European Palaeobotany and Palynology Conference 2026

Numerous lignitized fruits and seeds have been recovered from commercial clay pits of the middle Eocene Cockfield Formation of the Claiborne Group. One fruit type, comprising five specimens, previously studied with reflected light and scanning electron microscopy, was further investigated with Keyance shadow effect microscopy and micro-CT scanning technology to elucidate the inner morphology....

The early Late Miocene hominid locality Hammerschmiede (OSM4, MN9, Bavaria, Germany) is well known for its diverse and important fossil vertebrate fauna, but the botanical record remains poorly understood. The unique carpoflora from a fine grained river channel fill (HAM 4, channel lag/ upper bars) has been collected and studied over the last years. The depositional setting reflects neither a...

The Plio–Pleistocene travertine flora from Dreveník (Slovakia) represents an important macrofloral assemblage across the Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene transition. The Dreveník flora comprises a total of 37 taxa, including 35 plant species and two family-level taxa. Four gymnosperm species representing four genera and one family-level taxon were recognised in the studied material, including...

The Western Himalaya, with its unique biodiversity, complex topography and sensitivity to both South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM) and Western Disturbances (WDs), acts as a key region to decode past climatic and associated ecological changes. Here we present a high-resolution multi-proxy based vegetation and climate reconstruction, and human-environment interactions in the Western Himalaya since...

Quercus subgenus Cerris is one of the two subgenera in Quercus, with around 140 species in the sections Ilex, Cerris and Cyclobalanopsis. The sects. Ilex and Cyclobalanopsis are mostly evergreen, while the sect. Cerris is almost deciduous. They prefers to different ecological habitats, climate and geographical ranges, providing palynologists a key to reconstruct vegetation and...

In the Iberian Peninsula, pine forests played a fundamental role in shaping Late Quaternary landscapes, both through the occupation of treeless areas following fires and climate change, and through the stabilization of environments less suitable for other arboreal communities (sands, steep slopes, etc.). Based on macrofossil evidence from different regions of the Iberian Peninsula, it is now...

The vegetation history of Lake Srebarna in northeastern Bulgaria spans the Holocene period, tied to climate fluctuations and millennia of human land use. Pollen analyses provide a detailed timeline of regional flora and landscape changes. Today, Lake Srebarna is a shallow freshwater lake that transitions into the Danube River floodplain. The aquatic and wetland flora is highly distinct. The...

A vast peatland in the northwestern interior at a tributary of the Mooi River, Gerhardminnebronn Stream, in a Precambrian karstic landscape, reveals Holocene environmental change in a palaeoecologically underexplored region of South Africa. A core from a sinkhole within Mooi River Ecosystem for Scientific Trials and Investigations (METSI) was analysed for pollen, sedimentology, and...

We present a Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from Mashishing Fen, northeastern South Africa, focusing on disentangling climatic variability from human-induced change. A 5.5 m-long sediment core with 18 AMS radiocarbon dates provides a continuous archive spanning the last ~11,700 years. Pollen, charcoal, and sedimentological data are used to reconstruct vegetation dynamics,...

A central question in palaeoenvironmental research is whether and how past climatic changes influenced shifts in settlement patterns, subsistence strategies, and land use. This study investigates the interactions between vegetation dynamics, climate variability, and human land-use practices in northeastern Germany during the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (ca. 1270–580 BC), a period marked...

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...