Anneli Ekblom
Biographic Data
| ID | 143087 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anneli Ekblom |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anneli |
| FAMILY NAME | Ekblom |
| SIGNATURE | EKBLOM A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9248-5516 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 94 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The 2025 Eseh Conference in Uppsala
Tracing anthropogenic indicators for small-scale land use on the Åland Islands: Palynological and correlation analyses
This study was undertaken to address the question on anthropogenic landscape modification and how to use such signals within palynology. Pollen, spores, and microscopic charcoal from Lake Dalsträsk in the northern Åland Islands are analyzed, covering the period from 741 BCE (Late Bronze Age) to the early twentieth century. Percentage and influx data are compared as a means of disentangling different land use practices. The results of the palynolo…
Multiple paleofire proxy metrics from tropical lake sediment and soil in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem
Black carbon is a paleofire proxy that has been measured from glacial ice, snow, soils and lake sediments, though relatively few comparisons have been made with other fire indicators in sedimentary geoarchives. Microscopic charcoal, quantified from palynological microscope slides and macroscopic charcoal, quantified from wet-sieved deposits, are the most commonly applied methods for paleofire interpretation of Quaternary sediments. This research …
Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: A pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
Current environmental crises call for an integrated knowledge of landscapes and their ecosystems in a broader sense. This article presents a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research at postgraduate level. The framework is grounded in the use of geospatial epistemic discomfort as a creative force to develop and enhance inquiry skills able to cross and merge disciplinary boundaries. Developed within the Erasmus+ KA2 project "…
Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD
The discussion of the transition to farming in southern Africa and the formation of Early Iron Age society, referred to in Mozambican archaeology as the Early Farming Communities (EFC), is complicated by the lack of surveys in key areas of intensive contacts. This article presents the results of excavations at the EFC site Chicumbane in the eastern lower Limpopo Valley, dated 500–800 AD. The variation of ceramic styles in terms of decoration and …
Pathways from research to sustainable development: Insights from ten research projects in sustainability and resilience
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
Paul Sinclair (1949–2023) — In memoriam
Professor Paul James Johnstone Sinclair died at home on 30 December 2023 after a period of illness surrounded by his wife Amelie Berger and his three sons, Leszek, Fritjof and Tor. It is neverthele
Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
Protected Areas (PAs) are important wildlife refuges and act as climate change buffers, but they may impact human livelihoods, particularly engendering a high risk of negative human-wildlife interactions (HWI). Understanding synergies and trade-offs among the drivers of overall human vulnerability within PAs is needed to ensure good outcomes for conservation and human well-being. We examined how climate variability, HWI, and socio-demographics af…
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
The paper uses new palaeo-ecological data and a selective review of archaeological and written sources to show how social and natural history over the last 1200 years have interacted to form the present day landscape of Limpopo National Park and Northern Kruger National Park. The long-term mosaic of different communities in this landscape, hunter and gatherers, pastoralists, farmers and traders has, over time, contributed to shape and reshape a h…
Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal landscapes: New pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from Dalarna, central Sweden
The archaeological evidence of a sedentary hunter-gatherer society during the early metal ages, i.e. the first and second millennia bce , in the central Scandinavian boreal inlands has previously been overlooked. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these past societies we have combined archaeological data with landscape-scale changes based on pollen records. The combined record clearly indicates landscape use characterized by domestication…
The history of settlement and agrarian land use in a boreal forest in Värmland, Sweden, new evidence from pollen analysis
Shielings are the historically known form of transhumance in Scandinavia, where livestock were moved from the farmstead to sites in the outlands for summer grazing. Pollen analysis has provided a valuable insight into the history of shielings. This paper presents a vegetation reconstruction and archaeological survey from the shieling Kårebolssätern in northern Värmland, western Sweden, a renovated shieling that is still operating today. The first…
