My field of expertise is pollen analysis and vegetation history, with a foundation in botany and archaeology. My work highlights how human activity over time has shaped vegetation, biodiversity, and landscapes. The research combines field studies of present-day vegetation with pollen analyses from lake sediments, peat bogs, and archaeological contexts. I am particularly interested in quantitative landscape reconstructions, methodological aspects of pollen production, and pollen in archaeological contexts, as well as how the introduction of agriculture and the development of cultural landscapes have influenced the natural environment. Interdisciplinarity is a key aspect of my research, where collaboration with archaeologists and a broad international network contributes to a deeper understanding of the past as a basis for managing today’s cultural and natural environments.

Examples of research areas:

• Relationships between modern vegetation and pollen deposition to enable quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation
• Methodological factors influencing estimates of pollen production used in reconstruction models
• Landscape reconstructions at different spatial scales
• The introduction of agriculture and the development of cultural landscapes with infields and outfields
• Understanding prehistory as a basis for managing natural environments
• Food, food production, and trade in prehistoric times and the Middle Ages

I teach in the following courses:

BIO 250 Palaeoecology

BIO260 Nordic cultural landscapes

ARK101/102/103/104 Archaeology courses - Introductory lectures about botany and archaeology

Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2024). Late Holocene Vegetation Development in Vinjeøra and the Valsøyfjord Region. (external link)
• Nesset, Therese; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2022). Settlement and subsistence strategies in western Norway: examples from two deserted medieval farms. (external link)
• Bergsvik, Knut Andreas; Hjelle, Kari Loe; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve et al. (2020). Low-level agriculture in Neolithic western Norway. (external link)
• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2019). Vegetation development at Ørland, and in the region, from 260 BC to the present. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Kvamme, Mons (2018). Environmental Management with Livestock. (external link)
• Prøsch-Danielsen, Lisbeth; Hjelle, Kari Loe; Soltvedt, Eli-Christine (2016). Potensial and recommendations: Agrarian botanical data, western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2015). Open landscapes and the use of outfield Resources through time - methodological aspects and potential of pollen analysis. (external link)
• Austrheim, Gunnar; Hjelle, Kari Loe; Sjøgren, Per Johan E et al. (2015). Forvaltning av et mangfoldig fjellandskap i stadig endring. (external link)
• Austrheim, Gunnar; Kirchhefer, Andreas; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (2015). Hvordan studere arealbruk og landskapsendringer? Presentasjon av studieområder og arbeidsmetoder. (external link)
• Austrheim, Gunnar; Hjelle, Kari Loe; Sjøgren, Per Johan E et al. (2015). Arealbruk og landskapsendringer i fjellet - en introduksjon til bokas formål. (external link)
• Sjøgren, Per Johan E; Austrheim, Gunnar; Stene, Kathrine et al. (2015). Fjellets kulturlandskapshistorie. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Lødøen, Trond; Natlandsmyr, Brith et al. (2015). Erdalen og Sunndalen – bruk av utmarksressurser gjennom mer enn to tusen år. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2012). Naturvitenskapelig dokumentasjon av det eldste jordbruk/beite i Vest-Norge. (external link)
• Bjelland, Torbjørg; Hjelle, Kari Loe; Skaar, Endre et al. (2010). Degradation and remedial measures. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Lødøen, Trond (2010). Activity, settlement and vegetation in prehistoric times. (external link)
• Moe, Dagfinn; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2009). Alpine Wege und Weiden in der Hardangerwidda im mittleren Sudnorwegen. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2009). Havraa - eine traditionelle landliche Siedlung im Fjordgebiet Westnorwegens. (external link)
• Gaillard, Marie-José; Dutoit, Terry; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (2009). Kulturlandschaften Europas: Ursprung und Entwicklung. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2008). Frå skog til ope kulturlandskap. Pollenanalyse fortel vegetasjonshistorie. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2008). Pollen - vår viktigaste kjelde til vegetasjonen i fortida. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Solem, Thyra (2008). Botaniske undersøkelser Ormen Lange Nyhamna. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Solem, Thyra Lise (2008). Botaniske undersøkelser Ormen Lange Nyhamna. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Solem, Thyra (2007). Fra skog til åpent kulturlandskap på Nyhamna. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve (2007). Relationships between human culture and environment along the coast of western Norway through time. (external link)
• Fyfe, Ralph; Caseldine, Chris; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2007). Modelling 'landscapes' from pollen data: opportunities and limitations. (external link)
• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2007). Agrare kulturminner i utmark - pollenanalyse i tilknytning til rydningsrøysfelt. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2007). Pollenanalyser av jordprofiler fra Indre Matre, Kvinnherad. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2007). Foreign trade and local production - plant remains from medieval times in Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2007). Agricultural establishment and development of heathlands: A history of west Norwegian management. (external link)
• Karg, Sabine; Alsleben, Almuth; Badura, Monika et al. (2007). Synthesis and a mission for the future. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2006). Ferdsel langs slepene i forhistorisk tid. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Overland, Anette (2005). Vegetasjonshistoriske undersøkelser i forbindelse med Ormen Lange prosjektet - Helland og Baraldsnes i Haram kommune, Møre og Romsdal. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2005). Pollenanalyse - en nødvendig metode for å forstå jernalderens jordbrukslandskap. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Overland, Anette (2005). Naturvitenskapelige undersøkelser i forbindelse med Ormen Lange prosjektet - Stavneset i Averøy kommune, Møre og Romsdal. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Bjune, Anne Elisabeth; Overland, Anette (2005). Vegetasjonshistoriske undersøkelser i forbindelse med Ormen Lange-prosjektet, Gossen, Aukra kommune, Møre og Romsdal. (external link)
• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2004). Agrare kultuminner i utmark - pollenanalyse i tilknytning til rydningsrøysfelt. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2004). The Scandinavian-Sicilian Archaeological Project (SSAP): Palynological investigations 1998. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2004). Pollen analytical investigations in the Scandinavian-Sicilian Archaeological Project (SSAP) 1999-2000. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2001). Eksisterte det et tettsted i Bergen i vikingtiden? Bosetningsutvikling basert på botanisk materiale. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1994). Pollenanalyse. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1992). Pollenanalytiske undersøkelser innenfor boplassen i Kotedalen. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1992). Pollenanalytiske undersøkelser. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Hufthammer, Anne Karin; Kaland, Peter Emil et al. (1992). Utnytting av naturressursene i Kotedalen - et tverrvitenskapelig sammendrag. (external link)

