M Jane Bunting
Biographic Data
| ID | 4456409 |
|---|---|
| NAME | M Jane Bunting |
| GIVEN NAMES | M Jane |
| FAMILY NAME | Bunting |
| SIGNATURE | BUNTING M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Hull |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3152-5745 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 230 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Reconstructing prehistoric land cover and landuse in complex ‘blue-green’ landscapes
Environmental context is vital when analysing archaeological sites and interpreting past human activity. Pollen, being widely dispersed and readily preserved in wetland sediments, is frequently used to investigate past land cover, especially in wetland-rich ‘blue-green’ lowland landscapes (landscapes formed in locations where hydrology is an important determinant of natural vegetation, geomorphology and land use, such as river valleys and estuari…
The role of virtual field trips in Geography higher education
In this perspective paper, we explore the role virtual field trips (VFTs) may play in creating a more resilient, sustainable and equitable field education for Geography students in higher education as we move away from the pandemic but into a financially precarious higher education environment. While in‐person field trips are a fundamental part of Geography (and allied subjects) education, there is growing recognition of the equality, diversity, …
Conservation priorities for development
People, Place and Policy is an online journal providing a forum for academic debate around issues of urban policy, social and economic regeneration, housing and the labour market. Articles deal with the situations and experiences of people and places struggling to negotiate the opportunities, constraints and risks within contemporary society
The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project
The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project is a collaborative initiative bringing palaeoscientists together to locate, access and share online educational resources (OERs). It began as a response to the 2020 shift to online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed field and lab work. We outline the development and initial outcomes of the project and consider future directions post-pandemic. Our initial focus was to create a searchable list of…
Landscapes for Neolithic People in Mainland, Orkney
Neolithic occupation of the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, probably began in the mid fourth millennium cal BC, culminating in a range of settlements, including stone-built houses, varied stone-built tombs and two noteworthy stone circles. The environmental and landscape context of the spectacular archaeology, however, remains poorly understood. We applied the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) to Neolithic pollen records from Mainland, O…
Linking modern pollen accumulation rates to biomass
Quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance from sediment-derived pollen systems provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Recently, the use of pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm −2 year −1 ) has shown promise as a bioproxy for plant abundance. However, successfully reconstructing region-specific vegetation dynamics using PAR requires that accurate assessments of pollen deposition processes be quantitatively linked …
Opening the Woods
Environmental reconstructions from pollen records collected within archaeological landscapes have traditionally taken a broadly narrative approach, with few attempts made at hypothesis testing or formal assessment of uncertainty. This disjuncture between the traditional interpretive approach to palynological data and the requirement for detailed, locally specific reconstructions of the landscapes in which people lived has arguably hindered closer…
Relative pollen productivity estimates for alpine meadow vegetation, northeastern Tibetan Plateau
Constraining pollen-based estimates of forest cover in the Amazon
Pollen dispersal and deposition (PDD) modelling has been instrumental in reconstructing historical vegetation in temperate regions, but its application has been limited in the tropics where there is greatest uncertainty in past land cover change. Here, we apply PDD modelling to Amazonian savanna and forested ecosystems. Empirical pollen data from lakes situated in southwestern Amazonia were used to calibrate the PDD model for a two-component land…
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
This paper reviews recent advances in the reconstruction of woodland cover from palynological data. Pollen sequences record the vegetation cover of past landscapes, but translating a pollen diagram into a landscape reconstruction is not straightforward. This paper focuses on the use of pollen records to address three archaeologically relevant problems, the detection of woodland presence and extent in a largely open landscape, the reconstruction o…
Neolithic agriculture on the European western frontier
Spatially explicit reconstruction of past land cover from pollen records using a multiple scenario approach
Bridging the Gap
Neolithic settlement at the woodland's edge
Pollen–vegetation–climate relationships in some desert and desert-steppe communities in northern China
