_ . _
-WENDY EISNER - HANS
KAMERMANS - ALEX T. WYMSTRA
THE AGRO PONTINO SURVEY:
RESULTS FROM A FIRST POLLEN CORE
Estratto da Dialoghi di Archeologia,n. 2, 1986
EDIZIONI QUASAR
5 . METODl DELLA RICERC1 SUL TERRITORfO E MODULI DIIN5EDlAMENTO
THE AGRO PONTINO SURVEY: RESULTS FROM A FIRST POLLEN CORE
Wendy Eisner, Ham Kamermans
&
Alex T Wymstra*
I. Introduction
Over the pas~ decades theory and praccice in archaeology have shifted coward more regional and system;ltic approaches. Nowadays the major goal of research projects is more often than not the understanding of the socio-economic processes that pro-duced the observable archaeological record of a region. The alms of archaeological surveys have changed accordingly. Surveys orren do not concentrate anymore on ',{tnding sites», but instead on ob-taining a picture, be it a rough one, of tbe spatial and temporal vari:J.tionsin human organization from rhe distribution of materials available in larger regions, and rhus are complementary co flne-grained excavation activities. A variety of survey methods, adapted to differing goals and scopes, has been and is developed, as is shown, for example, in a recent BAR report (Kel1cr & Rupp, 1983).
The re.,ults of an archaeological survey cannot be sensibly understood, however,ifknowledge abouc the environmental set-ting and constraints in a region is not avaible as welt. This means th:1t at the beginni ng, or even before, an archaeological survey, information abouc the geology, the soils, the prehistoric vegeu-tion, etc., needs to be collected and processed.
In this paper we present the outline of an archaeological survey' along these lines and concentrate on che interpretation of palynological data in terms of - ch:tnge in - the vegetation in prehistOric times of the arEa under study.
The Albert Egges van Giffen Institute for Pre-and Prowhistory, University of Amsterdam, began an extensive archaeological survey program in the Agro PominD (Italy) in 1982. Preliminary work consLSled of two small surveys in June 1979 and June 1980 and che collection of material for palynological studies in June 1981. A major theme in the Agro Pontioo project is the development and evolution of prehistoric social systems in the area and the coo-maims imposedby che palaeoecological situ:ltions. The surveywilJ
document rhe distribution and density of archaeological sites
through time; palynological, pedologic;ll and geomorphological studies wiH be used to reconstruct pase environmental conditions in as much detail as possible in order co construct and test models for the evolution of land use, technology, and social organisation during prehistory. The land evaluation approach has been selected by the Agro Pontino survey project as a framework for synrhesiz.-ing the palaeoenvironmclHal data and for anaJyzsynrhesiz.-ing [he ar-chaeological data with regardtoprehisroric man land relalionships (Kamermans el al. 1985, 1986).
Land evaluation is a cechnique developed by che FAO and used in third world coumries for estimatiog the potential of land for alternative kinds of use (Beek 1978; Brinkman & Smith 197J~ Brinkman & Young 1976; Dem & Young 19B1;McRae &
Burn-ham 19B1).The definition is as fol.lows: «the processs of mllacing
and interpreting basic inventories of soil, vegetation, c1irn;ne and other aspects of land in order to identify and make a first com-parison of promising land use alternatives in simple soci()(;conomic terms» (Brinkman & Smith 1973: 7, figure 1). The basic fealure of land evaluation is the comparison of lhe requirements of I"nd use with che resources offered by the land. Land evaluation re-quires information from three sources: land, land use, and economics (Dent & Young 1981).
