 |
| Titel |
The 7 ka pollen record of Akovitika: Key evidence for environmental change and human impact in the SW Peloponnese, Greece |
| VerfasserIn |
M. Engel, M. Knipping, H. Brückner, J. C. Kraft, M. Kiderlen |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250024794
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Detailed investigations on the Holocene stratigraphy of the lower Messenian plain (SW
Peloponnese, Greece) carried out within the framework of a geoarchaeological study on the
Protogeometric Poseidon Sanctuary of Akovitika indicate significant shoreline fluctuations
during Holocene times. Sedimentary, geochemical, mineralogical, and microfossil analyses
of 18 vibracores document a maximum landward shoreline displacement around 3000 BC.
Subsequently, increased sediment loads entering the gulf predominantly at the eastern head
overcompensated the decelerating eustatic sea level rise and triggered beach ridge
progradation.
Synopses of adjacent sediment cores reveal extended wetland formation in the swales
between the sand ridges throughout the Holocene. The swamp areas enlarged continuously
during the late Holocene marine regression and persisted until the large-scaled
implementation of drainage measures in the 20th century. However, the strata representing
former wetland environments provide excellently preserved pollen assemblages and enable
detailed vegetation reconstruction of certain time windows within the past 7000
years.
During early Neolithic times the lower Messenian plain was covered with open vegetation
adapted to the seasonal standing water bodies. Deciduous oak forests were abundant but
restricted to the surrounding marl terraces while no signs of human impact appear in the
pollen record so far. In mid- to late Neolithic times initial modification of the local
vegetation composition is evident. The Neogene terraces nearby were still covered with
forest, albeit Pinus and evergreen oak gradually started replacing deciduous oak.
Anthropogenic influence on the vegetation was moderate although the upper part of the
sequence (approx. 3500 BC) contains increasing amounts of settlement indicators.
Exceptionally high percentages of Erica and Cistus as well as of charcoal fragments
point to extensive burning of woodland and subsequent sustained establishment of a
heliophile macchia vegetation. Whether this is man-made or a result of increasing
aridity remains uncertain. Agriculture can be excluded for the wet lower Messenian
plain in Neolithic times, while it seems possible on the adjacent Neogene marl
terraces. The pollen sequence of Submycenaean to Archaic times reflects reduced
human impact after the Messenian late Bronze Age population climax. Decreasing
amounts of Olea show the abandonment of olive orchards while rising dominance
of Phyllirea indicates a temporary re-establishment of high macchia during the
cultural decline of the Dark Ages. Higher percentages of Olea in the uppermost
sample document a recovering human population in Messenia during Archaic times. |
|
|
|
|
|
|