The second half of the Allerød interstadial in the Netherlands is characterised by pine forest. Excavated trunks of 165 pine trees at Leusden‐Den Treek in the central Netherlands (LETR16) were dated by dendrochronology and radiocarbon. Two chronologically separated pine forest phases occurred during relatively warm periods as recorded in Greenland ice. We developed two hypotheses to explain waxing and waning of the two pine ph...

Non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) form a large group of biological objects found in palynological slides besides pollen grains. This includes various remains of algae and fungi, shells, resting stages and eggs of invertebrates, among others. Publications of NPP-types started in the 1970s with studies of BvG and colleagues, and large numbers of new types continue to be published every year. For an overview of this diverse world of...

Lake Meerfelder Maar (MFM) is the northernmost Western European sediment record with annual laminations across the Younger Dryas (YD), and the onset of the YD in the record of MFM has previously been defined as an increase in non‐arboreal pollen abundance at ca. 12 680 varve a BP. Here we present a palynological record at unprecedented subdecadal resolution for MFM, covering the Allerød–YD transition. Our results show a fluctu...

Pollen, botanical macrofossils, chemical components and ancient DNA were studied in samples from the rumen of a frozen Yakutian bison ( Bison priscus ) that lived ca. 10,500 cal a BP. The dialkyl glycerol ether lipid archaeol (2,3‐di‐ O ‐phytanyl‐ sn ‐glycerol) was detected and is interpreted to have been derived from methanogenic Archaea in the rumen. This is the oldest reported occurrence of archaeol attributed to digestive...

Two 14 C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) wiggle‐match dated peat sequences from Denmark and northern England record changes in mire surface wetness reconstructed using plant macrofossil and testate amoebae analyses. A number of significant mid–late Holocene climatic deteriorations (wet shifts) associated with declines in solar activity were recorded (at ca. 2150 cal. yr BC, 740 cal. yr BC, cal. yr AD 930, cal. yr AD 1020,...

Aim This paper reviews the available documentary, archaeological and palaeoecological evidence for the abandonment of agricultural land and consequent regeneration of the forest in Europe after the Black Death. Location Western and northern Europe. Methods This review is the result of an exhaustive search of the historical, archaeological and palaeoecological literature for evidence indicating agricultural decline and forest r...

Colombian vegetation, at the ecological level of the biome, is reconstructed at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using two methods. A reconstruction of modern biomes shows that, for the majority of the sites, the pollen data accurately reflect the potential vegetation, even though much of the original vegetation has been transformed by agricultural practices. At 18 000 14 C yr BP a generally cool and dry environment is reflected...

Carbon‐14 wiggle‐match dating (WMD) of peat deposits uses the non‐linear relationship between 14 C age and calendar age to match the shape of a series of closely spaced peat 14 C dates with the 14 C calibration curve. The method of WMD is discussed, and its advantages and limitations are compared with calibration of individual dates. A numerical approach to WMD is introduced that makes it possible to assess the precision of WM...

Colombian biomes are reconstructed at 45 sites from the modern period extending to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The basis for our reconstruction is pollen data assigned to plant functional types and biomes at six 3000‐yr intervals. A reconstruction of modern biomes is used to check the treatment of the modern pollen data set against a map of potential vegetation. This allows the biomes reconstructed at past periods to be as...