There are somc important differences (figure 1) for using land evaluation in archaeology. First, it is, of (Ourse, impossible co measure prehistoric land qualities directly; they have co be
reconstructed from data obtained by surveys of rtcem land characteristIcs. Second, lhe economic and social analysis of rhe
Jp-, W. Eisl1erJp-, former Jp-,t1Jdcnr of the Albcrl Eggcs van GiHen In't;'UUI "oor Prle - en Prmohistoric University of Amsccrdam (The NCtherlands); H. Kun<:rll1ans, lnsLi,ulll voor Prehisroric,Univcr~ilYof Leiden (The Nerherlands);A.T.Wymslra, Hugo de Vries Laboralorium, University of AmSlerOJm (The Ne[herl~nds)DOW
fig.1 .Sta~esinth" I.nclevaluationapproach in PhysicalGeD~raphy AndArchaeo· logy(Adapmj from Erinkm;\)'\& Young 1976).
proach as used in physical geography has ro be replaced by mo-dels of prehistoric socio-economic siruations. To construct these models i..n.formation on the ecological and technjcal requirements of different kinds of land useaswell asdata on the economic :tnd social conrexr has ro begenerared
by
using erhnographic, archaeo-logical aod historical sources. The outcome is an expected form of land use for every chosen socio-economic model. Third, the purpose of using rhe land evaluation approach in archaeology isto evaluare our model.s. The comparison of the expected form of land use with the archaeologically recorded land use provides a basis for modifyng rhe models. We repear this procedure until rbe outcome fits besr wirh the archaeological record.
In
the land evaluation approach our reconstructions of rhe pa-laeoenvironmenr are based upon basic surveys and arc currendy ~vailablefrom geology (Segre 1957b), pedoJogy (Sevink etal.1984), and the zoological material from excavations ill and around the Agro Pontino (Bienj 1984; Blanc & Segre 1953; Segre& Ascenzi 1956; Segre 1957a; Taschini 1964;lei 1953). Data from apalyno-logical survey of the area, however, are notab]y lacking, and it is this lack thar prompted the collection of the Mezzalu na pollen core (Eisner er al. 1984).
In this article, we first mention previous archaeological and eco· logical studies, and summarize the pedological evidence. We then present the analyrical resulrs of rhe Mezzaluna pollen core, rhe
first continuous core from the Tyrrhenian coast, and give three tentative reconstructions of the vegetation in the survey area for different rime periods using rhe present-day distriburion of soil cy-pes and the pollen data.
2. The Agm Pontino Survey
The Agro Pontino is a coastal plain, about 60 km long and 15 km wide, between Roma and Naples. Previous archaeological work indicares that the areahas been cominuouslyillhabitared since the Middle Palaeolirhic. The most important Palaeolithic sites are Ca-nale Mussolini (Blanc 1937; Blanc etaL 1957) and the oves in Mon-te Circeo (Blanc & Segre 1953). Surface scmers of PalacolithicIllm
rools are found
in
many parts of the plain (Bierti 1969; Blanc 1937, 1957; la Rosa 1984; Radmil1i 1974, 1978; Voorrips et a1. 1981). Mesolithic-Epipalaeolithic sites in the Agro Pontino are Grom ]olanda (Monri Lepi..ni) (lei 1953), Riparo Blanc on Monte Cir-ceo (Taschini 1964,1965,1968) and several surface sites (Bimi 1969; Muss; & lampeui 1978; Voorrips etal.
1981).The evidence for habitation during the Neolithic and Bronze Age is less well-documented. Neolithic ponery has been found at the Canale Mussolini(Blanc et al. 1957) and at some surface locarions (Blanc & Segre 1953). Bronze Age finds come from Caterattino (Blanc & Segre 1953) and several sites at the perimeter of rhe Agro Pomino (Colonna 1974).
