Ian G. Simmons

Mesolithic Environments at Star Carr, the Eastern Vale of Pickering and Environs: Local and Regional Contexts

Abstract Star Carr in the eastern Vale of Pickering is an emblematic site for the British Early Mesolithic and for the development of wetland archaeology, being one of the first studies where scientific techniques of environmental reconstruction were integrated within an archaeological research strategy, allowing detailed understanding of site conditions and the environmental context of human activities. Pollen diagrams from Star Carr and around palaeo-Lake Flixton record natural woodland development in the early Holocene and a mosaic of productive wetland environments as the lake progressively filled with sediment. High resolution pollen and microscopic charcoal data show that the lake-edge reedswamp was regularly burned during the Mesolithic occupation. Deciduous forest spread across the Yorkshire region, but fire was an important diversifying factor during the whole of the Mesolithic period in most areas, particularly in the later Mesolithic in the Pennine and North York Moors uplands where concentration of fire-disturbance episodes at higher altitudes may have prevented woodland extending to the summit plateaux. In places repeated disturbance led to environmental degeneration. Detailed reconstruction of the environmental history of the Vale and the Yorkshire region allows Star Carr to be considered within conceptual models of Mesolithic economic strategies, land-use and settlement patterns.

Conservation of the California Coast Redwood and its Environment

The genus Sequoia has existed since Mesozoic times, and early Tertiary Redwoods occurred practically throughout the northern hemisphere. Today, the Coast Redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) is the only living species of the genus, and it is restricted to the coastal environments of California and the southern extremity of Oregon. Climatic factors determine the outer limits of Redwood distribution, while edaphic, biotic, and hydrologic, variables influence the occurrence of Redwood within the climatic range. Human use of Redwood forests has altered the environmental conditions under which the Sequoia now grows. Logging has exposed the forest floor to increased light and higher temperatures, while in some places it has exposed the soil to accelerated erosion. Recent floods in the major watersheds of north-western California have been particularly disastrous in undercutting large trees along the river banks. Increased degradation rates on upper slopes have resulted in delivery of coarse sediments to floodplains, with possibly deleterious effects on living old-growth Redwoods.

The Age of the Late Mesolithic on the North York Moors, England: radiocarbon dating a small flint tool stratified in peat from East Bilsdale Moor

Abstract There has been a considerable amount of pollen-analytical research on the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the Late Mesolithic culture of the North York Moors upland in north-east Yorkshire, which together with the Pennines is the most prolific area in Britain for Late Mesolithic flint sites. The peat sediments of the Moors have provided detailed data on the vegetation history of the mid-Holocene, both natural developments and also woodland disturbance by fire, as revealed in the macroscopic and microscopic charcoal evidence preserved in the peats and in its relation to the recorded changes in woodland composition and density. The Late Mesolithic vegetation history of the North York Moors can now be reconstructed with confidence and, given the high concentration of lithic sites of that period, linkages between the archaeological and palaeoecological records are often attempted with a view to explaining disturbance regimes as resulting from the impacts of foragers’ activities in the landscape. Unlike the Pennines, however, in the North York Moors no Late Mesolithic sites have been radiocarbon dated, so no chronological correlation can be made between the palaeoenvironmental data and the archaeological evidence. This paper presents the first radiocarbon date for a Late Mesolithic flint artefact from the North York Moors, from East Bilsdale Moor, and examines its implications for the age range of the Late Mesolithic on the Moors as a whole, and for the association of evidence of woodland disturbance on the Moors upland with the presence of Late Mesolithic hunters there.

Environmental thought : The last 25 years

A selection of themes in environmental thinking is treated as a set of resonances in which humans talk to each other about what they call “the environment”. The importance of the intellectual as distinct from the pragmatic is recognised but in the end it is reaffirmed that the realist model of the world, if abandoned, might lead to a very frightening prospect indeed. On the other hand, single‐authored sets of resonances are called Utopias and are equally worrying.

Ten millennia of changes in ecology and culture

The paper discusses the question of the links between the ecology of the planet and developments in human culture, viewed in the perspective of the last 10,000 years. It tries to avoid simple assignations of environmental determinism or post‐modern constructivist views and is aware of the role of chance and contingency. Trends in the social world that lead to fragmentation or coalescence in that sphere are examined for their environmental consequences. The human desire to control becomes a focus. This is a topic that reuqires further analysis.

Medieval and early modern management of the River Lymn and Wainfleet Haven (east Lincolnshire, England)

ABSTRACT The post-Roman evolution of the landscape of coastal east Lincolnshire exhibits regional links from early medieval times in the case of major fen and sea banks, to which can be added local links and actions for bank-building, pasture reclamation, harbours, fisheries, and the impress of local government. In a landscape much defined by water, now largely insignificant watercourses were once the scene of considerable concern. In the case of the Lymn, the instrumental role played by local magnates is dominant, but the input of local communities in undertaking and often benefiting from the actual labour also diversifies the overall picture. The Supplementary Material facility is used to expand on a number of points germane, but not central, to the main narrative.