Palynological reconstructions show
pollen from the region in which it was sampled.
These pollen cores also contain plants that are associated with
agriculture. This is significant in
studies such as this one when the livelihood of the Germanic tribes has been
questioned. Palynological methods
of determining the types of plants that could have been the agricultural staples
open the door to identifying not only how climate change could have affected the
indigenous peoples, but also what type of climate changes might have occurred.
If two groups of people existed in a
certain region that had different means of nourishment, a change in climate may
or may not affect them similarly. If
one these groups is predominantly a cereal crop farmer and the other is
primarily pastoral (a situation which certainly existed in Germania), climate
change could benefit one and adversely affect the other or vice versa.
If the climate changed to a cooler and wetter period, the pastoral group
might benefit with more grasslands and the cereal crop farmer might suffer from
an unripened harvest. Conversely,
if the climate changed to a warmer and dryer period, the cereal farmer might
benefit, assuming it was not too dry, and the pastoral community might run very
low on suitable grazing lands.
In Germania, there is evidence of both types of livelihoods. Plows and Adzs have been found in archaeological sites (Maenchen-Helfen, 1973, Holt, 1999, Diesner, 1982) . Palynology has yielded a large number of agriculturally-associated pollen in its records (Table 2.1). Julius Caesar claims that the Germans were all pastoral, but he is most definitely incorrect in his claims (Caesar Gallic War). Tacitus, writing in the securest days of the third century AD, identifies the differences between the Celtae and the Germans are that the Celtae are pastoral and the Germans are agrarian (Tacitus Germania). Further, the Huns, who appear in the documented history a century later, are most definitely pastoral and are even described as a people who “tilled no soil” (Maenchen-Helfen, 1973) . Both types of sustenance are present in Germania and both will yield a different “migration threshold” and so must be evaluated separately.
Just because climate change occurs does not automatically give rise to migration. It is also necessary to evaluate the political and trade structure to identify the tribes’ ability to compensate for climate change. There are several possible responses of a people in a climate change. Climate constantly affects humans; it just varies to the degree in which these things are significant. Therefore, history is of utmost importance to help filter and understand the cultures’ choice.