Ewoud Deschepper

Bio: Ewoud Deschepper is an academic researcher from Ghent University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Secondary forest & Rural settlement. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 3 publications receiving 14 citations.

Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech : a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium

Abstract: The results from analyses of botanical remains (pollen, wood, charcoal, seeds) from several archaeological features excavated in Kluizen (northern Belgium) are presented. The region was largely uninhabited until the Iron Age and Roman period when a rural settlement was established, resulting in small-scale woodland clearance. The site was subsequently abandoned from c. AD 270 till the High Middle Ages. The results of the archaeological and archaeobotanical analyses provide information on changes in land use and resulting dynamics of woodland cover and composition between c.600 BC and AD 1200, with a spatial and temporal resolution unrivalled in northern Belgium. Especially the long period of woodland regeneration following abandonment of the site around AD 270, covering the Late Roman and Early Medieval period, could be reconstructed in detail. Abandoned fields were first covered with pioneer woodland (Salix, Corylus and Betula), then Quercus-dominated secondary forest and finally a late-successional forest with Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus betulus and Ilex aquifolium, an evolution that took over 300 years. The results also indicate that the observed increase of Fagus during the Early Middle Ages, which was never an important element in the woodland vegetation in northern Belgium before, was related to climatic changes rather than anthropogenic factors.

Early medieval farming communities in Northern Francia : material culture, identity and socio-economic structure of rural settlements, ca. 450-1000 AD

Abstract: In stark contrast to the long-standing research history of early medieval cemeteries, it was only in 1973 that the first Merovingian settlement in Flanders was excavated at Kerkhove (ROGGE 1981; DE COCK 1996). After this it even took until the later 80’s and 90’s before new Merovingian rural settlements were examined, by Y. Hollevoet and B. Hillewaert in the region between Bruges and Oudenburg (see, for example, HOLLEVOET 2011; HOLLEVOET 2016). Since then, and with a marked increase because of development-led archaeology, several dozens of Merovingian and Carolingian sites have been discovered, not only in the western part of Flanders but also in Northern Belgium, in what is historically and geographically the southern part of the Campine region.

Ecology of Central European Forest. Vegetation ecology of Central Europe

Abstract: With the first edition of his textbook Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen, Heinz Ellenberg published a unique and well-known compendium of the diverse vegetation types of Central Europe and the...

Interference of oleamide with analytical and bioassay results.

Abstract: During sample preparation and analysis, samples are coming in contact with different labware materials. By four unrelated analytical (phytochemical and pharmaceutical) case-studies and employing different analytical techniques, we demonstrated the potential misinterpretation of analytical results due to the use of contaminants-leaching labware during sample handling. Oleamide, a common polymer lubricant and a bioactive compound, was identified as a main analytical interference, leaching from different labware items into solvents, recognised as chemically compatible with the tested polymer material. Moreover, anti-inflammatory effect of oleamide at 100 μg mL−1 and considerable pro-inflammatory effect of the plastic syringe extractables (containing oleamide) at the same level were shown in a TLR4-based bioassay. Taking these results into account, together with the fact that oleamide can be a compound of natural origin, we would like to notify the professional public regarding the possible erroneous oleamide-related analytical and bioassay results due to the use of oleamide-leaching labware. Researchers are alerted to double check the real source of oleamide (labware or natural extract), which will prevent further reporting of false results. Analysis of procedural blanks with de-novo developed UHPLC-ESI-MS method is, among some other strategies, proposed for detection of oleamide interference and avoidance of misleading results of certain analyses.

The Rise of Cities in North-West Europe

Abstract: (2000). The Rise of Cities in North-West Europe. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 75-76.