Anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams

Anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams, pollen taxa of cultivated plants and species typical for habitats altered or created by human activity. Their presence in pollen diagrams makes it possible to reconstruct processes set off by various forms of economy which favoured the development of new types of plant communities not encountered in natural systems (field, hay meadow, village margin communities). The value of this group of taxa as indicators of various forms of land use may vary since most of these species find suitable conditions for development not only in habitats altered by humans but in natural ones as well. The percentage of individual species in different categories of anthropogenic communities was subject to variation during different periods depending on factors such as methods of economy and settlement stability. Moreover, taxa at the rank of genus or family may include species which differ in their ecological requirements and represent dissimilar habitats. Therefore in selecting the groups of indicator taxa denoting specific forms of anthropopressure local natural conditions have to be taken into account and the period for which the reconstruction is being made. Analysis should also focus on the co-occurrence of different taxa.

Anthropogenic indicators used for the reconstruction of past economies fall into three groups of taxa. The first group includes pollen of cultivated plants, e.g., exotic fruit or ornamental trees and shrubs introduced during the historical period. The second group includes pollen of weeds and other groups of plants spread by human activity whose pollen is identified as to its species or genus which includes species of a similar ecological description. In this group is found the cornflower Centaurea cyanus, black bindweed Fallopia convolvulus, German knotweed Scleranthus annuus, ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata, common bracken Pteridium aquilinum, juniper Juniperus communis, nettle Urtica, or Artemisia. The third group includes pollen of plant species which, even if identified taxonomically, cannot have their indicator role narrowed down because they encompass numerous species with different phytocenotic preferences, such as true grasses (Poaceae), goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), crucifers (Brassicaceae), or the Compositae family (Asteraceae).

The content of pollen of anthropogenic indicator species in individual strata of the pollen profile is used to separate individual phases of occupation in the pollen diagram documenting periods of expansion and regression of settlement in the study area.  

ML, JŚM, AP, MZ

Literature: K.E. Behre, The interpretation of anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams, Pollen et Spores 23(2), 1981, p. 227-245; K.E. Behre, Anthropogenic Indicators in Pollen Diagrams, Balkema A.A. Publishers, 1986; M. Latałowa, Holocen, [in:] S. Dybova-Jachowicz, A. Sadowska (eds.), Palinologia, Wydawnictwa Instytutu Botaniki PAN, Kraków, 2003, pp. 273-307; M. Latałowa, Gospodarka człowieka w diagramach pyłkowych, [in:] M. Makohonienko, D. Makowiecki, Z. Kurnatowska (eds.), Studia interdyscyplinarne nad środowiskiem i kulturą w Polsce, Ser. Wyd. Stowarzyszenia Archeologii Środowiskowej, Środowisko – Człowiek – Cywilizacja, t. I, Poznań, 2007, pp. 171-187.