In this paper, we consider the relationship between pollen assemblages, vegetation and climate in some desert and desert-steppe areas in northern China using both surface soil samples and pollen trap samples. Discriminant analysis shows that samples originating from different climatic or geographical regions can be separated reliably on the basis of pollen assemblage regardless of sample type. DCCA analysis indicates that surface soil pollen asse…
Environmental context of a Neolithic site at Beifudi, north-west Hebei Province, China
Effect of vegetation data collection strategies on estimates of relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and relative pollen productivity estimates (relative PPE) for non-arboreal taxa
Can we characterise ‘openness’ in the Holocene palaeoenvironmental record? Modern analogue studies of insect faunas and pollen spectra from Dunham Massey deer park and Epping Forest, England
This paper examines the degree to which tree-associated Coleoptera (beetles) and pollen could be used to predict the degree of ‘openness’ in woodland. The results from two modern insect and pollen analogue studies from ponds at Dunham Massey, Cheshire and Epping Forest, Greater London are presented. We explore the reliability of modern pollen rain and sub-fossil beetle assemblages to represent varying degrees of canopy cover for up to 1000 m from…
Equifinality and uncertainty in the interpretation of pollen data
The long-term goal of pollen analysis has always been the reconstruction of past vegetation mosaics. However, the pollen signal is spatially integrated, and ecologically distinct vegetation structures can produce identical pollen signals. This paper proposes an iterative approach to reconstruction, the Multiple Scenario Approach, which involves creating a large number of hypothetical landscapes using a combination of deterministic and probabilist…
The use of modelling and simulation approach in reconstructing past landscapes from fossil pollen data
Modelling land use around an early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland from high spatial resolution pollen analyses
Relative pollen productivity and fall speed estimates for southern African savanna taxa
Mid-Holocene presence of water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) in the meres of Holderness, East Yorkshire, UK
Palaeoenvironmental and radiocarbon data are presented from an infilled freshwater basin (Lambwath Mere) in Holderness, East Yorkshire (UK). The site contains a rare and detailed c. 4000 cal. yr mid-Holocene pollen record for the floating-leaved aquatic plant Trapa natans (L.) (water chestnut). Competing hypotheses (natural and anthropogenic) to explain the earlier presence of this ‘exotic’ species in Holderness are evaluated. Maximum Trapa frequ…
Estimates of‘relative pollen productivity’ and‘relevant source area of pollen’ for major tree taxa in two Norfolk (UK) woodlands
Surface sample pollen assemblages and vegetation data collected from two East Anglian fen carr sites with adjacent dry woodland belts are analysed to estimate the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and the relative pollen productivity (RPP) values for the major canopy trees. The‘relevant source area of pollen’ is found to be on the order of 50-150 m, comparable with but slightly greater than estimates for forest hollow contexts in dry woodland…
Vegetation structure and pollen source area
In this paper we use a simulation approach to explore the effect of variation in taxon parameters and landscape patterning on relevant source area of pollen. We use the Prentice-Sugita model, assume constant atmospheric conditions and basin morphology, and take a reductionist approach to explore the behaviour of pollen dispersal and deposition in a simple landscape scenario. Individual factors within the scenario (pollen fall speed, relative poll…
Neolithic agriculture on the European western frontier
Vegetation structure and pollen source area
In this paper we use a simulation approach to explore the effect of variation in taxon parameters and landscape patterning on relevant source area of pollen. We use the Prentice-Sugita model, assume constant atmospheric conditions and basin morphology, and take a reductionist approach to explore the behaviour of pollen dispersal and deposition in a simple landscape scenario. Individual factors within the scenario (pollen fall speed, relative poll…
Modelling land use around an early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland from high spatial resolution pollen analyses
Anthropogenic” Pollen Assemblages from a Bronze Age Cemetery at Linga Fiold, West Mainland, Orkney
Neolithic settlement at the woodland's edge
Equifinality and uncertainty in the interpretation of pollen data
The long-term goal of pollen analysis has always been the reconstruction of past vegetation mosaics. However, the pollen signal is spatially integrated, and ecologically distinct vegetation structures can produce identical pollen signals. This paper proposes an iterative approach to reconstruction, the Multiple Scenario Approach, which involves creating a large number of hypothetical landscapes using a combination of deterministic and probabilist…
