The Vernai archaeological site has been the subject of an integrated and multidisciplinary approach focusing on the archaeological occupation of the villa, the use of the agrarian terroir and environmental changes. Its location at the heart of a wetland makes it an ideal site for such a study, thanks to the good preservation of the surrounding sedimentary records. The results highlighted the presence of a hydro-sedimentary change in the marshes and the river between the second half of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd century. This is characterised by a rise in the water table, high-energy flows and regular flooding. In response to these environmental changes, the villa underwent alterations in its spatial layout and facilities, as well as in its economic organisation, thus demonstrating the great resilience of this settlement. Similar hydrosedimentary changes have been observed throughout the upper and middle Rhône valley (Berger and Bravard 2012, Berger and Brochier 2025). And comparisons with several climatic indicators (Stuiver 1998, Magny 2004, Holzhauser 2005) suggest that these disturbances were, at least in part, of climatic origin. But, the archaeological data highlight limited impacts on occupation, or with variables reactions (Van der Leeuw et al. 2005, Bernigaud 2012).

We present the first high-resolution palynological and multiproxy reconstruction from a coastal doline in the Kvarner Archipelago (northeastern Adriatic). A continuous sediment core from Osor Lake documents more than three millennia of vegetation change, human impact, and hydrological shifts since the Bronze Age. The record reveals three major phases of landscape transformation: (i) dense deciduous forests (3400-2550 cal BP) with initial signs of clearance; (ii) a progressive landscape opening from 2550 cal BP, marked by expanding grasslands and cultivated fields; and (iii) intensified deforestation and arboriculture after similar to 800 cal BP. The introduction of Juglans and Castanea sativa between 2200 and 1200 cal BP, together with increasing Olea europaea, reflects evolving Mediterranean agricultural strategies. Charcoal peaks coincide with forest decline, indicating recurrent fire use for land management. This study establishes Osor Lake as a benchmark record for late Holocene land-use history in the northeastern Adriatic and demonstrates how human activities progressively reshaped Mediterranean karst landscapes.

Cette étude explore les interactions entre les humains et leur environnement dans l’Eastern Settlement, une colonie norroise du Groenland fondée vers 985 apr. J.-C. Les spores de champignons coprophiles sont utilisées comme marqueurs fécaux et mettent en lumière les adaptations agropastorales face aux pressions climatiques du Petit Âge glaciaire, notamment une transition vers une dépendance accrue aux ressources marines. Ces résultats soulignent l’importance des archives sédimentaires de différentes origines (sédiment lacustre et dépotoir) pour comprendre les stratégies éco-culturelles des Norrois dans un environnement subarctique.

Few sites in the East European Plain have yielded detailed multi-proxy data for the late Weichselian to Holocene transition. This paper provides a comprehensive palaeobotanical analysis of the lower part of a core of biogenic deposits from the Serteya Mire in the western part of the East European Plain (Western Russia). The studied reservoir, is located in a kettle hole and is dated to the Aller & oslash;d, as confirmed by radiocarbon dating of the basal peat layer. It offers a unique bioarchive of 13.5 m of organic deposits. Detailed palaeobotanical studies were carried out, including analyses of pollen, plant macrofossils, microcharcoal, diatoms, microbiomorphic, as well as geochemical and sedimentological analyses. The palaeoecological reconstructions are based on reliable depth-age model elaborated on a large 14C dataset. This multi-proxy approach highlights the complex interactions between climate, vegetation and hydrological conditions in the period from ca. 13,050 to ca. 8200 cal. BP - that is, the Late Aller & oslash;d, the Younger Dryas and Greenlandian stage of the Holocene (Early Holocene). In the Late Aller & oslash;d, a wetland developed which evolved into a lake. The results of pollen analysis show a clear transition from the Weichselian to the Holocene and reveal significant floristic changes characterised by a dominance of pine in the Late Weichselian, followed by spruce and birch, and later by broadleaf trees in the Early Holocene. The presence of wild herbivores is documented by no-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) except between 10,000 and 8800 cal. BP. The fluctuations of the palaeolake water level, trophic state and pH were recorded in the diatom analysis results, which shows that periphyton and benthic diatoms are the dominant species. The lake ecosystem was regularly affected by fires, especially around 13,000-12,700 BP and from 8700 BP. Finally, this record contributes to broader reconstructions of postglacial ecosystem dynamics in lowland periglacial landscape.

