Petra Dark

The environment of Britain in the first millennium AD

This study of the relationship between human activity and environmental change from the Iron Age to the end of the Anglo-Saxon period brings together the results of the latest research in many fields to reconstruct changes in climate, sea level, soils and vegetation. The consequences of the major cultural changes of the first millennium are examined, including the Roman Conquest, the end of Roman Britain, and the Anglo-Saxon settlement, revealing the different ways in which human activity modified the environment.

Pests and Diseases of Prehistoric Crops: A Yield ‘Honeymoon’ for Early Grain Crops in Europe?

Before the agricultural improvements of recent centuries, grain yields in medieval Europe appear to have been extremely low: well below the full potential of the crops. If yields were similarly low in prehistory, the adoption of cereal cultivation could have conveyed few benefits in terms of productivity. Consideration of the key constraints on cereal yield highlights the previous neglect of the role of pests and diseases. It is suggested that these may have been particularly damaging in the medieval period, but much less so during the early stages of the adoption of agriculture. Textual and archaeological evidence for the past occurrence of pests and diseases is discussed and, combined with consideration of the development of pest and pathogen problems of recent crop introductions, used to provide a possible outline of the early development of the pest/disease burden. It is suggested that when grain crops were first introduced into temperate Europe there may have been a ‘honeymoon period’ with high yields: pests and diseases which had been endemic on cereals in semi-arid, continental, or Mediterranean climates did not thrive in the temperature climate, while species native to north-west Europe may not have been adapted to attack cereals. Subsequently, however, some pests and diseases evolved to attack cereals in this environment. These may have prompted changes in grain production methods to reduce the risk of damage. Pests and diseases must have been a driving force in agrarian change for several millennia, and cannot be ignored in attempts to understand the history of agriculture.

Plant Remains as Indicators of Seasonality of Site-Use in the Mesolithic Period

Abstract Attempts to identify the seasons during which Mesolithic sites may have been occupied have usually concentrated on evidence from faunal assemblages, while the potential of plant remains has been largely neglected. In this paper the use of plant remains as indicators of seasonality is discussed, especially where they represent the accidental charring of species unlikely to have been deliberately collected and stored. This is illustrated with reference to the early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, and discussed in the context of other Mesolithic sites from which assemblages of charred plant remains have been recovered.

Seasonality of δ13C and C/N ratios in modern and mid-Holocene sediments in the Severn Estuary Levels, SW Britain

Bulk organic δ13C and C/N ratios from mid-Holocene salt-marsh deposits with sedimentary banding reveal subtle but significant differences between coarse- and fine-grained deposits. These are consistent with findings from seasonally sampled modern silts, and with the interpretation, on physical and palynological grounds, of the fine-grained and coarse-grained components as warm-season and cold-season deposits, respectively. The control is considered to be seasonal variations in the character of the organic matter supplied.

Revised ‘absolute’ dating of the early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, in the light of changes in the early Holocene tree-ring chronology

Recent revision of the radiocarbon calibration curve for the early Holocene has implications for the ‘absolute’ date of Mesolithic sites such as Star Carr, and for their relationship to the timescale of early Holocene environmental change.

Dogs, a crane (not duck) and diet at Star Carr: a response to Schulting and Richards

In a recent article in this journal, Schulting and Richards (J Archaeol Sci 29 (2002) 327) present new carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bones from two dogs (Canis familiaris) and a common crane (Grus grus) from the early Mesolithic sites of Star Carr and Seamer Carr, in the Vale of Pickering, north-east England (Excavations at Star Carr (1954); The Mesolithic in Europe (1989) 218). These, they argue, undermine my previous suggestion (J Archaeol Sci 23 (1996) 783) that the δ13C values for the Seamer dog obtained by Clutton-Brock and Noe-Nygaard (J Archaeol Sci 17 (1990) 643) could be explained by consumption not of marine foods, as originally interpreted, but from a diet that included foods from the freshwater carbonate-rich lake. Here I discuss Schulting and Richards new results and conclude that neither of the Vale of Pickering dogs need necessarily have consumed marine foods. Furthermore, the choice of a crane to test my suggestion that animals feeding on foods from the lake could have elevated δ13C values is inappropriate because the diet of this bird is unlikely to have included a significant component of freshwater foods. Schulting and Richards new data do not, therefore, provide evidence for seasonal movement of early Mesolithic human groups between the coast and the inland lake.

PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION, METHODS

This article considers how the study of ‘natural’ deposits such as ice sheets, glaciers, marine and lake sediments, peat bogs and soils may be used to shed light on past human environments. Such deposits are often rich in biological remains, including pollen grains, which can provide sensitive indicators of past climate, soils and vegetation, and the resources available to past human populations.

Book review. Peter Fowler. Farming in the First Millennium AD: British agriculture between julius Caesar and Williams the Conqueror . xviii+393 pages, 63 figures. 2002. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 0-521-81364-6 hardback £75, 0-521-89056-X paperback £27.95.

are excellent. Part One of Volume One includes a general introduction to the Tarkhanut Expedition, the site of Panskoye and its surroundings, and Monumental Building U6. Part Two details the artefacts in categories including: tiles; black glazed, red figure and grey ware pottery; lamps; terracottas; cult materials; graffiti; glass; and coins. It is interesting and useful to see large sections dedicated to the common ware and bulk metal items (including both plates and illustrations) which can sometimes be overlooked in favour of more diagnostic fine ware items.