NDLI: Early to high medieval colonization and alluvial landscape transformation of the Labe valley (Czech Republic): evaluation of archaeological, pollen and macrofossil evidence

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Kozáková, Radka Pokorný, Petr Mařík, Jan Čulíková, Věra Boháčová, Ivana Pokorná, Adéla
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	In the High Middle Ages, a wave of landscape transformation which originated in western Europe swept across the east-central part of the subcontinent. In the Czech Republic, this happened during the 13th century and it had the same environmental attributes as in the rest of Europe—a considerable increase in population, vast deforestation resulting in a rapid increase in soil erosion, irreversible changes in forest species composition and overall formation of a cultural landscape. In the Czech Republic, the dynamics of such a radical change are poorly understood because it would require detailed archaeological, historical and palaeoecological insight into developments during the Early Middle Ages—a demand that is mostly not met. The aim of this paper is to fill in this gap. Archaeological and historical data from three early medieval strongholds located in central Bohemia, at Libice nad Cidlinou, Stará Boleslav and Hradišťko, are summarized and evaluated. The first two sites represent well-known political and religious centres of the early Czech state in the 10 to 11th centuries, while the last was of secondary importance. These archaeological sites have radiocarbon dated pollen and plant macrofossil evidence from oxbow sedimentary sequences which are situated in the immediate vicinity of the strongholds. The issue of fluvial transport of pollen and macrofossils is also discussed. Both pollen and macrofossil data from Hradišťko show surprisingly small impact of the stronghold on the forested alluvial environment. The vicinity of Stará Boleslav was intensively affected by human activity only during the later 11th century. It has not been possible to trace any impact of the foundation of the stronghold at Libice nad Cidlinou on the landscape. Medieval landscape change began before the 13th century in some places, as shown by the data from Stará Boleslav.
Starting Page	701
Ending Page	718
Page Count	18
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09396314
Journal	Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Volume Number	23
Issue Number	6
e-ISSN	16176278
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2014-03-09
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Human impact Medieval Pollen Macrofossils Stronghold Alluvial landscapes Paleontology Biogeosciences Climate Change Anthropology Archaeology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Plant Science Archeology (arts and humanities) Paleontology

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