A high-resolution multi-proxy study of lake sediments from Loughbrick Bay in Lough Arrow, County Sligo, Ireland provides a detailed record of Neolithic vegetation history and land-use change. The high concentration of megalithic monuments around Lough Arrow suggests that the region was a centre of settlement and ritual activity during the Irish Neolithic. The pollen record indicates that human activities, including farming, intensified ca. 100 years after the mid-Holocene elm decline, which is dated to 3820 bc. Pastoral and arable farming formed part of the Neolithic subsistence economy, in particular during the first half of the Neolithic. Although levels of human impact were low during most of the later Neolithic, allowing woodland recovery, short periods of arable farming recurred during that time. Human pressure on the landscape increased again at the end of the Neolithic and during the Chalcolithic period. Interruption of farming and settlement activities often coincided with wetter climate. Comparison of this study with records from nearby lakes shows that the type of farming varied at a local scale. While pastoral farming was widespread, cereal cultivation was spatially and temporally restricted. The pollen evidence suggests that wheat was the predominant crop during the earlier Neolithic, whereas barley became more important during the later Neolithic.

对爱尔兰斯莱戈郡拉夫阿罗湖的拉夫布里克湾的湖泊沉积物进行的高分辨率多代理研究提供了新石器时代植被历史和土地利用变化的详细记录。箭头湖周围的巨石纪念碑高度集中，表明该地区是爱尔兰新石器时代定居和仪式活动的中心。花粉记录表明，包括农业在内的人类活动加剧了。后100年中全新世榆树下降，这是距今3820 BC。牧业和耕作农业成为新石器时代生存经济的一部分，特别是在新石器时代的上半年。尽管在新石器时代后期的大部分时间里，人类的影响程度很低，可以恢复林地，但在此期间又发生了短暂的可耕作。在新石器时代末期和在石器时代，人类对景观的压力再次增加。农业和定居活动的中断通常与潮湿的气候同时发生。这项研究与附近湖泊的记录进行的比较表明，农业的类型在当地范围内有所不同。尽管牧业广泛存在，但谷物种植在空间和时间上受到限制。花粉证据表明，在新石器时代早期，小麦是主要农作物，