Academic article

• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2023). The medieval landscapes of Bergen. Enhanced knowledge through vegetation reconstructions and pollen data from multiple sites. (external link)
• Serge, M.A.; Mazier, F.; Fyfe, R. et al. (2023). Testing the Effect of Relative Pollen Productivity on the REVEALS Model: A Validated Reconstruction of Europe-Wide Holocene Vegetation. (external link)
• Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve; Mørkved, Pål Tore; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2023). Were prehistoric cereal fields in western Norway manured? Evidence from stable isotope values (δ¹⁵N) of charred modern and fossil cereals. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Overland, Anette; Gran, Magnar Mojaren et al. (2022). Two thousand years of Landscape—Human interactions at a coastal peninsula in Norway revealed through pollen analysis, shoreline reconstruction, and radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites. (external link)
• Bergsvik, Knut Andreas; Darmark, Kim; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (2021). Demographic developments in Stone Age coastal western Norway by proxy of radiocarbon dates, stray finds and palynological data. (external link)
• Davis, B.A.S.; Chevalier, M.; Sommer, P. et al. (2020). The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2. (external link)
• Bondevik, Stein; Lødøen, Trond; Tøssebro, Christine et al. (2019). Between winter storm surges - Human occupation on a growing Mid-Holocene transgression maximum (Tapes) beach ridge at Longva, Western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve; Prøsch-Danielsen, Lisbeth et al. (2018). Long-term changes in regional vegetation cover along the west coast of southern Norway: The importance of human impact. (external link)
• Fjordheim, Kristine; Moen, Asbjørn; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (2018). Modern pollen–vegetation relationships in traditionally mown and unmanaged boreal rich-fen communities in central Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Lødøen, Trond (2017). Dating of rock art and the effect of human activity on vegetation: The complementary use of archaeological and scientific methods. (external link)
• Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2017). Prehistoric agriculture in western Norway – Evidence for shifting and permanent cultivation based on botanical investigations from archaeological sites. (external link)
• Mehl, Ingvild Kristine; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2016). From deciduous forest to open landscape: application of new approaches to help understand cultural landscape development in western Norway. (external link)
• Natlandsmyr, Brith; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2016). Long-term vegetation dynamics and land-use history: Providing a baseline for conservation strategies in protected Alnus glutinosa swamp woodlands. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Mehl, Ingvild Kristine; Sugita, Shinya et al. (2015). From pollen percentage to vegetation cover – evaluation of the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm in western Norway. (external link)
• Mehl, Ingvild Kristine; Overland, Anette; Berge, Jan et al. (2015). Cultural landscape development on a west-east gradient in western Norway - potential of the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA). (external link)
• Mehl, Ingvild Kristine; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2015). From pollen percentage to regional vegetation cover - A new insight into cultural landscape development in western Norway. (external link)
• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2013). Pollen analysis in the context of clearance cairns from boreal forests - a reflection of past cultivation and pastoral farming. (external link)
• Bunting, M. Jane; Farrell, Michelle; Broström, Anna et al. (2013). Palynological perspectives on vegetation survey: a critical step for model-based reconstruction of Quaternary land cover. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Kaland, Sigrid Hillern H; Kvamme, Mons et al. (2012). Ecology and long-term land-use, palaeoecology and archaeology - the usefulness of interdisciplinary studies for knowledge-based conservation and management of cultural landscapes. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Solem, Thyra Lise; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve et al. (2012). Human impact and landscape utilization from the Mesolithic to medieval time traced by high spatial resolution pollen analysis and numerical methods. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Sugita, Shinya (2012). Estimating pollen productivity and relevant source area of pollen using lake sediments in Norway: How does lake size variation affect the estimates?. (external link)
