European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference 2026

The continuous interaction between humans and the environment has strongly shaped the plant landscape of southern Greece. In particular, the Peloponnese, with its complex topography and climatic variability, encompasses centuries of human occupation. A plethora of palaeovegetation records derive from Peloponnesian lowland regions; however, the mountainous areas remain poorly documented. Within this context, the Rakita wetland, located on a plateau of Mount Panachaiko (northwestern Peloponnese), represents a valuable palaeoenvironmental archive. The high-resolution Rakita record provides insights into past vegetation dynamics, as well as evidence of land use and landscape exploitation over the last millennium. The rich palynological archive indicates a transition from open vegetation to a more forested landscape in the Middle Byzantine period. Up-core, a retreat of woodland is observed, associated with the intensification of human activity, particularly animal husbandry and agriculture. In the course of the Ottoman/Venetian periods, a gradual expansion of the forest is recorded, although anthropogenic influence remained significant. Finally, the 19th century CE is marked by a shift in land cover towards herbaceous-dominated vegetation. Bearing a decadal temporal resolution, the upper part of the sequence allows direct comparison of the palynological findings with detailed historical sources, including taxation registers, cadasters, and censuses produced by the Ottoman and Venetian authorities.