Long-term human impact as registered in an upland pollen profile from the southern Black Forest, south-western Germany

A detailed, C-14-dated, pollen profile from Steerenmoos, a raised bog in the uplands of the southern Black Forest (Schwarzwald) is presented. The Late-glacial and early Holocene vegetation history conforms to the known pattern of forest dynamics for that region. At ca. 6100 cal. B.P., Abies replaced the mixed oak forest, which is in contrast to adjacent regions where Fagus spread before Abies. From the Subboreal onwards: Fagus expanded and slowly largely replaced Abies. The mire developed from a fen to a raised bug. The mountain pine (Pinus mugo ssp. rotundata) on the present-daf bog surface is a result of medieval burning. Cereal pollen are first recorded in the Neolithic (7600 cal. B.P.) and there is a closed curve for Plantago lanceolata - a good indicator of human impact - since the Bronze Age (4000 cal. B.P.). On the basis of the cereal pollen record nine human impact phases (HIP) are described. HIP 1 and 2, which are short, date to ca, 7600 and 6700 cat. B.P., respectively, in a mixed oak forest context and are characterized by declines in Corylus Tilia, Ulmus and by Salix (but no major deforestation) and peaks in charcoal and loss-on-ignition curves, HIP 3 and 4, which are short and weak, date to ca. 6000 and 5300 cat. B.P., respectively, and occur in the context of an Abies alba forest, The Bronze Age and Iron Age HIPs 5-7 are more intense and of longer duration than the Neolithic phases and result in a decline in Abies and an increase in Fagus. The early medieval HIP 8, although rather weak, probably finds expression also in an archaeological artefact, namely a dug-out boat from the near-by Schluchsee. Finally, the late Medieval HIP 9 resulted in a major transformation in the landscape. It is argued that the earlier HIPs are not a reflection of distant events in the lowland valleys of the Rhine, Danube or Neckar but reflect more or less local developments.