Archaeology, Historical Sciences, and Environmental Conservation
Environmental conservation has long been orientated towards reconstructing or conserving ‘naturalness’. The historical sciences in combination with new ecological thinking have taught us that landscapes are constantly in flux. We now know that many landscapes that previously were regarded as natural in fact have been shaped and reshaped by people over millennia, and that human disturbance of different kinds may enhance landscape heterogeneity and…
Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
The spectre of ‘overgrazing’ looms large in historical and political narratives of ecological degradation in savannah ecosystems. While pastoral exploitation is a conspicuous driver of landscape variability and modification, assumptions that such change is inevitable or necessarily negative deserve to be continuously evaluated and challenged. With reference to three case studies from Kenya – the Laikipia Plateau, the Lake Baringo basin, and the A…
A framework for exploring and managing biocultural heritage
Chibuene
Chibuene - 1
Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 Questions, Infinite Prospects
This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key ques…
Vegetation dynamics within the savanna biome in southern Mozambique during the late Holocene
This study explores temporal dynamics within grassland and Miombo woodland ecosystems in southern Mozambique and their potential coupling to hydro-climate change during the late-Holocene period. Palaeo-reconstructions are based on phytolith and diatom assemblages and mineral magnetic properties in fossil sediments from Lake Chilau, southern Mozambique. Phytolith interpretation was aided by previous ecological studies on modern plants and soils. T…
Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
In this paper, we assess vernacular history, traditional authority and the use of heritage places as mediums for negotiating ancestry, identity, territory and belonging based on conversations, interviews and visitations to heritage places together with residents in Limpopo National Park. We explore how particular vernacular histories become dominant village history through the authorisation of traditional leaders and their lineage histories and h…
Migration and Interaction between Madagascar and Eastern Africa, 500 BCE–1000 CE: An Archaeological Perspective
The debate on the peopling of Madagascar has long been dominated by historical linguistics and the observed similarities between Malagasy and Austronesian languages. It is clear from the linguistic evidence that there have been several periods of human contact with, or migration to, Madagascar—and that these also brought different domesticates to the island (Allibert 1998, 2007; Beaujard 2011a,b; Boivin et al. 2013). Genetics is currently the mai…
Coastal forest and Miombo woodland history of the Vilankulo region, Mozambique
The present day distribution of Miombo savanna-woodland in Mozambique has been attributed to an expansion due to the clearing of original coastal forests through agriculture and use of fire. Here, we test this hypothesis using palaeoecological data from Lake Nhauhache, situated in the Vilankulo region. Our analysis shows that Brachystegia, one of the main constituents of the Miombo, has varied over time, and its variability seems to be driven by …
Land use history and resource utilisation from a.d. 400 to the present, at Chibuene, southern Mozambique
Livelihood Security, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Historical Analysis of Chibuene, Southern Mozambique
Trade and society on the south-east African coast in the later first millennium AD: The case of Chibuene
The south-east coast of Africa in the later first millennium was busy with boats and the movement of goods from across the Indian Ocean to the interior. The landing places were crucial mediators in this process, in Africa as elsewhere. Investigations at the beach site of Chibuene show that a local community was supplying imported beads to such interior sites as Schroda, with the consequent emergence there of hierarchical power structures
Fire history and fire ecology of Northern Kruger (KNP) and Limpopo National Park (PNL), southern Africa
This paper explores the general correlations between fire and grass/tree relationships, as represented by fossil charcoal and pollen, from different vegetation types in the savanna ecosystems of the neighbouring Kruger (KNP) and Limpopo (PNL) national parks. Our analysis suggests that the basic presumption that fire is a main driver of vegetation dynamics in the savanna ecosystem by suppressing tree seedlings and encouraging grasses needs to be r…
Forest–savanna dynamics in the coastal lowland of southern Mozambique since c. AD 1400
In the coastal lowlands of Mozambique, an expansion of savannas at the cost of forests has been attributed to anthropogenic influence. There are few investigations that have studied vegetation dynamics over the long term. Pollen analysis from two sedimentary cores in the Chibuene area, 7 km south of Vilanculos presented in this paper show that the coastal area 1600 years ago consisted of a mosaic of forests, Miombo woodlands and grasslands. The d…
