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Landscape Development and Climate Change in Southwest Bulgaria (Pirin Mountains) pp 33–60Cite as

Holocene Climate and Landscape Chronology

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Abstract

The cyclical ups and downs of historic climate conditions and human effects on our area of study can be detected in pollen profiles of peat, glacier features and soils (stratigraphy, macrofossils, charcoal, 14C-dating). This leads to a chronology on a millennium scale. This chapter uses Southwest Bulgaria to demonstrate the relationship between people and their environment in Southeast Europe. It investigates the connection between climate dynamics and the cultural history of the region. Climate is one of the key regulation factors in this regard. Periods of prosperity and periods of crisis that are linked to the climate were detected for the Balkans and can be shown for Southwest Bulgaria as well. Particularly during the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman Age, the “Golden Bulgarian Age” and Little Ice Age, the phases of climatic stagnation and transition correlate with stability (soil formation), activity (erosion), and settlement dynamics (expansion versus abandonment).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development, Dresden, Germany

    Karsten Grunewald

  2. Landscape Research Centre, Dresden, Germany

    Jörg Scheithauer

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  1. Karsten Grunewald
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  2. Jörg Scheithauer
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Correspondence to Karsten Grunewald .

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Grunewald, K., Scheithauer, J. (2011). Holocene Climate and Landscape Chronology. In: Landscape Development and Climate Change in Southwest Bulgaria (Pirin Mountains). Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9959-4_3

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