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Late-Holocene climatic variability south of the Alps as recorded by lake-level fluctuations at Lake Ledro, Trentino, ItalyCNRS-MSHE Ledoux, USR 3124 (CNRS), and Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 16 route de Gray, 25 030 Besançon, France, michel.magny{at}univ-fcomte.fr
GEODE, UMR 5602 (CNRS), Universiy of Toulouse 2, 27 Chemin du Rayat, 31600 Muret, France
Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, via Aosta 1, 38100 Trento, Italy
ACCES-INRP, 19 Allée de Fontenay, BP 17424, 69347 Lyon Cedex 07, France
CNRS-MSHE Ledoux, USR 3124 (CNRS), and Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 16 route de Gray, 25 030 Besançon, France
Department of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Dendrodata s.a.s., via Cesiolo 18, 37126 Verona, Italy
Dipartimento di Filosofia, Storia e Beni Culturali, Università di Trento, via santa Croce 65, 38100 Trento, Italy
Museo delle Palafitte del Lago di Ledro, Via Lungolago 1, 38060 Molina di Ledro, Italy
CNRS-MSHE Ledoux, USR 3124 (CNRS), and Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 16 route de Gray, 25 030 Besançon, France
CNRS-MSHE Ledoux, USR 3124 (CNRS), and Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, 16 route de Gray, 25 030 Besançon, France A lake-level record for the late Holocene at Lake Ledro (Trentino, northeastern Italy) is presented. It is based on the sediment and pollen analysis of a 1.75 m high stratigraphic section observed on the southern shore (site Ledro I) and a 3.2 m long sediment core taken from a littoral mire on the southeastern shore (site Ledro II). The chronology is derived from 15 radiocarbon dates and pollen stratigraphy. The late-Holocene composite record established from these two sediment sequences gives evidence of centennial-scale fluctuations with highstands at c. 3400, 2600, 1700, 1200 and 400 cal. BP, in agreement with various palaeohydrological records established in central and northern Italy, as well as north of theAlps. In addition, high lake-level conditions at c. 2000 cal. BP may be the equivalent of stronger river discharge observed at the same time in Central Italy’s rivers. In agreement with the lake-level record of Accesa (Tuscany), the Ledro record also suggests a relatively complex palaeohydrological pattern for the period around 4000 cal. BP. On a millennial scale, sediment hiatuses observed in the lower part of the Ledro I sediment sequence indicate that, except for a highstand occurring just after 7500 cal. BP, lower lake levels generally prevailed rather before c. 4000 cal. BP than afterwards. Finally, the lake-level data obtained at Lake Ledro indicate that the relative continuity of settlements in humid areas of northern Italy during the Bronze Age (in contrast to their general abandonment north of the Alps between c. 3450 and 3150 cal. BP), does not reflect different regional patterns of climatic and palaeohydrological conditions. In contrast, the rise in lake level dated to c. 3400 cal. BP at Ledro appears to coincide with a worldwide climate reversal, observed in both the hemispheres, while palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data collected at Lake Ledro may suggest, as a working hypothesis, a relative emancipation of protohistoric societies from climatic conditions.
Key Words: Lake level • late Holocene • northern Italy • sedimentology • Bronze Age lake-dwellings
The Holocene, Vol. 19, No. 4,
575-589 (2009) |
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