3 research outputs found
Long-term development of a cultural landscape: the origins and dynamics of lowland heathland in southern England
The lowland heathlands of southern England
comprise ca. 14 % of the total area of this habitat in Europe
yet their history is poorly understood. This paper presents
the first detailed palaeoecological evidence (combining
palynological, microscopic charcoal and radiocarbon data)
relating to the origin and long-term dynamics of heathland
vegetation in southern England. Valley peat sites, situated
on the Lower Greensand Group (coarse-grained sandstones)
at Conford (Hampshire) and Hurston Warren
(West Sussex) have been investigated. The sequence from
Conford indicates the unusually late survival of Pinus
sylvestris (to as late as ca. 6050 cal. B.P.) in southern
England. This is attributed to edaphic factors and, after ca.
7050 cal. B.P., to frequent fires. After intervening phases of
dominance by deciduous woodland, heathland vegetation
became established in the proximity of both sites in the
Late Bronze Age (ca. 3000 cal. B.P.) with increases in
indicators of grazing and burning demonstrating an association between the development of heathland and human
activity. Thereafter, the pollen and charcoal records show
that the vegetation remained in a dynamic state as the scale
and nature of human activity varied through time. Major
expansions in the extent of heathland occurred relatively
recently; after ca. 1450 cal. B.P. at Hurston Warren and after
ca. 850 cal. B.P. at Conford. A review of the palaeoecological
evidence suggests that the most intense use and
greatest coverage of heathland in southern England probably
occurred during the medieval to post-medieval periods