Stone Age anthropogenic impacts to forest development in the interior Scandinavian Peninsula
Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
Forest growth and development is a highly studied phenomenon in which humans have proven to be influential in shaping structure and composition. Delineating the long-term processes of human-environment interactions is crucial for understanding the history and trajectory of landscape formation and vegetation development. Yet, extensive knowledge of the ecological impacts of Stone Age anthropogenic activity is still lacking, particularly from Fennoscandian sites. A sediment core from South Mesna lake from the interior Scandinavian Peninsula was extracted to investigate the long-term evolutionary effects of human-environment interactions following deglaciation (c. 10,500 cal. BP) and initial colonization of the region. Analysis of the core involved microscopic/trace analytical methods, including geochemical analysis, stable isotope analysis, fecal biomarker analysis, and pollen analysis. The combined evidence demonstrates that anthropogenic impacts are prominent shapers of the ecological trajectory and landscape development of the region since the Early Neolithic (c. 5900 cal. BP), which has left a footprint on modern-day land cover.
Significance
Anthropogenic impacts on the environment have been observed to have had notable consequences on global and regional ecological trajectories and environmental development. Yet, how coupled human-environment interactions affect the long-term ecological complexion of boreal landscapes, such as those of the interior Scandinavian Peninsula, is not widely studied. This article presents evidence of early anthropogenic impacts to a forest’s ecology during the Holocene. Fecal biomarker and pollen analyses make it possible to provide micro-archaeological evidence of human activity and correlate it with noteworthy changes in forest structure. Our data points to a specific co-evolutionary forest development trajectory which is connected to millennial-scale human settlement patterns.
