Papers by hendrik demiddele
In de jaren ’80-’90 van de vorige eeuw wordt de Roeselaarse haven uitgebreid in oostelijke richti... more In de jaren ’80-’90 van de vorige eeuw wordt de Roeselaarse haven uitgebreid in oostelijke richting. Men legt ondermeer de Zwaaikom en het achterliggende industrieterrein langs de Kachtemsestraat en Zwaaikomstraat aan. Vrijwilligers van V.O.B.o.W. en de Werkgroep Archeologie Roeselare verrichtten er onder leiding van Jozef Goderis en Johan Termote het nodige archeologisch onderzoek om zo een stukje Roeselaarse geschiedenis veilig stellen. Naast de dakpannenoven legden de archeologen ook meerdere waterputten bloot met daarin heel wat fraaie en goed bewaarde voorwerpen zoals een uitzonderlijke hark en twee bronzen ketels. Een groot deel van deze vondsten zijn te bewonderen tijdens de tentoonstelling. Recent onderzoek van doctoraatstudent Tim Clerbaut (UGent) bracht de collectie weer onder de aandacht, of eerder vanonder het stof vandaan. Onder zijn impuls en dankzij een nauwe samenwerking werden de expo en de publicatie gerealiseerd.
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 2018
The development of landscape and vegetation in and around a large Lateglacial lake was studied ba... more The development of landscape and vegetation in and around a large Lateglacial lake was studied based on multiple proxies (2.) The study allowed a detailed reconstruction of the local conditions that prevailed in the Lateglacial lake. (3.) The aquatic assemblages reflect changes in nutrient availability and fluctuations in lake levels (4.) During the Lateglacial, human occupation patterns were strongly influenced by changes in vegetation and climate
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
This paper presents the results of multi-disciplinary research carried out on the deposits of a r... more This paper presents the results of multi-disciplinary research carried out on the deposits of a residual channel (“Peerdemeers”) of the Kale/Durme River in the Moervaart depression, NW Belgium. The combination of physical, botanical, zoological and chemical analyses allowed a detailed reconstruction of the channel ecosystem and the vegetation in the surrounding landscape during the Younger Dryas and Early Holocene. A chronology for the record was provided by radiocarbon dating. Vegetation patterns were influenced by major climate changes that occurred during this period. During the early Younger Dryas, the river channel was active and vegetation was open with scattered birch copses, shrubs, grasses and herbs. The channel was cut-off in the late Younger Dryas, while some heath developed in the area. The Friesland Phase is characterised by a lithological change and increase in water level in the residual channel. Dwarf birch disappeared and boreal forests developed. The area however, remained relatively open compared to other coversand areas in NW Europe. The Rammelbeek Phase is considered as a drier, more continental climate phase in which forest expansion was temporarily interrupted and grasslands became more abundant. Also at the “Peerdemeers” site an increase in grasses is recorded. During the entire period (ca. 1,000 years) there is no hard evidence for human activity. The absence of archaeological evidence is in sharp contrast with the preceding (Allerød) and succeeding periods (Boreal). This suggests that environmental conditions during the YD and PB were probably too unfavourable for hunter-gatherers to remain in the Moervaart area.
