This study compares evidence of slash-and-burn agriculture in pollen spectra from soils and aquatic archives in the southern forest zone of Eastern Europe. Pollen assemblages from buried swidden soils (500-1800 cal BP) were analysed alongside coeval peat layers and modern surface soils. Swidden horizons show highly distinctive pollen spectra characterised by Betula dominance, low conifer representation, and the co-occurrence of cultivation indicators (Cerealia-type) and post-fire taxa (Chamaenerion, Pteridium, Marchantia). The high abundance of the insect-pollinated Chamaenerion angustifolium likely reflects both its prevalence in swidden landscapes and its accumulation through ground-nesting bee activity, providing an additional proxy for identifying buried swiddens. In peat records, the onset of slash-and-burn agriculture is indicated by increased microcharcoal, decline of late-successional trees, expansion of pioneer taxa, and the appearance of agricultural indicators. Betula dominance in both archives reflects secondary stands during fallow stages. However, cultivation and post-fire signals are much weaker in peat sequences. These results show that paleosol pollen spectra provide robust, site-specific evidence of swidden agriculture, whereas peat records reflect broader regional pollen rain and detect such activity only indirectly. The study provides a methodological framework for identifying and localising ancient agricultural practices in palaeoecological and archaeological research.
The study aimed to trace the impact of settlement and farming by cultures in the Late Holocene on the landscape mosaic of the eastern part of the W & lstrok;oszczowa Basin in southern Poland. Despite the presence of many different cultures, settlement there was much sparser than in neighbouring areas. This was influenced by the small size and fragmented nature of fertile soil patches and was reflected in the minor scale and reversible nature of environmental changes, which were limited to the immediate vicinity of settlements. No deforestation or changes in the composition of forest species were recorded. Pollen spectra made it possible to distinguish several phases of intensified settlement and environmental pressure. The first traces of settlement date back to the Younger Neolithic, and a marked increase in indicators of human activity was recorded at the end of that period. Intensified human activity in the region was also recorded in the second half of the Bronze Age, which can be attributed to settlements of the Lusatian culture, as well as during the period of Roman influence when the Przeworsk culture emerged. Clear evidence of human impact on the environment and landscape was only recorded in the Early Middle Ages.
Shellfish remains are among the most abundant materials recovered from coastal archaeological sites and provide valuable archives for reconstructing past environments and human subsistence strategies. Mollusc shells incorporate chemical variations during growth that reflect environmental conditions, including the chemical composition of seawater and sea surface temperatures. This record can be used to infer the season of collection and the age and growth patterns of archaeological molluscs. In subtropical estuaries, interpreting the age and growth of oysters can be challenging because growth does not always correspond to seasonal cycles, and simultaneous fluctuations in salinity and water temperature can influence commonly used geochemical proxies, such as oxygen isotope values (delta 18Oshell). Our study evaluates the use of Mg/Ca ratios from trace-element analysis by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), which do not strongly depend on changes in salinity. Mg/Ca data from 20 archaeological oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from the Tampa Bay Estuary, Florida, were compared with delta 18Oshell data from the same shells. Mg/Ca profiles show strong agreement with isotope-derived seasonal patterns and often provide clearer identification of annual growth cycles. These results demonstrate that Mg/Ca ratios can serve as a reliable proxy for archaeologists investigating patterns of oyster harvesting in estuarine environments.
Barley was central to the emergence of agriculture in western Asia and is today one of the world's most widespread cereal crops. Rather than a single taxon, barley encompasses four major varieties (hulled two-row, hulled six-row, naked two-row, naked six-row) alongside its wild progenitor. We review the range of barley's ecological and culinary properties to illustrate the importance of tracing its diversity and roles in the past, and its potential relevance in future farming and food cultures. A lack of comprehensive archaeobotanical identification criteria to distinguish all five barley taxa has limited understanding of the diversity and roles of barley from the Neolithic onwards in western Asia and beyond. Here, we show that the five forms of barley can be distinguished based on rachis morphology. Application of these identification criteria to western Asian Neolithic-Bronze Age archaeological assemblages demonstrates early diversity and change through time in favoured varieties of barley, with implications for its evolving roles.
