In this article we use pollen data from six sites in southern Greece to study long-term vegetation change in this region from 1000 BCE to 600 CE. Based on insights from environmental history, we interpret our estimated trends in the regional presence of cereal, olive and vine pollen as proxies for structural changes in agricultural production. We present evidence that there was a market economy in ancient Greece and a major trade expansion several centuries before the Roman conquest. Our results are consistent with auxiliary data on settlement dynamics, shipwrecks and ancient oil and wine presses.

This paper reviews the glacial history of the mountains of Greece at the southernmost tip of the Balkans, providing a new synthesis of our current understanding of glaciations. The ice cover during the largest Middle Pleistocene glaciations (MIS 12/MIS 6) was more extensive than previously thought. Latest evidence from Mt Chelmos suggests that valley glaciers radiated from a central plateau ice field, whereas the findings of other glacial studies in western Balkans further indicate that extensive ice field/ice caps formed on mountains throughout this region during the Middle Pleistocene glaciations. Ice extent was considerably smaller during the Tymphian Stage (MIS 5d–MIS 2) and this has been confirmed by cosmogenic exposure ages in recent studies on Mt Olympus and Mt Chelmos. During the Holocene, only very small glaciers formed in some deep cirques where they survived because of strong local topoclimatic controls. A comparative analysis with the findings of other glacial and palaeoclimatic studies in the Balkans is also presented to highlight correlations between them. Moisture supply seems to have been the most critical factor for the formation of glaciers in the mountains of Greece. The comparison of Late Pleistocene Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs) across the Balkans indicates a wetter climate in southern Greece that can be attributed to different palaeoatmospheric circulation mechanisms and precipitation regime in central Mediterranean. Conclusively, whilst important information has been added in the last 2 decades, this paper highlights the need for further research in Greece and the wider Balkans to establish the timing and extent of glaciations.

The paleoenvironmental evolution of Lake Ismarida in Thrace (Northern Greece) is revealed by the combined lithological, micropaleontological (benthic foraminifera, pollen and NPPS), molluscan analyses, magnetic susceptibility measurement and radiocarbon dating of a 5.8-m long sediment core. The mid Holocene evolution of the lake area is evidenced by the documentation of four sedimentary Units in the core ISMR-2, corresponding to four distinct evolutionary stages: (1) during ∼5500-3500 cal yr BP the lake area was a shallow marine environment characterized by an Ammonia beccarii, small rotaliids, miliolids, Bittium reticulatum and Veneridae spp. assemblage, marine dinoflagellate cysts, and low magnetic susceptibility values; (2) during ∼3500-3000 cal BP the environment is gradually tending to more isolated conditions forming an open lagoon, characterized by marine and euryhaline fauna and low magnetic susceptibility values; (3) during 3000 cal yr BP, the open lagoon presented a transition to an oligohaline inner lagoon, characterized by an Ammonia tepida, Haynesina germanica, Aubignyna perlucida, Pirenella conica, Cerastoderma glaucum and Abra spp. assemblage, sedges and aquatic vegetation. This restricted, entirely isolated from the sea inner lagoon could be definitely used as the landmark of the Lake Ismaris from Heorodotus, while describing the march of Xerxes through Thrace in 480 B.C.; (4) since ∼2000 cal yr BP to the present, the Lake Ismarida is formed, characterized by fresh-water indicators and aquatic pollen, Pseudoschizaea and high magnetic susceptibility values. Finally, the progradation of the Filiouris River deltaic deposits resulted to a 4 km wide deltaic plain between Lake Ismarida and the nowadays coastline. Pollen assemblages record the dominance of a rather rich deciduous forest in the area with traces of human presence in the lower part of the sequence, whereas the opening of the plant landscape under the increasing human pressure is evidenced after ∼ 3000 cal yr BP. Finally, an open vegetation pattern, contemporaneous with the retreat of forest vegetation, is evidenced in the area already before 2000 cal yr BP.

