Early Holocene bark-stripping damages as an indicator of large herbivores: Evidence from a submerged Mesolithic landscape in the Haväng area, southern Baltic basin
(2021) In The Holocene 31(11-12). p.1670-1680- Abstract
- A unique assemblage consisting of 113 pine samples collected from a submerged Mesolithic landscape in the Haväng area, southern Sweden, was examined to assess the presence of large herbivores, as well as changes in wild-game population density and composition. Bark-stripping damages on prehistoric trees is an extremely underutilized source of information about past game-population dynamics, yet our analyzes of wood samples – dated to around 10 500 cal. yr. BP – shows that such material can be successfully used to study the presence and activities of large herbivores, most likely ungulates. To evaluate our results, comparisons have been made with subfossil peatland trees that grew around 6000 years ago, as well as trees from two present day... (More)
- A unique assemblage consisting of 113 pine samples collected from a submerged Mesolithic landscape in the Haväng area, southern Sweden, was examined to assess the presence of large herbivores, as well as changes in wild-game population density and composition. Bark-stripping damages on prehistoric trees is an extremely underutilized source of information about past game-population dynamics, yet our analyzes of wood samples – dated to around 10 500 cal. yr. BP – shows that such material can be successfully used to study the presence and activities of large herbivores, most likely ungulates. To evaluate our results, comparisons have been made with subfossil peatland trees that grew around 6000 years ago, as well as trees from two present day clearcut logging sites in southern Sweden. Furthermore, studies in a wild-game reserve were performed to recognize and understand different types of damages on trees caused by ungulates. Bark-stripping indicate the presence of ungulates, and the rate of damage is commonly associated with the density of the wild game. Bark-stripping was most frequently observed in the submerged wood material from the early Holocene, where damages were detected in 15% of the trees. In comparisons, 11% of the mid-Holocene trees show bark-stripping damages, whereas marks could be detected in the range between 0% and 6% of the trees from the two present-day clearcut logging sites. Our results show that tree-ring analyzes of prehistoric wood can generate information about wild-game dynamics of the past, and thereby being a valuable complement to more commonly used paleoecological and zooarcheological records. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2fea36db-d046-4642-9984-9d4f7629b8b6
- author
- Edvardsson, Johannes LU ; Magnell, Ola ; Hansson, Anton LU ; Linderson, Hans LU ; Sjöström, Arne LU and Nilsson, Björn LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-07-14
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Bark-stripping, Dendrochronology, Mesolithic, Ungulates, south Scandinavia, submerged landscapes, wild game
- in
- The Holocene
- volume
- 31
- issue
- 11-12
- pages
- 1670 - 1680
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85110129156
- ISSN
- 0959-6836
- DOI
- 10.1177/09596836211033213
- project
- Blue Archaeology. Assembling the cultural and natural heritage of submerged Stone-Age Seascapes in Sweden
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2fea36db-d046-4642-9984-9d4f7629b8b6
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-30 08:59:34
- date last changed
- 2022-07-07 08:28:44
@article{2fea36db-d046-4642-9984-9d4f7629b8b6,
abstract = {{A unique assemblage consisting of 113 pine samples collected from a submerged Mesolithic landscape in the Haväng area, southern Sweden, was examined to assess the presence of large herbivores, as well as changes in wild-game population density and composition. Bark-stripping damages on prehistoric trees is an extremely underutilized source of information about past game-population dynamics, yet our analyzes of wood samples – dated to around 10 500 cal. yr. BP – shows that such material can be successfully used to study the presence and activities of large herbivores, most likely ungulates. To evaluate our results, comparisons have been made with subfossil peatland trees that grew around 6000 years ago, as well as trees from two present day clearcut logging sites in southern Sweden. Furthermore, studies in a wild-game reserve were performed to recognize and understand different types of damages on trees caused by ungulates. Bark-stripping indicate the presence of ungulates, and the rate of damage is commonly associated with the density of the wild game. Bark-stripping was most frequently observed in the submerged wood material from the early Holocene, where damages were detected in 15% of the trees. In comparisons, 11% of the mid-Holocene trees show bark-stripping damages, whereas marks could be detected in the range between 0% and 6% of the trees from the two present-day clearcut logging sites. Our results show that tree-ring analyzes of prehistoric wood can generate information about wild-game dynamics of the past, and thereby being a valuable complement to more commonly used paleoecological and zooarcheological records.}},
author = {{Edvardsson, Johannes and Magnell, Ola and Hansson, Anton and Linderson, Hans and Sjöström, Arne and Nilsson, Björn}},
issn = {{0959-6836}},
keywords = {{Bark-stripping; Dendrochronology; Mesolithic; Ungulates; south Scandinavia; submerged landscapes; wild game}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
number = {{11-12}},
pages = {{1670--1680}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{The Holocene}},
title = {{Early Holocene bark-stripping damages as an indicator of large herbivores: Evidence from a submerged Mesolithic landscape in the Haväng area, southern Baltic basin}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596836211033213}},
doi = {{10.1177/09596836211033213}},
volume = {{31}},
year = {{2021}},
}