Palaeoecological studies at the Mesolithic site at Bedburg-Konigshoven near Cologne, Germany

The Late Glacial and early Holocene palaeo-vegetation is reconstructed by analysis of pollen and macroscopic plant remains from sediments of the lower river Erft valley, near Cologne, exposed by the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine. The study was carried out in parallel with the archaeological excavation of the Mesolithic site of Bedburg-Konigshoven, located within a former meander of the Erft. During the Younger Dryas period, the study region was thinly wooded. Relatively open pine woods existed during the Preboreal, becoming more closed during the Boreal. Later in the Boreal, Corylus and taxa of the mixed oak woodland (Ulmus, Quercus, Tilia and Fraxinus) appeared. The Atlantic period was characterised by mixed oak woods with dominant Ulmus. At the beginning of the Subboreal, Ulmus declined and Tilia became the predominant element of the woods. The Mesolithic settlement existed during the early and middle part of the Preboreal period. At that time, the woodland of the Erft valley was mainly composed of Pinus, Betula and some Populus. The pollen results do not show any evidence of the activity of Mesolithic people. Local vegetational changes of the filling process of the Erft meander were described and interpreted. The vegetational development of the study region is compared with that of neighbouring regions.