Kevin J Edwards
Biographic Data
| ID | 145667 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kevin J Edwards |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kevin J |
| FAMILY NAME | Edwards |
| SIGNATURE | EDWARDS K J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Aberdeen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7205-066X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 100 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 754 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 100 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 16 |
Palynology, landscape and land use: Retrospect, Prospect and Research Agendas
We would like to thank Marcos Martinon-Torres and Efthymia Nikita for the kind invitation to contribute to this 50th anniversary volume. The comments of the anonymous referees were much appreciated
Environmental Challenges for the Medieval North Atlantic World
Open access via T&F agreement
Obituary
Palynological evidence for pre-agricultural reindeer grazing and the later settlement history of the Lycksele region, northern Sweden
Analyses of high-resolution pollen data, coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and sedimentology, combined with radiocarbon dating, allow the assessment of the impact of Sami and Nordic land use in the region surrounding the winter market town of Lycksele in northern Sweden. Such winter markets were established by the Crown during the seventeenth century AD to control the semi-nomadic movements of the Sami who traded here with Finnish …
Thule Inuit environmental impacts on Kangeq, southwest Greenland
Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History 8000 BC - AD 1000
Pushing the Limits: Palynological Investigations at the Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet in the Norse Western Settlement
This paper presents two high-resolution pollen records dating to ∼AD 1000–1400 that reveal the impacts of Norse colonists on vegetation and landscape around a remote farmstead in the Western Settlement of Greenland. The study is centred upon a ‘centralised farm’ (ruin group V53d) in Austmannadalen, near the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet (64°13′N, 49°49′W). The climate is low arctic and considered marginal in terms of its suitability for the t…
Think horizontally, act vertically”: The centenary (1916–2016) of pollen analysis and the legacy of Lennart von Post
Think horizontally, act vertically : the centenary (1916-2016) of pollen analysis and the legacy of Lennart von Post
Cereal cultivation as a correlate of high social status in medieval Iceland
Pollen, women, war and other things: Reflections on the history of palynology
The development of palynology since its recognised launch in 1916 by Lennart von Post is examined in terms of its historiography, the biographies of pollen analysts and the role of those who have influenced the discipline. Emphasis is placed upon research beginnings in Scandinavia (especially Sweden), Great Britain and Ireland. Within an analytical narrative which includes archival and published sources, special consideration is given to a ‘procl…
High-resolution palynology reveals the land use history of a Sami renvall in northern Sweden
The limited availability of historical and archaeological evidence means that much is still unknown about the development of Sami reindeer herding in Fennoscandia in both the recent and more distant past. To address this problem, high-resolution palynological analyses, 14 C and 210 Pb dating were undertaken on two adjacent ( renvall ) near Jokkmokk (~66.6°N, 19.8°E) in the boreal forest of northern Sweden. The aim was to assess the impact of Sami…
Climate changes, lead pollution and soil erosion in south Greenland over the past 700 years
A peat core from southern Greenland provided a rare opportunity to investigate human-environment interactions, climate change and atmospheric pollution over the last ~ 700 years. X-ray fluorescence, gas chromatography-combustion, isotope ratio mass spectrometry, peat humification and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were applied and combined with palynological and archaeological evidence. Variations in peat mineral content seem to be relat…
The onset of the palaeoanthropocene in Iceland: Changes in complex natural systems
Pre-industrial human impacts on the past environment are apparent in different proxy records at different times in different places. Recognizing environmentally transformative human impacts in palaeoenvironmental archives, as opposed to natural variability, is a key challenge in understanding the nature of the transition to the Earth’s current ‘Anthropocene’ condition. Here, we consider the palaeoenvironmental record for Iceland over the past 2.5…
Moving forwards? Palynology and the human dimension
Europeanization of Sub-Arctic Environments: Perspectives from Norse Greenland's Outer Fjords
