This topic linked parts of my Ph.D. with Petr Pokorný as my supervisor. We used present-day vegetation in southern Siberia as a modern analogue to interpret the last glacial ecosystems in Central Europe. The analogue hypothesis is based on certain biogeographical and climatological links. We studied modern pollen spectra related to present vegetation, which we correlated with fossil pollen using several numerical techniques.
Traces of human impact in the Early Holocene environment is a long-time discussed task. Have humans lived without visible interaction with ecosystems, or were they intentionally “farming” and spreading plant species? The answer is still unresolved, but indices suggest that the “Neolithic revolution” was rather continuous than abrupt change.