Vegetation changes and development of agriculture at „Kerfontaine“ (Sérent,Massif Armoricain,France)

As part of a new research programme, studies of peat bogs in Brittany are being carried out to trace the changes that have occurred in the course of time, and to determine the different regional stages related to the human activities of land clearance and agriculture. In this context, a palynological study of the Kerfontaine peat bog was undertaken to consider changes in local and regional vegetation dating from after about 7800 B.P. Local vegetation history from Neolithic times until the Middle Ages involved a succession of twelve pollen zones clearly related to variations in water level resulting from natural or anthropogenic influences. The dominant vegetation was alder carr, bog-myrtle mire and birch woods. Heath vegetation, which appeared at the end of the Iron Age, developed during the Gallo-Roman period, finally invading the entire bog in the Middle Ages. Regional vegetation history was characterised, among other things, by the presence of beech woods which developed after 3000 B.P. and then declined during the Middle Ages in conjunction with an increase of cultivation between the 8th and 11th centuries A.D., an indication of great activity during the Carolingian period. Human activity reached its peak around 1800 A.D. at the time of the first pine plantations.     

Tulips: An Ornamental Crop in the Andalusian Middle Ages

Tulips: An Ornamental Crop in the Andalusian Middle Ages. The authors are working on the project “Crop Flora of al-Andalus,” which aims to recover the crop diversity of the Middle Ages in western Europe during the Islamic period. The documental sources of this study are all the agricultural treatises written in this territory and culture between the 10th and 14th centuries. Al-Andalus was the territory occupied by Islam between the 8th and 15th centuries, varying over time on varying regions on the Iberian Peninsula. In this period, a genuine agricultural revolution took place, as well as the incorporation into the Western world of many Eastern agricultural species. When we focused on the study of ornamental species used in gardens, courtyards, and houses, tulips could be identified in several texts, the main one being the ‘Umda, a botanical work written at the end of the 11th century or beginning of the 12th, probably by the agronomist Abu l-Jayr. Tulips are mentioned in this text 500 years before the first known references to their introduction into Europe, traditionally asserted to be from the Ottoman Empire to Holland via Austria, always in the 16th century. Thus the route of these ornamental bulbs in their passage from East to West must be modified.     

On the history of the spread of the black rat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rattus rattus</Emphasis> L., 1758) in northwestern Russia

Data on the first reliable findings of subfossil remains of the black rat in north-western Russia (Vologda and Vladimir oblasts) are given. The burying of the remains dates to the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. It is assumed that the spread of the black rat in the European part of Russia in the Middle Ages was associated first of all with the development of trade.     

The history of beer additives in Europe — A review

The many excavations of medieval sites during recent years have resulted in a strong increase in archaeobotanical records including species which were used as beer additives. Since the first compilation of records by the author in 1984 relating to the two main species, namelyMyrica gale andHumulus lupulus, the number of finds has quadrupled. Distribution maps of the sites with fossil occurrence of these two species are presented and this evidence is complemented by that from written sources.M. gale seems to have been used for brewing as early as the centuries immediately before and after the birth of Christ in a small area at the Rhine estuary in the northern Netherlands. During the early and high Middle Ages there are records of this plant, in what are potentially brewing contexts, across its north-west European area of natural distribution. Written sources confirm its use in brewing as early as the tenth century. The finds ofH. lupulus indicate that this species has been used in brewing from the early Middle Ages and this hypothesis is supported by documentary evidence. Cultivation of hop began around A.D. 859. In the late Medieval period, strong competition developed between both kinds of beer, which resulted in the take-over byH. lupulus in the eighteenth century. Many other herbs of secondary importance have been used to flavour beer or to prepare medicinal beers. These are mentioned in old herbals and have been compiled in this paper. These various flavouring agents, combined with the use of all available species of cereals led to a variety of beers that is unimaginable today.     

Occupation and land-use history of a medium mountain from the Mid-Holocene: A multidisciplinary study performed in the South Cantal (French Massif Central)

A multidisciplinary investigation combining archaeological and palaeoecological approaches (pollen, micro-charcoal, major elements geochemistry, and radiocarbon data) has been carried out since 2000 in the southern Cantal (French Massif Central) in order to achieve a better understanding of the environmental/anthropogenic interactions in a mountain ecosystem ranging from 1000 to 1600 m a.s.l. from the Mid-Holocene to the end of Modern Times. This medium mountain area must be considered as a complex landscape shaped during a long-term land-use history. Pollen and archaeological evidences suggest a human frequentation as early as the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. For the following periods, different stages related to the human settlement and anthropogenic activities of land clearance and agro-pastoralism have been documented: the final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and the Roman period (mainly the 3rd and 4th centuries AD). Middle Ages (between the 10th and the 12th centuries AD) and Modern Times (since the 14th–16th centuries AD) appear to be two key phases revealing complex spatial patterns of land-use.     

