This paper presents a study of past coastline dynamics and their consequences for prehistoric societies living in the glacio‐isostatically uplifted central Limfjord area, northern Denmark. The consequences of the gradual relative sea level (RSL) changes have been investigated to develop a local RSL curve, study settlement patterns on newly exposed marine foreland, and estimate changes in the area and quality of grazing and forage for livestock. This was achieved by a multidisciplinary approach involving existing regional and local beach ridges dated by optically stimulated luminescence, a comprehensive database of archaeological finds, and extrapolation based on a digital elevation model. The beach‐ridge dates suggested a near‐linear local RSL change in the study area of ~1.2±0.2 m per 1000 years for the last 3000 years. Based on this, a palaeo‐coastline development model was produced that correlated well with a comprehensive database of archaeological finds. The model indicates that (i) few human settlements moved to the newly exposed marine foreland prior to modern times, though clusters of burial mounds (barrows) suggest that some of the new lands were colonized during the Late Roman Iron Age until 400 CE, (ii) winter‐flooded marine foreland with high‐quality livestock grazing increased steadily until c. 750 CE and then remained stable at approximately 150 km², and (iii) due to high salinity of the inundating water, the palaeo‐Limfjord probably had Wadden Sea‐like fertile saltmarshes until c. 1 CE. The improved chronologies yield a better understanding of the spatial and temporal prehistoric human–nature interactions in the study area. The findings highlight the need for accurate local RSL curves in order to interpret concomitant terrestrial environment drivers and trajectories, and thereby understand causal relationships and consequences for prehistoric human–environment interactions in coastal areas.

中文翻译：

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草甸，沼泽和泻湖：丹麦北部全新世晚期沿海变化和人与环境的相互作用

本文介绍了过去的海岸线动力学及其对居住在丹麦北部中冰升势的中部林菲尔峡湾地区的史前社会的影响的研究。已经研究了渐进的相对海平面（RSL）变化的后果，以开发局部RSL曲线，研究新近暴露的海洋前陆上的沉降模式，并估计牲畜放牧和牧草的面积和质量变化。这是通过多学科方法实现的，该方法涉及通过光学激发的发光确定日期的现有区域和本地海滩山脊，考古发现的综合数据库以及基于数字高程模型的外推法。在最近3000年中，滩脊期表明研究区域的近线性局部RSL变化为每1000年约1.2±0.2 m。基于此，建立了古海岸线发展模型，该模型与考古发现的综合数据库很好地相关。该模型表明（i）在现代之前，几乎没有人类住区迁移到新近暴露的海洋前陆，尽管成堆的土墩（手推车）表明，其中一些新土地在罗马铁器时代晚期直到公元400年都被殖民了，（ ii）冬季放水的海洋前陆和优质的放牧牲畜稳步增长，直到c。750 CE，然后在大约150 km ²处保持稳定，并且（iii）由于淹没水的高盐度，古林堡峡区可能一直呈沃登海状肥沃的盐沼，直到c。1 CE。改进的时间顺序可以更好地了解研究区域内史前人与自然之间的时空相互作用。研究结果强调需要精确的局部RSL曲线，以解释伴随的陆地环境驱动因素和轨迹，从而了解沿海地区史前人类与环境相互作用的因果关系和后果。