A Pollen Record of the Presence of Hunter-fisher Communities in the Vicinity of Lake Retsamo, Finnish Lapland
Abstract
A pollen profile from Lake Retsamo, Finnish Lapland, is presented. The entire Holocene vegetation history is illustrated from an open-land phase following the disappearance of the ice, through birch woodland to the pine dominated forest of today. Phases during which the vegetation surrounding the lake has been disturbed in some way are pinpointed. The longest, most destructive of these phases is dated from mid 15th to mid 17th century and is interpreted as being related to a Sámi winter village, remains of which are visible on the lake shore. There is slighter evidence for up to four earlier disturbance phases but the interpretation of these is more controversial: they may be anthropogenic but could be in connection with naturally occurring fires. The slow rate of sediment accumulation (av. 0.034 cm year) means that the temporal resolution of all phases is poor when compared with that of a peat profile adjacent to another winter village, Einehlammet. The interference phases are assessed relative to the overall picture of the advance of hunter-fisher populations into Lapland.
