Abstract

This paper presents the results of palynological investigations on the limestone Tabular Hills of the North York Moors in north-east England. These limestone areas have the highest concentration of post-Mesolithic archaeological sites in this upland region, but because of the geology and paucity of suitable organic deposits they have had almost no palynological research with which to assess the land-use history of these cultures, nor their impacts on the vegetation. This lack of palaeoecological information from the Tabular Hills has been addressed, so that the area’s environmental history can be added to that of the rest of the North York Moors, which is relatively well known. Three pollen profiles have been examined, Yondhead Rigg providing an early Bronze Age to post-Medieval record, Seavy Slack providing a late Iron Age to post-Medieval record, and Dargate Dykes providing a late Medieval to modern record. The combined vegetation history from the three sites indicates a similar story to that from elsewhere on the Moors, with substantial forest disturbance in Bronze Age and Iron Age times, with significant woodland regeneration after each, but with the first main forest clearance phase for agriculture occurring during the Romano-British period, followed by early Medieval woodland regeneration, then extensive clearance in the later Medieval period for some arable cultivation and extensive animal husbandry on the rich calcareous grassland. In each agricultural phase the scale and intensity of disturbance seems to have been greater in these fertile limestone areas than in the rest of the Moors, with their poorer, more acidic soils, but still with an emphasis on stock-rearing and less extensive cultivation. The results will allow a more comprehensive landscape history of the North York Moors to be understood for later prehistory and more recent times.

摘要

本文介绍了对英格兰东北部北约克荒原石灰岩 Tabular Hills 的孢粉学调查结果。这些石灰岩地区是这个高地地区中石器时代后考古遗址最集中的地区，但由于地质条件和合适的有机沉积物的缺乏，他们几乎没有进行孢粉学研究来评估这些文化的土地利用历史，也没有它们对植被的影响。Tabular Hills 缺乏古生态信息的问题已得到解决，因此该地区的环境历史可以添加到相对众所周知的北约克荒原其他地区的环境历史中。已经检查了三种花粉概况，Yondhead Rigg 提供了青铜时代早期到中世纪后的记录，Seavy Slack 提供了铁器时代晚期到中世纪后的记录，和 Dargate Dykes 提供了中世纪晚期到现代的记录。三个地点的综合植被历史表明与摩尔人其他地方的历史相似，青铜时代和铁器时代有大量森林干扰，之后有大量林地更新，但第一个主要的农业森林清除阶段发生了在罗马-英国时期，随后是中世纪早期的林地再生，然后在中世纪后期大面积开垦，在富含钙质的草地上进行一些可耕种和粗放的畜牧业。在每个农业阶段，这些肥沃的石灰岩地区的干扰规模和强度似乎比摩尔人的其他地区更大，因为它们的土壤更贫瘠、酸性更强，但仍以畜牧为主，耕作较少。研究结果将使北约克沼泽地更全面的景观历史能够为后来的史前史和更近代的人们所理解。