Aim: We investigate the response of vegetation composition and plant diversity to increasing land clearance, burning and agriculture at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition (c. 6400–5000 bc) when first farming was introduced.

Location: The Valais, a dry alpine valley in Switzerland.

Methods: We combine high-resolution pollen, microscopic charcoal and sedimentological data to reconstruct past vegetation, fire and land use. Pollen evenness, rarefaction-based and accumulation-based palynological richness analyses were used to reconstruct past trends in plant diversity.

Results: Our results show that from c. 5500 cal. yr bc, slash-and-burn activities created a more open landscape for agriculture, at the expense of Pinus and Betula forests. Land clearance by slash-and-burn promoted diverse grassland ecosystems, while on the long term it reduced woodland and forest diversity, affecting important tree species such as Ulmus and Tilia.

Main conclusions: Understanding the resilience of Alpine ecosystems to past disturbance variability is relevant for future nature conservation plans. Our study suggests that forecasted land abandonment in the Alps will lead to pre-Neolithic conditions, with significant biodiversity losses in abandoned grassland ecosystems. Thus, management measures for biodiversity, such as ecological compensation areas, are needed in agricultural landscapes with a millennial history of human impact, such as the non-boreal European lowlands. Our study supports the hypothesis that species coexistence is maximized at an intermediate level of disturbances. For instance, species richness decreased when fire exceeded the quasi-natural variability observed during the Mesolithic times. Under a more natural disturbance regime, rather closed Pinus sylvestris and mixed oak forests would prevail.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2012.00930.x

Changes in biodiversity and vegetation composition in the central Swiss Alps during the transition from pristine forest to first farming

Summary 1. The resilience, diversity and stability of mountain ecosystems are threatened by climatic as well as land-use changes, but the combined effects of these drivers are only poorly understood. 2. We combine two high-resolution sediment records from Iffigsee (2065 m a.s.l.) and Lauenensee (1382 m a.s.l.) at different elevations in the Northern Swiss Alps to provide a detailed history of vegetational changes during the period of first pastoralism (ca. 7000–5000 cal. BP, 5000–3000 BC) in order to understand ongoing and future changes in mountain ecosystems. 3. We use palaeoecological methods (fossil pollen, spore, microscopic charcoal and macrofossil analysis) as well as ecological ordination techniques and time-series analysis to quantify the impact of fire and grazing on natural mountain vegetation at Iffigsee. 4. Fire was used by Neolithic people to create pastures at timberline and clear forests for arable farming in the valley. This had a significant, long-term effect on the mountain vegetation and a negative impact on keystone forest species such as Abies alba, Larix decidua and Pinus cembra. 5. The mass expansion of Picea abies at ca. 5500 cal. BP (ca. 3500 BC) was facilitated by anthropogenic disturbance (fire, grazing and logging) causing an irreversible decline in Abies alba. Temperate Abies alba forests, which existed under warmer-than-today conditions, might be better adapted to projected climate change than today’s drought-sensitive Picea abies forests, especially under low anthropogenic disturbance following land abandonment. 6. Synthesis. Human impact for millennia has shaped mountain vegetation in the Alps and still continues to have a large effect on today’s species composition and distribution. Fire and traditional pastoralism have the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change, maintain species-rich highalpine meadows and prevent biodiversity losses.

/pdf/early-human-impact-5000-3000-bc-affects-mountain-forest-tmlejv315r.pdf

Early human impact (5000–3000 BC) affects mountain forest dynamics in the Alps

The European high Alps are internationally renowned for their dairy produce, which are of huge cultural and economic significance to the region. Although the recent history of alpine dairying has been well studied, virtually nothing is known regarding the origins of this practice. This is due to poor preservation of high altitude archaeological sites and the ephemeral nature of transhumance economic practices. Archaeologists have suggested that stone structures that appear around 3,000 years ago are associated with more intense seasonal occupation of the high Alps and perhaps the establishment of new economic strategies. Here, we report on organic residue analysis of small fragments of pottery sherds that are occasionally preserved both at these sites and earlier prehistoric rock-shelters. Based mainly on isotopic criteria, dairy lipids could only be identified on ceramics from the stone structures, which date to the Iron Age (ca. 3,000-2,500 BP), providing the earliest evidence of this practice in the high Alps. Dairy production in such a marginal environment implies a high degree of risk even by today's standards. We postulate that this practice was driven by population increase and climate deterioration that put pressure on lowland agropastoral systems and the establishment of more extensive trade networks, leading to greater demand for highly nutritious and transportable dairy products.

/pdf/chemical-analysis-of-pottery-demonstrates-prehistoric-origin-1sadk5s3ct.pdf

Chemical Analysis of Pottery Demonstrates Prehistoric Origin for High-Altitude Alpine Dairying.

Vertical mobility around the high-alpine Schnidejoch Pass. Indications of Neolithic and Bronze Age pastoralism in the Swiss Alps from paleoecological and archaeological sources

Alpine cattle management during the Bronze Age at Ramosch-Mottata, Switzerland

SUMMARY - Prehistoric settlement in middle and high altitudes in the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais-Vaud, Switzerland): A summary of twenty years of research - This paper presents the different stages of research that lead to the understanding of prehistoric settlement in the Upper Rhone Valley, from the Early Mesolithic to historical times. It summarizes twenty years of research in the regions of Valais and Chablais (Switzerland): 1985-1987: theoretical model and early fieldwork; 1992-1997: further excavations on reference sites; 1998-2005: new field surveys and new data . First, we present the details of the fieldwork carried out and, in particular, the problems encountered in middle and high altitudes (survey techniques, reliability of the data). After 20 years, a more refined model has been developed with the only weak point being the lack of understanding of settlements in the middle altitudes. After the end of the last Ice Age, Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic hunters colonised the Rhone Valley by two different routes: over the high mountain passes in eastern Valais (connecting northern Italy) and by the Lower Rhone Valley in the west (connecting Lake Geneva). Early Neolithic culture spread to Valais over mountain passes linking the Alps with the Po Valley, possibly by grazing small herds in high pastures in summer. The Bronze Age reveals a strong demographic development indirectly linked to the exploitation of copper deposits. Later, the mountain passes played an increasingly important role. In particular, during the Iron Age, the relations between the Etruscan and Celtic societies influenced the organi sation of alpine communities. Subsequently, connections to the south became more established and developed with Cisalpine Gaul, until Valais was integrated into the Roman Empire. The evolution of the economic management of the vegetational belts led to the establishment, at least in certain regions, of permanent settlements in the mountain belt during the Iron Age.

/pdf/prehistoric-settlement-in-middle-and-high-altitudes-in-the-bzhbr5ug92.pdf

Prehistoric settlement in middle and high altitudes in the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais-Vaud, Switzerland): a summary of twenty years of research

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Prehistoric settlement in middle and high altitudes in the Upper Rhone Valley (Valais-Vaud, Switzerland): a summary of twenty years of research