• Gaillard, Marie-José; Sugita, Shinya; Mazier, Florence et al. (2010). Holocene land-cover reconstructions for studies on land cover-climate feedbacks. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Halvorsen, Lene Synnøve; Overland, Anette (2010). Heathland development and relationship between humans and environment along the coast of western Norway through time. (external link)
• Bunting, M. Jane; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2010). Effect of vegetation data collection strategies on estimates of relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) and relative pollen productivity estimates (relative PPE) for non-arboreal taxa. (external link)
• Stančikaitė, Miglė; Daugnora, Linas; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (2009). The environment of the Neolithic archaeological sites in Šventoji, Western Lithuania. (external link)
• Overland, Anette; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2009). From forest to open pastures and fields: cultural landscape development in western Norway inferred from two pollen records representing different spatial scales of vegetation. (external link)
• Gaillard, Marie-José; Sugita, Shinya; Bunting, M. Jane et al. (2008). The use of modelling and simulation approach in reconstructing past landscapes from fossil pollen data: a review and results from the POLLANDCAL network. (external link)
• Casseldine, C.; Fyfe, Ralph; Hjelle, Kari Loe (2008). Pollen modelling, palaeoecology and archaeology: virtualisation and/or visualisation of the past?. (external link)
• Broström, Anna; Nielsen, Anne Birgitte; Gaillard, Marie-José et al. (2008). Pollen productivity estimates of key European plant taxa for quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: a review. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Hufthammer, Anne Karin; Bergsvik, Knut Andreas (2006). Hesitant hunters: a review of the introduction of agriculture in western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Moe, Dagfinn (2003). Pollen analysis used as a technic in interdisciplinary projects. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (2002). Palaeobotanical investigations in Bergen, Norway - development of an urban settlement and the use of plants in the medieval town. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1999). Kan vi påvise tidligere tiders slåtte- og beitevegetasjon i pollendiagram?. (external link)
• Moe, Dagfinn; Hjelle, Kari Loe (1999). Mesolithic human adaption to changing alpine/subalpine vegetation in the central and eastern Alps, based on a vegetational historical study from Val Febbraro, Spluga Valley (Italy). (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1999). Modern pollen assemblages from mown and grazed vegetation types in western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1999). Use of modern pollen samples and estimated pollen representation factors as aids in the interpretation of cultural activity in local pollen diagrams. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1999). Kan vi påvise tidligere tiders slåtte- og beitevegetasjon i pollendiagram?. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1998). The use of on-site pollen analysis, local pollen diagrams and modern pollen samples in investigations of cultural activity. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1998). Herb pollen representation in surface moss samples from mown meadows and pastures in western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1998). Herb pollen representation in surface moss sample from mown meadows and pastures in western Norway. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe (1997). Relationships between pollen and plants in human-influenced vegetation types using presence-absence data in western Norway. (external link)
• Moe, D.; Engan, A.; Hjelle, Kari Loe et al. (1995). Richerche paleoamientali in alta valle Splugo: rapporto Bergen 1995. I Preistoria e paleoambienti della Valchieavenna: richercha 1995. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Kaland, Peter Emil (1994). Forhistoriske og historiske kulturlandskap i tilknytning til vernet bygningsmiljø på Havrå, Osterøy. (external link)
• Hjelle, Kari Loe; Kaland, Peter Emil (1992). Pollenanalytiske undersøkelser i Kotedalen. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Three recent publications:

