A COMPARISON OF PALAEO-ECOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF HUMAN HABITATION AT KEAVA

Peat record from a very small basin, the former mire of Verevainu, in the nearest vicinity of the prehistoric settlement centre at Keava (4th century BC – early 13th century AD), was investigated by palaeo-ecological means, namely by pollen, charcoal, and loss-on-ignition analyses and radiocarbon dating. The study aimed at ascertaining the appearance of prehistoric man in the area and reconstructing the local vegetation history and human impact on the environment around the settlement centre. According to palaeo-ecological evidence the first sporadic cereal pollen grains appeared in the sediments in the Late Bronze Age. Both peat ignition residue values as indicators of topsoil erosion and pollen evidence suggest forest clearance, opening of landscape, and cultivation of cereals from the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Approximately at AD 350–500 the rate of human impact upon environment increased notably. The comparison of palaeo-ecological data with archaeological evidence of human inhabitation displays not only large coincidences but also some discrepancies. 1