Para comprender la historia y la evolución de las comunidades agrícolas neolíticas de Europa occidental, el estudioso de la prehistoria dispone de materiales muy bien conservados en las orillas de los lagos, las turberas y las depresiones pantanosas, en particular en la zona de mayor extensión de los glaciares alrededor del macizo alpino. En ese medio ambiente húmedo, prácticamente anfibio, algunos labradores instalaron sus aldeas permanentes, sobre todo durante el periodo que va de 4500 a 2400 a.C. (la cronología se expresa en años solares). Los materiales arqueológicos se encuentran mejor conservados en esos lugares que en los sitios contemporáneos de tierra firme, debido a que la estabilidad del medio favoreció una prolongada preservación de los elementos arquitectónicos, de los restos vegetales, de los desechos de la vida cotidiana o de las herramientas, para sólo mencionar algunos ejemplos (Fig. 1). Los primeros hábitats litorales fueron identificados ya en 1854, por lo que ahora, después de más de un siglo de investigaciones, nos encontramos en posición de hacer un balance, sobre todo para mostrar cómo las ciencias naturales se han adentrado poco a poco en problemáticas que primero fueron estrictamente arqueológicas, y además estuvieron basadas en el estudio de las decenas de miles de artefactos extraídos.

Lakes are threatened by contemporary climate change and human activities. Paleohydrological records provide important evidence for developing scenarios for future changes in the availability of freshwater resources. This study presents a synthesis of a sedimentological, archeological, and chronological dataset collected from Lake Annecy (eastern France) to reconstruct a lake-level record documenting the whole Holocene. This dataset shows a pronounced minimum in the lake level during the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) (ca. 9000–7000 cal BP), preceded by a general lowering trend (early Holocene), and followed by a general rising trend (Neoglacial). On both the millennial and centennial scales, the Lake Annecy record appears to match the regional pattern of Holocene lake-level fluctuations established for West-Central Europe. In agreement with other extra-regional paleoclimatic records, it shows the dominant influence of orbital forcing. The high magnitude of the lake-level lowering (more than 5 m) during the HTM, with a 2–2.5 °C difference between the HTM and the pre-industrial mean summer temperatures, suggests possible drastic lake-level lowering phases in the near future depending on the IPCC scenarios following climate change. This would mean dramatic impacts on human activities and the preservation of exceptional archeological remains in regional lake basins.

To complement discussions about vegetation history and climate variations in south Greenland, especially during the Norse settlement, we developed a sedimentological multiproxy approach to study a 4300-year-old lacustrine core comprising pollen analysis, NPPs analysis, physical measurements (magnetic susceptibility, density, and grain size), and geochemical analyses (X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and elemental analyses). Sediment archives were retrieved from a river-fed lake, Lake Qallimiut, located in the outer fjords of the Vatnahverfi area. The pollen analysis indicated a transition from juniper and willow cover to a dwarf birch forest. Non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) suggested grazing pressure and the presence of wild herbivores between 2300 and 1800 cal. BC. From ca. 1000 cal. AD, the presence of Norse farmers was evidenced in this area by archaeological surveys, and pollen analyses confirm the presence of human activities from the 11th century to the end of the 13th century. However, human impact progressively vanished between the 12th and 13th centuries, much earlier than at the other Vatnahverfi sites.

A set of sedimentological, archaeological and chronological data from littoral sites of Lake Annecy (Savoie, France) is used to reconstruct a Holocene lake-level record. It combines studies (i) of sediment sequences observed on the northern shore and (ii) of sediment cores from littoral mires and plateform on (or close to) archaeological sites of the western shore. On a multimillennial scale, the results give evidence of three major phases characterized by a general trend to lowering until ca 9000 cal BP, a lowest lake-level until ca 7000 cal BP and a general trend to rise until the present. It also gives evidence of multicentennial fluctuations superimposed on the plurimillennial phases. Taken together, the Lake Annecy record shows a pattern of lake-level changes similar to the regional one reconstructed for west-central Europe. In agreement with other Alpine and extra-regional palaeoclimatic records, it supports the hypothesis of different climate forcing factors with (i) a dominating impact of orbitally driven summer insolation, (ii) an influence of deglacial outbursts in the North Atlantic Ocean, and (iii) a possible impact of variations in solar activity.

