Source/Archive record SEM8134 - The context of prehistoric landscapes: Preliminary analysis of sites on Exmoor. Palaeoenvironmental investigation at Great Buscombe - stage 2

Exmoor has a wealth of field archaeology dating to later prehistory. Whilst much of this is well-known and detailed surveys have been undertaken, much remains to be investigated. Lanacombe is an area on Exmoor with a particular abundance of prehistoric monuments including stone settings, cairns, barrows and putative field banks. Recent excavations by Leicester University have begun to tease out chronologies for some of the monuments, and geophysical survey has suggested a more complex prehistoric landscape than previously supposed. In lieu of intrusive archaeological investigation, and indeed as an important complement to excavation, ‘off-site’ palaeoecological research has much potential to reveal how prehistoric landscapes developed, and were used. This report describes the results of detailed palaeoecological analysis from a small mire on Lanacombe (Great Buscombe), which specifically targets the later prehistoric period. High-resolution pollen analysis (sampling resolution of around 20 years) has been carried out for the period between the mid-second millennium to the end of the first millennium BC, supported by radiocarbon dating. The results indicate a complex history of land-use in later prehistory, with multiple episodes of more intense activity, interspersed by vegetation ‘recovery’. A preliminary-depth model provides a chronology of events. The first phase of activity occurred during the middle Bronze Age, when clearance of wet woodland accompanied intensification of pastoral activities. A second phase dates to the late Bronze Age, which includes evidence for cereal cultivation, pastoral activities and increased use of fire in land management. A third phase begins during the middle Iron Age, with pastoral activities supported by moorland burning, but with no evidence for crops. These results provide an important context for the field archaeology, and the recognition of relatively short-lived phases of more intense activity is a major advance on pre-existing understandings of the nature of prehistoric land use on Exmoor.