Thescone tools arc fabricated almost exclusively from flint peb-bles which are found in thecoa.~ralzooewhere fossil beach-ridges have beeD incised. TheMousterian assemblages made from these pebbles h;lVe been designated as Pontinian (Blanc 1939). Similar-ly, rhe Circeiano (Blanc 1939) is considered to be tbe regional va-riant of the Aurignacian. The lighter stOne indusrries (Gravertiano, Epigravertiallo, Mesolirico), as well as the industries found in as-sociation wirh Neolithic and Bronze and Iron Age pottery, are also fashioned primarily from beach pebbles bur have not been given local names.Itis norable that the artifacrs of obsidian, which is opaque and very hlack and comes from Palmarola 30 km off the coast, rend not to be associated with pre-Neolithic assemblages. Very lildc information about the evolution of palaeoenvironmenrs of rhe Agm Pomino is available. Fauna! remains in the stratified sites on Monte Ci reeo (Blanc & Segre 1953; Piperno 1976-77), the
THE AGRD PONTINO~IJRV[V:R£SUliS t-ROM ;, HRST rOLl1'.N COJU: ~~
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"J"; ' \ .' \ //)
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, \ ./ .~/" i ,. / I .::...Fig. 2-The major;edinlcnr..rycomplexesin the Abm Pontino(AdlplCd from DUlveJwoo, den 19S.\, 1985; "anHuime.de 1983;K,mtrmons 1980; Sevink cI.1 19R2.
\984; drawing HIP).
1beJch rid~e depo~it~,TerrJcina levd;lIlagoon.1 depost;', TCHacilla level, 11lbe~(h ndt;cetepos;t<, Borg.o Errn3dalevel; IV bl\oon.ldeposils,l3oTgoErnud. Icvtl;
Vl",,,h ndge depmits,Mimunlo level; VI bgoo,uJdeposits,Milllurno level; VIIbeachridj\edeposits, Lu;na level;VIII IagoonJJ deposits,Latin,I~",.I;IX ;\coJj~n
THE AGXO rONTINOSURvty: HSULTS fROM AflRST rOLl-EN eou
Momi Lepini (Zei 1953), the Monti Ausoni(Biwi 1984), and the Pontinian Plain (Blanc 1935;Segre & Ascenzj 1956; Segre 1957a) show changesio the larger mammalian species throughout much of the Wiirm and possibly somewhat earlier. The only site with faunal remains datedtothe Holocenc (Barker 1975), Riparo Blanc (Tascbini 1964), indicares that shellfish were part of the diet of Mesolithic peoples. The larger mammal species found there are also present at sites dared to the end of roe Pleisrocene. There have been no previous palynologic.al Studies of this area. Macrofloral remains preserved in the peat layers and associated with Mousterian wols(Tongiorgi 1936) provide evidence for 10-01vegetation changes during a limited period of the Wiirm. Prior COour scudy, vcgerarional changes during tbe Late Glacial and Ho-locene could only be inferred from extraregional evidence (see espe-cially Bonatri 1970; Frank 1971;for general overview and references see Butzer 1971 and PhiHips 1980).
Since 1967, the area has been studied by the Institute for Physical Geography and Soil Science of rhe University of Amsterdam, which has resulted in a detailed soJ map of part of the Agro Pon-tino (Sevink et al. 1984). Now the mapping of the area has been completed.
J. Physiography and soils
The Agro Pomino is surrounded bythe Mont! Lepini, the Monti Ausoni, the Tyrrhenian sea and tuff covered hills south of Rome. Tbe mountains) including the isolated Monte Circeo, consist main-ly of calcaric material and were iormed during the Mesozoic. The tuff cover on the hillsNW of the Agro Pontino dates from a pe-riod oi volcanic activity tbat staned about1.0MYand ended about
0.35 MY ago. The Agro Pontino can be divided intO two parrs:
a graben, approximately 7 km wide running the length of the re-gion, and a more elevated 20ne bordering the Tyrrhenian sea. The graben is part ofahon and graben system, formed mainly during the Middle-Pleistocene. This formation was accompanied by ex-tensive volcanic dctivity. The graben is mainly filled with Holo-cene peary and clayey sedimems, but in its nortbwestern pan Pleistocene clays, travertines, and tuff deposits of the lowerruff
complex of the Lazio Volcano occur at the surface, and near the mountains parr of it is covered with nuvio-colluvial deposits. On the basis of the soil surveys four marine terraces have been distin-guished in the coastal zone. Each terrace consistS of a sandy beach ridge and a clayey lagoon (Sevink 1977), representing different sea level changes during the Pleisrocene.
