Neolithization and "Classical" Elm Decline

A Synthesis of Two Debates

Abstract

The debates about the "classical" elm decline and Neolithization have usually been carried on separately by palynologists and archaeologists. The purpose of this article is to bring together two contemporary debates that both deal with the same prehistoric period. The main purpose of the article is to launch ideas in general rather than to discuss the explanatory models of individual researchers. There are three prevalent explanations derived from the two debates; the elm decline has mainly been explained as due to economic transformation or ecological changes, whereas the explanation for Neolithization is based on cultural change due to, for example, social causes. In a concluding synthesis, I criticize the idea of economic transformation during the initial phase of the Neolithic, and instead point to long-term cultural changes in a non-material perspective. The cause of the elm decline was probably elm disease, and together with other ecological changes it could have affected the Neolithization process both locally and regionally.