A multiple profile approach to the palynological reconstruction of Norse landscapes in Greenland's Eastern Settlement
Palynological research is increasingly revealing the landscape impacts of Norse colonisation in southern Greenland. Typically, although not exclusively, these studies are from depositional environments with highly localised pollen source areas close to fjord-side centres of medieval power. In contrast, this paper presents data from Vatnahverfi, an inland district of the Eastern Settlement, and explores the emergence of a cultural landscape throug…
Stable Isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) Characterization of Key Faunal Resources from Norse Period Settlements in North Iceland
During the Viking Age, Norse peoples established settlements across the North Atlantic, colonizing the pristine and near-pristine landscapes of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and the short-lived Vinland settlement in Newfoundland. Current North Atlantic archaeological research themes include efforts to understand human adaptation and impact in these environments. For example, early Icelandic settlements persisted despite substantial envir…
Vatnahverfi: A Green and Pleasant Land? Palaeoecological Reconstructions of Environmental and Land-use Change
Accounts describing the Vatnahverfi region of Greenland are almost always effusive in their praise for the rich and bountiful nature of the landscape. Whether it was the dense scrub and woodlands, or the freshwater lakes and fertile green pastures, this landscape—contrary to elsewhere in the Eastern Settlement—is frequently assumed to have been an excellent location for Norse pastoral farming. Nevertheless, these observations are merely anecdotal…
Volcanic impacts on the Holocene vegetation history of Britain and Ireland? A review and meta-analysis of the pollen evidence
Shieling activity in the Norse Eastern Settlement: Palaeoenvironment of the ‘Mountain Farm’, Vatnahverfi, Greenland
Transhumance agriculture formed a key component of subsistence strategies in the Norse economies of the North Atlantic, with evidence of shielings or sæters found in Norway, Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It is frequently assumed to have played a role in Norse Greenland, yet little enquiry has been made into such activity. This paper seeks to address this deficit, presenting the first palaeoenvironmental study of a suspected Greenlandic…
Re-deposited cryptotephra layers in Holocene peats linked to anthropogenic activity
Tephra layers can form useful age-equivalent stratigraphic markers for correlating palaeoenvironmental sequences and they provide information about the spatio-temporal nature of past volcanic ash fall events. The use of microscopic ‘cryptotephra’ layers has both increased the stratigraphic resolution of tephra sequences in proximal areas and extended the distal application of tephrochronology to regions of the world situated far from volcanoes. E…
The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project
Pollen-Analytical Studies at Toftanes
The Farmstead and its Environment
The Farmstead and its Environment
Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the Millennial Scale
Early settlement in the North Atlantic produced complex interactions of culture and nature. The sustained program of interdisciplinary collaboration is intended to focus on ninth- to 13th-century sites and landscapes in the highland interior lake basin of Mývatn in Iceland and to contribute a long-term perspective to larger issues of sustainable resource use, soil erosion, and the historical ecology of global change
The Quaternary history of Ireland
The Role of Climate in Settlement and Landscape Change in the North Atlantic Islands: An Assessment of Cumulative Deviations in High-Resolution Proxy Climate Records
In order to assess possible contributions of climate change to the human ecology of the Faroe Islands, proxy climate data from the Greenland Icesheet Project 2 (GISP2) are evaluated in relation to settlement and landscape \nchanges in the Faroes and other North Atlantic islands. Our aim is to identify \ntimes of unpredictable change in the context of cultural and environmental \n'memories'. A pan-Atlantic perspective is used to assess the utility…
Multivariate statistical and other approaches for the separation of cereal from wild Poaceae pollen using a large Holocene dataset
Historical Ecology on Sandoy, Faroe Islands: Palaeoenvironmental and Archaeological Perspectives
We present palaeoenvironmental, geomorphological, archaeological, and place-name data which allow a holistic assessment of the history of landscape change on Sandoy, Faroe Islands, especially in terms of the changes that occurred in response to the colonization of the island by humans. In contrast to other situations in the North Atlantic region, there is considerable continuity in the patterns and processes of landscape evolution across the init…
