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Vegetation development and human activities in Attiki (SE Greece) during the last 5,000 years

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Abstract

Pollen assemblages recovered from a 5 m sediment core from the Vravron coastal marsh suggest a close correlation between vegetation development and human presence in Attica, and provide the first complete record of middle to late Holocene vegetation history. Correlation of pollen with archaeological data attempts to decode the man–environment relations of the past, within the context of the known climatic variability of the mid-late Holocene, in the vicinity of ancient Athens, an area of high historical significance. The pollen record of Vravron denotes a rather variable landscape where open Mediterranean evergreen pine woods alternated with maquis shrublands and grasslands, where human activities and climate have left their imprints on vegetation. During the last 5,000 years agricultural practices displayed several variations: cereal cultivation appears more intense during the Bronze Age, especially in the Mycenaean, while a spread of Olea is observed during Geometric to Classical times. The gradual abandonment of Olea cultivation evidenced in our pollen diagram came as a result of the displacement of human activities in the interior of Mesogaia in Hellenistic and Roman times. Olea and cereal cultivation intensification is observed again during the Mesobyzantine period. In the upper part of the core evidence of intense soil erosion and expansion of Vravron wetland was recorded, coinciding with the Little Ice Age climatic event and the introduction of Arvanites populations in the area.

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Acknowledgments

This study is a part of joint paleoenvironmental studies in the Vravron coastal area undertaken by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (R.P.70/4/8644) and Harokopio University. Present day vegetation data were kindly provided by Maria Sarika and Pinelopi Delipetrou (GR3000004, Natura 2000). Field work was performed with the help of Maria Triantaphyllou, Kosmas Pavlopoulos, Olga Koukousioura and Theodora Tsourou. Maria Trantaphyllou is also thanked for helpful discussion and important comments on the text. Special thanks go to Elena Marinova and Wiebke Kirleis for critical reading of the manuscript. Laura Sadori and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for their suggestions and constructive comments on the paper.

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Kouli, K. Vegetation development and human activities in Attiki (SE Greece) during the last 5,000 years. Veget Hist Archaeobot 21, 267–278 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-011-0336-9

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