On the history of Central European dry grassland communities since the Late-Glacial - methods, facts, hypotheses

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Wilmanns
Keyword(s):  
Late Glacial ◽  
Dry Grassland ◽  
Central European ◽  
History Of ◽  
Grassland Communities

Late-glacial and Post-glacial history of the Chalk escarpment near Brook, Kent

1964 ◽  
Vol 248 (745) ◽  
pp. 135-204 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Arable Farming ◽  
History Of

This paper describes the morphology of a small piece of the Chalk escarpment near Brook in east Kent, and reconstructs its history since the end of the Last Glaciation. The escarpment contains a number of steep-sided valleys, or coombes, with which are associated deposits of chalk debris, filling their bottoms and extending as fans over the Gault Clay plain beyond. Here the fans overlie radiocarbon-dated marsh deposits of zone II (10 000 to 8800 B.C.) of the Late-glacial Period. The debris fans were formed and the coombes were cut very largely during the succeeding zone III (8800 to 8300 B.C.). The fans are the products of frost-shattering, probably transported by a combination of niveo-fluvial action and the release of spring waters; intercalated seams of loess also occur. The molluscs and plants preserved in the Late-glacial deposits give a fairly detailed picture of local conditions. The later history of one of the coombes, the Devil’s Kneadingtrough, is reconstructed. The springs have effected virtually no erosion and have probably always emerged more or less in their present position. In the floor of the coombe the periglacial chalk rubbles of zone III are covered by Postglacial deposits, mainly hillwashes. They are oxidized and yield no pollen, but contain rich faunas of land Mollusca, which are presented in the form of histograms revealing changing local ecological and climatic conditions. During most of the Post-glacial Period, from the end of zone III until about the beginning of zone VIII, very little accumulation took place on the coombe floor. But below the springs there are marsh deposits which span much of this interval. They yield faunas of considerable zoogeographical interest. The approximate beginning of zone VII a (Atlantic Period) is reflected by a calcareous tufa, which overlies a weathering horizon, and represents an increase in spring flow. Two clearance phases are deduced from the molluscan record. The first may have taken place at least as early as the Beaker Period (Late Neolithic/earliest Bronze Age); the second is probably of Iron Age ‘A’ date. In Iron Age times the subsoil was mobilized and a phase of rapid hillwashing began. As a result the valley floor became buried by humic chalk muds. The prime cause of this process was probably the beginning of intensive arable farming on the slopes above the coombe; a possible subsidiary factor may have been the Sub-Atlantic worsening of climate. The muds yield pottery ranging in date from Iron Age ‘Kentish first A’ ( ca . 500 to ca . 300 B.C.) to Romano-British ware of the first or second centuries A.D. Evidence is put forward for a possible climatic oscillation from dry to wet taking place at about the time of Christ. In the later stages of cultivation, possibly in the Roman Era, the valley floor was ploughed and given its present-day form.

scholarly journals XIX.—The Bone-Cave in the Valley of Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves), near Inchnadamff, Assynt, Sutherlandshire

1918 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 327-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. N. Peach ◽  
J. Horne ◽  
E. T. Newton
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Early History ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Collateral Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Glacial Time

A characteristic feature of the plateau of Cambrian Limestone in the neighbourhood of Inchnadamff is the occurrence in it of swallow-holes, caves, and subterranean channels which are intimately associated with the geological history of the region. The valley of Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves), locally known as the Coldstream Burn, furnishes striking examples of these phenomena. One of the caves in this valley yielded an interesting succession of deposits, from which were collected abundant remains of mammals and birds. The discovery of bones of the Northern Lynx, the Arctic Lemming, and the Northern Vole among these relics, and the collateral evidence of the materials forming some of these layers, seem to link the early history of this bone-cave with late glacial time, or at least with a period before the final disappearance of local glaciers in that region.

scholarly journals Relation between plant species diversity and landscape variables in Central-European dry grassland fragments and their successional derivates

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Igor Paušič ◽  
Danijel Ivajnšič ◽  
Mitja Kaligarič ◽  
Nataša Pipenbaher
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Shape Index ◽  
Plant Species Diversity ◽  
Lower Altitude ◽  
Dry Grassland ◽  
Central European ◽  
Landscape Variables ◽  
Habitat Specialists