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

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 Hradi??ko, 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 Hradi??ko 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.     

Robert Alexander Robertson

Summary

The period between the 10th and 13th centuries isdenoted in the history of Poland as the latter part of early Middle Ages. Politically, it covers the time span marked by the foundation of the Polish state under the Piast dynasty, on the one hand, and the first attempts to unite the country after its dismemberment, on the other. Socially, the most important landmark of this era is the formation of the early feudal structure. Artistically, it is characterized by the development of the Romanesque style. Archaeological excavations carried out in numerous early mediaeval settlements and strongholds have provided rich archaeobotanical sources which allow one to trace the inter-relations between man and plants. Plant remains help one to determine which species were preferred and cultivated.     

Vegetation dynamics and anthropogenically forced changes in the Estanilles peat bog (southern Pyrenees) during the last seven millennia

Estanilles peat bog, located in the northeastern Iberian peninsula, was studied to determine the anthropogenic changes in the landscape over the past seven millennia. The pollen diagram and sedimentary charcoal analyses from this site permit us to reconstruct the landscape changes in an area of both Mediterranean and Atlantic influence. In addition, Montarenyo ombrotrophic peat bog was studied to strengthen the analysis of data from more recent centuries. This paper attempts a reconstruction of historical cultural landscapes using two complementary palaeobotanical proxies (pollen and charcoal) in high mountain environments. The macroscopic charcoal record shows a fire signal since 7500?cal. b.p. However, the relationship between fire frequency and human impact is not always linear. This divergence is linked to fuel availability and fire activity. Fire has been used repeatedly to clear ground and to maintain open areas, and has been a key tool for the management of these high mountain areas. The intensity of use of the landscape implies the expansion of agricultural areas into higher altitudes, including cereal cultivation above 2,200?m a.s.l., during the Middle Ages. The first clear human influence detected in the pollen percentage data is recorded between 6000 and 7000?cal. b.p. and, until present times, the greatest changes in vegetation and landscape history occurred during periods of particular specialization in socioeconomic activities during the Middle Ages.     

On reconstructing the (once) living population from osteological age data

It is shown how the sex and age distribution of the (once) living population can be calculated from estimated mortalities. Fertility calculations and estimations of the number of children per woman are provided as well. The method is applied to two materials from the Middle Ages: Westerhus and Helgeandsholmen.     

Vegetation history and agriculture in the cover-sand area west of Breda (province of Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands)

Botanical investigation of archaeological sites situated in the northwest of the region bounded by the rivers Maas, Scheldt and Demer (‘MSD region’), west of the city of Breda, has provided a great deal of evidence about the landscape and its use in the period between 2000 b.c. and a.d. 1500. From pollen analysis, it appears that this cover-sand area gradually lost its woodlands through human activity after the beginning of the Bronze Age (ca. 2000 b.c.). Patches of woodland did survive there, however, until the early Middle Ages. In contrast to the cover-sand area in the vicinity of ’s-Hertogenbosch and Oss-Ussen in the northeast of the MSD region, the first large heathlands in the Breda area did not evolve until the early Middle Ages. In late prehistory, land use in this area was not much different from that in the micro-region of ’s-Hertogenbosch and Oss-Ussen. In the Bronze Age, Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare (hulled six-row barley) and Triticum dicoccon (emmer wheat) were grown. During the Iron Age, Panicum miliaceum (common millet) and T. spelta (spelt wheat) were introduced, but these crops disappeared during the Roman period. The Roman period is remarkable because of the lack of any Mediterranean culinary herbs or exotic fruits. Only pollen of Juglans regia (walnut), found around the transition from the Roman period to the early Middle Ages, indicates the introduction of an exotic tree into the region. From the early Middle Ages onwards, Secale cereale (rye) was the most important cereal, which was grown as a winter crop. In the course of the Middle Ages, arable weeds of the Sclerantho annui-Arnoseridetum plant community appeared, which is associated with the continuous growing of rye.     

Changes in the sexual dimorphism of the human mandible during the last 1200 years in Central Europe

According to many investigations, changes in mandibular morphology can occur synchronously with changes in the environment, and sexual dimorphism of the mandible can be influenced by the environment. Sexual dimorphism during the last 1200 years was evaluated using geometric morphometric analysis of virtual cranial models. The method of geometric morphometrics allows differences in size and shape to be assessed separately. We analyzed groups of adult individuals dating to Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, Early Modern Ages and from a modern Czech population (21st century). Significant sexual dimorphism in mandibular size was found in all populations. A trend in the sexual dimorphism of size was seen, with differences between the sexes increasing gradually over time. Size changes in female mandibles were a better reflection of environmental conditions and climate than size changes in male mandibles. Regarding changes in the sexual dimorphism of shape, significant dimorphism was found in all four samples. However, the pattern of mandibular shape dimorphism was different and varied considerably between samples. There was only one stable shape trait showing sexual dimorphism across all four samples in our study: the gonion lies more laterally in male than in female mandibles and male mandibles are relatively wider than female mandibles. Sexual dimorphism of shape is not influenced by the climate; instead sexual selection might play a role. This research supports earlier studies that have found that the degree and pattern of sexual dimorphism is population-specific and the factors regulating sexual dimorphism today may not be the same as those in the past.     

