The wildwood and onwards
by Chris, 5 October, 2007, 4 comments
The New Stone Age or Neolithic Period saw the development of settlements and farming. The transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer began and gradually spread across Britain. The construction of settlements and the adoption of farming (a practice that probably began some 10,000 years earlier in the Fertile Crescent) involved the clearing of woodland or forest. It was achieved with fire and the use of flint and polished stone axes.
Pollen records suggest a decline between 4000 and 3000 BC in tree species such as ash and an increase in plants such as nettles and plantains. As ash tends to grow on the edges of woods, its decline could well be associated with the clearance of parts of the wildwood for agriculture, though it may also have disappeared because of disease. Read more...
