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Three major historic landscape types. ß Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group Limited (2012). All rights reserved (1869 (top), 1906 (middle and bottom)).
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The transition from Roman Britain to medieval England and Wales clearly
saw profound changes in society and landscape, with the large-scale
abandonment of the settlements most closely associated with Romanitas –
villas and towns – and the emergence of new architectural styles, burial rites,
and other material culture of Germanic character. These ch...
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This article offers a historical study of short films and their place in the British cinema programmes of the 1960s as a way of exploring the monopolistic practices which characterised the film industry during this period. Focusing on the short fiction/entertainment film is a particularly useful way of studying competition in the industry because t...
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... There are indeed reasons why one might expect a shift towards more positive δ 13 C values in Romanperiod plants: the carbon stable isotope values of plants are affected by water status and light conditions amongst others (Heaton 1999). The Roman Warm Period (or Roman Climate Optimum), which was characterised by milder climatic conditions and drier summers than previously (McCormick et al. 2012;Swindles et al. 2010), as well as certain agricultural practices, such as large scale episodes of land clearance that are evidenced in the Late Iron Age and Roman Period (Dark 2000;Rippon et al. 2013), could consequently have influenced the plant isotope composition in this way. Indeed, for Northeast France, Aguilera et al. (2017) observed significantly increased δ 13 C in bread wheat samples from the first and third century AD from several sites which coincided with drought periods evidenced in the Central European tree ring data. ...
Following the Roman conquest, agricultural production in Britain faced increasing demand from large urban and military populations. While it has long been thought that this necessitated an increase in agricultural production, direct archaeological evidence for changes in cultivation practices has been scarce. Using a model that conceptualises cereal farming strategies in terms of intensive or extensive practices, this paper is the first study to address this question using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data of crop remains. We report δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values from 41 samples of spelt, emmer and barley from Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman Stanwick (Northants., UK), in order to assess the intensiveness of arable farming and investigate shifts in cultivation practices in prehistoric and Roman Britain. The results demonstrate a decline in δ¹⁵N in the Roman period, suggesting that farming practices moved to lower levels of manuring and, by implication, became more extensive. δ¹³C values are comparable in all periods, supporting the suggestion that changes observed in human stable isotope data between the Iron Age and Roman period are best explained by dietary change rather than a shift towards higher δ¹³C values in plants at the base of the food chain.
... Five parameters were selected to provide geographical, ecological and cultural frameworks within which to analyse the British and Irish genotypes for any spatial or typological pattern of distribution: Ordnance Survey 100km square Map Grid; Administrative Counties and Regions; Seed Zones [56]; Cultural landscapes [57]; and Site Types (see below). Each parameter dataset was analysed using GenAlEx 6.51b2 to generate a 'genetic distance by population' table, PCoA chart and UPGMA dendrogram. ...
... The bipolar genepool identified for Britain and Ireland (Fig 2 and Fig 3), possessing moderate genetic diversity, low levels of inbreeding (F IS = 0.04) and low differentiation between sites (F ST = 0.01), can be explained by analyses of samples grouped by cultural and environmental parameters. The 'Counties' analysis (respecting historic cultural divisions within Britain and Ireland) and the 'Fields of Britannia' [57] analysis (representing rural landscape regions created in Roman and early medieval periods) consistently differentiated genotypes from Wales, as also revealed by STRUCTURE analysis. The 'Seed Zones' [56] analysis (respecting phenotypic cues for tree adaptation) revealed a very weak influence on genotype distribution-as was found in a study of Fraxinus excelsior in Britain [64], which mapped haplotype distribution using the same Seed Zones. ...
