CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Bell, T.; Macpherson, J.B.; and Renouf, M.A. P.
Date : 2003.
Title : Impacts on vegetation and environment by hunter-gatherers at Port au Choix, Newfoundland.
Publication : Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Quaternary Association and the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group. Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 8-12, 2003.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Two of the goals of the Port au Choix Archaeology and Landscape History Project are (i) to understand the prehistoric occupation of the region in the context of landscape and climate change, and (ii) to examine the potential impact of occupation on the landscape, with particular emphasis on vegetation and landscape stability. This presentation focuses on the second goal. Pollen analysis of sediment cores from two shallow ponds adjacent to archaeological sites at Port au Choix reveal different but distinct records of vegetation and soil disturbance in their respective drainage basins. Disturbance indicators include charcoal spikes, short-lived peaks in shrub and herb taxa, decline in tree taxa and Sphagnum, and coincident increases in the aquatic alga, Pediastrum. The evidence for basin-wide vegetation change, together with increased sedimentation and fire, suggests considerable anthropogenic disturbance at several intervals throughout the cores. These intervals roughly correspond to periods of prehistoric occupation of Port au Choix.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology