Abstract: | A synthesis of pollen evidence from Etang du Pourra, a small pond in Rhodanian Provence, France, complemented by new sedimentological, mineralogical and palynological data allow a reassessment of the Lateglacial-Holocene vegetation and climatic history of the area. The Etang du Pourra succession is shown to consist of two parts; the lower part dates from the Lateglacial and the upper reveals the Holocene pollen-stratigraphic succession typical of the region. In the Lateglacial, a humid and cooler phase is recorded before the Younger Dryas conditions progressively set in. In the Holocene succession, the consequences of human modifications on the environment are clearly visible in changes in mineralogy and pollen stratigraphy. |