Estimates of‘relative pollen productivity’ and‘relevant source area of pollen’ for major tree taxa in two Norfolk (UK) woodlands
Surface sample pollen assemblages and vegetation data collected from two East Anglian fen carr sites with adjacent dry woodland belts are analysed to estimate the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and the relative pollen productivity (RPP) values for the major canopy trees. The‘relevant source area of pollen’ is found to be on the order of 50-150 m, comparable with but slightly greater than estimates for forest hollow contexts in dry woodland…
Constraining pollen-based estimates of forest cover in the Amazon
Pollen dispersal and deposition (PDD) modelling has been instrumental in reconstructing historical vegetation in temperate regions, but its application has been limited in the tropics where there is greatest uncertainty in past land cover change. Here, we apply PDD modelling to Amazonian savanna and forested ecosystems. Empirical pollen data from lakes situated in southwestern Amazonia were used to calibrate the PDD model for a two-component land…
Can we characterise ‘openness’ in the Holocene palaeoenvironmental record? Modern analogue studies of insect faunas and pollen spectra from Dunham Massey deer park and Epping Forest, England
This paper examines the degree to which tree-associated Coleoptera (beetles) and pollen could be used to predict the degree of ‘openness’ in woodland. The results from two modern insect and pollen analogue studies from ponds at Dunham Massey, Cheshire and Epping Forest, Greater London are presented. We explore the reliability of modern pollen rain and sub-fossil beetle assemblages to represent varying degrees of canopy cover for up to 1000 m from…
Relative pollen productivity and fall speed estimates for southern African savanna taxa
Detecting woodland remnants in cultural landscapes
Modern pollen deposition in and around woodland fragments in a largely open cultural landscape in northwest Scotland is investigated using moss polsters and surface sediment samples from small lakes. The percentage of local arboreal (tree and shrub) pollen types declines rapidly with distance from the woodland edge, generally reaching background levels in less than 100 m. Even at the woodland edge or under the canopy, some samples contain less th…
Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus nigerL.) in the Scottish Neolithic
Landscapes for Neolithic People in Mainland, Orkney
Neolithic occupation of the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, probably began in the mid fourth millennium cal BC, culminating in a range of settlements, including stone-built houses, varied stone-built tombs and two noteworthy stone circles. The environmental and landscape context of the spectacular archaeology, however, remains poorly understood. We applied the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) to Neolithic pollen records from Mainland, O…
Pollen–vegetation–climate relationships in some desert and desert-steppe communities in northern China
In this paper, we consider the relationship between pollen assemblages, vegetation and climate in some desert and desert-steppe areas in northern China using both surface soil samples and pollen trap samples. Discriminant analysis shows that samples originating from different climatic or geographical regions can be separated reliably on the basis of pollen assemblage regardless of sample type. DCCA analysis indicates that surface soil pollen asse…
The use of henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger L.) as a hallucinogen at Neolithic ‘ritual’ sites
Were drugs in use in prehistory? Recent claims for the use of hallucinogenic substances have been made, and caused a stir. However, new work on a Scottish Neolithic ceremonial site suggests archaeologists (and the media) may have been jumping to the wrong conclusions
The development of heathland in Orkney, Scotland
Pollen records from two lake sites located in areas of modern heathland were used to reconstruct the local development of this vegetation type. A pollen record obtained from Loch of Knitchen on Rousay covered the last 6000 radiocarbon years. Betula-Corylus scrub was once locally present, although never a dominant community. Heath vegetation began to develop around 5700 BP. At about 5400 BP woodland taxa declined, possibly in response to Neolithic…
Opening the Woods
Environmental reconstructions from pollen records collected within archaeological landscapes have traditionally taken a broadly narrative approach, with few attempts made at hypothesis testing or formal assessment of uncertainty. This disjuncture between the traditional interpretive approach to palynological data and the requirement for detailed, locally specific reconstructions of the landscapes in which people lived has arguably hindered closer…
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
This paper reviews recent advances in the reconstruction of woodland cover from palynological data. Pollen sequences record the vegetation cover of past landscapes, but translating a pollen diagram into a landscape reconstruction is not straightforward. This paper focuses on the use of pollen records to address three archaeologically relevant problems, the detection of woodland presence and extent in a largely open landscape, the reconstruction o…
