Forests and foragers
Exploitation of wood resources by Mesolithic and para-Neolithic societies in north-eastern Poland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12200529 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Agnieszka Wacnik (0000-0003-1104-0705, Polish Academy of Sciences, corresponding author), Witold Gumiński (University of Warsaw), Katarzyna Cywa (0000-0003-0414-0927, Polish Academy of Sciences), Karolina Bugajska (0009-0003-2156-0728, University of Warsaw) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 717-736 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0939-6314 • E-ISSN: 1617-6278 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s00334-020-00778-y |
| OpenAlex | W3009298727 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 33 |
Newly acquired palaeobotanical data, including pollen, charred and uncharred wood, provided an exhaustive overview of the temporal changes in woodlands, which changes are due to the cumulative effect of natural processes and the long-term impact of pre-agrarian societies. We used the unique advantage of the peat bog archaeological site at Szczepanki located on an island in the former Lake Staświn (Masurian Lake District) to get an overview of wood exploitation throughout the Stone Age. Special attention was paid to the period of the most intense settlement, the period of the para-Neolithic Zedmar culture. This culture is interesting due to its economy having not been fully recognized so far, especially with respect to the use of plant resources. The evidence from Szczepanki confirmed the use of 16 arboreal taxa, accessible in local woodlands, as a source of timber by foragers. The majority of both unworked wood and fragments bearing traces of processing has been discovered in layers corresponding to the Zedmar period. An important role in the economy was played by wood with medium or low mechanical properties that was however fissile and amenable to woodworking. In addition, other useful properties such as flexibility, lightness, water resistance, strength and ease of splitting were favoured in the selection. The temporal distribution of wood remains in cultural layers at Szczepanki was convergent with a pollen record documenting the course of postglacial migration and local growth of particular taxa, as well as with the archaeologically documented changes in the intensity and time frame of the settlement
Agriculture · Archaeology · Beaker · Geography · Mesolithic · Paleoecology · Paleoethnobotany · Peat · Period (music · Woodland · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology
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| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |