LATE MESOLITHIC AND EARLY NEOLITHIC COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS
IN SOUTH-EASTERN FRANCE:

the Contribution of Pollen Data
from the Loup and Cagne Plains (Alpes-Maritimes)

Sébastien GUILLON

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Abstract

During the first half of the Holocene, climatic conditions, anthropogenic conditions and sea levels underwent numerous and significant modifications. To qualify the response of the coastal alluvial vegetation to these changing conditions between the end of the 8^th and the 5^th millennia, a high-resolution pollen analysis of two sedimentary alluvial sequences (Le Loup and La Cagne basins) was realized. The results, obtained through a multidisciplinary approach, show the precise evolution of the coastal and alluvial ecosystems. The rise in sea level and climatic forcing played a fundamental role in this evolution. While anthropogenic forcing during the Mesolithic was not significant, the Neolithization of the region also contributed to shaping the coastal landscapes. From the first decades of the 6^th millennium onwards, the recurrence of the Cerealia pollen type shows the importance of coastal alluvial plains in the production economy of the first Neolithic groups.

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