The impact of Lusatian Urnfield and subsequent prehistoric cultures on lake and woodland ecosystems: insights from multi-proxy palaeoecological investigations at Bruszczewo, western Poland

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-024-01022-7 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The impact of Lusatian Urnfield and subsequent prehistoric cultures on lake and woodland ecosystems: insights from multi‑proxy palaeoecological investigations at Bruszczewo, western Poland Piotr Kołaczek1 · Monika Rzodkiewicz2 · Monika Karpińska‑Kołaczek1 · Iwona Hildebrandt‑Radke3 · Mariusz Gałka4 · Mateusz Jaeger5 · Jutta Kneisel6 · Jakub Niebieszczański7 Received: 15 December 2023 / Accepted: 14 July 2024 © The Author(s) 2025 Abstract The Lusatian Urnfield culture (LUc, Lausitzer Kultur, kultura łużycka) was one of the most important cultural developments during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age of central-eastern Europe, 1500–500 bc. In this article, we focus on the impact of the LUc and later cultures on the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at Bruszczewo on a microregional scale and within the broad context of analogous processes in central-eastern Europe. We did high resolution multi-proxy analyses of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), diatoms and plant macrofossils, supplemented with a lithological and geochemical study of lake and peat deposits from near the archaeological site. The results revealed that between ca. 1020 and 920 bc, woodland clearance took place, possibly connected with farming. This probably contributed to the spread of the weeds Xanthium cf. strumarium and Convolvulus arvensis in the newly created disturbed habitats. Woodland clearance and other human activities contributed to better preservation of diatoms in the lake sediments, probably as a result of increased acidity in this environment. Diatoms, especially taxa preferring eutrophic waters and tolerant of large amounts of dissolved organic matter, were the most frequent at that time. Climate deterioration associated with the 2.8 ka event probably lessened human impact around the lake shore. The diatom records suggest prolonged ice cover on the lake and/or colder springs at that time. Another intensification of human impact occurred at ca. 530 bc and was probably related to activity by people of Pomeranian culture (kultura pomorska, Pommerellische Gesichtsurnenkultur). Later, from ca. 330 bc, arable farming activity declined and grazing was suggested by an abundance of coprophilous fungi spores which, however, should not be regarded as definitive indicators of pasture. Keywords Lusatian Urnfield culture · Human impact · 2.8 ka event · Diatom analysis · Pollen analysis · Lake acidification Communicated by M. O'Connell. * Piotr Kołaczek 1 2 3 Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Climate Change Ecology Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Ul. Bogumiła Krygowskiego 10, 61‑680 Poznań, Poland Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Biogeochemistry Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Ul. Bogumiła Krygowskiego 10, 61‑680 Poznań, Poland Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Anthropocene Research Unit, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Ul. Bogumiła Krygowskiego 10, 61‑680 Poznań, Poland 4 Department of Biogeography, Paleoecology and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Ul. Stefana Banacha 1/3, 90‑237 Łódź, Poland 5 Institute of European Culture, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Ul. Józefa Kostrzewskiego 5–7, 62‑200 Gniezno, Poland 6 Institute of Pre‑ and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Leibnizstraße 3, 24118 Kiel, Germany 7 Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Ul. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 7, 61‑614 Poznań, Poland Vol.:(0123456789) Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Introduction The Lusatian Urnfield culture (LUc, Lausitzer Kultur, kultura łużycka) was one of the most important cultural phenomena during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and Early Iron Age (EIA) of central-eastern Europe, both in terms of its vast extent as well as its time span (Dzięgielewski 2017; Kaczmarek 2017). This cultural period spanned approximately 1500–500 bc. In theory, such a long-lasting prehistoric culture, dependent on agricultural subsistence, should be perfect for investigating human impact on the landscape on a millennial scale. However, the number of studies on the effects of the LUc on palaeoenvironmental records is limited to several case studies in central-eastern Europe (for example, Nowaczyk and Okuniewska-Nowaczyk 1992; Niewiarowski and Noryśkiewicz 1999; Harding et al. 2004; Jahns et al. 2013; Kneisel et al. 2019; Gałka et al. 2022). Among the many LUc settlements explored so far, many of them are situated in the vicinity of or within lakes, fens, oxbow lakes or wet meadows (former wetlands) (Chochorowski et al. 2000; Dzięgielewski 2017). Hence, their impact should be recorded by various kinds of palaeoecological proxy evidence (Bakels 2020; Wieckowska-Lüth et al. 2021) as wetland deposits are environmental archives for various micro- and macrofossils connected to human presence (for example, Moore et al. 1991; Birks 2001; Birks and Birks 2006; Shumilovskikh and van Geel 2020). Moreover, among the consequences of a rising population is a change from woodlands into open land, dominated by cultivated fields, meadows, pastures and ruderal areas (Meyerson 2003). A spread of landscapes created by humans may have allowed native plants to enter new habitats and/or increased the dispersal of new taxa introduced by human migrations and economic exchange, and/or promoted the evolution of new taxa adjusted to environments modified by human activity (Lambdon et al. 2008; Hejcman et al. 2013; Bellini et al. 2022). The period of the LUc was a time when numerous native taxa started to spread in arable land and/or ruderal habitats and new taxa appeared in the floras of central-eastern European regions (Lityńska-Zając 2005; Lityńska-Zając and Wasylikowa 2005). Woodland clearances and agricultural activities in a lake and/or wetland catchment can stimulate various types of erosion (Dreibrodt et al. 2010), and more people and livestock produce more nutrients (Chislock et al. 2013; Davies et al. 2022) which can be expected to influence the nutrient status of adjacent lakes and wetlands. Developments by past societies may have generated an environmental loop in which lakes attracted people and stimulated development of settlements, which in turn contributed to changes in the quality of water as a result of the influx of nutrients and pollutants (Chislock et al. 2013), and finally may have led to limitation of settlements. In this article, we focus on the long-lasting impact of LUc and successive cultures on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at a microregional scale in Bruszczewo and within the broad context of analogous processes at the time of the LUc domination in central-eastern Europe. Bruszczewo, located in the southern part of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland, central-eastern Europe; Czebreszuk and Müller 2015; Czebreszuk et al. 2015; Niebieszczański et a (...truncated)