In the 4th millennium cal BC the hinterlands of Ljubljansko barje basin were covered by beech-fir (Abies-Fagus) and mixed oak (Quercus) forests. People of several Eneolithic cultural groups were ...cutting/burning forests to open the landscape for fields and pastures. This paper focuses on high-resolution palynological analyses of pile-dwelling settlements Maharski prekop, Stare gmajne and Blatna Brezovica to investigate human impact on the vegetation, and to compare past economy and vegetation history in various parts of Ljubljansko barje. The results revealed that there were no major changes of vegetation throughout the 4th millennium cal. BC, neither were there any major differences between vegetation of the selected study sites. Cultural layers from archaeological sites (in larger quantities than off-site cores) contain pollen of plants that were brought to the settlement by people: cereals and other cultivars (Cereal t., Linum), weeds (Centaurea), grazing indicators (Plantago lanceolata, Campanula, Ranunculaceae), ruderal taxa (Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia), (gathered) shrubs (Corylus) and herbs. Traces of anthropogenic impacts from older settlements were detected in sediments below archaeological cultural layers at all study sites.
We present the results of a plant macroremain study of the late Neolithic lakeshore settlement Stare gmajne (SG) at Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia, with cultural horizons that ended around 3330 and 3110 ...cal. B.C., as obtained by dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of the most frequent construction timbers of Quercus sp. (oak) and Fraxinus sp. (ash). Fourteen systematically taken samples were investigated, using standard methods for studying waterlogged plant remains, which had been developed during lake dwelling research north of the Alps. Most of the remains were preserved in a waterlogged state, and we identified a total of 93 taxa. The most important cultivated plants were Triticum dicoccum (emmer), Hordeum vulgare (six-rowed naked barley), T. monococcum (einkorn), Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Papaver somniferum (opium poppy). The numerous possibly gathered plants also included Trapa natans (water chestnut) and Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris (wild grapevine). Chenopodium album (goosefoot) and Brassica rapa (turnip) with seeds/fruits rich in oil and starch were probably gathered as well. Comparisons of the Stare gmajne results with contemporary north Alpine sites (NA) showed, among other things, that Triticum durum/turgidum (tetraploid naked wheat), frequent at NA, was not found at SG. Trapa natans (water chestnut) was rare and Vitis (grapevine) was not found at NA. The observed differences in the wild plant spectra may have ecological causes, for example a warmer climate south of the Alps, but differences in cultivar spectra are more likely for cultural-historical reasons.
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