Regional and local vegetation histories based on a palynological database from archaeological sites in Shiga Prefecture

Abstract

Regional- and local-scale vegetation histories are reconstructed based on a pollen database from archaeological sites in Shiga Prefecture. There are 891 pollen data from 60 archaeological sites in the database. The pollen database suggests that evergreen broadleaf forests mainly consisted of Quercus subg. Cyclobalanopsis in the Middle Jomon period, and that Cryptomeria japonica increased in the evergreen forests after the Late Jomon period. Pinus and Poaceae pollen began to increase after the Yayoi period, although evergreen broadleaf forests associated with Cryptomeria japonica were still dominant. After the Kamakura period, Pinus pollen became significantly dominant. Temporal and spatial distributions in pollen data from each archaeological site indicate differences in local-scale vegetation and human use of forest resources.