Environmental context of a Neolithic site at Beifudi, north-west Hebei Province, China
Mid-Holocene presence of water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) in the meres of Holderness, East Yorkshire, UK
Palaeoenvironmental and radiocarbon data are presented from an infilled freshwater basin (Lambwath Mere) in Holderness, East Yorkshire (UK). The site contains a rare and detailed c. 4000 cal. yr mid-Holocene pollen record for the floating-leaved aquatic plant Trapa natans (L.) (water chestnut). Competing hypotheses (natural and anthropogenic) to explain the earlier presence of this ‘exotic’ species in Holderness are evaluated. Maximum Trapa frequ…
The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project
The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project is a collaborative initiative bringing palaeoscientists together to locate, access and share online educational resources (OERs). It began as a response to the 2020 shift to online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed field and lab work. We outline the development and initial outcomes of the project and consider future directions post-pandemic. Our initial focus was to create a searchable list of…
Linking modern pollen accumulation rates to biomass
Quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance from sediment-derived pollen systems provide unique insights into past ecological conditions. Recently, the use of pollen accumulation rates (PAR, grains cm −2 year −1 ) has shown promise as a bioproxy for plant abundance. However, successfully reconstructing region-specific vegetation dynamics using PAR requires that accurate assessments of pollen deposition processes be quantitatively linked …
Relative pollen productivity estimates for alpine meadow vegetation, northeastern Tibetan Plateau
Complex hydroseral vegetation succession and ‘dryland’ pollen signals
Pollen assemblages from sediment systems developed in response to changing sea level provide potentially valuable archives of local landscape dynamics in the coastal zone. Changes in wetland vegetation structure associated with the successional transition from saline to freshwater communities, and subsequent terrestrialization, however, will have marked effects on the palynological signal from surrounding dry land communities by altering the taph…
The development of heathland in Orkney, Scotland
Pollen records from two lake sites located in areas of modern heathland were used to reconstruct the local development of this vegetation type. A pollen record obtained from Loch of Knitchen on Rousay covered the last 6000 radiocarbon years. Betula-Corylus scrub was once locally present, although never a dominant community. Heath vegetation began to develop around 5700 BP. At about 5400 BP woodland taxa declined, possibly in response to Neolithic…
Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus nigerL.) in the Scottish Neolithic
The use of henbane ( Hyoscyamus niger L.) as a hallucinogen at Neolithic ‘ritual’ sites
Were drugs in use in prehistory? Recent claims for the use of hallucinogenic substances have been made, and caused a stir. However, new work on a Scottish Neolithic ceremonial site suggests archaeologists (and the media) may have been jumping to the wrong conclusions
Anthropogenic” Pollen Assemblages from a Bronze Age Cemetery at Linga Fiold, West Mainland, Orkney
Detecting woodland remnants in cultural landscapes
Modern pollen deposition in and around woodland fragments in a largely open cultural landscape in northwest Scotland is investigated using moss polsters and surface sediment samples from small lakes. The percentage of local arboreal (tree and shrub) pollen types declines rapidly with distance from the woodland edge, generally reaching background levels in less than 100 m. Even at the woodland edge or under the canopy, some samples contain less th…
Vegetation structure and pollen source area
In this paper we use a simulation approach to explore the effect of variation in taxon parameters and landscape patterning on relevant source area of pollen. We use the Prentice-Sugita model, assume constant atmospheric conditions and basin morphology, and take a reductionist approach to explore the behaviour of pollen dispersal and deposition in a simple landscape scenario. Individual factors within the scenario (pollen fall speed, relative poll…
Complex hydroseral vegetation succession and ‘dryland’ pollen signals
Pollen assemblages from sediment systems developed in response to changing sea level provide potentially valuable archives of local landscape dynamics in the coastal zone. Changes in wetland vegetation structure associated with the successional transition from saline to freshwater communities, and subsequent terrestrialization, however, will have marked effects on the palynological signal from surrounding dry land communities by altering the taph…
Mid-Holocene presence of water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) in the meres of Holderness, East Yorkshire, UK
