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Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK
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CR
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Re: Neolithic/Bronze Age deforestation in UK
Jul 09, 2018, 10:23
Holocene Forest = Always an interesting, difficult and deep topic.

Various paleoenviromental lines of evidence present rather different pictures of post-ice age landscape, and serious questions can be asked about the reality of Northern Europe ever having had 'complete' climax-forest cover (eg of the German Fairy Tale kind)

In Britain, key areas of interest are large river valleys and areas in the south which were beyond the permafrost limit, and where migrating herds (eg first reindeer, then deer as climate changed) maintained steppe-tundra habitats (particularly by eating tree saplings).

Groups of people 'following' these herds are likely to have also encouraged grassland through regular burn -off, especially as scrub and understory developed.

In the early Holocene, although animal and human groups change with climate, still large migrating herds are present.

The paleoenvironmental evidence form several valleys and chalk-upland sites shows that large tracts of open grass-land were maintained throughout this changing climate (by grazing and burning) and continued on in this condition.

>>>Some places may have NEVER been forested during the Holocene, despite climax forest being present regionally.
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