The population boom-and-bust during the European Neolithic (7000–2000 BC) has been the subject of lively discussion for the past decade. Most of the research on this topic was carried out with help of summed radiocarbon probability distributions. We aim to reconstruct population dynamics within the catchment of a medium sized lake on the basis of information on the presence of all known past human activities. We calculated a human activity model based on Monte Carlo simulations. The model showed the lowest level of human activity between 4000 and 3000 BC. For a better understanding of long-term socio-environmental dynamics, we also used the results of a pollen-based quantitative vegetation model, as well as a local macrophysical climate model. The beginning of the decline of archaeologically visible human activities corresponds with climatic changes and an increase in secondary forest taxa probably indicating more extensive land use. In addition, social and technological innovations are important, such as the introduction of the ard, wheel, animal traction and metallurgy, as well as changes in social hierarchy characterizing the same period.

中文翻译：

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中欧新石器时代（公元前 4500-2000 年）的人口和森林动态。

欧洲新石器时代（公元前 7000 年至 2000 年）期间的人口繁荣与萧条一直是过去十年热烈讨论的主题。大多数关于这个主题的研究都是在总放射性碳概率分布的帮助下进行的。我们的目标是根据所有已知的过去人类活动的存在信息，重建一个中等大小的湖泊流域内的人口动态。我们基于蒙特卡罗模拟计算了人类活动模型。该模型显示了公元前 4000 年至 3000 年间人类活动的最低水平。为了更好地了解长期社会环境动态，我们还使用了基于花粉的定量植被模型以及当地宏观物理气候模型的结果。考古学上可见的人类活动衰退的开始与气候变化和次生林类群的增加相对应，这可能表明土地使用更加广泛。此外，社会和技术创新也很重要，例如引入了 ard、车轮、动物牵引和冶金技术，以及同一时期社会等级的变化。