AbstractA systematic field survey of an area of 843 ha in the traditional Central-European agricultural landscape of Goričko Nature Park in Slovenia revealed 80 fragments of dry semi-natural grasslands. Vascular plant species diversity was studied in relation to landscape variables and to threat (Slovenian red-listed species). Our results show that fragment size does not affect plant species diversity. In addition, fragment shape index is not related to Alpha diversity. Higher Alpha diversity was observed for abandoned grassland fragments. The lowest Alpha diversity was perceived on more mesic fragments, where habitat specialists are much scarcer. It was confirmed that the highest diversity of specialists are in the driest fragments, both still mowed and abandoned. With an increase in the number of distinctly different bordering habitat types, the total number of species per fragment generally does not increase, except in the case of those fragments that are already in different succession stages. Abandoned and typical dry grasslands are associated with a higher number of bordering habitats. Typical dry grassland fragments and abandoned ones, which probably derived mostly from drier (less productive) grasslands, are found on lower altitude and have a lower shape index. Habitat specialistsSedum sexangulare, Polygala vulgarisandSpiranthes spiralishave higher frequency in fragments with a lower shape index. This means that these oligotrophic specialists occur in smaller fragments. ButOrchis moriohas higher frequencies of occurrence on polygons with a higher shape index, which confirms the observation that this species occurs in larger and more irregular fragments, as well as close to houses and fields and along the roads.

scholarly journals Utjecaj interpretacija pojma periferijske umjetnosti Ljube Karamana i Miroslava Krleže na dalmatinsku povijesti umjetnosti

2021 ◽  
pp. 498-510
Author(s):  
Ivana Prijatelj Pavičić
Keyword(s):  
Interwar Period ◽  
Art History ◽  
Central European ◽  
Cultural Paradigm ◽  
Miroslav Krleza ◽  
History Of ◽  
Artistic Styles ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
True Center ◽  
External Forces

Although the so-called „Vienna school“ practised an universalist approach to history of arts, their prominent acters like Alois Riegel and Max Dvořák influenced the nationalist ideas among the Central European art historians in the interwar period. An evident example of such an influence is Croatian art historian Ljubo Karaman (1886‒1971) ‒ a Vienna student who studied the art relations between center and periphery from early 1930s on. His thoughts on this topic were collected in his 1963 book Problemi periferijske umjetnosti. O djelovanju domaće sredine u umjetnosti hrvatskih krajeva (Problems of Peripheral Art. On Influence of Local Surrounding on the Art of the Croatian Areas). Colonial character of the Karaman’s definition of the center/periphery relation is clear in his notion that the dissemination and assimilation of the artistic styles is always one-way: from developed center to the province. His definition of „peripheral art“ appeared as a reaction to the works of famous „Vienna school“ scholars from early 20th century (particularly Polish-Austrian art historian Strzygowski). It is based on the idea of external, political and artistic influences in Dalmatia as external forces of artistic exchange. A prominent writer and encyclopaedist Miroslav Krleža turned upside-down the idea of the artistic transfer from the advanced West toward underdeveloped East/Balkans as a periphery at the edge of civilisation. In his discussion on the Second Congress of writers in Zagreb he promoted the idea of the periphery as a true center. During 1950s, Krleža strongly influenced the formation of a new cultural paradigm, and forging of the new scientific paradigm within art history in Croatia. In her paper, the author explores how texts of the Croatian art-history scholars regarding ancient Dalmatian art were influenced by Karaman’s and Krleža’s ideas and concepts on peripheral, provincial, and border-line art.

scholarly journals The social crisis of 'central'- eastern Europe since 1989

1997 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 343-353
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Fatić
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
Social Crisis ◽  
Central European ◽  
Central Eastern Europe ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Central Eastern

This paper deals with specific aspects of the crisis of social policy on the "central"-eastem European region, after the onset of political changes that commenced in 1989 with the so-called ..anti-communist revolutions", especially in "central" European countries. The period that began then has been characterised by fast political "transition" and restructuralisation of the economy and political institutions. It has brought with it the excitements of the "capitalisation" of the economy and society, greater individual liberties and rights. However, it has also inflicted on the region a social crisis of apocalyptic dimensions, which is truly unprecedent in this century's history of eastern Europe. The paper explores some particular elements of this social crisis, both statistically and qualitatively. These aspects of the crisis are interpreted, and in its concluding section the paper purports to suggest that any institutional and political change tends to have its more or less devastating social price, which in the case of most countries of "central"-eastern Europe could be have been lower if the reform had progressed at a more moderate and better planned pace.

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