The Iceman site is unique in the bryology of the Quaternary. Only 21 bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) grow now in the immediate vicinity of the 5,300 year old Iceman discovery site at 3,210m above sea level in the Ötztal Alps, Italy. By contrast 75 or more species including at least ten liverworts were recovered as subfossils frozen in, on and around the Iceman from before, at and after his time. About two thirds of the species grow in the nival zone (above 3,000m above sea level) now while about one third do not. A large part of this third can be explained by the Iceman having both deliberately and inadvertently carried bryophytes during his last, fatal journey. Multivariate analyses (PCA, RDA) provide a variety of explanations for the arrivals of the bryophytes in the rocky hollow where the mummy was discovered. This is well into the nival zone of perennial snow and ice with a very sparse, non-woody flora and very low vegetation cover. Apart from the crucial anthropochory (extra-local plants), both hydrochory (local species) and zoochory (by wild game such as ibex of both local and extra-local species) have been important. Anemochory of mainly local species was of lesser importance and of extra-local species probably of little or no importance. The mosses Neckera complanata and several other ecologically similar species as well as a species of Sphagnum (bogmoss) strongly support the claim that the Iceman, took northwards up Schnalstal, South Tyrol, as the route of the last journey. A different species of bogmoss, taken from his colon is another indication the Iceman's presence at low altitude south of Schnalstal during his last hours when he was first high up, low down and finally at over 3,000m.

In recent years, the study of Palaeolithic people has been a vigorous, productive topic, with the increasing knowledge of diet contributing significantly to the debate's liveliness (e.g. Richards 2009; Henry et al. 2010; Hardy et al. 2012, 2016; El Zaatari et al. 2016).

Intending contributors to this column should consult the Instructions for Authors in part 1 of this volume, and should address their contributions to the column editor. 1. Campylopus pilifer var. lamellatus (Mont.) Gradst. & Sipman Contributors: Guillermo M. Suárez and Marı́a M. Schiavone Argentina: SALTA. Depto. Orán, Bosque Montano con abundante Podocarpus sp., sobre talud rocoso, 23u049S, 64u509W, 1650–1700 m a.s.l., 24 November 1999, leg. M. Schiavone, B. Biasuso & S. Churchill 3718 (LIL). JUJUY. Depto. Ledesma, Parque Nacional Calilegua, El Monolito, Bosque Montano con abundantes ‘alisos’, sobre talud rocoso, 23u409S, 64u549W, 1721 m a.s.l., 29 May 2007, leg. M. Schiavone 3370 (LIL). Campylopus pilifer var. lamellatus (Mont.) Gradst. & Sipman has a trans-Atlantic distribution, recorded from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, and also in tropical Africa (where it was described as C. introflexus var. altecristatus (Renauld & Cardot) Thér.) (Frahm, 1991). Churchill & Linares (1995) suggest that this variety possibly occurs in Colombia along the Andean corridor. In Argentina it grows in the upper montane forest between 1650 and 1750 m a.s.l, on rocky, exposed banks, together with Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw. These new records for Argentina represent the southernmost limit of the known distribution for this variety. Var. lamellatus differs from var. pilifer by the lamellae on the dorsal side of the costa, which are 5–6(27) cells high. In the type variety these lamellae reach only 3–4 cells high. 2. Campylopus trivialis Müll. Hal. ex E. Britton Contributors: Guillermo M. Suárez and Marı́a M. Schiavone Argentina: JUJUY. Depto. Ledesma, Parque Nacional Calilegua, El Monolito, Bosque Montano con abundantes ‘alisos’, sobre talud rocoso, 23u409S, 64u549W, 1721 m a.s.l., 29 May 2007, leg. M. Schiavone 3371 (LIL). During the revision of samples collected recently in the Calilegua National Park (Jujuy Province) certain plants were identified as Campylopus trivialis Müll. Hal. ex E. Britton, a species not previously reported from northwestern Argentina. Campylopus trivialis is frequent in tropical and subtropical areas of America. It grows in high alpine regions from Costa Rica to Bolivia (Churchill & Linares, 1995; Frahm, 1986, 1991; Menzel, 1986) through the Andean corridor. It is rarely found at low elevations, reaching 3000 and 4900 m a.s.l. in Bolivia (Frahm, 1991). In the northwest of Argentina it occurs in the mountain forests on rocks in exposed banks between 1700 and 1800 m a.s.l. 3. Encalypta microstoma Bals.-Criv. & De Not Contributors: James H. Dickson and Diana Horton Italy: ÖTZTAL ALPS, SE facing slope behind the Similaun Hut, 3050 m a.s.l., 7 July 1994, leg. J. Dickson s.n. (IB). JHD collected a small fruiting specimen from a rock crevice at about 3050 m on the steep, southeast-facing slope immediately behind the Similaun Hut at 3019 m only a short way inside Italy in the Ötztal Alps. In the nival zone, this discovery is about 350 m above the previous highest record from the Austrian mountains (Grims, 1999) and several hundred meters above the highest from the Italian mountains (Schumacher et al., 1999). However, it is about 40 m lower than the highest record from Switzerland (Online Atlas of Swiss Bryophytes). The identity having been confirmed by DH, the specimen, a new altitudinal record for Italy, is lodged in the herbarium of the Botanical Institute, University of Innsbruck. 4. Fissidens sublimbatus Grout Contributors: C. Lobo, S. Fontinha, L. Luis and M. SimSim Portugal, Madeira Region: SELVAGENS ARCHIPELAGO: Selvagem Grande, Pico dos Tornozelos, North and Northeast side on rock cracks and under the rocks on coastal exposed areas, 30u08954.4850N, 15u51957.0790W, ca 136 m a.s.l., 30 April 2005, leg. I. Silva s.n. (LISU); Selvagem Grande, plateau between Pico dos Tornozelos and Pico Atalaia, exposed, dry and rocky areas, 30u08954.5810N, 15u52909.7720W, ca 100 m a.s.l., 6 August 2008, leg. S. Fontinha & M. Sim-Sim s.n. (LISU). Fissidens sublimbatus Grout shows an American– Macaronesian/N African disjunction. It occurs in western North America and in Argentina, whereas east of the Atlantic it has been recorded from the Canary Islands and from Morocco (Ros et al., 2001, Pursell, 2004). Fissidens sublimbatus is here newly recorded for the Selvagens Archipelago and the Madeira region. It was collected in two localities on Selvagem Grande Island, namely Pico dos Tornozelos and the plateau between Pico dos Tornozelos and Pico Atalaia. This moss was found growing in coastal areas on calcareous soil, under rocks and in rock crevices in very dry and exposed conditions. It occured in association Journal of Bryology (2010) 32: 232–241

