Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh

Dendroecological investigations at Venner Moor (northwest Germany) document climate-driven woodland dynamics and mire development in the period 2450—2050 BC:

Excellently preserved subfossil pine and oak tree remains from the bottom layer of raised bog peat were dendroecologically investigated at Venner Moor (northwest Germany). Tree-ring analyses were combined with observations of stem and root morphology, preservation state, mineral soil relief, peat stratigraphy and pollen analysis to reconstruct in great detail environmental changes leading to the start of the raised bog formation. Hydrology was identified as the main determinant influencing tree growth and population dynamics at Venner Moor, as documented by different growth patterns and dying-off dates in relation to the mineral soil elevation. The woodland phase has been dendrochronological dated to the period from 2421—2077 BC (4371—4027 cal BP). In this period, a general change from more or less open landscape with dominating heath to wet pine forest and eventually to open raised bog occurred at the site. Comparisons with pine population dynamics at the nearby Voerdener Moor and with the independent Lower Saxony Bog Oak Chronology (LSBOC) indicate that the reconstructed ecological changes at Venner Moor are mainly triggered by climate variations, in particular wet shifts on the decadal timescale. This example shows the value of subfossil pine layers from northwest German bogs as a high resolution proxy archive of Holocene humidity fluctuations.

Olive cultivation in the heart of the Persian Achaemenid Empire: new insights into agricultural practices and environmental changes reflected in a late Holocene pollen record from Lake Parishan, SW Iran

Ancient Persia witnessed one of its most prosperous cultural and socio-economic periods between 550 bc and ad 651, with the successive domination of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian Empires. During this period agricultural activities increased on the Iranian plateau, as demonstrated by a remarkable arboricultural expansion. However, available data are not very informative about the spatial organization of agricultural practices. The possible links between climate conditions and agricultural activities during this millennium of continuous imperial domination are also unclear, due to the lack of parallel human-independent palaeoclimatic proxies. This study presents a new late Holocene pollen-based vegetation record from Lake Parishan, SW Iran. This record provides invaluable information regarding anthropogenic activities before, during and after the empires and sheds light on (i) spatial patterning in agricultural activities and (ii) possible climate impacts on agro-sylvo-pastoral practices during this period. Results of this study indicate that arboriculture was the most prominent form of agricultural activity in SW Iran especially during the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian periods. Contrary to the information provided by some Greco-Roman written sources, the record from Lake Parishan shows that olive cultivation was practiced during Achaemenid and Seleucid times, when olive cultivation was significant, at least in this basin located close to the capital area of the Achaemenid Empire. In addition, pollen from aquatic vegetation suggests that the period of the latter centuries of the first millennium bc was characterized by a higher lake level, which might have favoured cultural and socio-economic prosperity.

Landscape evolution and agro-sylvo-pastoral activities on the Gorgan Plain (NE Iran) in the last 6000 years

The Gorgan Plain (NE Iran) is characterized by fertile soils formed on a loess plateau and is at present primarily exploited for intensive agriculture. However, the timing and intensity of the human impact on the landscape in the past are still unclear. A sediment core, taken from the centre of the eastern Gorgan Plain in the Kongor Lake covering the major part of the Holocene from 6.1 to 0.8 ka (all ages are calibrated before present), has been studied for pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, botanical macroremains, insects, charcoal, geochemistry, biomarkers and magnetism in order to provide new insights into the evolution of the landscape and to estimate the intensity of human activities. The data obtained suggest a dry period between 5.9 and 3.9 ka and an increase in regional humidity afterwards with a maximum between 2.7 and 0.7 ka, during the period of the Persian empires (Achaemenid through Sasanian) and the Islamic era. The eastern part of the Gorgan Plain was characterized by open steppe landscapes during the last 6 ka, which most likely were used for pasture and at least since 2.7 ka for agriculture including arboriculture. The strongest anthropogenic impact on the environment around the Kongor site is documented during the Parthian and Sasanian Empires (200 BC–651 AD) and the Islamic era up to the eve of the Mongol invasion.

Environmental and Climate Dynamics During the Last Two Glacial Terminations and Interglacials in the Black Sea/Northern Anatolian Region

This study provides the first detailed multi-proxy paleoenvironmental reconstructions of changes in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems during the Holocene, Eemian and the last two glacial/interglacial transitions (Terminations I and II) by studying sediment cores from the southeastern Black Sea and stalagmite studies from Sofular Cave in northwestern Anatolia. The terrestrial proxies document gradual changes from late glacial cold/arid conditions in northern Anatolia, dominated by steppe vegetation, to warm/humid forest dominated landscapes characteristic for interglacial periods. The Holocene and Eemian, however, developed differently, with warmer and moister conditions prevailing during the Eemian. Major fluctuations in the hydrological state of the Black Sea are closely linked to changes of terrestrial environments. Disrupted by large melt water pulses from the disintegrating Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, the limnic glacial Black Sea environment becomes more productive during the postglacial warming. Global sea-level rise finally reconnects the hydrological increasingly active Black Sea basin with the Mediterranean Sea leading to the development of marine, for the Eemian even fully marine, conditions with a stratified water column and sapropelic sedimentation.