Maps From Mud—Using the Multiple Scenario Approach to Reconstruct Land Cover Dynamics From Pollen Records: A Case Study of Two Neolithic Landscapes

A novel approach using the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) reveals that Neolithisation had persistent and subtle impacts on land cover, even during periods of lower archaeological activity. The study introduces LandPolFlow, a software package that combines landscape constraints with probabilistic models to reconstruct past land cover from pollen records. Applied to two contrasting Neolithic landscapes—one wetland-dominated in Somerset and the other treeless in Orkney—the research demonstrates how this method can statistically identify plausible scenarios of past vegetation. By grouping pollen data into 200-year 'timeslices,' it provides a dynamic reconstruction of land cover changes, offering new insights into human-landscape interactions during the Neolithic period.

Bunting, M. J., Farrell, M., Bayliss, A., Marshall, P., & Whittle, A. (2018). Maps From Mud—Using the Multiple Scenario Approach to Reconstruct Land Cover Dynamics From Pollen Records: A Case Study of Two Neolithic Landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00036