The soils (figure 2)in the area reflect the influence of parent ma-terial, drainage, slope class, and time. The drainage in the graben
is poor and there is no copographic relief. The dominant soils in the central and southeastern parrs of the graben are HisrosoJs and Gleysols (FAO/Unesco 1974), and those in the clayey north-western part are Verrisols. The soils developed in the well
drai-Qed fluvio-colluvial deposits, where the slope class
is
level 10 gen-tly rolling, are LuvisolandCambisols. The dominant soils inrn.e travertine and the tuU depositions are Chromic Luvisols (Duiven-voorden 1975, Sevink eral. 1984).Luvisols are formed in the well-drained, coarsely textured deposils of the older beach ridges of che marine terraces; in (he youngesl beach ridge Calcaric Regosols are the dominaoc soils.Ingeneral, the slope class for the beach ridges is rollingtobilly. In the fine and medium textured lagoona! depo-sits Gleysols, VenisolsandPlanosols are dominant and the slope class is level. In the southwestern part of the region rhe macine complex has been covered by extensive aeolian deposirs; in this area the slope class is rolling to hilly and Pbaeozems and Areno-sols are the dominant soils (Sevink et al. 1984).4. The Mezzaluna Pollen Core
The location of the Mezzaluna pollen core is indicated on fig. 4.
The pollen diagram (figure J) included in this report is a concen-tration diagram and depicts the estimated number of pollen grains per cubic centimeter, which are assembled intO groups of species on a synoecological basis (t3ble I) (Rick!i 1943; WaIter 1968).
A piston core system was use 10 extract 910cm of graben filling from Mezzaluna area of the AgroPontino. Tbe section obtained
by the core was composed of clay, sand, shell, and peal. Tbe samples, which were caken al approximately 10cm intervals, were boiled inKOH and coocenrrared with a bromoformlateo-hol mixrure. Afixed amount of exotic pollen(Eucalyptus)was ad-ded to each sample. The concentration diagram is calculated on (he basis of theEucalyptus Count and drawn by computer (Ben-ninghoff 1962; SlOckmarr 1971).
The
poUen sequence was divided into zones based on gener;!1 ve-getation lrends combined with rhe major strata identified in the core. The zones have only local significance; fora more regional zoning system, more sections would have 10 be analysed.The pol-len ofdry, open vegetation, characreri2ed by PoaceaeArtemisia, and Chenopodiaccae, alternates with arboreal pollen, primarily QuerClls, Alnus and Pint/soZone A (9 [0-842cm) is composedofclay sedimenl, with Poaceae being the dominant pollen type and high values forArumisw. Pol-len and spores of fresh water plants arc also present in high
amounts.
W<N'DY ETSN'Elt. Ii.\NS~'MEltMANS 8<AI.£X T. WYMnKA
MEZZALUNA
LDcation41 022'N 130 \0'E anal.W.Eisner
;El (D'" -09: S
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Ul '" 1;a-
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it ~ ~ ~ ~:i''"
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~--9.860~130 GrN-HO&1 1/,590:220 Gr~.. I'S'Q 15.850:500 GrN·"Q35 }(.!:;50=9S0 GrN.tt30t p p•
•
p p p • p • 3 4 p p 6 p p p p 7 7~\c ~>~-A IIIo(l.I:~C'~I Wlthch:l(~u~!l.it:'U"',own pelt
Wllk\VorwjTcmtln,
EEl
..
fI.gfa".1 Arboreal Ex"a·localArbor8i/1
FrSfhwall,'f Sreppe IJry, If/d,,"r.,., Of/M 01 Humnn InHuence
local 'Ierbs&Gram" local Arboreel
EEl
0,(.1( d.t)'l')" pnl ....,l~!MJ((O pl"nt yt'm.m,
CO,""posile Groups Df';peclBS
Tu.((
S:IIn,J ... '11 m"'flnc ~"'cll
[[]]]]]
CI,ynn: AGROrONTINO SU~V(;Y: lU'.SU1.TS fROM AH~STPOLLEN eou
TableI: Species included ;n composileI;rollP~used for lheM~-naJunapoUen dio-gra.m (Figure J).
which virtually no pollen could be extracted. Remains of Hystri-chosphaerideae signify a marine envlronmenr.