Trade and society on the south-east African coast in the later first millennium AD: The case of Chibuene
The south-east coast of Africa in the later first millennium was busy with boats and the movement of goods from across the Indian Ocean to the interior. The landing places were crucial mediators in this process, in Africa as elsewhere. Investigations at the beach site of Chibuene show that a local community was supplying imported beads to such interior sites as Schroda, with the consequent emergence there of hierarchical power structures
A framework for exploring and managing biocultural heritage
Untangling anthropogenic and climatic influence on riverine forest in the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
In this paper, we assess vernacular history, traditional authority and the use of heritage places as mediums for negotiating ancestry, identity, territory and belonging based on conversations, interviews and visitations to heritage places together with residents in Limpopo National Park. We explore how particular vernacular histories become dominant village history through the authorisation of traditional leaders and their lineage histories and h…
Livelihood Security, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Historical Analysis of Chibuene, Southern Mozambique
Forest–savanna dynamics in the coastal lowland of southern Mozambique since c. AD 1400
In the coastal lowlands of Mozambique, an expansion of savannas at the cost of forests has been attributed to anthropogenic influence. There are few investigations that have studied vegetation dynamics over the long term. Pollen analysis from two sedimentary cores in the Chibuene area, 7 km south of Vilanculos presented in this paper show that the coastal area 1600 years ago consisted of a mosaic of forests, Miombo woodlands and grasslands. The d…
Pathways from research to sustainable development: Insights from ten research projects in sustainability and resilience
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
The history of settlement and agrarian land use in a boreal forest in Värmland, Sweden, new evidence from pollen analysis
Shielings are the historically known form of transhumance in Scandinavia, where livestock were moved from the farmstead to sites in the outlands for summer grazing. Pollen analysis has provided a valuable insight into the history of shielings. This paper presents a vegetation reconstruction and archaeological survey from the shieling Kårebolssätern in northern Värmland, western Sweden, a renovated shieling that is still operating today. The first…
Coastal forest and Miombo woodland history of the Vilankulo region, Mozambique
The present day distribution of Miombo savanna-woodland in Mozambique has been attributed to an expansion due to the clearing of original coastal forests through agriculture and use of fire. Here, we test this hypothesis using palaeoecological data from Lake Nhauhache, situated in the Vilankulo region. Our analysis shows that Brachystegia, one of the main constituents of the Miombo, has varied over time, and its variability seems to be driven by …
Land use history and resource utilisation from a.d. 400 to the present, at Chibuene, southern Mozambique
Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
Protected Areas (PAs) are important wildlife refuges and act as climate change buffers, but they may impact human livelihoods, particularly engendering a high risk of negative human-wildlife interactions (HWI). Understanding synergies and trade-offs among the drivers of overall human vulnerability within PAs is needed to ensure good outcomes for conservation and human well-being. We examined how climate variability, HWI, and socio-demographics af…
Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal landscapes: New pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from Dalarna, central Sweden
The archaeological evidence of a sedentary hunter-gatherer society during the early metal ages, i.e. the first and second millennia bce , in the central Scandinavian boreal inlands has previously been overlooked. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these past societies we have combined archaeological data with landscape-scale changes based on pollen records. The combined record clearly indicates landscape use characterized by domestication…
Forest–savanna dynamics in the coastal lowland of southern Mozambique since c. AD 1400
In the coastal lowlands of Mozambique, an expansion of savannas at the cost of forests has been attributed to anthropogenic influence. There are few investigations that have studied vegetation dynamics over the long term. Pollen analysis from two sedimentary cores in the Chibuene area, 7 km south of Vilanculos presented in this paper show that the coastal area 1600 years ago consisted of a mosaic of forests, Miombo woodlands and grasslands. The d…
Untangling anthropogenic and climatic influence on riverine forest in the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Fire history and fire ecology of Northern Kruger (KNP) and Limpopo National Park (PNL), southern Africa
