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Discuss the evidence for agriculture in later prehistoric Britain. How successful was the farming system?

Abstract

Various studies on the evolutionarypatterns of Homo sapiens all agree that the species originally migrated fromwhat is known as the 'cradle of civilization' which is commonly agreed to be inHadar, Ethiopia. This is the site where the remains of a young girl, who wasgiven the name 'Lucy', were found. Carbon dating estimates that 'Lucy' livedapproximately 3.6 to 3 million years ago.Migration patterns in prehistoric times has been determined to have occurred asa result of groups moving (migrating), from one area to another, similar to thepattern of birds and mammals, rather than individuals wandering singularly.Human skeletal remains indicate that the migratory pattern startedapproximately 150,000 years ago as some inhabitants left Africa for the NearEast (Mesopotamia) and then eastward into Australasia (now known as Australia,New Guinea and some small islands on the eastern region of Indonesia) around60,000 years hence.The pattern continued into Europe along with Asia approximately 40,000 yearsago, and into the American continent (30,000), and then Oceania (15,000).

Sometime between 40,000 and 35,000 yearsago groups migrated to Britain via a land bridge which existed at that time.Rising water levels isolated the these peoples who were thus free from outsidetribal conflicts allowing them to have a separate developmental pattern. Thisera has been termed the post glacial period (Holocene, 10,500 - 9,900BP), whichfollowed the Younger Dryas. During this time frame the weather changed, warmingto the point where it approximated today's climate. Historically it has beenestimated that this occurred around 9,500BP. Asglacial formations melted the ocean levels rose, isolating Britain from therest of Europe.

The preceding brief prehistoric summary provides the background to understand the general circumstances that led to the Neolithic period (4,500BC), where farming (later prehistoric Britain), in the context of this paper, began. The warming during the later Holocene period included exceptionally high levels of rainfall that water logged areas adjacent to rivers helping to further enrich the soil. Britain was primary a forested landscape whereby the soil was feed continued nutrients through fallen trees and leaves reclaimed by nature. Our examination of agriculture will look at the Neolithic period (approximately 4500BC, also known as the New Stone Age), to reach a determination as to if the inhabitants were farmers, and the degree of success in growing crops as a dietary staple.

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Britain experienced its last ice agesaround 70,000BP and approximately 10000BP with archeological evidenceindicating that extremely cold weather conditions occurred around 18000BP andagain in 13000BP. It is believed that these conditions caused the inhabitantsto cross the glacial land bridge to continental Europe, later returning around10000BP as evidenced by Gough's Cave, located in Somerset. Normal temperatezone climatic conditions stabilized in approximately 6500BP, the forest emergedand the land supported large herds of aurochs, deer and elk. Plentiful gamealong with the domestication of the dog in the Mesolithic period, which wasutilized in hunting, provided the main source of sustenance. This period(Mesolithic) is also referred to in human development terms as earlyPostglacial hunter-gathererThe social changes in moving from a hunter-gatherer society to settlementsprovides the correlation to define when society began farming and herdinganimals as hunter-gatherers did not maintain singular locations. In thistransitional period causewayed enclosures werebuilt. These locations indicate that they were not permanent but rather hilltopsites visited by inhabitants during varied periods, as proven by the finding ofhuman remains.

This development preceded a shift topermanent locations, and thus a change from a hunter-gatherer way of life toone where a stabile source of food, enabled inhabitants to remain in onelocation. Termed the Neolithic Revolution, thetransition to a settlement lifestyle is a result of success in raising foodrather than hunting.

Chapter 2 - Neolithic Farming

Societal changes occurred over a longperiod of time as inhabitants shifted from a hunter-gatherer existenceutilizing the causewayed enclosures as temporary locations. A change tosettlements also introduces a society in which individual hunting prowess nolonger predominates the way of life as adequate food can be obtained. Furtherscientific support of the foregoing is supplied by the archeological evidenceof henges and long Barrows These are tombs of earth, earthen longbarrows, as well as large stones which are called megalithic or chambered longbarrows. The latter held anywhere from one (1) to approximately fifty (50)inhabitants.These structures were also centers of religious activity with only a segment,roughly one percent (1%)of the existing population buried in these locations. The existence ofcausewayed camps, estimated as 3500BC, long barrows, passage graves and stonecircles (3300BC), are conclusive evidence of settled societies, which can onlybe accomplished by the maintenance of successful food supplies.