Hjelle, K.L., Overland, A., Gran, M.M., Romundset, A., Ystgaard, I., 2022. Two thousand years of landscape - human interactions at a coastal peninsula in Norway revealed through pollen analysis, shoreling reconstruction, and radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. DOI 10.3389/feco.2022.911780

Bergsvik, K.A., Darmark, K.-K., Hjelle, K.L., Aksdal, J., Aastveit, L.I., 2021. Demographic developments in Stone Age coastal western Norway by proxy of radiocarbon dates, stray finds and palynological data. Quaternary Science Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106898

Hjelle, K.L., Halvorsen, L.S., Prøsch-Danielsen, L., Sugita, S., Paus, A., Kaland, P.E., Mehl, I.K., Overland, A., Danielsen, R., Høeg, H.I. & Midtbø, I. 2018. Long-term changes in regional vegetation cover along the west coast of southern Norway: the importance of human impact. Journal of Vegetation Science 29, 404–415. http://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12626

 

Publications from my PhD and MSc students:

Halvorsen, L.S., Mørkved, P.T. & Hjelle, K.L. 2023. Were prehistoric cereal fields in western Norway manured? Evidence from stable isotope values (δ¹⁵N) of charred modern and fossil cereals. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 32(6), 583–596. DOI:10.1007/s00334-023-00923-3

Fjordheim, K., Moen, A., Hjelle, K.L., Bjune, A.E. & Birks, H. 2018. Modern pollen-vegetation relationships in traditionally mown and unmanaged boreal rich-fen communities in central Norway. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 251, 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2018.01.001

Halvorsen, L.S. & Hjelle, K.L. 2017. Prehistoric agriculture in western Norway – evidence for shifting and permanent cultivation based on botanical investigations from archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 13, 682–696. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.011

Mehl, I.K. & Hjelle, K.L. 2016. From deciduous forest to open landscape – application of new approaches to understand cultural landscape development in western Norway. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 25(2), 153–176. doi:10.1007/s00334-015-0539-6

Natlandsmyr, B. & Hjelle, K.L. 2016. Long-term vegetation dynamics and land-use history: Providing a baseline for conservation strategies in protected Alnus glutinosa swamp woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 372, 78–92. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.03.049

Overland, A. & Hjelle, K.L. 2009. From forest to open pastures and fields: cultural landscape development in western Norway inferred from two pollen records representing different spatial scales of vegetation. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 18, 459–476. doi:10.1007/s00334-009-0225-7

I am work package leader and the initiator of the University Museum’s application for funding to establish a Centre of Excellence (SFF), led by Haakon Fossen. The center is called Center for integrated Earth–Society Dynamics (ESD), a curiosity-driven initiative to fundamentally advance the science of human-environment interaction. The idea is to break down the boundaries between Geoscience, Biology, Archeology and Anthropology to create a novel transdisciplinary framework in which we aim to understand how today’s society has been built upon a foundation shaped over geologic time, to decode the interactive mechanisms behind natural and societal changes over the past 10,000 years, and to use this insights to build actionable scenarios for the future.

Earlier projects: 

HACIER: Human, Agricultural, and Climatic impact on Ecological Rules: macroecological analysis of paleo-biological datasets (2014-2017). Partner leader. Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports under Project Contract no. MSMT-28477/2014, 7F14208-HACIER

DYLAN: How to manage dynamic landscapes? Management and conservation of upland Landscape Conservation Areas (LCA) in Norway (2009-2011). Partner leader. Reseach Council of Norway, Miljø 2015.