Mediterranean mountain ecosystems have been attractive to human societies due to their valuable resources, but are also susceptible to environmental and climate changes. The Rhodope Mountain Range hosts one of the least disturbed natural forests of Europe and is a conservation priority area in the Southern Balkans. Located in the borderlands of the plain of Macedonia, the forest ecosystem development of Rhodope Mountains was shaped not only by Late Holocene climatic variability, but also by changes in human activities since Byzantine times. Palynological and microscopic charcoal analysis of the Livaditis ombrotrophic bog record offers unique insights into vegetation and landscape evolution under the influence of human land-use practices in the south Rhodope area during the last c.a. 1100 years. The findings show a forested landscape, with well-developed Pinus and Abies forests of in the montane zone and mixed deciduous oak forests below that flourished in the area until 900 AD. The expansion of human activity in mountainous areas during the period of Byzantine economic growth (ca. 1000 AD) is evidenced by forest clearance through fire, affecting mainly the Abies populations. The Livaditis record bears evidence about both, arboriculture and cereal cultivation as well as animal husbandry during the first period of human activities in the uplands, while a shift towards pastoralism is most likely associated with the establishment of the Vlach population in the region (ca. 1200 AD). Subsequently, a short-lived expansion of the Pinus percentages could be attributed to the afforestation of abandoned pasture land during the Little Ice Age. Finally, a further intensification of pastoralism is most likely concurrent with the population expansion documented during the Ottoman period (after 1500 AD). The Livaditis pollen record shows significant vegetation shifts in the upland area of southern Rhodope Mountains that could be associated with changes in climate, population mobility and density, as well as evolving land-use practices.

Mediterranean mid-altitude sites are critical for the survival of plant species allowing for elevational vegetation shifts in response to high-amplitude climate variability. Pollen records from the southern Balkans have underlined the importance of the region in preserving plant diversity over at least the last half a million years. So far, there are no records of vegetation and climate dynamics from Balkan refugia with an Early Pleistocene age. Here we present a unique palynological archive from such a refugium, the Lake Ohrid basin, recording continuously floristic diversity and vegetation succession under obliquity-paced climate oscillations. Palynological data are complemented by biomarker, diatom, carbonate isotope and sedimentological data to identify the mechanisms controlling shifts in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems within the lake and its catchment. The study interval encompasses four complete glacial-interglacial cycles (1365–1165 ka; MIS 43–35). Within the first 100 kyr of lake ontogeny, lake size and depth increase before the lake system enters a new equilibrium state as observed in a distinct shift in biotic communities and sediment composition. Several relict tree genera such as Cedrus, Tsuga, Carya, and Pterocarya played an important role in ecological succession cycles, while total relict abundance accounts for up to half of the total arboreal vegetation. The most prominent biome during interglacials is cool mixed evergreen needleleaf and deciduous broadleaf forests, while cool evergreen needleleaf forests dominate within glacials. A rather forested landscape with a remarkable plant diversity provide unique insights into Early Pleistocene ecosystem resilience and vegetation dynamics.

The present study focuses on the palynological investigation of a sediment core (S2P) recovered from Elefsis Bay, in the western part of Attica Peninsula (southern Greece). Until now, there is quite scarce knowledge about the vegetation history of southern Greece during Late Glacial and Holocene due to a deficiency of long high-resolution pollen records. The analyzed gravity core is a unique continuous and well-dated pollen archive, providing the opportunity for the reconstruction of the plant landscape succession in southern Greece since Late Glacial. In order evidence for the vegetation response to climate oscillations and human impact to be derived, detailed analyses were conducted throughout the sedimentary sequence, spanning the last 13,500 years. The pollen data suggest that temperate deciduous, open oak woodlands of Late Glacial were fully expanded during the onset of Holocene, without any pronounced setback due to climate oscillations as it has been previously indicated by pollen archives from northern Greece. Following this period, Middle Holocene is characterized by the establishment of complex vegetation patterns, partly as the result of human activities, which seem to be the dominant vegetation shaping factor during Late Holocene. Overall, our pollen record highlights the vegetation transition during Late Glacial and Holocene in southern Greece, while offering valuable insight into the plant landscape prior to the first signs of human impact on the environment.