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<p>This paper represents an attempt at a detailed analysis of woodland presence and dynamics during the Middle Ages (AD 500-1500), as a contribution to the current debate on large-scale reforestation in the Netherlands. Palynological data for this particular period are scarce and allow only global reconstructions. To widen our search for historical woodland proxies, we investigated the potential of archaeologically excavated tree-trunk wells. We carried out a nation-wide inventory of this type of well, in which the shaft is formed by hollowed-out tree trunks, typically large oak trees. Our suspicion that such trees indicate the local presence of (old) woodland in the past was confirmed by a marked positive correlation with spatial reconstructions based on other sources of information: archaeological (charcoal kilns) and non-archaeological (place names and historical references). The observed correlations suggest that mapping the distribution of precisely dated tree-trunk wells can indeed contribute to achieving fairly detailed reconstructions of medieval woodland cover.</p>
</abstract>

This paper represents an attempt at a detailed analysis of woodland presence and dynamics during the Middle Ages (AD 500-1500), as a contribution to the current debate on large-scale reforestation in the Netherlands. Palynological data for this particular period are scarce and allow only global reconstructions. To widen our search for historical woodland proxies, we investigated the potential of archaeologically excavated tree-trunk wells. We carried out a nation-wide inventory of this type of well, in which the shaft is formed by hollowed-out tree trunks, typically large oak trees. Our suspicion that such trees indicate the local presence of (old) woodland in the past was confirmed by a marked positive correlation with spatial reconstructions based on other sources of information: archaeological (charcoal kilns) and non-archaeological (place names and historical references). The observed correlations suggest that mapping the distribution of precisely dated tree-trunk wells can indeed contribute to achieving fairly detailed reconstructions of medieval woodland cover.

Sole Survivors: Using Tree-Trunk Wells from Archaeological Excavations to Inform Reconstructions of Medieval Deforestation, and Future Reforestation

University of Groningen - Centre for Landscape Studies

Journal of Landscape Ecology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This paper represents an attempt at a detailed analysis of woodland presence and dynamics during the Middle Ages (AD 500-1500), as a contribution to the...

Sole Survivors: Using Tree-Trunk Wells from Archaeological Excavations to Inform Reconstructions of Medieval Deforestation, and Future Reforestation

Published Online: Apr 06, 2024

Page range: 64 - 88

Received: Jan 03, 2024

Accepted: Mar 28, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2024-0005

Keywords
Middle Ages, woodland cover, deforestation, proxy data, landscape archaeology, tree-trunk wells

© 2024 Bert Groenewoudt et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sole Survivors: Using Tree-Trunk Wells from Archaeological Excavations to Inform Reconstructions of Medieval Deforestation, and Future Reforestation

Published Online: Apr 06, 2024

Page range: 64 - 88

Received: Jan 03, 2024

Accepted: Mar 28, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2024-0005

KeywordsMiddle Ages, woodland cover, deforestation, proxy data, landscape archaeology, tree-trunk wells

© 2024 Bert Groenewoudt et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Middle Ages, woodland cover, deforestation, proxy data, landscape archaeology, tree-trunk wells