6200 years of human activities and environmental change in the northern central Alps

Autor: Clemens von Scheffer, Annika Lange, Ingmar Unkel, François De Vleeschouwer, Joachim Schrautzer
Přispěvatelé: Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: E&G Quaternary Science Journal
E&G Quaternary Science Journal, German Quaternary Association (DEUQUA), 2019, 68 (1), pp.13-28. ⟨10.5194/egqsj-68-13-2019⟩
Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart, Vol 68, Pp 13-28 (2019)
E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 2019, 68 (1), pp.13-28. ⟨10.5194/egqsj-68-13-2019⟩
ISSN: 0424-7116
2199-9090
Popis: In this study, we combine erosion and anthropogenic proxies (Ti, Pb) from calibrated portable XRF with pollen and radiocarbon chronologies in peat from mires of the Kleinwalser Valley (Kleinwalsertal, Vorarlberg, Austria) to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental change and human impact in the northern central Alps. Favoured by a wetter climate, two analysed mires formed 6200 years ago in a densely forested valley. Landscape opening suggests that the first anthropogenic impact emerged around 5700 to 5300 cal BP. Contemporaneously, lead enrichment factors (Pb EFs) indicate metallurgical activities, predating the earliest archaeological evidence in the region. Pollen and erosion proxies show that large-scale deforestation and land use by agro-pastoralists took place from the mid- to late Bronze Age (3500 to 2800 cal BP). This period was directly followed by a prominent peak in Pb EF, pointing to metallurgical activities again. After 200 cal CE, a rising human impact was interrupted by climatic deteriorations in the first half of the 6th century CE, probably linked to the Late Antique Little Ice Age. The use of the characteristic Pb EF pattern of modern pollution as a time marker allows us to draw conclusions about the last centuries. These saw the influence of the Walser people, arriving in the valley after 1300 cal CE. Later, the beginning of tourism is reflected in increased erosion signals after 1950 cal CE. Our study demonstrates that prehistoric humans were intensively shaping the Kleinwalser Valley's landscape, well before the arrival of the Walser people. It also demonstrates the importance of palaeoenvironmental multiproxy studies to fill knowledge gaps where archaeological evidence is lacking.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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