Palaeoenvironmental evidence for local human–environment impacts and abandonment at Landscape, Co. Wexford

Palaeoenvironmental analyses of micro-fossils (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) and micro-charcoal) and macro-fossils (archaeological charcoal, charred cereal grain and pulses) from three sites in the vicinity of the township of Landscape, Co.Wexford, have produced data which reveal a chronology of human–environmental impacts in this area during (i) the Bronze Age, (ii) a subsequent phase of abandonment or downturn in human activity during the Iron Age/late Iron Age, (iii) renewed anthropogenic activity during the Early Christian period, and (iv) the intensification of animal husbandry and consolidation of a large settlement during the medieval/late medieval period. This paper presents palaeoenvironmental data that not only provide a landscape perspective for the archaeology but also build on the current small number of palaeoecological studies in south-east Ireland. The correlation of archaeological and environmental evidence presented also demonstrates the potential for such studies and the shortage of multi-proxy research to demonstrate the subtlety of the human–environment interface through time.