Radical changes in the Wadden Sea fauna and flora over the last 2,000 years

Humans have interacted with the Wadden Sea since its origin 7,500 years ago. However, exploitation, habitat alteration and pollution have strongly increased since the Middle Ages, affecting abundance and distribution of many marine mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates and plants. Large whales and some large birds disappeared more than 500 years ago. Most small whales, seals, birds, large fish and oysters were severely reduced by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the collapse of several traditional fisheries. In the 20th century, conservation efforts have enabled some breeding birds and seals to recover. But other species declined further due to continuing exploitation, habitat destruction, pollution and eutrophication. Moreover, complex three-dimensional habitats such as oyster banks, Sabellaria reefs and subtidal eelgrass beds have been lost completely. In contrast, several opportunistic species such as gulls, polychaetes, green algae and exotic invaders increased during the 20th century. Taken together, multiple human impacts have caused dramatic losses of large predators and habitat-building species in the Wadden Sea over the last 500 years. Although still of high natural value and global importance, the Wadden Sea is a fundamentally changed ecosystem. On the other hand, reduced hunting pressure, increased habitat protection and reduced river pollution have enabled the recent recovery of several species and an increase in environmental quality. These successes, together with a historical vision of what was once possible, should guide current and future conservation, restoration and management efforts towards a more sustainable interaction between man and the sea.     

Viruses in a 14th-Century Coprolite

Coprolites are fossilized fecal material that can reveal information about ancient intestinal and environmental microbiota. Viral metagenomics has allowed systematic characterization of viral diversity in environmental and human-associated specimens, but little is known about the viral diversity in fossil remains. Here, we analyzed the viral community of a 14th-century coprolite from a closed barrel in a Middle Ages site in Belgium using electron microscopy and metagenomics. Viruses that infect eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea were detected, and we confirmed the presence of some of them by ad hoc suicide PCR. The coprolite DNA viral metagenome was dominated by sequences showing homologies to phages commonly found in modern stools and soil. Although their phylogenetic compositions differed, the metabolic functions of the viral communities have remained conserved across centuries. Antibiotic resistance was one of the reconstructed metabolic functions detected.     

Intact growth factors are conserved in the extracellular matrix of ancient human bone and teeth: a storehouse for the study of human evolution in health and disease

For the first time we have extracted, solubilized and identified growth factors, such as insulin growth factor II (IGF-II), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), from archaeological compact human bone and tooth dentin dating from the late pre-ceramic pottery Neolithic (late PPNB) and the early Middle Ages. These factors are typical of special physiological or pathological situations in the metabolism of bone. The extracellular matrix proteins from bone and teeth of individuals from the late PPNB and early Middle Ages were separated by 2-D electrophoresis and more than 300 different protein spots were detected by silver staining. The matrix protein patterns of compact bone and tooth from the same individual (early Middle Ages) are very different and only 16% of the protein spots were detected in both compact bone and tooth dentin.     

Average body height of the middle and lower social classes in the middle European Germanic settlement area from the early Middle Ages to modern times

This paper reviews the body height data of middle and low social classes of North and Central European populations from the early Middle Ages until the beginning of the 17th century. It is mainly based on anthropological data from the ancient Germans, but considers also some historical reports. From the data presented here it is seen that the initially rather considerable body heights in these two social groups are decreasing during the Middle Ages. This could be observed on population samples from the Central German Highlands and from Southern Germany as well as on samples from the utmost Western Teutonic settlement: Greenland. The reasons for these variations are most likely to be seen in nutritional changes, in increasing hard physical work due to the transition to predominating agriculture, in biological effects of birthrights, and in deteriorating hygienic conditions.     

Paläogenetik der Pest

Paleogenetics of the plague Plague has been part of our history since ancient times. Introduced again and again to Europe over centuries, the 'pestilences' killed millions of people before disappearing from the continent in 19^th Century. In the Middle Ages, bacteria were unknown and often the transmission routes of plague remained unrecognized. Plague was considered as a punishment by God disseminated by Miasma. With modern methods, microbiologists and palaeogenetists have now successfully shown that all the three historical recognized plague pandemics indeed were caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. In addition, important information has been obtained about the evolution of the bacterium and its origin. New data from ongoing studies on victims of the past epidemics help to shed new light on the past and perhaps even on the present of plague.     

