Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases
Pollen analytical studies of Holocene lake and mire sediments provide valuable information on past forest cover changes and help us resolving the long-debated origin of temperate forest steppes in Europe. In this paper we contribute to this debate via the pollen and multi-proxy palaeoecological (mac...
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000210 |
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| author | Ilona Pál Enikő K. Magyari János Korponai Gábor Mesterházy Ákos Bede-Fazekas Cristina Covătaru Gabriella Darabos Gusztáv Jakab András Füzesi Pál Raczky |
| author_facet | Ilona Pál Enikő K. Magyari János Korponai Gábor Mesterházy Ákos Bede-Fazekas Cristina Covătaru Gabriella Darabos Gusztáv Jakab András Füzesi Pál Raczky |
| author_sort | Ilona Pál |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pollen analytical studies of Holocene lake and mire sediments provide valuable information on past forest cover changes and help us resolving the long-debated origin of temperate forest steppes in Europe. In this paper we contribute to this debate via the pollen and multi-proxy palaeoecological (macrofossil, charcoal, major and trace element) analyses of a paleolake (Kokad Mire) situated in the temperate deciduous forest steppe zone of the Great Hungarian Plain (GHP). Diverse soil types and microhabitats in this area attracted arable farming communities since the Neolithic. By comparing the local archaeological record with the pollen-based land cover, vegetation composition and fire history changes, and invoking other pollen-based Holocene land cover records from the GHP, we analyze the climatic versus anthropogenic origin of the forest steppe vegetation, determine the ages of significant forest clearance episodes, and examine the relationship between paleo-proxy inferred land use and prehistoric/historic settlement density. Our results suggest that the current potential forest steppe vegetation of the eastern GHP had natural climatic and edaphic origin in the Early and Mid-Holocene, which was maintained by anthropogenic deforestation in the Late Holocene. Without human impact, forest cover must have increased during the last 3000 years, and likely even earlier, since the Early Bronze Age. We found evidence for episodic land use during the Neolithic: Middle and early Late Neolithic (7600–7400 cal BP) coppice management and pastoral farming. Deforestation intensified from 3900 cal BP (during the Bronze Age). We demonstrated very early hemp (Cannabis sativa) cultivation between 5970–5450 cal BP (Middle Copper Age) likely attributable to eastern nomadic pastoral groups (pre-Yamnaya) who left behind several burial mounds in the region. We also showed that the lake was used for hemp retting between 2450–2000 cal BP by the local Celtic groups. The analysis of three pollen records from the GHP furthermore revealed that prehistoric cultures had different occupation intensities until the Late Bronze Age with localized forest clearances followed by afforestation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6e2d95823a984105b7f85cee3523c52c |
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| issn | 2950-2365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
| spelling | doaj-art-6e2d95823a984105b7f85cee3523c52c2025-08-20T02:35:22ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-09-013310007710.1016/j.qeh.2025.100077Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phasesIlona Pál0Enikő K. Magyari1János Korponai2Gábor Mesterházy3Ákos Bede-Fazekas4Cristina Covătaru5Gabriella Darabos6Gusztáv Jakab7András Füzesi8Pál Raczky9ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, Hungary; HUN-REN-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Paleontology, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, Hungary; Corresponding author at: ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.University of Public Service, Faculty of Water Sciences, Department of Aquatic Environmental Sciences, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 12–14, Baja H-6500, Hungary; Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Department of Environmental Science, Calea Turzii 4, 400193, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaHungarian National Museum Public Collection Centre - National Museum of Archaeology, Daróczi út 3., Budapest H-1113, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, Hungary; HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Alkotmány út 2-4, Vácrátót H-2163, HungaryResearch Institute of the University of Bucharest, Division of ArchaeoSciences, University of Bucharest, No. 90, Panduri Street, Sector 5, Bucharest 050663, RomaniaELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest H-1117, HungaryHungarian National Museum, National Institute of Archaeology, Múzeum krt. 14-16, Budapest H-1088, HungaryELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Múzeum krt.4/B, Budapest H-1088, HungaryPollen analytical studies of Holocene lake and mire sediments provide valuable information on past forest cover changes and help us resolving the long-debated origin of temperate forest steppes in Europe. In this paper we contribute to this debate via the pollen and multi-proxy palaeoecological (macrofossil, charcoal, major and trace element) analyses of a paleolake (Kokad Mire) situated in the temperate deciduous forest steppe zone of the Great Hungarian Plain (GHP). Diverse soil types and microhabitats in this area attracted arable farming communities since the Neolithic. By comparing the local archaeological record with the pollen-based land cover, vegetation composition and fire history changes, and invoking other pollen-based Holocene land cover records from the GHP, we analyze the climatic versus anthropogenic origin of the forest steppe vegetation, determine the ages of significant forest clearance episodes, and examine the relationship between paleo-proxy inferred land use and prehistoric/historic settlement density. Our results suggest that the current potential forest steppe vegetation of the eastern GHP had natural climatic and edaphic origin in the Early and Mid-Holocene, which was maintained by anthropogenic deforestation in the Late Holocene. Without human impact, forest cover must have increased during the last 3000 years, and likely even earlier, since the Early Bronze Age. We found evidence for episodic land use during the Neolithic: Middle and early Late Neolithic (7600–7400 cal BP) coppice management and pastoral farming. Deforestation intensified from 3900 cal BP (during the Bronze Age). We demonstrated very early hemp (Cannabis sativa) cultivation between 5970–5450 cal BP (Middle Copper Age) likely attributable to eastern nomadic pastoral groups (pre-Yamnaya) who left behind several burial mounds in the region. We also showed that the lake was used for hemp retting between 2450–2000 cal BP by the local Celtic groups. The analysis of three pollen records from the GHP furthermore revealed that prehistoric cultures had different occupation intensities until the Late Bronze Age with localized forest clearances followed by afforestation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000210PollenForest steppeREVEALSHuman impactGreat Hungarian Plain |
| spellingShingle | Ilona Pál Enikő K. Magyari János Korponai Gábor Mesterházy Ákos Bede-Fazekas Cristina Covătaru Gabriella Darabos Gusztáv Jakab András Füzesi Pál Raczky Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases Quaternary Environments and Humans Pollen Forest steppe REVEALS Human impact Great Hungarian Plain |
| title | Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| title_full | Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| title_fullStr | Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| title_short | Holocene land cover change in the Pannonian (East-Central Europe) forest steppe: The role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| title_sort | holocene land cover change in the pannonian east central europe forest steppe the role of prehistoric land exploitation phases |
| topic | Pollen Forest steppe REVEALS Human impact Great Hungarian Plain |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000210 |
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