Neolithic farmers who built some of Europe’s largest burial monuments did not wipe out the forests around them, according to a new study from western Poland. Instead, the evidence points to careful land use, where farming, grazing, and woodland existed side by side for centuries.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (LiDAR elevation model after: GUGiK, 2025; processed in Blender 5.0). Credit: Żurkiewicz et al., Journal of Archaeological Science (2026)
The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, focused on a Funnel Beaker culture cemetery near Sobota, close to Poznań. The site was found in 2018 with LiDAR surveys and includes five long earthen and stone barrows. Each monument reaches up to 145 meters in length. They were built around 3660 BCE by farming groups known for raising large megalithic tombs across Central and Northern Europe.
To rebuild the ancient landscape, researchers from Adam Mickiewicz University studied both archaeological finds and natural records buried in the ground. They collected sediment cores from a nearby peat bog, once a small lake. The samples held fossil pollen, charcoal, and plant remains. Together, these traces recorded changes in the local area almost year by year.
The team found farming and animal herding began more than 100 years before the first burial mound went up. Pollen from crops and fungi linked to animal dung show fields and grazing land sat close to the cemetery. A small lake likely separated parts of the farmland from the burial area.
Results of invasive study at the Sobota site: A – transverse geological cross-section of the Sobota cemetery – based on drillings; B – transverse cross-section of the barrow M1 – based on excavations; C – artifacts found at the site during excavations (after Żurkiewicz et al., 2020, 2023, modified). Credit: Żurkiewicz et al., Journal of Archaeological Science (2026)
Earlier studies often linked the spread of farming with large forest clearances. This site tells a different story. The Funnel Beaker people cut mostly shrubs and young trees while leaving older woodland standing. Fire played a limited role in clearing land. Early fires burned grasslands more often than forests, while wood became a larger fuel source later.
Opening small gaps in the forest let more sunlight reach mature trees. Those trees responded by producing large amounts of pollen between about 3680 and 3540 BCE. The researchers see this as a sign the oldest parts of the forest stayed healthy during the rise of farming. Pollen levels dropped later, likely because of cooler weather rather than heavier human activity.
The findings point to what the team calls a quasi-sustainable economy. People likely rotated fields and grazing areas instead of using the same land year after year. This approach reduced the need for large fires and helped keep much of the woodland intact.
People still changed the landscape over time. Even limited tree cutting and farming increased soil erosion. More sediment washed into the nearby lake, making the water shallower. Over many centuries, the lake turned into a wetland, which still exists today.
The study offers a fresh view of Europe’s early farmers. These communities built huge burial monuments while keeping much of the surrounding forest alive. Their way of managing the land supported farming without large-scale destruction of the woodland around them.
Publication: Żurkiewicz, D., Wochal, D., Hildebrandt-Radke, I., Lamentowicz, M., Niebieszczański, J., Karpińska-Kołaczek, M., & Kołaczek, P. (2026). Old-growth forest and sacred landscape with Middle Neolithic non-megalithic barrows in western Poland during the 4th millennium BCE. Journal of Archaeological Science, 192(106624). doi:10.1016/j.jas.2026.106624