On the ecological impact of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Europe: Early Holocene (Mesolithic) and Last Interglacial (Neanderthal) foragers compared.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have highlighted evidence of human impact on landscapes dating back to the Late Pleistocene-long before the advent of agriculture. Quantifying the extent of vegetation transformations by hunter-gatherers remains a major research challenge. We address this challenge by comparing climate-based potential natural vegetation cover with pollen-based vegetation reconstructions for the Last Interglacial and the Early Holocene. Differences between these datasets suggest that climate alone cannot fully explain the pollen-based vegetation patterns in Europe during these periods. To explore this issue, we used an upgraded version of the HUMan impact on LANDscapes (HUMLAND) agent-based model (ABM), combined with a genetic algorithm, to generate vegetation change scenarios. By comparing A

SUBMITTER: Nikulina A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12543167 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature