Papers by Miroslawa Kupryjanowicz
Cultural eutrophication of a Central European lowland lake from the Bronze Age to the present recorded in diatom and Cladocera remains
Catena, Sep 1, 2021
Abstract Diatom and Cladocera (Crustacea) remains in the sediment of a lowland lake located in an... more Abstract Diatom and Cladocera (Crustacea) remains in the sediment of a lowland lake located in an area with a long history of human settlement, covering a period of at least 5,000 yrs, were analyzed and used as proxies to reconstruct past changes in the lake’s trophic state. The changes in trophic state were quantified with the diatom inferred total phosphorus model. The first signs of human impact on the lake’s ecosystem were recorded in the Neolithic (~4,500–4,000 cal. BP) followed by the Bronze ages (3,300–2,800 cal. BP), but they intensified during the Iron age (2,500–1,300 yrs ago) and especially during the Medieval age (after 1,000 yrs ago). Then, the diatom-inferred total phosphorus indicated hypertrophic conditions (DI-TP > 100 µg L-1), and substantial changes in the zooplankton assemblage structure were recorded, namely increase in species related to turbid water and a muddy bottom, pointing toward intensive eutrophication and fishing. The pulses of eutrophication were generally correlated with human settlement phases but inferred increases in the trophic state near 2.8 ka cal. BP and 1.3 ka cal. BP were related to minima of total solar irradiance and were driven by climatic factors and erosion in the lake catchment rather than by human activity. The strongest influence on the lake’s ecosystem was attributed to people of the Bogaczewo culture (dated to the late Iron Age), an early-Medieval Galindia tribe, and economic activity over the last 200 yrs.
Studia Quaternaria, Jun 1, 2015
The re sults of pol len, non-pol len palynomorph and microcharcoal par ti cle anal y ses of de po... more The re sults of pol len, non-pol len palynomorph and microcharcoal par ti cle anal y ses of de pos its from a small pond in north east ern Po land are pre sented. The study fo cused on hu man-in duced veg e ta tion changes that oc curred in a close vi cin ity of the set tle ment com plex at Poganowo dur ing the Mid dle Ages (ca 10 th-16 th cen tu ries). We dis tin guished three phases of hu man im pact. First and third phases cor re spond to in ten si fied set tle ment ac tiv ity. The sec ond phase was a pe riod when hu man ac tiv ity de creased and wood land re gen er a tion took place. The high in ci dence of the par asitic fun gus Kretzschmaria deusta in a lo cal for est stand dur ing the third phase was si mul ta neous with nu mer ous spores of coprophilous fungi (Sordaria-type and Cercophora-type). We con sider that Kretzschmaria deusta in hab ited the roots and bases of tree trunks dam aged by dig ging and graz ing an i mals.
Was it ‘<i>terra desolata</i>’? Conquering and colonizing the medieval Prussian wilderness in the context of climate change
The Holocene, Jul 28, 2016
Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal and geochemical analyses of sediments from Lakes Salęt ... more Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal and geochemical analyses of sediments from Lakes Salęt and Ruskowiejskie (NE Poland) were used to reconstruct vegetation changes in the former Galindia territory (Old Prussia) related to human activity and the climatic instability of the medieval period. Among archaeologists and historians, there is a widespread opinion that the permanent transformations of the environment in Prussia (south-eastern Baltic region) began not earlier than after its conquest by the Teutonic Order and resulted from its economic activity and intensive colonization. The impact of previous inhabitants of this land on the environment has been considered as definitely weak. Our results provide entirely contrasting evidence and demonstrate that strong and permanent deforestation started as early as in the early 11th century AD, in the pre-Teutonic Order time, and were associated with the economic activity of the Prussian Galinditae tribes. In this paper, we also discuss a possible interpretation of the medieval distribution patterns of Quercus. We assume that human activity catalysed and amplified both its spreading process and decline, primarily driven by the ‘Little Ice Age’ climatic deterioration. Our palynological results indicate the significant spread of Picea from ca. AD 1000, which we interpret as reflecting hydrological and climatic changes. Moreover, we hypothesize that the spread of Carpinus in the early medieval period (11th–13th centuries), which occurred in connection with more intense human activity, was largely because of woodland pasturing.
Geochronometria, Jul 1, 2007
The Late Glacial and Holocene development of vegetation in the vicinity of the Wigry Lake is reco... more The Late Glacial and Holocene development of vegetation in the vicinity of the Wigry Lake is reconstructed using pollen analysis. The Late Glacial sediments include the Allerød and Younger Dryas chronozones. The Holocene section is complete. Pollen data combined with archaeological evidence and radiocarbon dating permit the recognition and characterisation of human influence on the local plant cover caused by settlers of Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures, by west Balts, by Grand Dukes of Lithuania and by Cameldolites order. On the basis of pollen analysis the development of aquatic and mire vegetation in the Wigry Lake is described.
Pollen Evidence of Change in Environment and Settlement during the 1st Millennium AD
BRILL eBooks, Mar 6, 2020
Przegląd Geologiczny, 2007
Water level changes in the Eemian lakes and peat-bogs in the north Podlasie. Prz. Geol. 55: 336-3... more Water level changes in the Eemian lakes and peat-bogs in the north Podlasie. Prz. Geol. 55: 336-342. S u m m a r y. Results of pollen analysis of mire-lacustrine sediments from 25 sites in north Podlasie (NE Poland) were used for reconstruction of water level changes in Eemian lakes and peat-bogs of this region. In the older part of the interglacial (from E1 R PAZ to mid-E5 R PAZ), water level rose gradually. Its drastic decrease was noted in the younger half of the hornbeam zone (E5 R PAZ). Among possible causes of this phenomenon may be the increase of climate continentalism, decrease of rivers erosion base or the disappearance of permafrost. Low water level in the north Podlasie lakes persisted during the whole hornbeam phase (E6 R PAZ), until the beginning of the pine phase (E7 R PAZ). Then distinct increase of water level occurred, and the high water level persisted till the end of the interglacial.
Eemian and early vistulian vegetation at Michałowo (NE Poland)
Studia Quaternaria, 2002
ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of palaeobotanical studies (pollen and plant macrofossil... more ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of palaeobotanical studies (pollen and plant macrofossil analyses) of the sediments from the profile Michałowo P-3 (Gródek-Michałowo Depression, NE Poland). At this profile the second bed of peat under Holocene peat and the layer of silts and sands was discovered. The pollen succession indicates that they were deposited, with some gaps, from the beginning of Eemian Interglacial to Early Vistulian. The local pollen zones, distinguished in the pollen diagram, correlate with the regional pollen stratigraphy of the Eemian Interglacial, but the pollen record of hornbeam (E5 R PAZ) and spruce (E6 R PAZ) regional zones is absent in Michałowo. In the middle part of the Michałowo pine zone (Mi-5 Pinus L PAZ), a cool oscillation of climate is marked by an opening of forests and development of herb plant communities.
Vegetation and climate of the Eemian and Early Vistulian lakeland in northern Podlasie
Acta Palaeobotanica, 2008
Lake-peat bog transformation recorded in the sediments of the Stare Biele mire (Northeastern Poland)
Springer eBooks, 2009
The history of Stare Biele paleolake (northeast Poland) has been reconstructed using subfossil Cl... more The history of Stare Biele paleolake (northeast Poland) has been reconstructed using subfossil Cladocera remains and pollen and spores of aquatic and mire plants from a sediment core. Sediment accumulation began approximately 12,000 years ago during the Older Dryas chronozone. Throughout the entire Late Glacial period, the basin was a small, low-trophic state lake with a developed open-water zone. A well-recorded increase in the trophic state started at the beginning of Holocene. The lake reached its highest trophic level during the early and middle Atlantic chronozone. The first human activity in the lake catchment area occurred at this time, as recorded by fern spores and numerous charcoal grains. Repeated rises in lake water level are documented at the beginning and throughout the early part of the Younger Dryas. Two clear events of decreasing lake water levels are recorded, first during the middle part of the Younger Dryas and second in the Preboreal. Terrestrialization processes first intensified at the end of Atlantic period, which appears to correspond to a decrease in pH.
Late-Weichselian (Vistulian) Environmental Changes in Ne Poland – Evidence from Lake Suchar Wielki
The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed ha... more The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite the advances in ancient DNA research that allowed for the successful identification of the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death is still limited, based primarily on medieval texts available for single areas of Western Europe. In our study we remedy this situation and we focus in particular on the scale of the Black Death mortality. We collected data on landscape change from 261 coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located in 19 European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that half of the population died within a single year in each of the 21 regions we studied. We discovered that while the Black Death had devastating impact in some regions, it had negligible...