Six different mosses have been recognised in samples taken from the intestinal contents of the 5,200-year-old Iceman from the Eastern Alps. Four of the species are important in understanding the lifestyle of the man and/or bear on the events during the last few days of his life: Anomodon viticulosus, Hymenostylium recurvirostrum, Neckera complanata and Sphagnum imbricatum. The past and present chorology and habitats of the Hymenostylium are discussed in detail, as is the ethnobotany of the Sphagnum concerning both the Iceman and Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchí, the first ancient glacier body from North America.

The body of a prehistoric Aboriginal man (Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi, Long Ago Person Found) was recovered in 1999 from a melting glacier in northwestern British Columbia. The frozen man was lying at 1,600 metres above sea level and about fifty kilometres from the Chilkat River estuary in southeastern Alaska. Archaeobotanical studies, ethnobotanical research, and forensic palynology have been carried out to address the following questions: What had he been doing there? Where had he come from? What was his lifestyle and diet? Was his death related to sudden climate change at the start of the Little Ice Age? We can now answer some of these questions partially or completely, and point towards the start of his last journey in a salt marsh on the coast of southeastern Alaska.

The investigations of the Tyrolean Iceman "Ötzi" and his artefacts, discovered at a remote location high in the Eastern Alps, have contributed greatly to the knowledge of the lifestyle of Neolithic humankind. However, the events immediately prior to the Iceman's death have remained unclear and even the recently discovered arrowhead in his back does not explain conclusively the cause of death satisfactorily. From the pollen and macrofossil content of his gut, we reconstruct his travels just before his demise. Sequential sampling of the food residues in the digestive tract of the 5200 year old glacier mummy has made possible the analyses of a series of meals and, from the pollen content, the deduction of the environments in which the last meals were eaten. During his last 33 or so hours, Ötzi crossed different habitats in the Ötztal mountains over considerable distances from high up near the timber line (at about 2500 m), to low down in the zone of warmth-loving trees (about 1200 m or less), and finally very high in the zone of perennial ice (above 3000 m). These final journeys lend new weight to the "disaster" theory of Ötzi's death, which suggests that, returning from the high alpine pastures to his native village, he came into a severe conflict with his kin such that he had to flee from the community back to the high ground familiar to him, where he died.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsA History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920. By T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald, and Fiona Watson. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005. xiv + 434 pp. 69 illustrations. $110.00 clothJames H. DicksonJames H. Dickson University of Glasgow Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 11, Number 1January 2006 Published for the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society Views: 1Total views on this site Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/11.1.162 Views: 1Total views on this site © 2006 American Society for Environmental History and Forest History SocietyPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

A very small fragment of a branch leaf of Sphagnum imbricatum sensu lato has been recovered from a sample of food residue taken from the Tyrolean Iceman’s colon. On grounds of present phytogeography, the fragment is probably S. affine rather than S. austinii . Neither of these species is known to grow in South Tyrol at present. No matter how it was that the Iceman came into contact with the species, the place this happened was most likely to have been somewhere in the valley bottom of Vinschgau at less than 1,500 m above sea level.