Palaeoenvironmental and radiocarbon data are presented from an infilled freshwater basin (Lambwath Mere) in Holderness, East Yorkshire (UK). The site contains a rare and detailed c. 4000 cal. yr mid-Holocene pollen record for the floating-leaved aquatic plant Trapa natans (L.) (water chestnut). Competing hypotheses (natural and anthropogenic) to explain the earlier presence of this ‘exotic’ species in Holderness are evaluated. Maximum Trapa frequ…
Estimates of‘relative pollen productivity’ and‘relevant source area of pollen’ for major tree taxa in two Norfolk (UK) woodlands
Surface sample pollen assemblages and vegetation data collected from two East Anglian fen carr sites with adjacent dry woodland belts are analysed to estimate the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and the relative pollen productivity (RPP) values for the major canopy trees. The‘relevant source area of pollen’ is found to be on the order of 50-150 m, comparable with but slightly greater than estimates for forest hollow contexts in dry woodland…
Relative pollen productivity and fall speed estimates for southern African savanna taxa
The use of modelling and simulation approach in reconstructing past landscapes from fossil pollen data
Modelling land use around an early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland from high spatial resolution pollen analyses
Can we characterise ‘openness’ in the Holocene palaeoenvironmental record? Modern analogue studies of insect faunas and pollen spectra from Dunham Massey deer park and Epping Forest, England
This paper examines the degree to which tree-associated Coleoptera (beetles) and pollen could be used to predict the degree of ‘openness’ in woodland. The results from two modern insect and pollen analogue studies from ponds at Dunham Massey, Cheshire and Epping Forest, Greater London are presented. We explore the reliability of modern pollen rain and sub-fossil beetle assemblages to represent varying degrees of canopy cover for up to 1000 m from…
Equifinality and uncertainty in the interpretation of pollen data
The long-term goal of pollen analysis has always been the reconstruction of past vegetation mosaics. However, the pollen signal is spatially integrated, and ecologically distinct vegetation structures can produce identical pollen signals. This paper proposes an iterative approach to reconstruction, the Multiple Scenario Approach, which involves creating a large number of hypothetical landscapes using a combination of deterministic and probabilist…
Effect of vegetation data collection strategies on estimates of relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and relative pollen productivity estimates (relative PPE) for non-arboreal taxa
Pollen–vegetation–climate relationships in some desert and desert-steppe communities in northern China
In this paper, we consider the relationship between pollen assemblages, vegetation and climate in some desert and desert-steppe areas in northern China using both surface soil samples and pollen trap samples. Discriminant analysis shows that samples originating from different climatic or geographical regions can be separated reliably on the basis of pollen assemblage regardless of sample type. DCCA analysis indicates that surface soil pollen asse…
Environmental context of a Neolithic site at Beifudi, north-west Hebei Province, China
Spatially explicit reconstruction of past land cover from pollen records using a multiple scenario approach
Bridging the Gap
Neolithic settlement at the woodland's edge
Neolithic agriculture on the European western frontier
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
This paper reviews recent advances in the reconstruction of woodland cover from palynological data. Pollen sequences record the vegetation cover of past landscapes, but translating a pollen diagram into a landscape reconstruction is not straightforward. This paper focuses on the use of pollen records to address three archaeologically relevant problems, the detection of woodland presence and extent in a largely open landscape, the reconstruction o…
Constraining pollen-based estimates of forest cover in the Amazon
Pollen dispersal and deposition (PDD) modelling has been instrumental in reconstructing historical vegetation in temperate regions, but its application has been limited in the tropics where there is greatest uncertainty in past land cover change. Here, we apply PDD modelling to Amazonian savanna and forested ecosystems. Empirical pollen data from lakes situated in southwestern Amazonia were used to calibrate the PDD model for a two-component land…
Opening the Woods
Environmental reconstructions from pollen records collected within archaeological landscapes have traditionally taken a broadly narrative approach, with few attempts made at hypothesis testing or formal assessment of uncertainty. This disjuncture between the traditional interpretive approach to palynological data and the requirement for detailed, locally specific reconstructions of the landscapes in which people lived has arguably hindered closer…
Relative pollen productivity estimates for alpine meadow vegetation, northeastern Tibetan Plateau
Geography (28 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (25 works) · Ecology (22 works) · Pollen (21 works) · Biology (20 works) · Archaeology (15 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (14 works) · Vegetation (pathology (14 works) · Physical geography (12 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (10 works)