Zone Cl (769-490cm)consists of peat and is characterized by the predominance of pollen from herbaceous vegetation; fresh water vegetation pollen is also well represented. From 640 to 630 cm tbere is arufflayer with granules of fioe volcanic material mixed with organic soil. From 570 to 560cm there i~ a greenish layer which contains volcanic m;lteriaJ. Both of these layers are charac· rt:rized by high and abrupt rises of the values for Chenopodiaceae. Zooe C2 (489-390 cm) shows a rist' and decline of Pinus, the be-ginning of a sharp dedi.ne of Poaceae, and a sready rise ofQuer. (us. Small amounts of other woodland pollen appear.
ZooeDJ (389-220 cm) consists of pear. A/nllS and Que-rcus
beco-me abruptly dominant, whereas Artemisia and Chenopodiact<le
Regionalarborc~! Abh'f ;I,,,, 8~"lJla CDryj"U~ CoryJ'tJi rog'LL-: O'rryo Picn PiIH.J~ Quercus f/,dtt'(J IndiC'3tors of Hllma..n influence ClJtldnt!"(J PI4fJ1ago RbJJS s,<"pp< £phlldT" }£Juiprnrr A,r~mi&ju Aruuth/)b. CI!"lij&l'~tJ HcliD",blf,.,."n1, S4t,gtJiso,bo ~xrr.a·loc.a.l:nboreaJ Frax;,ms Tamonx [j/ip Uh-ff11.f Plo/m/JI Rbiurmauu
Locll herbs and~tl1KS Chr"opoJiou;ae PoaceD~ RtDJIJn(;'U/,,£nu CYPUIUCD( Sympby","' ApiD'~lU' Dry.open PirlQCln 8/)rtJgo 8fJ~U! C'SllJ~ DfJpJmt' DrOUN Dipu'lJs EriC6 Hyp".n(um LArnuu~'Je MyrtuJ LoC:tJ arboreal AJ"us Sol", L~mna My";epby(Jum Nupb,,, Nymph~fO POIt:lm/)gf'(on Srr. a/oidu Typbil,(rlJe SpblJgnfJnJ
become negligible. Other indicators of increased forest cover also occur in this zone.
Zone 02(219-120cm) consi.m of very black pear in which high
proponions ofcharcoal afe found. Alnus is (probably) dispbced by Dyopt.eris as a local element Jnd high values for Vit!5 sp. are
pre~enL The proportion of herbs to [feeS increases for the first
time aher zone Cl.
Zone D3 (119-50 cm) consists of woody peat which gradually be-comes drier until the top soil is reached at 50 cm.Alnus rises again, Vilis sp. drops sharply and, with the exceptionofUlmus;lnd
Sa-/ix,other arboreal types also diminish. There is a strong increase in berbs, notably Asteraceae.
5. InterpretatIOna/the pollen diagram andpa/aeoenvironmental re-constructions.
The interpretation of the palynological results is presented accor-ding co the 2On<ltion scheme above. Limited and tentativep~laeoen vironmenral reconstructions relating the vegetation represented in the pollen core lO the soil rypes have been devised for zone Cl, Dt and D2. Thedivision of the Agro Pontino into subareas is in-dicated on figure 4. Figure 3gives lhe C14 dates.
ZoneA: It is most likely that this section is the deposition of.:I fresh water lake.
Zone
B:
The strong possibility of a sea [ransgression is indicatedby the unbroken shells of the ZoneBsand layer, and by the Hy-strichospbaeridea remains.
Zone Ct: The dominant vegetation postulated for t.:lch subarea (figure 4) is as follows:
A - vegetation of Poaceae, Plnus and Chenopodiaceae; B- Steppe vegetation withEphedra, Rumex,JuniperandA rlemisla;
C - fen vegetation with Phragmites and Cyperaceae;
D - sparse oak woods; E - Pinus, Betula and Abies.