Castanea sativa is classified as non-indigenous in Britain and Ireland. It was long held that it was first introduced into Britain by the Romans, until a recent study found no corroborative evidence of its growing here before c. AD 650. This paper presents new data on the genetic diversity of C. sativa in Britain and Ireland and potential ancestral sources in continental Europe. Microsatellite markers and analytical methods tested in previous European studies were used to genotype over 600 C. sativa trees and coppice stools, sampled from ancient semi-natural woodlands, secondary woodlands and historic cultural sites across Britain and Ireland. A single overall genepool with a diverse admixture of genotypes was found, containing two sub groups differentiating Wales from Ireland, with discrete geographical and typological clusters. C. sativa genotypes in Britain and Ireland were found to relate predominantly to some sites in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Romania, but not to Greece, Turkey or eastern parts of Europe. C. sativa has come to Britain and Ireland from these western European areas, which had acted as refugia in the Last Glacial Maximum; we compare its introduction with the colonization/translocation of oak, ash, beech and hazel into Britain and Ireland. Clones of C. sativa were identified in Britain, defining for the first time the antiquity of some ancient trees and coppice stools, evincing both natural regeneration and anthropogenic propagation over many centuries and informing the chronology of the species’ arrival in Britain. This new evidence on the origins and antiquity of British and Irish C. sativa trees enhances their conservation and economic significance, important in the context of increasing threats from environmental change, pests and pathogens.
... Bell 1977). More locally, the site represents an important case study for the development of patterns of land use (Rippon et al. 2013) and estate centres (Brookes 2010) in early Anglo-Saxon Kent. Finally and most significantly, the site presents a continuum between pre-monastic royal centre and monastery , enabling investigation of agricultural intensification and the role of monastic estates within the 'long eighth century' (Rippon 2010) which has previously been addressed from both botanical (McKerracher, forthcoming; Van der Veen, Hill, and Livarda 2013) and archaeological evidence (Hamerow 2012). ...
Palaeoecological and geoarchaeological investigations which cover the Anglo-Saxon period are rare, particularly in chalk downland landscapes which are considered to have limited palaeoenvironmental potential. The present study explores a sequence which can be directly related to the occupation history of the major Anglo-Saxon settlement at Lyminge, Kent. This work demonstrated a sequence of palaeochannels and organic deposits associated with the latter part of an archaeological sequence which spans the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. A range of evidence for the environment and economic activity is presented which suggests landscape continuity, possibly stretching back as far as the Romano-British period. The sequence revealed worked wood and evidence for livestock management and cereal cultivation, some of which is contemporary with the final phases of occupation of a 7th century ‘great hall complex’ and its subsequent transformation into a royal monastery. Agricultural activity following the abandonment of the pre-monastic settlement area caused this stream margin to become gradually buried by ploughwash which displaced the channel over time and sealed the organic deposits. It is incredibly rare to find such organic preservation in direct association with an Anglo-Saxon downland rural settlement and this is the first time that such a sequence has been analysed in association with the latter phases of a known Anglo-Saxon royal and monastic centre.
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Abbey Wood today is a beautiful, if ill-kept, mixed deciduous woodland a few hundred metres to the south of the former Cistercian monastery of Strata Florida in the Upper Teifi Valley in central Ceredigion, Wales. It consists of a number of different elements of land use and ecology, largely self-regenerated wood and scrub, some older tree specimens and patches of open rough pasture. There are ecological traces of historic management such as pollards and coppice boles, as well as extensive areas of archaeological earthworks on the woodland floor. These appear to demonstrate that the wood, as its name suggests, was originally planted onto open agricultural land perhaps as early as the twelfth century at the time of the Abbey’s foundation. The present extent is approximately 80 hectares (c.200 acres), but early estate maps show that 250 years ago it was larger and much more coherent as a managed wood. Some conifers were planted by the Forestry Commission in the mid-twentieth century. This article will argue that the historic wood was the main source of timber for the Abbey and that this re-founded institution, as part of its re-shaping of a pre-existing traditional landscape sacrificed good arable land for the purpose.
