The ecology of Late Mesolithic woodland disturbances: Model testing with fungal spore assemblage data

TY - JOUR

T1 - The ecology of Late Mesolithic woodland disturbances

T2 - Model testing with fungal spore assemblage data

AU - Innes, J. B.

AU - Blackford, J. J.

N1 - Funding Information: We are very grateful to Edward Oliver, Queen Mary, University of London, for preparation of the figures, to the landowner for access to the site and to the Leverhulme Trust for funding the research under project no. F/476/Z. We are very grateful to B. van Geel and others for very helpful advice regarding fungal spore identification and to the referees for improving this paper. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

PY - 2003/2

Y1 - 2003/2

N2 - Pollen, charcoal and fungal spore analysis of the base of a radiocarbon-dated peat profile at North Gill, North York Moors, N.E. England, provides detailed evidence for an episode of fire-disturbance of woodland at c. 6300 BP (uncalibrated), within the Late Mesolithic cultural period. As with other similar episodes in the uplands of Britain, the pollen data documents post-disturbance regeneration to woodland through ruderal and grassland herb, heath and successional shrub plant communities. Such seral ecological changes have previously been interpreted as the desired result of deliberate disturbance by Mesolithic foragers, as part of a conscious land-use strategy designed to attract ungulate populations to the disturbed areas and increase hunting efficiency and yield. Fungal spore analyses through the North Gill disturbance phase support the indirect ecological inferences from the pollen and charcoal data, provide the first circumstantial evidence of animal concentration in post-fire disturbed areas during the Late Mesolithic and so test and support the basic ecological premise of the Late Mesolithic fire ecology/land-use model.

AB - Pollen, charcoal and fungal spore analysis of the base of a radiocarbon-dated peat profile at North Gill, North York Moors, N.E. England, provides detailed evidence for an episode of fire-disturbance of woodland at c. 6300 BP (uncalibrated), within the Late Mesolithic cultural period. As with other similar episodes in the uplands of Britain, the pollen data documents post-disturbance regeneration to woodland through ruderal and grassland herb, heath and successional shrub plant communities. Such seral ecological changes have previously been interpreted as the desired result of deliberate disturbance by Mesolithic foragers, as part of a conscious land-use strategy designed to attract ungulate populations to the disturbed areas and increase hunting efficiency and yield. Fungal spore analyses through the North Gill disturbance phase support the indirect ecological inferences from the pollen and charcoal data, provide the first circumstantial evidence of animal concentration in post-fire disturbed areas during the Late Mesolithic and so test and support the basic ecological premise of the Late Mesolithic fire ecology/land-use model.

KW - Disturbance

KW - Fire ecology

KW - Fungal spores

KW - Mesolithic

KW - North York Moors

KW - Palynology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0037309528

U2 - 10.1006/jasc.2002.0832

DO - 10.1006/jasc.2002.0832

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0037309528

SN - 0305-4403

VL - 30

SP - 185

EP - 194

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

IS - 2

ER -