MANAGEMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL WOODS AND VARIATIONS IN POPULATION-DENSITY IN THE 4TH AND 3RD MILLENNIA BC (LAKE-CHALAIN AND LAKE-CLAINVAUX, JURA, FRANCE)

Because the stability of the anaerobic conditions in littoral environm ents has been favorable to the conservation of wood, vegetal fibers, s eeds, and pollen, these locations today provide us with almost unequal led data for the study of the history of relations between agricultura l communities and their transformations of the environment through the repercussions of repeated forest clearing. Starting from a specific c ase study (the littoral Neolithic villages of lakes Chalain and Clairv aux in the Jura), we will try to determine and follow the evolution of materials used for domestic architecture, which was entirely construc ted of wood; the question is to determine what is truly intentional hu man choice and management of the forest and what is due to natural con straints imposed by progressive modification of the forest under the i mpact of extensive clearance, the temporary bringing of areas under cu ltivation, and the increase in the abundance of livestock. Finally, be yond this case study, we must ask ourselves what are the more general constraints which can explain the nonlinear evolution of the forest en vironment, driven by the relative expansion or diminution of the areas covered by cereal agriculture. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.