Results of osteologic studies of medieval pediatric skeletons with special reference to the population of Anatolia

Causes and frequency of diseases during childhood in populations of the Middle Ages were studied. The infant skeletons of ten populations from Central Europe and Anatolia were examined by macroscopical, radiological, endoscopical, histological, and scanning-electron microscopical techniques. Because only little is known about Anatolian populations, more attention was paid to the Byzantine populations. The infant skeletons are very well preserved. Therefore, the morbidity and the mortality could be studied in detail. The following disorders were diagnosed: anemia, C-avitaminosis, D-avitaminosis, osteomyelitis, meningitis-meningoencephalitis, otitis media and mastoiditis, perisinusitis, inflammation of the cavum nasi, inflammation of the paranasal sinuses, stomatitis, periodontal diseases, caries, pleuritis, trauma, and malformations. The frequency of diseases and the mortality depended on the type and the intensity of particular external life conditions. These may have been quite different in several social groups of the same population. In summary, these studies provide new information on the etiology and the epidemiology of diseases during childhood in the Middle Ages.     

Quantitative digital dermatoglyphics in males and females of four Sardinian linguistic groups

Radial and ulnar ridge counts on each of the 10 fingers, total finger ridge count, bilateral summed radial and ulnar finger ridge counts, an index of asymmetry between homologous fingers and two indices of intraindividual diversity of finger ridge counts were used to identify biological relationships among Sardinian linguistic groups. Stepwise discriminant analysis of 26 digital traits of 1258 Sardinians, 647 females and 611 males, was carried out. The results indicate high intergroup heterogeneity; moreover, with p≤0.01 as F-to-enter and p≤0.05 as F-to-remove, only 5 of the 26 digital variables are in the model (URC R5, RRC L5, RRC R5, URC R4, URC L5). The pattern of interpopulation biological relationships shows a clearly distinct position of the Gallurian group (both males and females), which speaks an Italian dialect. It originated mainly from Corsican immigration to the Gallura region starting from the XVII century. While the properly Sardinian linguistic groups (Campidanian and Logudorian) and the Sassarian group, which speaks an Italian dialect that developed as a “lingua franca” during the Middle Ages (XII–XIV centuries) due to linguistic contact between Sardinians and Italians, are positioned close to one another. This pattern agrees more with the ethno-historical back-ground than with the linguistic one.     

Demographic trends and biological status of historic populations from Central Poland: the Ostrów Lednicki microregion

The microregion of Ostrów Lednicki in the province of Wielkopolska was the center of the formation of the Polish State in Early Middle Ages. The analysis of skeletal remains and parish records from the region documented the biological status of inhabitants and its changes over a millennium. The study material comprised 424 human skeletons from an Early Medieval burial ground on Lake Lednica, records of 2,704 deaths from the registers of the Roman Catholic parish of Dziekanowice, made between 1818-1903, data on the deaths of 929,192 inhabitants of rural areas all over the province Wielkopolska obtained from Prussian statistical materials for the years 1865-1900, and comparative data from the literature. Assuming both a stationary population model and a stable population model with nonzero natural increase, parameters of life tables and measures of opportunity for natural selection (Crow's index I(m), potential gross reproductive rate R(pot), and the biological state index I(bs)) were calculated for the Early Middle Ages and for the two periods of the 19th century which were characterized by different laws of land ownership and thus different rural economies. In the first period, peasants were tenants, whereas in the second, they were given freehold of the land they cultivated. Causes of death were also analyzed. A distinct increase in longevity from the early Middle Ages to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was found. This was related to a higher level of demographic development in the parish of Dziekanowice during the 19th century, which was achieved earlier than in other areas of Poland. This was confirmed by genetic measures: coefficients of exogamy and coefficients of kinship. The reasons were related to the historical prominence of this region and to its proximity to the first two capitals of the Polish state, Gniezno and Poznań.     

Bio-cultural effects in medieval populations

Male skeletons from medieval archaeological sites are analysed to assess differences in stature and body proportions related to the bio-cultural environment, such as social, economic, and health factors. Environmental factors, such as climate change in the course of the Middle Ages, did not have statistically significant effect on body proportions in these samples. The results show a relationship between bio-cultural factors and physique in the analysed populations that indicate stunted growth in height and weight in a leprosarium population with a low socio-economic and health status. A high-status monastic population is characterised by a stocky build, i.e., increased weight for height and relatively shorter limbs, while a medieval parish population has a linear build, i.e., relatively long limbs for height and decreased weight for height. These characteristics, relative weight for height and relative limb length, changed during the course of the Middle Ages, as did stature.