Human-Environment Interactions Within the Landscape Mosaic of the Central European Section of the Dune Belt in the Light of Palaeobotanical Studies (Włoszczowa Basin, Southern Poland)

The study aimed to trace the impact of settlement and farming by cultures in the Late Holocene on the landscape mosaic of the eastern part of the Włoszczowa Basin in southern Poland. Despite the presence of many different cultures, settlement there was much sparser than in neighbouring areas. This was influenced by the small size and fragmented nature of fertile soil patches and was reflected in the minor scale and reversible nature of environmental changes, which were limited to the immediate vicinity of settlements. No deforestation or changes in the composition of forest species were recorded. Pollen spectra made it possible to distinguish several phases of intensified settlement and environmental pressure. The first traces of settlement date back to the Younger Neolithic, and a marked increase in indicators of human activity was recorded at the end of that period. Intensified human activity in the region was also recorded in the second half of the Bronze Age, which can be attributed to settlements of the Lusatian culture, as well as during the period of Roman influence when the Przeworsk culture emerged. Clear evidence of human impact on the environment and landscape was only recorded in the Early Middle Ages.