Impacts and timing of the first human settlement on vegetation of the Faroe Islands

Stratigraphically precise AMS-radiocarbon-dated plant remains, pollen, char coal, and microtephra analyses from the Faroe Islands were used to establis h the timing and effects of the first human settlement. The first occurrenc e of cultivated crops from three locations dated from as early as the sixth century A.D. and was older than implied from previous archaeological and h istorical studies, but consistent with earlier palaeoecological investigati ons. The effects of settlement on the vegetation were rapid and widespread. The transformation of the flora of this fragile ecosystem was best express ed by the large assemblage of ruderal, postsettlement plants recorded as ma crofossils. The earliest known introduction of domestic animals (sheep/goat ) was ca. A.D. 700. Their arrival on these relatively small islands probabl y contributed to the widespread change in vegetation and the loss of restri cted native woody cover. Settlement was the critical disturbance that trans formed an ecosystem that was already stressed by climatic change, as sensed by regional marine sediments. The settlement dates conform to a pattern of older dates developing from throughout the north Atlantic region. (C) 2000 University of Washington.