Woodland management at the Swedish middle Neolithic site of Alvastra? A new perspective

It is often argued that the repetitive removal of branches to improve the quantity and the quality of wood, i.e. woodland management, has been practiced in Europe from the Mesolithic and/or Neolithic onwards. The Neolithic pile dwelling of Alvastra in Sweden has been mentioned in textbooks as a classical example of this practice. The conclusion about woodland management at Alvastra was primarily based on palynological data, which do not provide any direct evidence. Is it correct to conclude that woodland management was practiced at Alvastra? To investigate that, this paper reviews the previous arguments and interpretations, focusing on wood data, and by comparing archaeological data with modern wood data. First, the assemblage of vertical posts from the latest excavations at Alvastra include a wide range of taxa, showing opportunistic use of the woody vegetation. Second, while the dendrochronological analysis of Quercus and Ulmus carried out in the 80 s has clearly indicated that the trees used for the posts grew under highly similar conditions and that particularly many Quercus trees started to grow more or less at the same time, the reason for the partially simultaneous start of growth remains unknown, and the posts used for the construction of the site do not provide evidence of repetitive removal of trunks from stools. Finally, analysis of the age/diameter data of the Corylus wood indicates the use of branches from unmanaged vegetation, while age data of Salix do not support management either. In conclusion, the data do not support the hypothesis of woodland management at Neolithic Alvastra, and it is most likely that people did not practice woodland management. This outcome corresponds to the conclusions in some of the previous publications about the site.