Abstract
It has been postulated1,2 that in the southern Pennines above 350–400 m, burning of the vegetation during Mesolithic time prevented the growth of trees, and that this continued during Neolithic time, although it was suggested that some recolonization of forest took place when agriculture made it possible to diminish the impact of hunters on wild animal food resources and on these uplands. Here we present analogous evidence but come to a slightly different conclusion which may be due to regional differences in prehistoric settlement. Peat profiles such as we describe here are uncommon in the region and so the phenomena may have been spatially restricted.
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References
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Simmons, I., Innes, J. Tree remains in a North York Moors peat profile. Nature 294, 76–78 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294076a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294076a0
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