Neolithic settlement at Pleszów and changes in the natural environment in the Vistula Valley = Osadnictwo neolityczne w Pleszowie i zmiany środowiska przyrodniczego w dolinie Wisły

Godłowska, Marta; Kozłowski, Janusz K. (1937– ); Starkel, Leszek (1931– ); Wasylikowa, Krystyna (1932– )

doi:0079-7138

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Neolithic settlement at Pleszów and changes in the natural environment in the Vistula Valley = Osadnictwo neolityczne w Pleszowie i zmiany środowiska przyrodniczego w dolinie Wisły

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Title: Neolithic settlement at Pleszów and changes in the natural environment in the Vistula Valley = Osadnictwo neolityczne w Pleszowie i zmiany środowiska przyrodniczego w dolinie Wisły

Abstract:

The development of neolithic settlement on the loess terrace at Pleszów induced considerable changes in the natural environment. Pollen diagrams from the oxbow lake at the foot of the terrace show seven settlement phases which have been correlated with successive cultural phases. Palynological settlement phase I, dated before 4100 ±40 or 4305±40 b.c., links with the Music-note phase of the Linear Pottery culture; pollen phase II with the dates of 4035±50, 3960±40 and 3955±40 b.c., coincides with the Želiezovce phase. The most distinct pollen phases III and IV, delimited by the dates 3880±40 and 3430±60 b.c., correspond to the Lengyel culture settlement at Pleszów. Settlement phase V dated to 3430±60 B.C., falls probably during the time lapse when the Lengyel culture population shifted ca 2 km west to site 62 (Mogiła). Pollen phases VI (prior to 2805±35 b.c.) and VII (after 2805±35 b.c.),weakly discernible in the pollen diagram may be associated with the occupation of small settlements of the Funnel Beaker culture. Agricultural strategies of these communities consisted in land rotation: small areas were cleared by burning forest stands (and probably hazel thickets too), cereals were cultivated for a time, then the fields were abandoned and cultivation transferred to new clearances. Some of the fallows were never recultivated facilitating forest recovery, while others were used as pastures hindering the spread of trees and shrubs. Land rotation extended over all kinds of landscape, from the valley to the loess terrace plateau. The descent of cultivation into the valley floor and subsequent recession were determined by fluctuations of the water level. Destruction of the original vegetation cover on the loess terrace brought on the processes of slopewash ca 3880 b.c. The increase of their intensity ca 2800 b.c. led to the fossilization of the paleochannel at the foot of the loess terrace