ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Vegetation changes and human activity
around Lake Łańskie (Olsztyn Lake District,
NE Poland) from the mid Holocene,
based on palynological study
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Department of Palaeobotany and Palaeoherbarium, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Lubicz 46,
31-512 Kraków, Poland |
Online publication date: 2013-12-31
Publication date: 2013-12-31
Acta Palaeobotanica 2013; 53(2): 235–261
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Bottom sediments of Lake Łańskie in NE Poland (Olsztyn Lake District) were studied by pollen
analysis, and vegetation changes from ca 4800 BC to modern times were reconstructed based on the results.
Due to rapid sedimentation the changes in plant cover are recorded with high resolution. The variation of pollen
spectra composition reflects changing shares of deciduous trees and the continuous dominance of pine forest.
Nowadays the surroundings of Lake Łańskie are also heavily forested but as early as 1100 AD the deciduous
trees began to be eliminated. On the basis of pollen data, five phases of increased human activity were distinguished.
Based on the available archaeological chronology of local settlements, the first stage is connected with
para-Neolithic groups of Ząbie-Szestno type and the Lusatian culture. They are followed by the West Baltic
Barrow culture, Wielbark culture and Early Medieval Prussian tribes. The pollen record shows low intensity of
exploitation of the terrain around Lake Łańskie, probably attributable to the brevity of episodes of human occupation
in the near vicinity of the lake. The last phase, covering part of the Middle Ages (since ca 1000 AD) and
modern times, is reflected in the most distinct vegetation changes on the pollen diagram, caused by increased
intensity of settlement. In spite of the distinct diminution of forest cover around the lake the scale of deforestation
was much lower than at other sites in NE Poland.
The main aims of this paper were to describe the changes in the palaeoenvironment which took place around
Lake Łańskie (Olsztyn Lake District) and to find those changes in the plant cover which were the effect of human
activity, and to confirm whether the changes of palaeoenvironment around Lake Łańskie were noted at the same
time in adjacent areas.