Evidence of Pollen and Plant Macro-Remains from the Sediments of Suburban Area of Medieval Tartu

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses were carried out in the suburban area of medieval Tartu (Estonia) in connection with archaeological rescue excavations on the building site of Postimaja (Post Office) in 1990–1994. Several soil samples were taken from natural and archaeological layers of the profile 4/i1 to reconstruct the local environment before and during medieval and early modern habitation of the area. The richest plant micro- and macrofossil material was obtained from the layers dated to the 14th century. Long-term landscape changes are documented by pollen diagram indicating a transformation of the landscape type from natural to urban one. A list comparing and summarizing the pollen and macrofossil taxa is given to see how the plant communities are recorded in the results of different methods.