The region of Bruges (Flanders, Belgium) was an economic and cultural centre during the Late Middle Ages because it was connected to the North Sea via a large tidal inlet called the Zwin, along which smaller towns developed. One of these towns was Aardenburg (Zeeland, The Netherlands), which developed from a Roman castellum to become one of the important medieval towns in the hinterland of Bruges. Unfortunately, archaeological, historical and (palaeo)environmental data about the Roman to medieval evolution of the Zwin area are scarce. However, the continuous occupation of Aardenburg during the first millennium AD and its location on a Pleistocene sand ridge bordering the coastal plain provide a unique opportunity to investigate the natural dynamics of the coastal evolution and the interplay with the human impact that shaped the Zwin region before its heyday. The variable character of the depositional environments on the dynamic coastal plain makes local environmental studies essential for understanding larger patterns, which were previously reduced to a simplistic outdated model over the entire region. Palynological and diatom assemblages of two sequences in Aardenburg allow the reconstruction of the terrestrial and aquatic palaeoenvironments from the Middle Holocene to the high Middle Ages. The results reveal landscape evolution in relation to woodlands, peat bogs, coastal environments and human presence, consistent with previous regional landscape evolution. A distinct increase in marine influence during the Roman and early medieval periods, when human activities played a significant role, was followed by an increase in inland indicators from the high medieval period onwards. This evolution is in accordance with the expansion of the town and the reclamation of the coastal landscape as it evolved to become a cultural centre in the Late Middle Ages.

中文翻译：

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基于孢粉学和硅藻分析的阿尔登堡（荷兰南部）罗马到中世纪的景观转变

布鲁日地区（比利时佛兰德斯）是中世纪晚期的经济和文化中心，因为它通过一个名为兹温的大型潮汐入口与北海相连，较小的城镇沿着该入口发展起来。其中之一是阿尔登堡（荷兰泽兰省），它从罗马城堡发展成为布鲁日腹地重要的中世纪城镇之一。不幸的是，关于茨温地区从罗马到中世纪演变的考古、历史和（古）环境数据很少。然而，阿尔登堡在公元第一个千年期间的持续占领及其位于与沿海平原接壤的更新世沙脊上的位置，为研究沿海演变的自然动态以及与人类影响之间的相互作用提供了独特的机会，这些影响在之前塑造了兹文地区它的鼎盛时期。动态沿海平原沉积环境的可变特征使得局部环境研究对于理解更大的模式至关重要，而这些模式以前被简化为整个地区的简单过时模型。阿尔登堡两个序列的孢粉学和硅藻组合可以重建从全新世中期到中世纪中期的陆地和水生古环境。结果揭示了与林地、泥炭沼泽、沿海环境和人类存在相关的景观演变，与之前的区域景观演变一致。在罗马时期和中世纪早期，人类活动发挥了重要作用，海洋影响明显增加，随后从中世纪盛期开始，内陆指标也随之增加。这种演变与城镇的扩张和沿海景观的开垦是一致的，因为它在中世纪晚期发展成为文化中心。