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Impact of early prehistoric farming on chironomid communities in northwest Ireland

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Abstract

This study explored the utility and performance of chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) autecology in the investigation of prehistoric farming impacts on freshwater lake systems. Chironomid subfossils, lake sediment geochemistry (δ13C, δ15N and C:N), pollen and macroscopic charcoal analyses were used in a comparative limnological assessment of three archaeologically rich study sites in northwest Ireland. At all three study sites, pastoral farming and its associated nutrient inputs, as represented by non-arboreal pollen indicative of grassland/pasture (NAPp) and lake sediment geochemistry, are concomitant with increases in eutrophic chironomid taxa. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and partial RDAs established that δ15N and NAPp were controlling factors of chironomid community compositional change during the Neolithic (4000–2500 BC) and Bronze Age (2500–600 BC). Bronze Age farming had a considerably greater impact on the lake systems than Neolithic farming, as indicated by a higher proportion of eutrophic taxa and increases in δ15N, C:N and δ13C values, consistent with increased erosion and agricultural inputs. Findings emphasise the importance of identifying the natural, pre-impacted state of a lake system to determine the extent of agricultural impact accurately. The timing and magnitude of change show that Neolithic and Bronze Age farming exhibited a strong control over chironomid communities at all three sites.

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Acknowledgements

We thank W. Dörfler, I. Feeser, P. Majkut, O. Nelle, P. O’Rafferty and S. Stolze for help with coring. Local landowners Rose Hunter and Ashley Young facilitated ready access to Cooney Lough. The authors wish to acknowledge funding from the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET), and the Hardiman Research Scholarship (NUIG) to Karen Taylor, which financed the stable isotope analysis. Beatrice Ghilardi was supported by a Postgraduate Scholarship from NUIG. Radiocarbon dates for Cooney Lough were funded by the Thomas Crawford Hayes Research Fund Scheme (NUIG) and a Bill Watts 14CHRONO Award (IQUA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit, School of Geography and Archaeology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Karen J. Taylor, Aaron P. Potito, Beatrice Ghilardi & Michael O’Connell

  2. Department of Geography, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    David W. Beilman

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  1. Karen J. Taylor
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Correspondence to Karen J. Taylor.

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Taylor, K.J., Potito, A.P., Beilman, D.W. et al. Impact of early prehistoric farming on chironomid communities in northwest Ireland. J Paleolimnol 57, 227–244 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-017-9942-6

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