Tracking fire activity and post-fire limnological responses using the varved sedimentary sequence of Lake Jaczno, Poland
The Holocene, 2022
Long-term paleofire perspectives provide key information on natural and human-derived land cover ... more Long-term paleofire perspectives provide key information on natural and human-derived land cover changes. The last few millennia are crucial to understanding the future of wildfire threats, since the increasing global temperatures are expected to have an impact on regions previously assumed to not be endangered. In this study we investigate the interplay between changing climatic conditions, land cover transformation, fires, and human activity based on the first 1750-year-long macrocharcoal record derived from varved sediments of Lake Jaczno, located in northeast Poland. The study is supported by macrocharcoal morphotype analysis, pollen and historical data, and statistical analysis, which revealed that in the vicinity of the lake both low- and high-intensity fires may have occurred. Most of them were set by humans, but in some periods biomass burning was favored by droughts or even derived by natural causes (i.e. lightning). Human-induced fires are especially evident between AD 108...
Bog pine dendrochronology related to peat stratigraphy: Palaeoenvironmental changes reflected in peatland deposits since the Late Glacial (case study of the Imszar raised bog, Northeastern Poland)
Quaternary International, 2021
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2019
The Eemian interglacial represents a natural experiment on how past vegetation with negligible hu... more The Eemian interglacial represents a natural experiment on how past vegetation with negligible human impact responded to amplified temperature changes compared to the Holocene. Here, we assemble 47 carefully selected Eemian pollen sequences from Europe to explore geographical patterns of (1) total compositional turnover and total variation for each sequence and (2) stratigraphical turnover between samples within each sequence using detrended canonical correspondence analysis, multivariate regression trees, and principal curves. Our synthesis shows that turnover and variation are highest in central Europe (47-55°N), low in southern Europe (south of 45°N), and lowest in the north (above 60°N). These results provide a basis for developing hypotheses about causes of vegetation change during the Eemian and their possible drivers. Keywords Detrended canonical correspondence analysis • Extrinsic and intrinsic processes • Inertia • Last interglacial dataset • Multivariate regression trees • Neutral processes • Principal curves Communicated by F. Bittmann.
Quaternary International, 2018
Quaternary International, 2018
Nowadays Najas flexilis is believed to be extinct in Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, while in o... more Nowadays Najas flexilis is believed to be extinct in Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, while in other European countries it is classified as endangered or vulnerable. During the Early and Middle Holocene the species occurred throughout much of Europe, but in the Late Holocene it underwent a significant decline and reduction in range following, as it is believed, the gradual cooling of the climate and/or the eutrophication and acidification of lakes caused by human activity. The article recognizes the existence and disappearance of slender naiad in the palaeolake at the Hieronimowo site, NE Poland, during the Eemian Interglacial and at the beginning of the last glaciation (Vistulian, Weichselian), when lake transformations were caused solely by natural factors without human impact. Results of palynological and macrofossil analyses reveal that the appearance of slander naiad in the studied water body was probably triggered by the change of its pH and trophic status, resulting from the start of spruce and pine expansion stimulated by climate worsening during the younger part of the hornbeam phase (E5 R PAZ) in the middle Eemian. The appearance of spruce and pine in the area of the lake led to its acidification and oligotrophication, and that caused the strong and rapid development of N. flexilis. The species existed in the palaeolake at the Hieronimowo site through the spruce (E6 R PAZ) and pine (E7 R PAZ) phases, until the end of the Eemian Interglacial. These observations suggest that regressive transformations of the environment typical for the late part of the interglacial cycle, 'unsupported' by human activity, do not lead the extinction of N. flexilis. Quite the opposite, these processes promote this species. Its disappearance started only at the beginning of the Early Vistulian (Weichselian), and it was probably caused by a drastic decrease in temperatures and/or by the development of green algae, which limited light availability on the bottom of the water body.
