the Alpine dendroclimatic and Greenland oxygen isotope records. Our results suggest that harvest yields would have increased synchronously over wide areas of central and southern Europe during periods of warm and dry climate. Combined interpretation of palaeoecological and archaeological findings suggests that higher food production led to increased human populations. Positive long-term trends in pollen values of Cerealia and Plantago lanceolata indicate that technical ...