Modelling the long-term evolution of anthropogenic land cover and environmental impact in the central Belgian Loess Belt – Integration of archaeological, geomorphological and palynological records KU Leuven
More than seven thousand years ago, the arrival of the first sedentary groups of farmers in the loess regions of Central and Western Europe marked the onset of a millennia-long decrease of natural vegetation in favour of agricultural land. Concurrent with the growing pressure on forests, man’s impact on earth surface processes and atmospheric cycles increased as well. However, neither the quantity and nature of past human-induced land cover ...