ZoneC2: A general cominuarion of the previous situation, with a natural succession to climax vegetation influenced by more
hu-mid conditions.
Zone Dl: The dominant vegetation is as follows: A - vegetation of Pinus, Poaceae and Pislacia;
B - parkland vegetation with Artemisia and low shrubs; C - alder {en;
D - oak fores[;
E - mixed oak forest belt with Fagus, with Carpinus occurring
\'('rNDY EISl''fJ<, HAN$ llAt.lERMANS & HEXT. WYMSTPu\
fig.4 . Map ofth" Agro Ponlino region showing the di,tnhutionofdominanl ....il tyjXs and are.tl. subdivision (orsynoccolo~jcalgroup' used in p.uacOCllviron·
mt'nla.1 reconstructions 01 pollen wnesCl,D I aM D2 (map~daptedfromScvlnk
Cl.tl. 1984).
d. PollenZoneD2
" - 1)Uflot'"'~l'(ation
B·Dry ope"l,IegCllri()n
C DryoPI/,u.
1').QJJt'fCUj"e>.:{ores.,mJ.cchll-g3mgue.~ndV,e'f rp .
..: - Mn(c.l O:lK(lrcrtl.dt LEGEND X - IfnJ(io,~of Mt.lI.:llurnltlt<.. QJ - A D-B
_-c
Q2j-D [ID-E D-r _ -mnJl:rfl (1\~'Snl I:IFil\ln~... DominamSo~Types
,\ •Chto.-nl~IU\luo11 (omlcJIns:JndylJCJd,
Ilrl,'".$(lJ;u:llhan dCPOilti B - ¥hntKols.fmmL"J .n(()S"5.1IJogo(\n~
C ..t1l!lo~l"'0,1(;1t..\I~nl~furmed III lhe
gOht ....~f\"
n .l.UV']":U::l~5:3nd C3ml'lsol-t(UnTlnJIn
("olluvlI.un
J- .I.llhosoh;'loo Rc(ul'.II\;u (ormcLl on m<Junt~1nt.ltlpCi,
I -A'<:J~ ~lfl1muhiplc:~()IIIYP':'S(.I/I(
IJIlIIIIJt",1IIIptJIIJI'rn'JJv"u»nlt"'ll1l "'ff'")"'nJf,iuJI()
~===~==~10.l<rn
o.
Pollen Z<)nc Cl" . J'oau.;1t."Pi,,/A$.Inl.JcJut7opodt.4u'QI'
It ..$tt'ppc VC'gc1.uion c ..Fnl vt"ger:uion o .Sparw031<wooJs I': ..P;JH.lt,f)~w/jJJ.nJAbi~) c. Pollen Zone 0t A ..Pmvs.P/)d'f:Jlan.d!1J/tuja B l-'<1.r.kl:md"'t~<-'I'UlOn C'Aide: (en D Oak(nreS1
(: MI'(CJ 0.1" (orcslheir
Zone D2: the domioant vegetation:
A - dune vegetation of Pin us) Poaceae and PiSlaciaj
B - dry open vegetation;
C - the alder vegetation is sudden.ly replacedby DIYDplmswhich often occurs when alder woods are thinned;
D - rhis area supports rh ree types of vegetarion;!1 ~sseJl)blages:
1 - Quercus ilex forest;
2 - macchia-garrigue. caused by deforestationofevergreen woods; 3 - Vitissp_, which isa~umed to be domesticated because of the high. concentration values;
E -
mixed oak forestbelt.
Zone D3: The lower arboreal pollen cOD<:entration could be due
to human activity or [0 drier climatic conditions.
