Flora and vegetation of the Ovruch Ridge (Northern Ukraine) in the Early Middle Ages according to palynological evidence

Pollen assemblages were obtained from deposits from archaeological layers of Early Medieval sites dated to the 3rd–7th and 13th centuries A.D. in the Ovruch Ridge area (Zhytomyr Region, the forest zone of Northern Ukraine). Taxonomic composition of the fossil pollen flora (more than 140 taxa of various ranks) was determined for a narrow temporal interval of the 13th century A.D. Based on the combined evidence of pollen and macrofossils, species composition of the cultivated (13 species) and weedy (38 species) components of the flora for the 13th century was identified. Pollen data are indicative of large-scale deforestation in the Ovruch Ridge area during the 13th century.