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SUMMARY:*CANCELLED* Lives in the landscape: translating pollen records int
 o understandings of land cover and landscape resources in the British Neol
 ithic - Dr Jane Bunting\, University of Hull
DTSTART:20190524T121500Z
DTEND:20190524T130000Z
UID:TALK124192@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Emily Tilby
DESCRIPTION:Pollen records are a key tool for understanding past environme
 nts\, but pollen diagrams are dense and confusing to the uninitiated\, and
  often interpreted simply in terms of a narrative of landscape evolution. 
  Because pollen is small and designed for dispersal in the environment\, s
 edimentary archives of pollen record not just the story of the local sedim
 ents\, but also the changing patterns of plants growing in the wider lands
 cape\, allowing us to reconstruct the movement of biomes in response to ch
 anging climates and the evolution of cultural landscapes as humans interac
 t with and modify the world around them.    But because the transport of s
 mall particles into sedimentary systems is complex and plant reproduction 
 strategies highly varied\, translating pollen diagrams into more quantitat
 ive measures of past land cover is not a trivial problem\, and indeed has 
 been an ongoing concern for palynologists since the start of the disciplin
 e.  Advances in both concepts and computing over the last couple of decade
 s\, and the engagement of a small and active research community through in
 ternational networks from PolLandCal (2001-2005) to the current PAGES Land
 cover6k working group (2015-2021)\, have led to the development of several
  methods for translating pollen data into different\, accessible formats -
  numerical estimates of different aspects of land cover (e.g. % of woodlan
 d versus open land) or maps of probable land cover.  These approaches open
  up new opportunities for true multidisciplinary collaboration and hypothe
 sis testing with climate modellers\, archaeologists and ecologists.  In th
 is talk\, I'll introduce some of the new ways we can translate pollen diag
 rams into past landcover\, using examples from the Neolithic in Britain an
 d Ireland to look at what we can - and can't - do\, and where the research
  might go next.
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research\, D
 owning Site
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