General climatic trends c;ln
be
inferred from rbe palynologicalre-sulrs and Iheir interpretation. In zoneC,dated by
He
tothe Late Glacial, there is :\ predominance of open vegetarion, Poaceae andArtemisia) and typical steppe herbs suggesting chatche climace was probably cool and especially dry. During zone01 rhe veget:\clo-na! trend is towards;1. closed arboreal vegetation consisting main-lyofclimaticforeSl species, indicating a more humid and possibly warmer clim;1tc. In zone 02 there is :\ (ecurrence of more open vegetation, but now the vegetation is more coosisrem with the modern Mediterr<1ncan environment. On che basis of 14C dares
this zone can be correlacedtothe Central Italian Neoucruc period. Ic begins sometime after the Early Neolitbic and extends co the inception of the Aeneolithic. The vegetational reconstruction above suggests [he presence of human influence at about this time be-cause of the combined evidence ofdiminishingalder woods, lo-werQue-rcusvalue.~, a macchia-garrigue, and pOSSIbly dornest icatecl grapes. This <1ssemblage, however, could just as e<1sil)fappear ill
anaturalsetting, given the drier climatic conditions,and more
pol-len zones must be analyzed in order coreach any conclusions re-garding human acrivity. in zone D2.
6. Conclusions andplansfor future research
Analysis of [he Mezzaluna coreISa significantcontribution to the palaeoenvironmental study ofrhe Mediterranean in general and
to thecentralltalian Tyrrhenian coastal region in particular.
On-lythree orheranalysesofpollencorescoveringapprox.im;H~lythe
same period have been reported for Central Italy (Bonatti J970; Fr<lnk 1969); all of these cores were taken from deposics inland at higher elevarions.
The Mezzaluna core is only a first step, however,roward the re-construction of palaeoenvironmems. At least twO more cores of
Tl-1EAG~O PONTINO SURVI"t: R.ESULTS FROM A FIRST POU.EN CORE
acceptable level of evidence for the regional vegetatioo changes. It is also desirable that weobtain samples of deposits dating from earlier periods. These deposits can be found i..nthe graben aDd at sites near tbe coast (Tongiorgi 1936).
We have secured aseries of poJlen cores from lagoonal deposits along the coast. While we expect the individual corestocover a
relatively shore span of time, we hope that with aid of radiocar-bon dating and association of regional pollen changes the cores can be seriated. These samples wiU also be used for palaeoenvi· ronmencal reconstruction of the areas not included in this study. Thisarticlehasshown the data from basicsurveyscan be integra· ted (0 reconstruct the paJeoenvironmenc or, in land evaluation
terms, to construct a qualitative land classi£iC2tion. Even though the paJynological survey is incomplete, there is sufficieor infor-mation co begin todevelop procedures for the remaining steps dee-med necessary for using land evaluation in archaeology.
Acknowledgements
We especially wish to thank S.H. Loving for her help in editing
this reporr. Sincere thanks are also duetoDr. A. Voorrips, Prof.
W.Groenman-van Waateringe, A. Vis.ser, and C.D. Troostheide
from Albert Egges van Giffen Instiwul voor Prae-en
Protohisto-rie, University of Amsterdam; Dr.
J.
Sevink and Drs.J.
Duiven-voorden from the Fysisch Gcografisch en Bodemkunding
Laboratorium, University of Amsterdam; the staff from tbe Hu-go de Vries Llboracorium, University of Amsterdam, especially
Prof. T. van der Hammen;L. Boonstra; Dr. C. Stibbe from the
ISlttuto Glandese, Roma;
Dr.
A. Bietti from the Istituw ftalianodi Paleomologia Umana,Rome;Dr. M. Pipernofrom the Musea
Preiscorico Ernografico Luigi Pigorini, Rome; and A. Arnoldus-Huyzendveld, Rome.
R.EfERENCF.5
Barker G., 1975,Prehiswyicternwne>andeconomiesin Ceilll'allLaly, in E.S.Higgs (ed.) Pall.l.eoeconomy. Papers in economic prehistory vel.IT. Cam-bridge, pp. t11-175
BArker G.,1981,Landscape and society. Prt·hi"tonc Centya!llaly. London.
Beek K.j., 1978,Land evaluation
JOY
agrimlturalde"Jelopmmt, iLlH Pu-blication 23. WagCtllngen.Benningho({WS., 1962, Calwla1irm ojpollen and spores density in
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