In de jaren ’80-’90 van de vorige eeuw wordt de Roeselaarse haven uitgebreid in oostelijke richti... more In de jaren ’80-’90 van de vorige eeuw wordt de Roeselaarse haven uitgebreid in oostelijke richting. Men legt ondermeer de Zwaaikom en het achterliggende industrieterrein langs de Kachtemsestraat en Zwaaikomstraat aan. Vrijwilligers van V.O.B.o.W. en de Werkgroep Archeologie Roeselare verrichtten er onder leiding van Jozef Goderis en Johan Termote het nodige archeologisch onderzoek om zo een stukje Roeselaarse geschiedenis veilig stellen. Naast de dakpannenoven legden de archeologen ook meerdere waterputten bloot met daarin heel wat fraaie en goed bewaarde voorwerpen zoals een uitzonderlijke hark en twee bronzen ketels. Een groot deel van deze vondsten zijn te bewonderen tijdens de tentoonstelling. Recent onderzoek van doctoraatstudent Tim Clerbaut (UGent) bracht de collectie weer onder de aandacht, of eerder vanonder het stof vandaan. Onder zijn impuls en dankzij een nauwe samenwerking werden de expo en de publicatie gerealiseerd.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017
This paper presents the results of multi-disciplinary research carried out on the deposits of Moe... more This paper presents the results of multi-disciplinary research carried out on the deposits of Moervaart depression, NW Belgium, one of the largest palaeolakes (~25 km2) that existed during the Lateglacial interstadial in NW Europe. The multi-proxy study, including physical (organic matter and calcium carbonate, magnetic susceptibility,micromorphological), botanical (pollen, macrofossils, diatoms), zoological (ostracods,molluscs, chironomids) and chemical analyses (stable carbon and oxygen isotopes) has resulted in a detailed reconstruction of the Lateglacial landscape as well of the local conditions that prevailed in the lake itself. A chronology of the record was provided by radiocarbon dating and comparison with radiocarbon dates of the nearby Rieme site. These yielded a good match with the regional biostratigraphy. During the Lateglacial, vegetation and geomorphology of the landscape in general changed from a tundra landscape to a boreal forest. The vegetation development, however, was interrupted by a number of cold reversals. Three centennial-scale cold oscillations are present in the record: 1) the so-called Older Dryas corresponding to GI-1d in the Greenland ice-cores, 2) a short and pronounced cold event during the early Allerød, which could be correlated to GI-1c2 and 3) a cooling event during the late Allerød probably corresponding to the Intra Allerød Cold Period (IACP) or GI-1b. The latter most likely was responsible for the disappearance of the Moervaart palaeolake.
In this paper, a detailed vegetation and environmental reconstruction for the Lateglacial interst... more In this paper, a detailed vegetation and environmental reconstruction for the Lateglacial interstadial in the Moervaart area (NW Belgium) is discussed, in relation to former human occupation patterns. This reconstruction is based on a multidisciplinary research carried out on calcareous deposits of a large palaeolake (~25 km 2). The combination of physical (magnetic susceptibility, micromorphology, organic matter, calcium carbonate), botanical (pollen, macrofossils, diatoms), zoological (chironomids, molluscs, ostracods) and chemical analyses (stable carbon and oxygen isotopes) allowed for a highly detailed reconstruction of the lake ecosystem and vegetation surrounding the lake. The chronology of the lake record was provided by radiocarbon dating and comparison with the nearby Rieme sites and regional biostratigraphy. During the Bølling phase, the Moervaart palaeolake formed as result of a major rise of the groundwater table in the area. Water level rise continued during the early Allerød phase and a rich water flora and fauna developed in the lake. From this period onwards, the area provided a suitable landscape for the Federmesser Culture hunter– gatherers with fresh drinking water, extensive and fertile woodlands and lake edges for wild game hunting, plant gathering and fowling. Water levels rose to a maximum at the end of the early Allerød. Thereafter, an outlet for the lake was formed in the east. As a result, water levels gradually decreased during the middle to late Allerød and eventually the Moervaart lake turned into a swamp and ceased to exist. In combination with the prevailing colder conditions, this led to a marked population decrease with probably temporary abandonment of the region.
Altough climate fluctuations during the late-glacial are well-known for northwestern Europe, bett... more Altough climate fluctuations during the late-glacial are well-known for northwestern Europe, better knowledge of past lake ecosystem responses to natural climate variability is prerequisite to assess more comprehensively direct and indirect linkages between clmate change and lake water properties (e.g., primary production, nutrient cycling and water-column pH). These insights are also important for understanding the climate forcing processes at the spatial and temporal resolution required to determine the role of environmental factors in past human adaptation. Her, we analyse fossil diatom assemblages recorded in a sediment sequence of a late-glacial paleolake in the Moervaart area (northwestern Belgium) to reconstruct distinct climate-driven changes on the lake's ecosystem services for local hunter-gatherer communities. The diatom analysis from the Moervaart palaeolake shows sensitive climate-related palaeolimnological responses, and most of all the species shifts are caused by changes in temperature and water level fluctuation. Starting as a large swamp during the Bolling, the Moervaart depression gradualy evolved into a shallow lake which reached its highest level in the early and satrt of middle Alerod. These conditions were favorable for setting by groups of migrating hunter-gatherers belonging to the Federmesser Culture.
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Papers by hendrik demiddele