The more than 900 stone circles furtherattests to the preceding. The energy, amount of time and effort in planning andlocating the stones to build these structures can only be accounted for bycircumstances whereby inhabitants had a reliable local source of food, and moreimportantly it indicates that these inhabitants were successful enough at thisso as to provide them with the time to construct these monuments. The mostfamous of these sites, Stonehenge, was not built by the Druids as archeologicalevidence shows it predates that civilization by a few thousand years. Asindicated, hunter-gatherers do not maintain or settle in any location longenough to construct anything but the simplest type of temporary shelters andassociated living aids. The existence of barrow mounds (2200BC a new type oftomb thought to have been built by the Beaker People), along with hill forts, areproof of the shift to permanent sites in the late Neolithic age due to varioussite construction remains.

Carbon dating of wild game indicates theheavy reliance upon animals as a dietary staple a game was hunted to extinctionor near extinction during the indicated period;

• Irish Elk;

The extremely large antlers found torepresent these 800kg animals indicates the probability of them moving freelyin a forest type region as doubtful. Scientific research suggests that thisspecies became extinct as a result of climatic conditions rather than hunting,and that this occurred around 9000BP.

• Elk (Reindeer)

One of the main dietary staples from 9670BPthrough 8300BP, remains are located often in cave deposits and evidencesuggests that the change in climate rather than hunting helped to contribute totheir extinction as well.

C.Aurochs

The earliest discovery of this prehistoricequivalent of today's domesticated cattle have been found at Fengate inPeterborough which via carbon dating is estimated to have been 2500BC. Thisfind was found buried in a large deep pit and the last finds for this type ofanimal where approximately the 10th century AD, during the Roman period.

The disappearance of large numbersof wild game, along with the building of at first occasional and then permanentstructures as well as the herding of Aurocks provides evidence that the lateNeolithic age inhabitants of Britain were eating in sufficient quantities tosustain them in one location.

Chapter 3 - Conclusion

The establishment of permanentsettlements as well as evidence that reveals animal domestication (Aurocks),supports the conclusion that early period Neolithic inhabitants graduallyshifted from hunter-gatherer societies to communities. However, there is noevidence that supports the conclusion of how successful farming efforts wereduring this later Neolithic settlement culture. Recent scientific isotope studiesprovide a clearer picture of the diet composition during this period.

While continental Europe archeologicalfinds have provided evidence to equate successful farming with theestablishment of late Neolithic period cultures, this same developmental timelinedoes not prove to be true for Britain. The lack of farmer settlements andfields is the reason for the absence of a consensus among archeologists, andthis viewpoint is further supported by the utilization of isotope studies.Through an examination of Neolithic period inhabitant bones, a studyencompassing twenty-three (23) individuals, it was found that their dietconsisted of a primary reliance upon animals for food along with by-productssuch as cheese and milk. The subject bones are dated between the periods 4100BCthrough 2000BC.The foundation for this study is based upon the fact that stabile isotopesprovide information as to the main dietary components throughout a person'slife. A specific isotope provides information as to whether an individual'sprimary diet was animal or plant based. Simply put, if the subject's resultsshow an affinity to those of a herbivore such as a horse or cattle, this meansthat their diet was primary composed of plant intake. The reverse is also true.If the results show an affinity to a carnivore such as wolf or fox, then theprimary dietary intake was provided by meat.

The results were compared against subjectbones from a later time period, the Iron and Romano-British eras where testsshowed the isotope content values to be higher that herbivores. The lateNeolithic period study indicated conclusively that the dietary regime wasprimary composed of meat, and related animal by products (cheese and milk). Theexistence of permanent settlements attests to the successful raising of herdsas the primary food source. This does not rule out the existence of farming,however, the lack of farm type settlements and fields indicates little reliancewas placed upon this as the dietary staple. Neolithic specialist Andrew Sherratsupports this hypothesis and stated that the inhabitants of this time periodrelied on animal herding and by products rather than crops.

The existence of scientific isotoperesearch along with the lack of crop fields and land cleared for this purposeindicates that the residents of later prehistoric Britain continued with theuse of meat as a dietary staple, with the process of converting to crop baseddiets surfacing in a later time period. And while there is evidence of bothagricultural tools and grain at Neolithic locations, the isotopes study resultsindicate that this as a minor component of their diet. The foregoing thereforedoes not either support or reject the question posed by this paper as to thesuccess of late Neolithic period inhabitants in growing crops, but rather thattheir preference for a meat diet is a continuation of their hunter-gathererexistence carried over into settlements as a result of their animal husbandry.

Bibliography

4000 BC to 1500 BC Stone Age Man and the First Farmers. 2005. 4000 BCto 1500 BC Stone Age Man and the First Farmers.http://www.great-britain.co.uk/history/stoneage.htm

Council for British Archaeology. 1996. British Archaeology, No. 12,March 1996: Features. Human Prehistory. 2005. The FirstHumans. http://users.hol.gr/~dilos/prehis/prerm3.htm

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