This paper explores the general correlations between fire and grass/tree relationships, as represented by fossil charcoal and pollen, from different vegetation types in the savanna ecosystems of the neighbouring Kruger (KNP) and Limpopo (PNL) national parks. Our analysis suggests that the basic presumption that fire is a main driver of vegetation dynamics in the savanna ecosystem by suppressing tree seedlings and encouraging grasses needs to be r…
Livelihood Security, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Historical Analysis of Chibuene, Southern Mozambique
Trade and society on the south-east African coast in the later first millennium AD: The case of Chibuene
The south-east coast of Africa in the later first millennium was busy with boats and the movement of goods from across the Indian Ocean to the interior. The landing places were crucial mediators in this process, in Africa as elsewhere. Investigations at the beach site of Chibuene show that a local community was supplying imported beads to such interior sites as Schroda, with the consequent emergence there of hierarchical power structures
Land use history and resource utilisation from a.d. 400 to the present, at Chibuene, southern Mozambique
Coastal forest and Miombo woodland history of the Vilankulo region, Mozambique
The present day distribution of Miombo savanna-woodland in Mozambique has been attributed to an expansion due to the clearing of original coastal forests through agriculture and use of fire. Here, we test this hypothesis using palaeoecological data from Lake Nhauhache, situated in the Vilankulo region. Our analysis shows that Brachystegia, one of the main constituents of the Miombo, has varied over time, and its variability seems to be driven by …
Migration and Interaction between Madagascar and Eastern Africa, 500 BCE–1000 CE: An Archaeological Perspective
The debate on the peopling of Madagascar has long been dominated by historical linguistics and the observed similarities between Malagasy and Austronesian languages. It is clear from the linguistic evidence that there have been several periods of human contact with, or migration to, Madagascar—and that these also brought different domesticates to the island (Allibert 1998, 2007; Beaujard 2011a,b; Boivin et al. 2013). Genetics is currently the mai…
Chibuene
Chibuene - 1
Anthropological contributions to historical ecology: 50 Questions, Infinite Prospects
This paper presents the results of a consensus-driven process identifying 50 priority research questions for historical ecology obtained through crowdsourcing, literature reviews, and in-person workshopping. A deliberative approach was designed to maximize discussion and debate with defined outcomes. Two in-person workshops (in Sweden and Canada) over the course of two years and online discussions were peer facilitated to define specific key ques…
Vegetation dynamics within the savanna biome in southern Mozambique during the late Holocene
This study explores temporal dynamics within grassland and Miombo woodland ecosystems in southern Mozambique and their potential coupling to hydro-climate change during the late-Holocene period. Palaeo-reconstructions are based on phytolith and diatom assemblages and mineral magnetic properties in fossil sediments from Lake Chilau, southern Mozambique. Phytolith interpretation was aided by previous ecological studies on modern plants and soils. T…
Negotiating identity and heritage through authorised vernacular history, Limpopo National Park
In this paper, we assess vernacular history, traditional authority and the use of heritage places as mediums for negotiating ancestry, identity, territory and belonging based on conversations, interviews and visitations to heritage places together with residents in Limpopo National Park. We explore how particular vernacular histories become dominant village history through the authorisation of traditional leaders and their lineage histories and h…
Archaeology, Historical Sciences, and Environmental Conservation
Environmental conservation has long been orientated towards reconstructing or conserving ‘naturalness’. The historical sciences in combination with new ecological thinking have taught us that landscapes are constantly in flux. We now know that many landscapes that previously were regarded as natural in fact have been shaped and reshaped by people over millennia, and that human disturbance of different kinds may enhance landscape heterogeneity and…
Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect
The spectre of ‘overgrazing’ looms large in historical and political narratives of ecological degradation in savannah ecosystems. While pastoral exploitation is a conspicuous driver of landscape variability and modification, assumptions that such change is inevitable or necessarily negative deserve to be continuously evaluated and challenged. With reference to three case studies from Kenya – the Laikipia Plateau, the Lake Baringo basin, and the A…
A framework for exploring and managing biocultural heritage
