Conservation in Upper Teesdale: Contributions from the Palaeoecological Record

Squires, R. H.

doi:10.2307/622198

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Similarly, in the UK, many rare plants are associated with human disturbances like hay meadows and mining spoil, and the conservation of these species demands long‐term knowledge of disturbance history, and a continuation of these activities (e.g. Squires 1978). Many English hedgerows were planted in the 18th Century in response to the Enclosures Act, and are now valued for their cultural significance as well as their biodiversity; some (but not all) ‘ancient woodland indicator’ species are now found in British hedgerows, a testament to their importance as wildlife corridors (McCollin et al.…”

Section: Human Influence On Non‐forested Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘As Earth's testimonies tell’: wilderness conservation in a changing world

Gillson

Willis

2004

Ecology Letters

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Too often, wilderness conservation ignores a temporal perspective greater than the past 50 years, yet a long-term perspective (centuries to millennia) reveals the dynamic nature of many ecosystems. Analysis of fossil pollen, charcoal and stable isotopes, combined with historical analyses and archaeology can reveal how ongoing interactions between climatic change, human activities and other disturbances have shaped today's landscapes over thousands of years. This interdisciplinary approach can inform wilderness conservation and also contribute to interpreting current trends and predicting how ecosystems might respond to future climate change. In this paper, we review literature that reveals how increasing collaboration among palaeoecologists, archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and ecologists is improving understanding of ecological complexity. Drawing on case studies from forested and non-forested ecosystems in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australia, we discuss how this integrated approach can inform wilderness conservation and ecosystem management.

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Section: Human Influence On Non‐forested Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘As Earth's testimonies tell’: wilderness conservation in a changing world

Gillson

Willis

2004

Ecology Letters

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“…Tinsley (1975) reported similar phases of Late Mesolithic age woodland recession above Nidderdale at Fountains Earth. Squires (1978) recorded analogous evidence at Fox Earth Gill and Mire Holes in Upper Teesdale, as did Gear and Turner (2001) at Gate Gu er on Stainmore, while Turner and Hodgson (1983) a ributed pollen fl uctuations at several North Pennine sites to possible human activity. In the southern Yorkshire Pennines Williams (1985) recorded multiple charcoalrich disturbance phases at Soyland Moor while Ryan and Blackford (2010) also noted woodland opening towards the end of the period at Black Heath.…”

Section: Mesolithic Impacts On the Regional Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 74%

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

Innés¹,

Blackford²,

Simmons³

2011

Journal of Wetland Archaeology

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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 fi lled 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 se lement pa erns.

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“…Many workers, however, have called attention to pollen and charcoal evidence of woodland disturbance, often involving fire, at many pre-Elm Decline peat sites in the Pennines and in other British uplands. As at Rishworth Moor, sometimes this burning of Mesolithic age took place within Calluna -dominated upland scrubby heath (Caseldine and Hatton, 1993; Simmons, 2001; Smith and Cloutman, 1988; Squires, 1978), where Mesolithic hunters maintained open areas that had been created by previous woodland burning, preventing recolonisation by trees and rejuvenating the grassy heathland for grazing purposes. The alder-hazel scrub present during peat formation at CS1 may itself have been the result of earlier burning on the plateau.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microscopic and larger charcoal remains have been recorded at several Pennine sites in association with pollen evidence of woodland recession, and Fountains Earth (Tinsley, 1975), Valley Bog (Chambers, 1978), Pawlaw Mire (Sturludottir and Turner, 1985), Malham Tarn Moss (Pigott and Pigott, 1963), Quick Moss (Rowell and Turner, 1985), Gate Gutter (Gear and Turner, 2001), Eshton Tarn (Bartley et al, 1990), Fleet Moss (Honeyman, 1985), Lanshaw on Rombalds Moor (Bannister (1985) and Great Close Pasture (Smith, 1986) are regional examples. Often at higher altitudes the charcoal occurs at the base of the peat and in the soil beneath, as at Mire Holes in the north Pennines (Squires, 1978), and Late Mesolithic burning of wet, acidic woodland might have led to water surpluses and organic accumulation within the created clearings (Moore, 1975; Simmons, 1996; Simmons and Innes, 1985, 1987) so that, instead of regeneration of tree cover, the spread of marsh, heath and blanket bog was initiated, a long-term process of landscape change that became important in the uplands from this time onwards (Garton, 2017; Tallis, 1991). This process might have occurred at CS1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-profile fine-resolution palynology of Late Mesolithic to Bronze Age peat at Cat Stones, Rishworth Moor, Central Pennines, UK

2020

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Palynological data from three radiocarbon dated peat profiles at Rishworth Moor in the Pennine hills of northern England provide a record of vegetation change and human impacts in the Late Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. All three cultures have archaeological sites present in the vicinity, with Late Mesolithic sites by far the most abundant, comprising mainly very late assemblages dominated by ‘rod’-shaped microliths. Pollen evidence of vegetation disturbance occurs during all three archaeological periods, and is attributed to the results of human activity. Microscopic charcoal and non-pollen palynomorph analyses support the pollen evidence. Sites at Cat Stones 2 and Cat Stones 3 record evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age date only. Cat Stones 1 extends into the Late Mesolithic period, and fine-resolution pollen analyses have been applied in this profile to the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition leading up to the mid-Holocene Elm ( Ulmus) Decline, which starts here at c. 4940 14C BP (5670 cal. BP), a typical date for it in the central Pennines. Bayesian age-depth modelling provides precise ages for the vegetation changes and their spatial correlation. The plateau was dominated by scrub and grassy Calluna heath from the Late Mesolithic onwards. Elevated microscopic charcoal levels and ruderal herb pollen record phases of fire disturbance below the Elm Decline, including a grain of Hordeum cereal-type. Whether this grain represents early cultivation requires further research. Bronze Age impacts are of greater intensity, but disturbances of all three cultural periods are low scale, agreeing with the results of previous research in the Pennines.

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Conservation in Upper Teesdale: Contributions from the Palaeoecological Record

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

‘As Earth's testimonies tell’: wilderness conservation in a changing world

‘As Earth's testimonies tell’: wilderness conservation in a changing world

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

Multi-profile fine-resolution palynology of Late Mesolithic to Bronze Age peat at Cat Stones, Rishworth Moor, Central Pennines, UK

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