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Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium

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Abstract
The results from analyses of botanical remains (pollen, wood, charcoal, seeds) from several archaeological features excavated in Kluizen (northern Belgium) are presented. The region was largely uninhabited until the Iron Age and Roman period when a rural settlement was established, resulting in small-scale woodland clearance. The site was subsequently abandoned fromc.AD 270 till the High Middle Ages. The results of the archaeological and archaeobotanical analyses provide information on changes in land use and resulting dynamics of woodland cover and composition betweenc.600 BC and AD 1200, with a spatial and temporal resolution unrivalled in northern Belgium. Especially the long period of woodland regeneration following abandonment of the site around AD 270, covering the Late Roman and Early Medieval period, could be reconstructed in detail. Abandoned fields were first covered with pioneer woodland (Salix,CorylusandBetula), thenQuercus-dominated secondary forest and finally a late-successional forest withFagus sylvatica,Carpinus betulusandIlex aquifolium, an evolution that took over 300 years. The results also indicate that the observed increase ofFagusduring the Early Middle Ages, which was never an important element in the woodland vegetation in northern Belgium before, was related to climatic changes rather than anthropogenic factors.
Keywords
Dark Ages, Early Middle Ages, Fagus sylvatica, forest regeneration, forest succession, Roman period, QUATERNARY SEDIMENTS, HOLOCENE, FAGUS, REPRESENTATION, VEGETATION, SELECTION

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MLA
Deforce, Koen, et al. “Dark Ages Woodland Recovery and the Expansion of Beech : A Study of Land Use Changes and Related Woodland Dynamics during the Roman to Medieval Transition Period in Northern Belgium.” NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW, vol. 99, 2020, doi:10.1017/njg.2020.11.
APA
Deforce, K., Bastiaens, J., Crombé, P., Deschepper, E., Haneca, K., Laloo, P., … De Clercq, W. (2020). Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium. NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW, 99. https://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2020.11
Chicago author-date
Deforce, Koen, Jan Bastiaens, Philippe Crombé, Ewoud Deschepper, Kristof Haneca, Pieter Laloo, Hans Van Calster, Gerben Verbrugghe, and Wim De Clercq. 2020. “Dark Ages Woodland Recovery and the Expansion of Beech : A Study of Land Use Changes and Related Woodland Dynamics during the Roman to Medieval Transition Period in Northern Belgium.” NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW 99. https://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2020.11.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Deforce, Koen, Jan Bastiaens, Philippe Crombé, Ewoud Deschepper, Kristof Haneca, Pieter Laloo, Hans Van Calster, Gerben Verbrugghe, and Wim De Clercq. 2020. “Dark Ages Woodland Recovery and the Expansion of Beech : A Study of Land Use Changes and Related Woodland Dynamics during the Roman to Medieval Transition Period in Northern Belgium.” NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW 99. doi:10.1017/njg.2020.11.
Vancouver
1.
Deforce K, Bastiaens J, Crombé P, Deschepper E, Haneca K, Laloo P, et al. Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium. NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW. 2020;99.
IEEE
[1]
K. Deforce et al., “Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium,” NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW, vol. 99, 2020.
@article{8671423,
  abstract     = {{The results from analyses of botanical remains (pollen, wood, charcoal, seeds) from several archaeological features excavated in Kluizen (northern Belgium) are presented. The region was largely uninhabited until the Iron Age and Roman period when a rural settlement was established, resulting in small-scale woodland clearance. The site was subsequently abandoned fromc.AD 270 till the High Middle Ages. The results of the archaeological and archaeobotanical analyses provide information on changes in land use and resulting dynamics of woodland cover and composition betweenc.600 BC and AD 1200, with a spatial and temporal resolution unrivalled in northern Belgium. Especially the long period of woodland regeneration following abandonment of the site around AD 270, covering the Late Roman and Early Medieval period, could be reconstructed in detail. Abandoned fields were first covered with pioneer woodland (Salix,CorylusandBetula), thenQuercus-dominated secondary forest and finally a late-successional forest withFagus sylvatica,Carpinus betulusandIlex aquifolium, an evolution that took over 300 years. The results also indicate that the observed increase ofFagusduring the Early Middle Ages, which was never an important element in the woodland vegetation in northern Belgium before, was related to climatic changes rather than anthropogenic factors.}},
  articleno    = {{e12}},
  author       = {{Deforce, Koen and Bastiaens, Jan and Crombé, Philippe and Deschepper, Ewoud and Haneca, Kristof and Laloo, Pieter and Van Calster, Hans and Verbrugghe, Gerben and De Clercq, Wim}},
  issn         = {{0016-7746}},
  journal      = {{NETHERLANDS JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCES-GEOLOGIE EN MIJNBOUW}},
  keywords     = {{Dark Ages,Early Middle Ages,Fagus sylvatica,forest regeneration,forest succession,Roman period,QUATERNARY SEDIMENTS,HOLOCENE,FAGUS,REPRESENTATION,VEGETATION,SELECTION}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{16}},
  title        = {{Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2020.11}},
  volume       = {{99}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

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