Cereal pollen grains in pre-elm decline deposits: Implications for the earliest agriculture in Britain and Ireland
Radiocarbon reservoir effects in human bone collagen from northern Iceland
Palaeoecological and historical evidence for manuring and irrigation at Garðar (Igaliku), Norse Eastern Settlement, Greenland
Palaeoenvironmental data are presented from the site of Garðar (modern Igaliku), the location of the cathedral and the bishop's farm in the Norse Eastern Settlement of Greenland. The latter was founded from c. AD 985 and abandoned some time during the fifteenth century. Inspection of drainage ditches located in close proximity to the settlement ruins revealed inter alia an organic-rich unit containing cultural debris (worked wood, animal bone, st…
A Hypothesis-Based Approach to Landscape Change in Suðuroy, Faroe Islands
Hovsdalur, an area delimited by the great cirques of upland central Su uroy, draining into the valley of the Hovs ́a and terminating in the east at the coastal amphitheatre of Hovsfjørdur, is a microcosm of the Faroes. The area contains the physical and economic features which characterize the greater part of the island group-mountain, valley, and coast, and marine, cultivation, and grazing environments. Data comprising mainly geomorphological,pa…
The Norse landnám on the North Atlantic islands: An environmental impact assessment
The Norse colonisation or landnám of the North Atlantic islands of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland from the ninth century AD onwards provides opportunities to examine human environmental impacts on ‘pristine’ landscapes on an environmental gradient from warmer, more maritime conditions in the east to colder, more continental conditions in the west. This paper considers key environmental contrasts across the Atlantic and initial settlement impa…
Environmental impacts around the time of Norse landnám in the Qorlortoq valley, Eastern Settlement, Greenland
Palynological and temporal inference in the context of prehistory, with special reference to the evidence from lake and peat deposits
Grazing impacts and woodland management in Eriksfjord: Betula, coprophilous fungi and the Norse settlement of Greenland
Moving forwards? Palynology and the human dimension
They did not Live by Grass Alone: The Politics and Palaeoecology of Animal Fodder in the North Atlantic Region
It is perhaps a truism to state that the further north the community, the more the diet is likely to be dominated by animal products. Whilst barley (bygg) was grown in the Northern Isles, the Faroes and Iceland (Fenton 1978;Fridriksson 1960),cultivation declined in many parts of the region through the late medieval period. Wild lyme grass (Leymus arenarius) was harvested and eaten as a cereal in parts of Iceland (Guomundsson 1996).Most Norse Gree…
The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project
Icelandic volcanic ash and the mid- Holocene Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen decline in northern Scotland
A volcanic ash-layer in peat from northern Scotland has been identified and coincides exactly with an abrupt decline in Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) pollen frequencies. This provides an isochrone (time-equivalent marker horizon) with which to investigate the timing of the Holocene 'pine-decline'. Furthermore, two possible causes of the southward shift of the range of Pinus in Scotland c. 4000 BP are suggested; a direct effect of acid pollutio…
Viking and Medieval Settlement in the Faroes: People, Place and Environment
Archaeological evidence for the first Mesolithic occupation of the Western Isles of Scotland
The examination of eroding coastal dunes at the prehistoric site of Northton, Harris, has produced the first archaeological evidence of Mesolithic activity in the Western Isles in the form of two midden-related deposits. The first phase of Mesolithic activity is dated to 7060-6650 cal. BC based on AMS dating of charred hazelnut shells. This discovery appears to validate the frequent pollen-based inferences of Mesolithic impact for the area and, a…
Palaeoenvironments, the archaeological record and cereal pollen detection at Clickimin, Shetland, Scotland
The colonization of the Hebridean Islands of Western Scotland: Evidence from the palynological and archaeological records
The earliest known settlement in Scotland is Kinloch, on the Inner Hebridean island of Rhum where deposits date to c. 8500 BP. This presents an anomaly for northern Europe, for in other regions, such as Scandinavia, settlement at a similar latitude is known from a much earlier date. While Mesolithic settlement is likely to have been established across the whole of Scotland by the eighth millennium, attempts to locate earlier settlement are most p…
Norse–Inuit interaction and landscape change in southern Greenland? A geochronological, Pedological, and Palynological investigation
