DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.11.004
Scopus记录号: 2-s2.0-84913534742
论文题名: Firewood, food and human niche construction: The potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands
作者: Bishop R.R. ; Church M.J. ; Rowley-Conwy P.A.
刊名: Quaternary Science Reviews
ISSN: 2773791
出版年: 2015
卷: 108 起始页码: 51
结束页码: 75
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Charcoal
; Fire ecology
; Firewood selection
; Human niche construction
; Mesolithic
; Scotland
Scopus关键词: Charcoal
; Fuels
; Plants (botany)
; Fire ecology
; Firewood selection
; Management IS
; Mesolithic
; Scotland
; Vegetation management
; Ecology
; deciduous tree
; fire history
; fuelwood
; hunter-gatherer
; Mesolithic
; nut
; woodland
; Scotland
; United Kingdom
英文摘要: Over the past few decades the potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively constructing their own niches, through the management of wild plants, has frequently been discussed. It is probable that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers systematically exploited specific woodland resources for food and fuel and influenced the 'natural' abundance or distribution of particular species within Mesolithic environments. Though there has been considerable discussion of the pollen evidence for potential small-scale human-woodland manipulation in Mesolithic Scotland, the archaeobotanical evidence for anthropogenic firewood and food selection has not been discussed in this context. This paper assesses the evidence for the active role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities in systematically exploiting and managing woodlands for food and fuel in Scotland. While taphonomic factors may have impacted on the frequency of specific species in archaeobotanical assemblages, it is suggested that hunter-gatherers in Mesolithic Scotland were systematically using woodland plants, and in particular hazel and oak, for food and fuel. It is argued that the pollen evidence for woodland management is equivocal, but hints at the role of hunter-gatherers in shaping the structure of their environments, through the maintenance or creation of woodland clearings for settlement or as part of vegetation management strategies. It is proposed that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers may have actively contributed to niche construction and that the systematic use of hazel and oak as a fuel may reflect the deliberate pruning of hazel trees to increase nut-yields and the inadvertent - or perhaps deliberate - coppicing of hazel and oak during greenwood collection. © 2014 Durham University. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/60052
Appears in Collections: 过去全球变化的重建
There are no files associated with this item.
作者单位: Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
Recommended Citation:
Bishop R.R.,Church M.J.,Rowley-Conwy P.A.. Firewood, food and human niche construction: The potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews,2015-01-01,108