Palaeoenvironmental conditions and associated human habitation dynamics over the Holocene in the north-eastern Romanian lowlands derived from palaeoenvironmental and archaelogical archives

Abstract

The human activities have had an impact on global land cover and climate for millennia and the climatic and environmental conditions have always been main factors for human settlement dynamics. This study builds on a record of environmental history derived from the investigation of sediments recovered from the Dersca-Lozna fen, that could explain the context for human habitation dynamics over the Holocene in the north-eastern Romanian lowlands. To assess palaeoenvironmental changes in the area, we derived downcore lithostratigraphic information, bulk density and humidity values over a continuous time window that spans the last ca. 12000 years. To reconstruct the dynamics of human habitation, we surveyed published archaeological studies and traces of human settlement in the area.