Modelling vegetation cover and wetland expansion in the Lower Thames Valley, UK: Multi-proxy records from Littlebrook Power Station, Kent
Modelling vegetation cover and wetland expansion in the Lower Thames Valley, UK: Multi-proxy records from Littlebrook Power Station, Kent
The interaction of ‘natural’ environmental processes and human activity in shaping landscapes is vividly illustrated in the Lower Thames Valley, UK. Through development-led (geo)archaeological investigations, intensifying redevelopment of this (currently) industrial landscape presents opportunities to gain long-term perspectives on these processes and to investigate the timing and extent of human impact on the environment in the past. This paper describes a novel multi-method approach undertaken at the former Littlebrook Power Station, Kent, comprising landscape-scale deposit modelling, multi-proxy palaeo-environmental analysis and vegetation cover reconstruction using REVEALS to produce schematic landscape reconstruction maps. Micropaleontological data reveal variable estuarine/freshwater influence, which alongside longer-term trends towards rising relative sea level drove lateral expansion of wetlands through the Holocene. Pollen-derived vegetation models show Early Holocene dense forest cover reduced to ∼55 per cent by 7–8 kyr BP followed by a step-change to grassland dominance in the early Bronze Age. Since grassland expansion was not proportionate to modelled expansion of wetlands but was associated with increased pastoral indicators, an anthropogenic cause of the deforestation in the Bronze Age is probable. This paper highlights the value of combining geoarchaeological data with novel modelling approaches to visualise ancient landscapes and thereby offer long-term perspectives on landscape-scale human-environment interactions.
Geoarchaeology, Holocene, Lower Thames, palaeo-topography, pollen, vegetation cover modelling
99-122
Stastney, Phil
8f222b3a-ff3c-45f4-89a2-ba1a0980f0a0
Scaife, Rob
b258b25f-818e-4f20-aad8-bc17e170e6b5
Giorgi, John
2ce239b4-c0f5-4c57-bb44-442574342caf
Whittaker, John E.
9bcd8d62-8c95-4823-9de5-f781afa7a0ed
17 March 2022
Stastney, Phil
8f222b3a-ff3c-45f4-89a2-ba1a0980f0a0
Scaife, Rob
b258b25f-818e-4f20-aad8-bc17e170e6b5
Giorgi, John
2ce239b4-c0f5-4c57-bb44-442574342caf
Whittaker, John E.
9bcd8d62-8c95-4823-9de5-f781afa7a0ed
Stastney, Phil, Scaife, Rob, Giorgi, John and Whittaker, John E.
(2022)
Modelling vegetation cover and wetland expansion in the Lower Thames Valley, UK: Multi-proxy records from Littlebrook Power Station, Kent.
Landscapes, 22 (2), .
(doi:10.1080/14662035.2021.2042050).
Abstract
The interaction of ‘natural’ environmental processes and human activity in shaping landscapes is vividly illustrated in the Lower Thames Valley, UK. Through development-led (geo)archaeological investigations, intensifying redevelopment of this (currently) industrial landscape presents opportunities to gain long-term perspectives on these processes and to investigate the timing and extent of human impact on the environment in the past. This paper describes a novel multi-method approach undertaken at the former Littlebrook Power Station, Kent, comprising landscape-scale deposit modelling, multi-proxy palaeo-environmental analysis and vegetation cover reconstruction using REVEALS to produce schematic landscape reconstruction maps. Micropaleontological data reveal variable estuarine/freshwater influence, which alongside longer-term trends towards rising relative sea level drove lateral expansion of wetlands through the Holocene. Pollen-derived vegetation models show Early Holocene dense forest cover reduced to ∼55 per cent by 7–8 kyr BP followed by a step-change to grassland dominance in the early Bronze Age. Since grassland expansion was not proportionate to modelled expansion of wetlands but was associated with increased pastoral indicators, an anthropogenic cause of the deforestation in the Bronze Age is probable. This paper highlights the value of combining geoarchaeological data with novel modelling approaches to visualise ancient landscapes and thereby offer long-term perspectives on landscape-scale human-environment interactions.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 11 February 2021
Published date: 17 March 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The work presented in this article was funded by Bericote Properties Ltd and commissioned from MOLA by RPS Consulting Ltd. The project was managed for MOLA by Craig Halsey and Mike Tetreau. The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and support received from Simon Mortimer and Richard Conolly of RPS Group and Casper Johnson of Kent County Council. Thanks are also due to Graham Spurr and all at the MOLA Geoarchaeology team. The authors thank the anonymous peer reviewers whose helpful comments have helped improve an earlier draft of this paper. Lidar DTM data utilised contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
Geoarchaeology, Holocene, Lower Thames, palaeo-topography, pollen, vegetation cover modelling
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 472369
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472369
ISSN: 1466-2035
PURE UUID: 5775542f-93b1-4c88-9ed8-17de787cba03
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Date deposited: 02 Dec 2022 17:43
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 17:12
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Contributors
Author:
Phil Stastney
Author:
John Giorgi
Author:
John E. Whittaker
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