Unravelling vegetation and human dynamics during the first millennium ad in Brandenburg, north-eastern Germany: insights from lake sediments

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-024-01032-5 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Unravelling vegetation and human dynamics during the first millennium ad in Brandenburg, north-eastern Germany: insights from lake sediments Khadijeh Alinezhad1,2 Walter Dörfler1,2 · Ingo Feeser1,2 · Jens Schneeweiß1,2,3 · Stefan Dreibrodt4 · Susanne Jahns5 · Received: 27 November 2023 / Accepted: 30 August 2024 © The Author(s) 2024 Abstract During the first millennium ad, Germany, like other European regions, witnessed dynamic interactions between human populations and the environment, resulting in effects on landscapes and vegetation. Despite their significance, the detailed changes and links between vegetation and population dynamics in Germany during this period are not yet fully understood. This study addresses this gap in an interdisciplinary approach combining high resolution pollen analysis, varve counts and AMS radiocarbon dating on a partially annually laminated lake sediment core from Kleiner Tornowsee, in Brandenburg, north-eastern Germany. Archaeological evidence of the region and available pollen data from another lake, Sacrower See, also in Brandenburg, were used for comparison and allowed the identification of regional developments. The results suggest that the Germanic tribes living there during the Roman Iron Age (ca. ad 1–375) were adept at maintaining an economy based on crop growing and the keeping of livestock. During the Migration period (ad 375–600) there was a relatively slow but continuous expansion of woodland, coinciding with two phases of depopulation. A low but constant presence of indicators of human activity in the pollen profiles, however, suggests that these areas were not completely abandoned. Evidence for an early phase of human activities starting again in the late 6th or early 7th century ad at both sites is striking, because of a lack of archaeological evidence for any settlements in this period. During the High Middle Ages (ad 1000–1300), a further increase in farming activities resulted in intensified clearance of woodland for farmland and led to more crop growing than grazing in the 11th and 12th centuries. Keywords First millennium ad · Migration period · Brandenburg · Annually laminated sediment · Pollen analyses · Woodland regeneration Communicated by T. Giesecke. Khadijeh Alinezhad 1 Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Johanna-Mestorf- Straße 2–6, 24118 Kiel, Germany 2 Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, Kiel University, Olshausenstraße 80a, 24118 Kiel, Germany 3 Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, LeibnizZentrum für Archäologie LEIZA, Schlossinsel 1, 24837 Schleswig, Germany 4 Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Fischersteig 9, 78343 Gaienhofen-Hemmenhofen, Germany 5 Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum, Wünsdorfer Platz 4–5, 15806 Zossen, Wünsdorf, OT, Germany 13 Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Introduction The 1st millennium ad, particularly the time from ad 300 to 700, known as the Late Antique Migration Period (LAMP), was a time of significant environmental, societal, agricultural, economic and political upheavals in Europe. During this period, central Europe underwent profound cultural and political transformations which laid the foundations for modern European states (Collins 1999; Geary 2002). It was characterized by widespread disruptions of people and environments, and demographic changes that took place across many European regions (Büntgen et al. 2011; Toohey et al. 2016; Bajard et al. 2022). There was large-scale human mobility in Europe during the 1st millennium ad that can be roughly divided into two phases, the 3rd–5th and 5th–9th centuries ad (Dreßler et al. 2006; Meier 2019; Czerwiński et al. 2022; Rubini et al. 2022). During the first phase (Late Antiquity, ad 300–500) Germanic groups such as Goths, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vandals, or warrior associations from northern and eastern Europe, migrated into what are now France, Britain, Italy, Spain and more distant regions such as Anatolia (Turkey), north Africa and even Egypt. In the second phase (ad 500–900), Slavic groups moved into central and eastern Europe (Dreßler et al. 2006; cf. recently for eastern Europe: Vyazov et al. 2024). This human presence had an effect on land use and the environment, which led to changes in vegetation during these phases (Dreßler et al. 2006; Jahns et al. 2013a). This dynamic process of change included some phases of woodland regeneration following previous abandonment of settlements and others during periods of reoccupation with increased pressure on the land through arable farming, grazing of livestock and clearance of woodland. This study investigates the extent of vegetation changes in the 1st millennium ad (dates in the following text are given as cal years ad/ce, 2σ-range, if not otherwise indicated) in Land Brandenburg, north-eastern Germany, using high resolution pollen records and correlating them with human activities. This area was chosen for our study due to its well-documented settlement history, distinct ecological environments and the availability of suitable lake sediments containing well-preserved pollen for analysis. This provides a good record of human settlement and activity in this area, making it valuable for studying the relationship between human activities and environmental changes. Over the 1st millennium ad, there were environmental changes in the region (Enters et al. 2010; Jahns et al. 2013a, b). The interplay between natural processes and human activities, such as arable farming, animal husbandry and settlement, played a crucial role in shaping the landscape. During the pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age, the area was populated by Germanic tribes, as numerous excavations of their settlements have 13 shown (overview in Hegewisch and Brather 2017). A general decrease of settlement activities occurred in the 4th and 5th centuries (Dörfler 1992; Karge et al. 2000; Schmauder 2020, p 35) and for the 6th to 7th there is a nearly complete absence of any signs of settlement (Müller-Wille et al. 1988; Biermann 2016; Schneeweiß 2023). In the area between the rivers Elbe and Oder, immigration of Slavs became recognizable in the archaeological record around ad 670–700. These people, probably mainly from the south and south-east of the region, arrived in a largely depopulated area, although the exact date of Slavic immigration is still the subject of ongoing debate (Kersting 2009; Biermann and Kersting 2017, p 101). The resulting settlement activities led to an increasing opening of the landscape, especially around rivers and lakes. During the Middle Ages, there was a successive eastward migration of German settlers, the Ostsiedlung or Landesausbau, which was accompanied by a further and significant opening of the wooded landscape from the 12th c. onwards (Schroeder 2001; Hardt 201 (...truncated)