The hypothesis of the climatic control of the first pollen evidence of the early neolithic in the Jura (France)

Pollen analyses performed on two sites (Chalain and Remoray) in the French Jura have brought to light two early phases in the local transition to the Neolithic. They are dated to between 5500 and 5400 BC (calendar years) and to the earlier part of the vth millenium. The correlation of these phases of farming activity with the fluctuations of the Jura lakes reveals that links exist between agricultural practice and climatic amelioration. As the records are very small (particularly the earlier ones) and appear so far only on two sites, any inference must consequently be very carefully drawn. However, this correlation once more raises the question of the relevance of the climatic factor for the settlement of the first farming communities within a middle mountain environment.