Multi-proxy records of Mesolithic activity in the Lubuskie Lakeland (western Poland)

Authors:

• Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka,
• Dominik Pawłowski,
• Krystyna Milecka,
• Lucy Kubiak-Martens,
• Robert Kostecki,
• Beata Janczak-Kostecka,
• Tomasz Edward Goslar,
• Magdalena Maria Ratajczak-Szczerba

Abstract

The results of high-resolution records of pollen, plant macroremains and charred plant particles, diatoms, Cladocera and geochemistry from a 14C-dated core, and geomorphological studies enabled the reconstruction of landscape development at a site in western Poland which was occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Special attention was paid to the evidence of human activities recorded in the sediments of the palaeolake located next to the archaeological site. The presence of pollen types from communities characteristic of openings in the forest, macroscopic/microscopic charcoal, and charred particles of herbaceous plants (mostly from between 5500 and 4600 BC, with clearly visible maxima ca 5300, 4900 and 4700 BC) evidence the changes related to these various kinds of activities. These analyses allowed us to reconstruct the fire events at and around the site as well as to consider whether they originated from natural or human induced fires. The increase in the biogenic sediments of elements such as Na, K and Mg indicate an intensive erosion of mineral soil between 5100 and 4600 BC, mirroring human activity in the vicinity of the Kopanica site. In addition, Cladocera analysis permitted a detailed recognition of palaeolake eutrophication ca 7200–4600 BC, also eutrophication induced by human impact between 5100 and 4600 BC.