Population and forest dynamics during the Central European Eneolithic (4500-2000 BC)

0493927 - BÚ 2019 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Kolář, Jan - Kuneš, Petr - Szabó, Péter - Hajnalová, M. - Svitavská-Svobodová, Helena - Macek, Martin - Tkáč, Peter
Population and forest dynamics during the Central European Eneolithic (4500-2000 BC).
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. Roč. 10, č. 5 (2018), s. 1153-1164. ISSN 1866-9557. E-ISSN 1866-9565
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 278065 - LONGWOOD
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : Neolithic and Eneolithic * population dynamics * secondary woodland
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 1.978, year: 2018

We aim to reconstruct population dynamics within the catchment of a medium sized lake on the basis of information on the presence of all known past human activities. We calculated a human activity model based on Monte Carlo simulations. The model showed the lowestlevel of human activity between 4000 and 3000 BC. For a better understanding of long-term socio-environmental dynamics, we also used the results of a pollen-based quantitative vegetation model, as well as a local macrophysical climate model. The beginning of the decline of archaeologically visible human activities corresponds with climatic changes and an increase in secondary forest taxa probably indicating more extensive land use. In addition, social and technological innovations are important, such as the introduction of the ard, wheel, animal traction and metallurgy, as well as changes in social hierarchy characterizing the same period.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0287238