Un corpus de données sédimentologiques, archéologiques et chronologiques collectées sur des sites au bord du lac d'Annecy (Haute‑Savoie, France) est utilisé pour reconstruire les variations du plan d'eau au cours de l'Holocène. Il combine l'étude de séquences sédimentaires reconnues sur la rive nord du lac et celle de carottes sédimentaires extraites sur ou à proximité de sites archéologiques localisés dans les marais littoraux ou sur la plateforme littorale de la rive ouest du lac. À une échelle plurimillénaire, les résultats font apparaître trois phases majeures caractérisées, la première par une tendance à la baisse au cours de l'Holocène ancien jusque vers 9000 cal BP, la seconde par une succession d'étiages prononcés du plan d'eau jusque vers 7000 cal BP, et la troisième par une tendance générale à la hausse jusqu'à l'actuel. Surimposées sur ces phases plurimillénaires, sont également mises en évidence des fluctuations d'ordre pluriséculaire du niveau du lac. L'ensemble s'inscrit dans le schéma régional des variations holocènes du niveau des lacs établi pour le centre‑ouest de l'Europe. En accord avec d'autres enregistrements paléoclimatiques régionaux et extra‑régionaux, il conforte encore l'hypothèse de différents forçages climatiques avec une influence dominante des variations orbitales de l'insolation ainsi que l'impact des épisodes successifs de vidange des grands lacs proglaciaires qui ont ponctué la déglaciation dans l'Atlantique Nord, et celui possible des variations de l'activité solaire. A set of sedimentological, archaeological and chronological data from littoral sites of Lake Annecy (Savoie, France) is used to reconstruct a Holocene lake‑level record. It combines studies (i) of sediment sequences observed on the northern shore and (ii) of sediment cores from littoral mires and plateform on (or close to) archaeological sites of the western shore. On a multimillennial scale, the results give evidence of three major phases characterized by a general trend to lowering until ca 9000 cal BP, a lowest lake‑level until ca 7000 cal BP and a general trend to rise until the present. It also gives evidence of multicentennial fluctuations superimposed on the plurimillennial phases. Taken together, the Lake Annecy record shows a pattern of lake‑level changes similar to the regional one reconstructed for west‑central Europe. In agreement with other Alpine and extra‑regional palaeoclimatic records, it supports the hypothesis of different climate forcing factors with (i) a dominating impact of orbitally driven summer insolation, (ii) an influence of deglacial outbursts in the North Atlantic Ocean, and (iii) a possible impact of variations in solar activity.

Mankind and its environment: an interdisciplinary approach on the development of the insulare territories of Kvarner archipelago (Croatia) The present article aims to introduce the IATEKA programme "Interdisciplinary Approach to the Territorial Evolution of the Kvarner Archipelago" and its first results, started in 2018 and focused on examining the long-term relationship between humans and their environment, with a particular focus on the construction, management and transformation of the island territories and landscapes of the Kvarner Archipelago, as well as the fluctuation of the different populations and their impact and/or adjustment to the particular environment. As an interdisciplinary programme, methods and results obtained in the field of sedimentary and landscape archaeology, physical anthropology or bioarchaeology, specific analyses such as stable isotopes, ancient DNA, paleobiology and sedimentology are brought to a new level of inter-examination. Although this programme aims to approach the questions of human-environment interactions over a long, or even very long period in as comprehensive a manner as possible and through an interdisciplinary approach, the article focuses only on the results of the palynological studies, relating to the period between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Indeed, the results obtained on the lake sediments allow us to better understand the evolution of the environment of one of the islands of the archipelago, the island of Cres. It also seemed impossible to approach the changes observed for the period of Late Antiquity stricto sensu without addressing, even if only briefly, the character traits of the region that were established from the beginning of Antiquity and the effective presence of Roman power in the region. [Authors]

Dans la perspective d’un aménagement, débutait en 1983 une étude archéologique centrée en grande partie sur l’emplacement de l’ancien cloître canonial de Saint-Nazaire d’Autun, mentionné dans les documents dès le IXe siècle, étude prenant en compte tant l’enfoui que les élévations remarquablement conservées.

Morvan and Jura are two medium mountain areas located in eastern France. Both regions are documented by a large collection of medieval and modern archives, numerous palaeoenvironmental analyses, recent archaeological LiDAR, and field surveys. A systematic crossing between these different datasets has been done thanks to a database linked to a Geographical Information System. It enables us to describe quite accurately landscape and settlement evolution for the medieval and the modern periods: the late Middle Ages and the early modern period are particularly well documented. It is then possible to describe precisely the numerous changes that are happening during this period. We will firstly note the creation of numerous pre-industrial sites (especially for iron and glass production) in both mountain areas during the sixteenth century. Secondly, these areas also seem to be more involved in commercial relationships with the surrounding cities and plains: massive exportation of firewood begins in Morvan, while summer grazing develops in the Jura mountains. The increase of both industrial and agro-pastoral activities therefore has great consequences for the landscape. The overexploitation of forests is documented by palynological evidence while the first conflicts caused by the lack of wood appear in the archives. Thirdly, texts and archaeological surveys enable us to follow the creation of multiple scattered hamlets inside the medieval settlement network. The sixteenth century therefore appears to be a turning point in the evolution of land use in the mountainous areas of eastern France, since then intensely exploited, and the origin of a new landscape that only disappeared with the twentieth-century reforestation.