The Vegetational and Environmental Development of Lina Mire, Gotland from 6900-400 BC

Lina Mire, Gotland, is an area of archaeological significance and has a complex history of shoreline displacement. Archaeologists suspect that Lina Mire was once part of an important inland water system which connected the Littorina Sea with central Gotland. This study investigates vegetational and palaeoenvironmental changes of the Lina Mire area between 6900 – 400 BC (8850 – 2350 cal years BP) in order to better understand how the area has developed and how humans have impacted the vegetation. Pollen analysis, C/N ratios, organic matter and carbon content measurements were conducted. The chronology was based on 14C AMS dating of terrestrial macrofossils and bulk sediments. A transgression of the Littorina Sea at about 6550 BC (8500 cal years BP) inundated the Lina Mire basin, which was a lake at the time. The onset of cultivation was indicated by the presence of Hordeum (Barley or Wild Barley) during the Late Neolithic, 2630 BC (4580 cal years BP). Hordeum continued to grow during the Bronze Age when Cereals appeared at about 970 BC (2920 cal years BP). During the onset of cultivation during the Late Neolithic, the Lina Mire basin was a bay of the Littorina Sea. The Lina Mire basin remained connected with the Littorina Sea until isostatic uplift caused it to become isolated at about 1870 BC (3820 cal years BP). The lake overgrew and became a mire about 820 BC (2770 cal years BP)