ВЛИЯНИЕ ВЫПАСА СКОТА НА ДИНАМИКУ РАСТИТЕЛЬНОСТИ ПУСТЫНИ НЕГЕВ (ИЗРАИЛЬ) В ГОЛОЦЕНЕ ПО ПАЛИНОЛОГИЧЕСКИМ И АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИМ ДАННЫМ

The topic of changes in vegetation and of anthropogenic impact on the ancient ecosystems in the Near East still calls for further study. The zoogenic deposits that have been discovered in Central Negev comprise unique material for reconstructing the desert vegetation in the Holocene. Analysis of the written data and study of the deposits at Atzmaut, Ramon I and Nakarot allowed reconstructing the dynamics of the desert vegetation and identifying the impact of cattle grazing. The increased share of Plantago and Thymelaea spp. in the pollen specters of zoogenic deposits practically concurs with the three periods in which the number of archaeological sites increases: Early Bronze Age I and II (3500–2700 BC), Middle Bronze Age (2300–2000 BC) and Iron Age (1200–586 BC), and with the arrival of Bedouin tribes into the desert in the 17 th–18 th cc. AD.