From Mesolithic hunters to Iron Age herders: a unique record of woodland use from eastern central Europe (Czech Republic)

In a continuous, perfectly stratified sedimentary sequence which was discovered under a large sandstone overhang in northern Bohemia, Czech Republic, we analysed multiple biological remains, archaeological features and artefacts. This multi-proxy record has allowed us to examine the interactions bet...

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Published inVegetation history and archaeobotany Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 269 - 286
Main Authors Ptáková, Michaela, Pokorný, Petr, Šída, Petr, Novák, Jan, Horáček, Ivan, Juřičková, Lucie, Meduna, Petr, Bezděk, Aleš, Myšková, Eva, Walls, Matthew, Poschlod, Peter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2021
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Anthropology
Archaeology
Bedding
Biogeosciences
Climate Change
Dung
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecological function
Holocene
Iron Age
Livestock
Middle Ages
Original Article
Paleontology
Sandstone
Sheep
Stone Age
Woodlands
Central Europe
Czech Republic
Dung
Holocene
Stratified site
Rock shelter
Environmental archaeology
Wood pasture
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Summary:In a continuous, perfectly stratified sedimentary sequence which was discovered under a large sandstone overhang in northern Bohemia, Czech Republic, we analysed multiple biological remains, archaeological features and artefacts. This multi-proxy record has allowed us to examine the interactions between woodland and humans in a permanently wooded environment throughout almost the entire Holocene. We paid most attention to massive finds of dung pellets from sheep, goats or pigs and bedding layers which show that the site was used as a pen and shelter for livestock which grazed in the woods. Our results imply that such practices have occurred since the Neolithic, but the most robust evidence of these is for the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. Detailed analyses of the dung indicate woodland grazing and foddering with branches, acorns, beechnuts and crop processing remains. In addition, the wide palaeoenvironmental range of this detailed investigation provides evidence of the impact of wood pasturing on ecological functions, taxon composition and diversity of the local woodland ecosystem in the Holocene.
ISSN:0939-6314
1617-6278
DOI:10.1007/s00334-020-00784-0