Ruins representing both medieval Norse and Inuit (Thule culture) settlements can be found together on the coast at Sandhavn (59°59′ N, 44°46′ W), Greenland. The site presents a rare opportunity to investigate the character of past contact and interaction between these two peoples. Soils‐based, radiocarbon, and palynological analyses demonstrate the creation of hortic anthrosols within Norse home‐fields used between the mid‐11th and late 14th cent…
The palaeoecology of a high status Icelandic farm
Written sources indicate that the farm of Reykholt in Borgarfjorour, Iceland was built on the land of the original settlement farm, and that it had acquired the primary status in the valley by the early 12th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that the farm together with a church may have been established as early as ca. 1000 AD, which is when Christianity was adopted in Iceland. The site became one of the country’s major ecclesiastical cen…
The possible role of humans in the early stages of machair evolution: Palaeoenvironmental investigations in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
The onset of the palaeoanthropocene in Iceland: Changes in complex natural systems
Pre-industrial human impacts on the past environment are apparent in different proxy records at different times in different places. Recognizing environmentally transformative human impacts in palaeoenvironmental archives, as opposed to natural variability, is a key challenge in understanding the nature of the transition to the Earth’s current ‘Anthropocene’ condition. Here, we consider the palaeoenvironmental record for Iceland over the past 2.5…
The environment of early man in the British Isles
The effect of man on the landscape: The highland zone
Science and society in prehistoric Britain
Palynological and temporal inference in the context of prehistory, with special reference to the evidence from lake and peat deposits
Maritime archaeology
Excavation and environmental archaeology of a small cairn associated with cultivation ridges in Aberdeenshire
New dating and environmental evidence from Burghead Fort, Moray
NJ 108692. Pollen analysis and new radiocarbon determinations indicate that the construction of the timber-laced promontory fort may have begun as early as 3rd century AD in an open grassland environment, and the destruction of the fort by fire may have been as late as 900. A R
Phosphate analysis of soils associated with the Old Kinord field and settlement system, Muir of Dinnet, Aberdeenshire
Cereal pollen grains in pre-elm decline deposits: Implications for the earliest agriculture in Britain and Ireland
The Quaternary history of Ireland
Postglacial hunter-gatherers and vegetational history in Scotland
Reviews evidence for change from first human settlement to c 3000 bc; considers extent to which hunter-gatherers influenced broad-, as opposed to small-scale change in palaeofloras; how far charcoal may indicate the intentional use of fire; hazel/bog myrtle identification problems; transition to agriculture. Man's role in landscape change remains uncertain
Professor Sir Harry Godwin, F.R.S., 1901–1985 — a tribute
Microscopic charcoal as a fossil indicator of fire
The distribution of lithic materials of possible Mesolithic age on the Isle of Arran
Details are presented of 22 findspots in southern Arran which have produced pitchstone and flint materials. Although a microlithic component can be distinguished at 3 locations, most of the material is less diagnostic culturally. Radiocarbon dates are presented from two sites (in the late 7th and 6th millennia and in the 2nd millennium BC respectively), the distribution of locations is discussed and some finds are illustrated
Archaeological and palynological studies at the Mesolithic pitchstone and flint site of Auchareoch, Isle of Arran
An inland kame terrace site extends over some 300-400 m2, with features including fire-spots and a pit and yielding more than 4400 finds of flint (90%), pitchstone (9.4%), quartz, agate, and possible mudstone. The environmental data demonstrate the limitations imposed by soil pollen and charcoal studies but suggest possible hunter-gathering and agricultural activities preceding soil deterioration and peat growth. Au(adp AR)
Palynological Evidence for the Growing of Cannabis Sativa L. (hemp) in Medieval and Historical Scotland
Hemp has been exploited for its fibres since prehistoric times. For a number of areas in Britain and Continental Europe, palynological data have produced evidence of Cannabis growth and retting. The extent of its cultivation and utilization in Scotland has not, however, been the subject of previous investigation. Palynological studies in Scotland have generally taken place in highland or northern areas which were not favoured for intensive arable…
The palaeoecological and prehistoric context of minerogenic layers in blanket peat: A study from Loch Dee, southwest Scotland
