THE PEAT DEPOSITS FROM BRUSSELS (BELGIUM): THE HOLOCENE EVOLUTION OF THE LANDSCAPE IN THE SENNE VALLEY

Whereas the evolution of the land cover of the Holocene landscape is rather well documented for the main basin of the Scheldt river (Verbruggen et al , 1996), the vegetation history of Senne valley remains poorly documented Over the last decade, during the systematic archaeological survey conducted by the Direction of Monuments and Sites of the Brussels Capital Region, several exceptionally well preserved meters thick peat deposits have been discovered in the historical centre of Brussels and its surroundings The first results of the palynological, paleofire and geoarchaeological studies reveal a nearly continuous sequence throughout the Holocene The interdisciplinary study of these deposits offer a huge potential to explore the evolution of the paleoenvironment in the river valley and further to contribute to spatial reconstructing the landscape development of the area trough the time As the sites are situated as well in the historical city centre as in the surrounding area it will also allow us to reconstruct the impact of the urbanisation on the natural vegetation and transformation of the peatland ecosystem into urban and cultivated areas in Brussels and its immediate surroundings

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