Pollen grains from bodies of ancient people provide clues to their diet and domicile. To learn more about Kwädāy Dän Ts'ìnchí (Long Ago Person Found), who died on a British Columbia glacier 550 years ago, we studied the Chenopodiaceae pollen found in his stomach and robe. Environmental scanning electron microscopy was used to distinguish pollen of the native chenopod genera Atriplex, Chenopodium, Eurotia, Suaeda, and Salicornia (here including Sarcocornia). All chenopod pollen grains in one stomach sample were from Salicornia (Tourn.) L. (glasswort), which grows only in saline soils and has been used for food and medicine. Elders from the Champagne and Aishihik, Tagish, Gwitch'in, and Tlingit First Nations report their ethnobotanical and historical knowledge about inland and coastal Salicornia species. There is no common use for the small inland annual glasswort, Salicornia rubra A. Nelson, although other species were used for grain further south; however, Pacific Northwest coastal people have eaten the succulent perennial glasswort, Salicornia perennis Miller, since at least the 1880s. Pollen grains of this perennial salt marsh species are most similar to the chenopod pollen grains in the stomach of Kwädāy Dän Ts'ìnchí and suggest the ancient man's last meal came from the coast rather than from inland.Key words: Chenopodiaceae, Salicornia, Sarcocornia, forensic palynology, frozen body, ethnobotany.

We report on scientific analyses of the only well-preserved ancient human body ever recovered from a North American glacier. The body was found high in the mountains of northwest British Columbia at about 80 km from the nearest point of the strongly indented coast of southern Alaska. The geographical location suggests that the young man, aged about 20 years, could have lived either on the mild coast or in the continental interior. Preliminary environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and light microscope studies of the contents of the digestive tract reveal pollen of an intertidal salt-marsh plant and pieces of a marine crustacean. Remains of coastal zone plants (a fruit of a flowering plant and a needle of a coniferous tree) had adhered to the deceased's robe. Stable isotope analyses of bone and muscle show that more than 90% of the dietary protein was from marine sources. We conclude that this individual had strong coastal connections during his life and had been on the coast shortly before he died about 550 to 600 years ago.

The contents of the colon of the Tyrolean Iceman who lived ca. 5300 years ago include muscle fibres, cereal remains, a diversity of pollen, and most notably that of the hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) retaining cellular contents, as well as a moss leaf (Neckera complanata) and eggs of the parasitic whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). Based almost solely on stable isotope analyses and ignoring the work on the colon contents, two recently published papers on the Iceman's diet draw ill-founded conclusions about vegetarianism and even veganism. Neither the pollen nor the moss is likely to have been deliberately consumed as food by the Iceman. All the available evidence concerning the Iceman's broad-based diet is reviewed and the significance of the colon contents for matters other than assessment of food intake is outlined.

The paper presents and evaluates the results of macroscopic and pollen analyses of a buried organic layer at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers on the southern margin of the Brno City, southern Moravia, Czech Republic. The layer was covered with about 4 m of flood-loams and dates to ca. A.D. 1100. Remains of nearly 100 vascular plants and about 40 mosses contribute to the knowledge of the medieval flora, vegetation and environment in the vicinity of Brno as continuous settlement began in the city area and as the upstream landscapes were colonised.

Summary The vegetation history of southern Scotland is here summarized from data such as pollen analyses and plant macro-remains. Open birch woodland in the warm interstadial following ice-retreat broke down to be replaced by tundra communities in the succeeding Loch Lomond Stadial. Migration of tree taxa in the present interglacial was from birch to hazel, with pine in the western mountains, to elm, oak, lime possibly in the eastern lowlands and alder. Primary woodland composition varied with soil-type and altitude, but there is no evidence for a natural tree-line in the region. Probably more than other regions of Scotland, the south has suffered losses of woodland through anthropogenic impacts. This commenced in the mesolithic, but not until the late Iron Age does it appear to have been significant.

Knowledge of the reproductive biology of the common fig (Ficus carica) is essential for the interpretation of present and past occurrences of pips from archaeological layers as well as for understanding the status of trees, cultivated or wild. Only parthenocarpic varieties ripen figs in Britain and these cannot produce fertile pips. Common figs growing wild in Britain all come from pips from imported figs, often figs that had been eaten and the pips evacuated. There are many discoveries of pips from Roman and later urban and military sites in Britain. These pips too were derived from imported figs and not from locally cultivated trees. There is no proof that the Romans grew common fig in Britain and the earliest documentary evidence of cultivation is as late as the 15th century A.D.

Pits in the lowest terrace of the Great Ouse near the village of the Radwell, Bedfordshire exposed sections in sand and gravel together with channel fills of organic mud. This fill contains remains of molluscs, ostracods, insects and plant macro-fossils. Interpretation of the remains suggest environmental change under interstadial conditions, probably in the Mid-Devensian sub-stage. Problems of interpreting local and regional environments from faunal and fossil indicators contained within fluviatile deposits are discussed.