Quaternary International, 2017
The directions of the post-Wartanian (post-Saalian) migration of some thermophilous trees and shr... more The directions of the post-Wartanian (post-Saalian) migration of some thermophilous trees and shrubs into the territory of Poland was reconstructed on the basis of isopollen maps, prepared for the Eemian Interglacial based on the palynological data from 187 Polish pollen profiles. Isopollen maps clearly demonstrated, that all thermophilous trees, which appeared in this area in the early Eemian (Quercus, Ulmus, Fraxinus), migrated from the east or northeast. Also Tilia and Alnus, which arrived in the area of Poland in the middle part of the Eemian Interglacial migrated from the east. Picea, which colonized the territory of Poland twice: first at the very early stage of the interglacial, and then in the younger Eemian, migrated from the east and northeast. Only Corylus, Carpinus betulus and Abies alba migrated from other directions (from the south, from the southwest and from the southwest , respectively). Domination of the western and southwestern directions of migration routes clearly differentiates the Eemian Interglacial from the Holocene, during which the majority of trees and shrubs migrated into territory of Poland from the south, southeast , southwest and west, and only a few, such as Ulmus and Picea, also from the east and northeast. We assumed that the most probable reason of this difference was a presence of the Wartanian (Saalian) refugia of many trees, including thermophilous taxa, in the Eastern Europe (west Russia or Black See region). From those regions, together with the decay of the ice sheet, these trees migrated directly into Central Europe along the northern slopes of the Carpathians, or at first migrated to the north via regions which were beyond the maximum range of the Saalian, and from there to the west after the ice sheet melted in this part of Europe.
Quaternary International, 2015
An Eemian lake in a unique location at the top of a kame hill was found in NE Poland. Results of ... more An Eemian lake in a unique location at the top of a kame hill was found in NE Poland. Results of pollen and microscopic plant remains analyses show that despite the unusual location, its development and terrestrialization were typical for small meso-/eutrophic lakes of the temperate zone. At the end of the interglacial period an overgrown basin was flooded with water and again transformed into a lake. It existed until the beginning of the Brørup interstadial, and then it was covered with diluvia and/or aeolian sediment and finally disappeared.
A palaeoenvironmental record of MIS 3 climate change in NE Poland—Sedimentary and geochemical evidence
Quaternary International, 2021
Abstract In Eastern Europe Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 represents a period characterised by seve... more Abstract In Eastern Europe Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 represents a period characterised by severe climate change of very rapid onset, which is recorded in the regional sedimentary record. Hitherto this work, the geomorphic impact of these abrupt changes to NE Poland's 1st-order-stream valleys has been under-represented in studies. Here the combined results of lithological, geochemical, and palynological analyses—coupled with sediment OSL dating—demonstrate that MIS 3's earlier events (60–45 ka) mark an interval when contemporary dry valleys functioned as active stream corridors, places where deep fluvial incision had occurred. Prior to this MIS 3 fluvial activity there is an observed depositional hiatus encompassing sediments from MIS 5d to the oldest part of MIS 3. Valley-bottom sediment accumulation began ∼44–40 ka, commencing at a time when shallow water reservoirs began to function. The resultant mineral infill is devoid of calcium carbonate and organic matter (OM). This sedimentation occurred under dry and cold climate conditions—i.e. under the influence of permafrost aggradation. The geochemical composition of the MIS 3 deposits indicates that environmental conditions are deteriorating. In effect, calcium carbonate was completely removed from the deposits, which resulted in the reduction of mobile elements (such as Na), removal of selected soil horizons, and an increased content of immobile elements—e.g. sedimentary Al, Rb, Ti. These processes are confirmed in the study sediments by magnetic susceptibility analysis. Here, in MIS 3 lake deposits, the presence of fissure structures filled with grey clay or fine sand is a common feature. Climatic changes during MIS 3's younger part were reflected in the slight increase of sediment OM, accompanied by an increased contribution of mobile, immobile, and trace elements. Most likely these change intervals represent more humid conditions during MIS 3. Sediment-trapping lakes within dry valley bottoms completely disappeared by ∼30 ka.
Early Medieval wells from Pfettrach, Bavaria : cultural ecology of an early Bavarian village / Bernd Engelhardt, Franz Herzig, Zbigniew Kobyliński, Dariusz Krasnodębski, Mirosława Kupryjanowicz and Maria Michniewicz
Archaeologia Polona, 1999
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Papers by Miroslawa Kupryjanowicz