Cattle were the tractors of medieval England and provided power essential for agricultural production, yet horses were not widely used for draught until after AD 1250. Evidence for the use of cattle and horses for draught purposes in England between AD 400 and 1400 is presented. Findings are based on zooarchaeological analysis of the animal economy and pathological and sub-pathological changes to cattle feet, alongside documentary evidence for the use of cattle and horses for traction. The use of draught cattle varies depending on social structure and economic pressures, and the effect of the increasing use of horses on a decline in the use of cattle in some areas can be observed. Resumen Aunque se le puede considerar al ganado como análogo al "tractor" de la Inglaterra medieval y proporcionaba la energía esencial para la producción agrícola, los caballos no fueron utilizados ampliamente para el tiro hasta después de 1250. Se presentan pruebas del uso del ganado vacuno y de los caballos para el tiro en Inglaterra entre los años 400 y 1400. Las conclusiones se basan en el análisis zoo-arqueológico de la economía animal y en los cambios patológicos y subpatológicos de las patas del ganado, junto con las pruebas documentales del uso del ganado vacuno y del caballo para la tracción. El uso del ganado de tiro varía en función de la estructura social y de las presiones económicas, y se observa el efecto del uso creciente de los caballos sobre el descenso del uso del ganado en algunas zonas.
The development of agriculture played an important role in the development of society during the early medieval period. This paper presents an insight into the changes in crop and animal husbandry for early medieval Yorkshire (fourth – late thirteenth century). A synthesis of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence from 163 sites revealed multiple changes in the presence of different cereal types and main domesticates. While a high presence of wheat and barley was observed across the period, an increased use of both oats and rye has been highlighted. Faunal evidence has emphasised the different sub-regional developments of cattle and sheep/goats within Yorkshire. These trends suggest that agricultural development went initially through a phase of abatement marked by the apparent taking up of subsistence-oriented crop and unspecialised animal husbandry practices. A phase of agricultural intensification was observed during the Anglo-Scandinavian and later phases as the arable was enlarged through the use of more specific cereals (like oats and rye). It is suggested that this was accompanied by an increasingly specialised animal economy focusing on their secondary products. Additionally, Anglian estate organisation might have been an important contributor towards the development of agricultural methods in areas like the Yorkshire Wolds.
Land divisions are ubiquitous features of the British countryside. Field boundaries, enclosures, pit alignments, and other forms of land division have been used to shape and delineate the landscape over thousands of years. While these divisions are critical for understanding economies and subsistence, the organization of tenure and property, social structure and identity, and their histories of use have remained unclear. Here, the authors present the first robust, Bayesian statistical chronology for land division over three millennia within a study region in England. Their innovative approach to investigating long-term change demonstrates the unexpected scale of later ‘prehistoric’ land demarcation, which may correspond to the beginnings of increasing social hierarchy.
In 2010, a significant change was made to the policy for development-led archaeology in England. This paper considers how far the revised policy wording has been reflected in changes in archaeological practice. It concludes that, to a considerable degree, practice remains rooted in the terminology and concepts of the previous policy regime, which saw development-led work as ‘mitigation’ (or ‘preservation by record’) rather than as a form of offsetting, in which advances in understanding offset the loss of physical remains. Some suggestions for future improvements are offered.
8000 years ago, prior to Neolithic agriculture, Europe was mostly a wooded continent. Since then, its forest cover has been progressively fragmented, so that today it covers less than half of Europe's land area, in many cases having been cleared to make way for fields and pasture-land. Establishing the origin of Europe's current, more open land-cover mosaic requires a long-term perspective, for which pollen analysis offers a key tool. In this study we utilise and compare three numerical approaches to transforming pollen data into past forest cover, drawing on >1000 14C-dated site records. All reconstructions highlight the different histories of the mixed temperate and the northern boreal forests, with the former declining progressively since ~6000 years ago, linked to forest clearance for agriculture in later prehistory (especially in northwest Europe) and early historic times (e.g. in north central Europe). In contrast, extensive human impact on the needle-leaf forests of northern Europe only becomes detectable in the last two millennia and has left a larger area of forest in place. Forest loss has been a dominant feature of Europe's landscape ecology in the second half of the current interglacial, with consequences for carbon cycling, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.