Exposures in blanket mire deposits in the Galloway Hills, southwest Scotland, have revealed the presence of minerogenic layers within the peat stratigraphy. These deposits are studied by a variety of methods with a view to the investigation of ecological influences upon deposition, the timing of events and aspects of their geomorphology. The layers were deposited under both wooded and unwooded conditions in the vicinity of the sites, but vegetati…
Icelandic volcanic ash and the mid- Holocene Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) pollen decline in northern Scotland
A volcanic ash-layer in peat from northern Scotland has been identified and coincides exactly with an abrupt decline in Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) pollen frequencies. This provides an isochrone (time-equivalent marker horizon) with which to investigate the timing of the Holocene 'pine-decline'. Furthermore, two possible causes of the southward shift of the range of Pinus in Scotland c. 4000 BP are suggested; a direct effect of acid pollutio…
Male and Female Plant Selection in the Cultivation of Hemp, and Variations in Fossil Cannabis Pollen Representation
Historically, hemp has been an important economic crop, yet in the absence of deposited achenes or fibres, it is difficult to infer local hemp cultivation and/or on-site retting from variations in the values for Cannabis saliva pollen. From work in Finland, it has been suggested that lower Cannabis pollen percentages in some areas may be due to the practice of removing male hemp plants while weeding, and leaving the female plants which were appar…
Vegetation and Erosion: Processes and Environment
The agency of organic beings - a selective review of recent work in biomorphology, H.Viles aspect, vegetation cover and erosion on semi-arid hillslopes, M.J.Kirkby, K.Atkinson and J.Lockwood the interaction of vegetational and erosional dynamics in land degradation - spatial outcomes, J.Thornes geomorphic effects of vegetation cover and management - some time and space considerations in prediction of erosion and sediment yield, S.W.Trimble recurr…
Vegetation change on Papa Stour, Shetland, Scotland: A response to coastal evolution and human interference
The first palynological and related sedimentological studies from Papa Stour, Shetland are presented and supplement the limited data available for the study of Holocene vegetation change from the Northern Isles of Scotland. Two pollen sites were located on an isthmus which has experienced the marked influences of waterlevel changes, inundation by blown shell sand, and probable grazing and arable activity. In spite of the unpromising, calcareous n…
Ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant: The Romans in Scotland, a Palaeoenvironmental Contribution
Interst in the Roman incursions into Scotland has a long history and, despite the numerous works that have appeared on the subject, there is still no diminution in the appearance of new writings. Of considerable interest is the recent appearance of a paper by Hanson and Breeze which undertakes a critique of existing studies of Roman Scotland and the nature of the data on which they depend, while also suggesting lines along which future enquiry mi…
Palynology as a predictive tool in archaeology
Considers the depth and varied nature of palynological data and suggests its use to pose and isolate problems for archaeological investigation rather than be used only as a post-excavation study
The excavation and environmental investigation of a sub-peat stone bank near Loch Portain, North Uist, Outer Hebrides
Reports probing, excavation, microfossil analysis, and radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dates indicate construction in the first half of the first millennium BC. Pollen analysis revealed contemporary poor heath-grassland with no apparent arable farming. Microscopic charcoal evidence indicates burning activity in the second millennium BC
The colonization of the Hebridean Islands of Western Scotland: Evidence from the palynological and archaeological records
The earliest known settlement in Scotland is Kinloch, on the Inner Hebridean island of Rhum where deposits date to c. 8500 BP. This presents an anomaly for northern Europe, for in other regions, such as Scandinavia, settlement at a similar latitude is known from a much earlier date. While Mesolithic settlement is likely to have been established across the whole of Scotland by the eighth millennium, attempts to locate earlier settlement are most p…
Geography (86 works) · Archaeology (77 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (63 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (60 works) · Geology (48 works) · Ecology (43 works) · Pollen (38 works) · Biology (37 works) · Palynology (31 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (29 works)