Neolithic Tomb Builders Preserved Prehistoric Forests Through Sustainable Land Use, Study Finds
Neolithic communities that constructed some of Europe's largest megalithic tombs more than 5,600 years ago managed their forests far more sustainably than previously believed, according to a new study by Polish researchers. The findings challenge the long-standing idea that early monument builders cleared vast areas of woodland to support farming and construction.
The research, led by scientists from the Faculty of Archaeology and the Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. It suggests that prehistoric communities carefully balanced agriculture, monument building, and environmental conservation, allowing forests to thrive alongside human activity.
The study focused on a remarkable Neolithic cemetery near the village of Sobota, close to Poznań in western Poland. Discovered in 2018 using LiDAR technology, the site contains five enormous earthen and stone tombs built by the Funnelbeaker culture. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, some of these monuments stretch up to 145 metres in length, making them among the largest prehistoric tombs in Central Europe.Image Credit : Journal of Archaeological Science
The Funnelbeaker culture flourished across much of Central and Northern Europe between 3800 and 2700 BC and is best known for constructing impressive megalithic burial monuments that still dominate parts of the European landscape today.
To understand how these ancient communities interacted with their surroundings, researchers combined archaeological evidence with high-resolution palaeoecological analysis. Sediment cores taken from a nearby peat bog—once an ancient lake—were examined for pollen, microscopic charcoal, and larger charcoal fragments. These preserved environmental records allowed scientists to reconstruct changes in vegetation and human activity almost year by year over thousands of years.
The results paint a very different picture from what archaeologists had previously expected.
Instead of clearing forests through large-scale burning, the Funnelbeaker people appear to have practiced selective woodland management. They mainly removed young trees and shrubs while leaving mature forests largely untouched. This created small openings in the woodland canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach older trees, which actually increased their pollen production and encouraged healthy forest growth over several centuries.
Researchers believe this reflects a sophisticated form of rotational land use that balanced the needs of farming with the long-term health of the surrounding ecosystem.
Evidence also shows that agriculture and livestock grazing were closely integrated into the landscape surrounding the cemetery. Scientists identified spores of fungi associated with animal dung, along with other agricultural indicators, suggesting fields and grazing areas were located either beside the monumental tombs or separated from them only by a small lake.
The researchers describe this economic strategy as "quasi-sustainable," arguing that while people actively used natural resources, they did so without permanently damaging the primeval forests that surrounded their settlements.
The study also found that human activity did have some environmental impact. Continuous farming gradually increased soil erosion, causing sediment to accumulate in the nearby lake. Over time, the lake slowly became shallower before eventually transforming into the wetland that survives in the area today.
Even so, the findings suggest that Europe's early farming communities possessed a far more advanced understanding of landscape management than previously recognized. Rather than exhausting natural resources, they developed practices that allowed forests, farmland, and monumental architecture to coexist for generations.
The research forms part of the project "Lost and Found: Megalithic Funnel Beaker Culture Tombs in the Cultural and Natural Landscape of Greater Poland," funded by Poland's National Science Centre. Researchers believe the study provides valuable new insights into how some of Europe's earliest farming societies successfully balanced economic development with environmental sustainability more than five millennia ago.