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Prehistoric Crop Cultivation in Southern England: A Reconsideration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

R. W. Dennell
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Summary

This article re-examines Helbaek's (1952) conclusion that wheat was the main crop in southern England during the Neolithic and Iron Age, but that barley was the main cultigen in the Bronze Age. It is shown that the grain impressions from Windmill Hill, which form most of our data on Neolithic crop agriculture, represent a mixture of two crop economies which were practised in ecologically dissimilar regions. The suggestion is made that both wheat and barley were staple crops in different areas of southern England from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. There is no evidence that the importance of either cultigen changed over this period.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , March 1976 , pp. 11 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1976

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