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Abstract

This paper provides a context for the use of anthropogenic palynology in the study of landscape and land use. Retrospective considerations indicate a history to current trends and inform future developments. Recent and prospective studies secure palynology as an essential element in archaeological and related environmental research. It is stressed that palynology is an inherently spatio-temporal discipline that can use concepts such as landscape or habitat heterogeneity as a future framework. This may be possible if recent advances in quantification of local vegetation cover, for example the use of model-based correction approaches within the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, are more widely applied. This may necessitate a change in how palynologists approach landscape sampling in order to produce sufficient clusters of sites. Land use is a key focus for the archaeologist, and existing interpretive frameworks remain well-suited to addressing questions of land use, land-use change and land-use intensity. Nevertheless, there is the prospect of improved taxonomic resolution on the horizon through the use of artificial intelligence, DNA and chemical approaches to taxonomic recognition. Equally, integrating pollen datasets into model testing and simulation may become more central to our methodologies. Such innovation will necessitate collaborative working with other disciplines and will ensure that anthropogenic palynology continues to make significant contributions to major research challenges.

Publication Date

2025-01-01

Publication Title

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volume

179

ISSN

0305-4403

Acceptance Date

2025-04-09

Deposit Date

2025-04-22

Funding

We would like to thank Marcos Martinon-Torres and Efthymia Nikita for the kind invitation to contribute to this 50th anniversary volume. The comments of the anonymous referees were much appreciated. RMF acknowledges the support of the Synergy project \u2018COREX: From Correlations to Explanations: towards a new European prehistory\u2019 funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement no. 95138). We would like to thank Marcos Martinon-Torres and Efthymia Nikita for the kind invitation to contribute to this 50 th anniversary volume. The comments of the anonymous referees were much appreciated. RMF acknowledges the support of the Synergy project \u2018COREX: From Correlations to Explanations: towards a new European prehistory\u2019 funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement no. 95138).

Keywords

Land-use change, Landscape heterogeneity, Modelling, Palynology

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