Arable farming in north east England during the later prehistoric and Roman period : an archaeobotanical perspective
It has been the aim of the present study to analyse and interpret recently collected archaeobotanical data from north-east England, a lowland area within the Highland Zone of Britain, in order to improve our understanding of the role of arable farming in this region, and to assess the extent to which the increase in scale of arable farming, as witnessed in parts of the Lowland Zone of Britain, took place in this region. The data used are carbonized seed assemblages collected by the writer from seven prehistoric and two Roman period sites located in this region. This data base consists of 325 samples and ca. 89,000 seeds. The archaeobotanical analysis of the data set has indicated that within the prehistoric assemblages two separate groups could be identified, Group A and Group B, with both the crops and the associated weed species pointing to differences in the crop husbandry practices of the two groups. The assemblages of Group A are interpreted as reflecting intensive, small-scale agriculture, those of Group B larger-scale cultivation and arable expansion. These differences could not be 'explained' by chronological differences. The marked geographical difference between the two groups of sites (Group A sites
Veen, Marijke van der
History
Arable farming in north east England during the later prehistoric and Roman period : an archaeobotanical perspective. It has been the aim of the present study to analyse and interpret recently collected archaeobotanical data from north-east England, a lowland area within the Highland Zone of Britain, in order to improve our understanding of the role of arable farming in this region, and to assess the extent to which the increase in scale of arable farming, as witnessed in parts of the Lowland Zone of Britain, took place in this region. The data used are carbonized seed assemblages collected by the writer from seven prehistoric and two Roman period sites located in this region. This data base consists of 325 samples and ca. 89,000 seeds. The archaeobotanical analysis of the data set has indicated that within the prehistoric assemblages two separate groups could be identified, Group A and Group B, with both the crops and the associated weed species pointing to differences in the crop husbandry practices of the two groups. The assemblages of Group A are interpreted as reflecting intensive, small-scale agriculture, those of Group B larger-scale cultivation and arable expansion. These differences could not be 'explained' by chronological differences. The marked geographical difference between the two groups of sites (Group A sites
arable farm north_east_england later_prehistoric roman_period archaeobotanical perspective aim_present study analyse_interpret recently collect archaeobotanical_data north_east_england lowland area within highland zone britain order_improve role arable_farming region assess_extent increase scale arable_farming witness part lowland zone britain take_place region data_use seed assemblage collect writer prehistoric roman_period site_locate region data base consist sample seed archaeobotanical_analysis data_set indicate within prehistoric assemblage two_separate group could_identify group group crop associate weed specie point difference crop_husbandry practice two_group assemblage group interpret reflect intensive small_scale agriculture group larger scale cultivation arable expansion difference could explained chronological difference marked geographical difference_two group site group sit