The history of settlement and agrarian land use in a boreal forest in Värmland, Sweden, new evidence from pollen analysis
Shielings are the historically known form of transhumance in Scandinavia, where livestock were moved from the farmstead to sites in the outlands for summer grazing. Pollen analysis has provided a valuable insight into the history of shielings. This paper presents a vegetation reconstruction and archaeological survey from the shieling Kårebolssätern in northern Värmland, western Sweden, a renovated shieling that is still operating today. The first…
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
The paper uses new palaeo-ecological data and a selective review of archaeological and written sources to show how social and natural history over the last 1200 years have interacted to form the present day landscape of Limpopo National Park and Northern Kruger National Park. The long-term mosaic of different communities in this landscape, hunter and gatherers, pastoralists, farmers and traders has, over time, contributed to shape and reshape a h…
Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal landscapes: New pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from Dalarna, central Sweden
The archaeological evidence of a sedentary hunter-gatherer society during the early metal ages, i.e. the first and second millennia bce , in the central Scandinavian boreal inlands has previously been overlooked. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these past societies we have combined archaeological data with landscape-scale changes based on pollen records. The combined record clearly indicates landscape use characterized by domestication…
Scaffolding geospatial epistemic discomfort: A pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research
Current environmental crises call for an integrated knowledge of landscapes and their ecosystems in a broader sense. This article presents a pedagogical framework for cross-disciplinary landscape research at postgraduate level. The framework is grounded in the use of geospatial epistemic discomfort as a creative force to develop and enhance inquiry skills able to cross and merge disciplinary boundaries. Developed within the Erasmus+ KA2 project "…
Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD
The discussion of the transition to farming in southern Africa and the formation of Early Iron Age society, referred to in Mozambican archaeology as the Early Farming Communities (EFC), is complicated by the lack of surveys in key areas of intensive contacts. This article presents the results of excavations at the EFC site Chicumbane in the eastern lower Limpopo Valley, dated 500–800 AD. The variation of ceramic styles in terms of decoration and …
Pathways from research to sustainable development: Insights from ten research projects in sustainability and resilience
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
Paul Sinclair (1949–2023) — In memoriam
Professor Paul James Johnstone Sinclair died at home on 30 December 2023 after a period of illness surrounded by his wife Amelie Berger and his three sons, Leszek, Fritjof and Tor. It is neverthele
Livelihood vulnerability and human-wildlife interactions across protected areas
Protected Areas (PAs) are important wildlife refuges and act as climate change buffers, but they may impact human livelihoods, particularly engendering a high risk of negative human-wildlife interactions (HWI). Understanding synergies and trade-offs among the drivers of overall human vulnerability within PAs is needed to ensure good outcomes for conservation and human well-being. We examined how climate variability, HWI, and socio-demographics af…
Tracing anthropogenic indicators for small-scale land use on the Åland Islands: Palynological and correlation analyses
This study was undertaken to address the question on anthropogenic landscape modification and how to use such signals within palynology. Pollen, spores, and microscopic charcoal from Lake Dalsträsk in the northern Åland Islands are analyzed, covering the period from 741 BCE (Late Bronze Age) to the early twentieth century. Percentage and influx data are compared as a means of disentangling different land use practices. The results of the palynolo…
Multiple paleofire proxy metrics from tropical lake sediment and soil in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem
Black carbon is a paleofire proxy that has been measured from glacial ice, snow, soils and lake sediments, though relatively few comparisons have been made with other fire indicators in sedimentary geoarchives. Microscopic charcoal, quantified from palynological microscope slides and macroscopic charcoal, quantified from wet-sieved deposits, are the most commonly applied methods for paleofire interpretation of Quaternary sediments. This research …
Geography (21 works) · Archaeology (16 works) · Ecology (14 works) · Biology (11 works) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (9 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (8 works) · Environmental resource management (7 works) · Environmental Science (7 works) · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)