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 Re: Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK 16 messages | Lock Topic | Select a forum: |
| Some of the books I've been nosing through state that areas such as the Weald, Breckland, Dartmooor, Bodmin Moor, Exmoor to name just several were all extensively deforested in prehistory. I guess the amount of remains still extant on Dartmoor are testament to the population density before the climate changed and could possibly be extrapolated to other areas. Most upland areas where denuding took place later became acidified or peat bogs, who in turn, the acidification of peat soils not only effected the direct area, but also downstream of any rivers, killing fish and fauna and on dry years, windblown peat can be a real problem to the surroundingg areas in terms of polluting water courses (my missus works in the environmental side of the water industry). During Saxon and early medieval times, some areas tree cover was so diminished that the peat bogs, fens etc... were trawled for 'bog wood' to burn, or use for building, furniture etc...it apparently burned with a sweet musty odour according to one old transcript. This is slightly off tack, but I was interested to read that in Saxon times, some parts of the wildwood still left intact were attributed to being 'good' or 'evil' places. I guess this would effect if particular places were populated/ventured into or not. Being an 'outcast' from Saxon or Nordic societies was possibly the worst thing that could happen to you as an individual, as you could be preyed on, murdered or sold into slavery with impunity if captured, with no recourse to the law of the time. It's stated in the Times Anvil book that the deforestation during prehistory was the biggest impact that man has ever had on the UK landscape, even taking into account what we do in modern times. I was amazed to read, that all modern building post 1000AD on the UK mainland still only accounts for 2.7% of the landmass. And most urban areas are still 98% 'natural', i.e. being green areas such as parks, playing fields, rivers, gardens, woodland etc... Reply | with quote | Posted by Monganaut 1st July 2018ce 14:58 In reply to: Re: Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK (tjj)2 replies: Re: Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK (tjj) Re: Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK (moss) |
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