Were Herod the Great’s Palace Gardens Unique?

Herod the Great built palaces and complexes with innovative excellence.This article explores his success in creating unique and luxurious gardens in desert areas.It does this by discussing the interaction between Herodian architecture already excavated by archaeologists and the newer science of garden archaeology.The investigation gives a realistic knowledge,through laboratory analysis of the plants grown in Herod’s gardens and how inventive he was.

Reconstruction of the Vegetation and Environment during Different Climatic and Sociotechnical Conditions of the Last 3000 Years in Southwestern Hungary

Sedimentary basins such as Lake Baláta in Southwestern Hungary provide information about the development of lake-bog systems, the climate change through time and the environment of the surrounding area. The present study provides combined palynological, anthracological and macrobotanical data regarding climatic, vegetation and hydrological changes of a protected area for the last 3000 years. Lake Baláta is a sedimentary basin developed in a wind-blown yardang system in Southwestern Hungary. Due to its deeper location and the higher groundwater-level, the boggy lake functioned as a sediment catch. Geological drilling with an auger head drill provided an undisturbed sediment core. During the laboratory analysis different methods, such as sedimentological, geochemical, macrofossil, pollen and charcoal analysis were applied. The different stages and the evolution of the lake-bog system and the vegetation around the lake could be reconstructed and human impact was detected for the last 3000 years. Human impact and the transformation of vegetation was detected from the Early Iron Age (900/800 BC). Human impact reached its maximum during the 10th and 12th centuries when extent plant cultivation and grazing field zones were created. Climate change, increasing precipitation and consequently forest regeneration started in the 13th and 14th centuries. Parallel to this human impact decreased in the study area that indicates the reduction of the population and agrarian activity. Later at the beginning of the 15th century human impact increased again and remained significant until to the 16th century.

Vegetation dynamics and climate variability over the past 2000 years inferred from Son Kul marsh in the western Tianshan Mountains

A pollen study was conducted on an alpine marsh sediment in the Son Kul Basin and was allowed to reconstruct changes in vegetation dynamics and climatic information in the western Tianshan Mountains during the past 2000 years.Pollen diagram reveals that regional vegetation is dominated by alpine meadow in the past 2000 years,being similar with modern vegetation components in the basin.The Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae-indicated moisture exhibits a warm-dry Roman Warm Period(RWP,~0-~500 AD),a cold-dry Dark Ages Cold Period(DACP,~500-~800 AD),a warm-wet Medieval Warm Period(MWP,~800-~1350 AD),a cold-dry Little Ice Age(LIA,~1350-~1850 AD)and a warm-dry Current Warm Period(CWP,since~1850 AD).Our pollen-based moisture reconstructions are supported by other nearby moisture records.Combined with other pollen data in the western Tianshan Mountains,we found that the vegetation was relatively stable before~1650-~1750 AD and the anthropogenic activities obviously intensified afterwards(especially at the middle-elevation sites).Further work involving more and higher-resolution palaeovegetation records would contribute to fully understand the information on the complex links between environmental,climatic and anthropogenic changes in the western Tianshan Mountains.

The LGM refugia of deciduous oak and distribution development since the LGM in China

The distribution development of oak has significant effects on ecosystems and society.Long-term forest distribution studies can help to better understand the vegetation dynamics under climate change or human activities in the future.In this study,we integrated different methods(i.e.,palaeoecology,phylogeography,and species distribution models)to investigate the likely locations of glacial refugia and the postglacial development of the main deciduous oak species(i.e.,Quercus variabilis,Q.mongolica,Q.dentata,Q.aliena,Q.acutissima and Q.liaotungensis).The results indicated that mountains such as the Changbai,Qinling,and Dabie Mountains acted as the refugia in northern and central China during the Last Glacial Maximum(LGM).The present Quercus in northern China could be the result of local dispersal during the postglacial period rather than only that of long-distance migration from south to north.Climate was the main influencing factor for oak migration,while human activities did not show much influence on this widespread genus.The topography acted as a buffer and made the mountains act as refugia under a deteriorated climate.Compared with other main tree genera(e.g.,Pinus and Betula),the refugia locations and migration routes of deciduous oak species were different because of their physiological differences.The individual migration dynamics of these three genera need to be considered when modelling their dynamics.

Vegetation dynamics and its response to climate change during the past 2000 years in the Altai Mountains,northwestern China

Over the past 2000 years,a high-resolution pollen record from the Yushenkule Peat(46°45′-46°57′N,90°46′-90°61′E,2374 m a.s.l.)in the south-eastern Altai Mountains of northwestern China has been used to explore the changes in vegetation and climate.The regional vegetation has been dominated by alpine meadows revealed from pollen diagrams over the past 2000 years.The pollen-based climate was warm and wet during the Roman Warm Period(0-520 AD),cold and wet during the Dark Age Cold Period(520-900 AD),warm and wet during the Medieval Warm Period(900-1300 AD),and cold and dry during the Little Ice Age(1300-1850 AD).Combined with other pollen data from the Altai Mountains,we found that the percentage of arboreal pollen showed a reduced trend along the NW-SE gradient with decreasing moisture and increasing climatic continentality of the Altai Mountains over the past 2000 years;this is consistent with modern distributions of taiga forests.We also found that the taiga(Pinus forest)have spread slightly,while the steppe(Artemisia,Poaceae and Chenopodiaceae)have recovered significantly in the Altai Mountains over the past 2000 years.In addition,the relatively warm-wet climate may promote high grassland productivity and southward expansion of steppe,which favors the formation of Mongol political and military power.