Elm, Lime and Middle Neolithic Cultivation — A Solvable Problem

Abstract

This article is a continuation of my article in CSA 1. It shows how the Alvastra pile-dwelling (4450 B.P. , T 1/2 = 55681 can be dated by means of pollen analysis. The redated Isberga 111 diagram is presented. Low values of elm, lime, and ash are said to reflect the Early Neolithic expansion, while the opposite is said to reveal the Middle Neolithic regression. It is demonstrated that there was no "regression" in western and southern Östergötland, in north-eastern Småland or in southern Scania, when these trees regenerated (the Regeneration Phase starts c. 4550 B.P. and ends c. 3750 B.P. ). The expansion-regression model for the Early and Middle Neolithic is thus no longer valid. The synchronous vegetational changes during the Early and Middle Neolithic are described. Coppice woods with wandering arable fields very likely characterized the Regeneration Phase in many places in southern Sweden.