S. Thiebault, EARLY-HOLOCENE VEGETATION AND THE HUMAN IMPACT IN CENTRAL PROVENCE (VAR, FRANCE) - CHARCOAL ANALYSIS OF THE BAUME DE FONTBREGOUA, Holocene, 7(3), 1997, pp. 343-349
In order to reconstruct the history of the arboreal vegetation in cent
ral Provence (southeast France), charcoal analysis was undertaken on t
he charred remains excavated in the prehistoric settlement of Fontbreg
oua. The results allow us to understand the evolution of vegetation du
ring the first four millennia of the Holocene. After an open vegetatio
n typical of the beginning of the Holocene, there follows a deciduous
oak vegetation with Pinus halepensis prevalent at an early stage. The
emergence and the development of vegetation in which Pinus halepensis
and Quercus cf. pubescens dominate one after the other relate to human
occupation and pastoral activities during the middle Neolithic.