A Comparison of Pollen Indicators of Slash-and-burn Agriculture in Forest Soils and Peatlands: A Case Study of Zvenigorod Biological Station (Moscow Region, Russia)

This study compares evidence of slash-and-burn agriculture in pollen spectra from soils and aquatic archives in the southern forest zone of Eastern Europe. Pollen assemblages from buried swidden soils (500-1800 cal BP) were analysed alongside coeval peat layers and modern surface soils. Swidden horizons show highly distinctive pollen spectra characterised by Betula dominance, low conifer representation, and the co-occurrence of cultivation indicators (Cerealia-type) and post-fire taxa (Chamaenerion, Pteridium, Marchantia). The high abundance of the insect-pollinated Chamaenerion angustifolium likely reflects both its prevalence in swidden landscapes and its accumulation through ground-nesting bee activity, providing an additional proxy for identifying buried swiddens. In peat records, the onset of slash-and-burn agriculture is indicated by increased microcharcoal, decline of late-successional trees, expansion of pioneer taxa, and the appearance of agricultural indicators. Betula dominance in both archives reflects secondary stands during fallow stages. However, cultivation and post-fire signals are much weaker in peat sequences. These results show that paleosol pollen spectra provide robust, site-specific evidence of swidden agriculture, whereas peat records reflect broader regional pollen rain and detect such activity only indirectly. The study provides a methodological framework for identifying and localising ancient agricultural practices in palaeoecological and archaeological research.