Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:39:02.806Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Environmental Setting of Erw-wen and Moel y Gerddi: Prehistoric Enclosures in Upland Ardudwy, North Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2022

F. M. Chambers  and
S.-M. Price
F. M. Chambers
Affiliation:
Environmental Research Unit, University of Keele, Keele, Staffs ST5 5BG
S.-M. Price
Affiliation:
c/o 36 Fair Green, Diss, Norfolk IP22 3BG
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The environmental setting of two late-prehistoric enclosures in upland Ardudwy, Gwynedd was investigated by pollen analysis of nearby valley mire deposits and of old ground surfaces revealed during excavation of the sites. Radiocarbon-dated pollen data indicate human influence on the local environment since Mesolithic times, with the major period of woodland clearance in the early Bronze Age. The two enclosures appear to have been constructed in an environment already substantially deforested. Remanent upland timber resources appear to have been substantially depleted during occupation of the sites, whilst soil acidification and/or climatic change may also have contributed to their eventual abandonment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , 1988 , pp. 93 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andersen, S. T., 1960. Silicone oil as a mounting medium for pollen grains. Danm. Geol. Unders. 4, 5–17.Google Scholar
Barber, K. E., 1976. History of vegetation. In Chapman, S. B. (ed.), Methods in Plant Ecology, 5–83. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.Google Scholar
Chambers, F. M. and Price, S.-M., 1985. Palaeoecology of Alnus (alder): early Post-glacial rise in a valley mire, north-west Wales. New Phytol. 101, 333–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, F. M., Kelly, R. S. and Price, S.-M., in press. Development of the late-prehistoric cultural landscape in upland Ardudwy, north-west Wales. In Birks, H. J. B., Birks, H. H., Kaland, P. E. and Moe, D. (eds), The Cultural Landscape — Past, Present, Future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dresser, P. Q., 1985. University College, Cardiff radiocarbon dates I. Radiocarbon 27(2B), 378–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J. G., 1978. An Introduction to Environmental Archaeology. London: Elek.Google Scholar
Havinga, A. J., 1974. Problems in the interpretation of pollen diagrams of mineral soils. Geologie en Mijnbouw 53, 449–53.Google Scholar
Jacobi, R. M., 1980. The early Holocene settlement of Wales. In Taylor, J. A. (ed.), Culture and Environment in Prehistoric Wales, 131–206. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports 76.Google Scholar
Janssen, C. R., 1959. Alnus as a distributing factor in pollen diagrams. Acta botanica Neerlandica 8, 55–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, R. S., 1988. Moel y Gerddi and Erw-wen: two late prehistoric circular enclosures near Harlech, Gwynedd. Proc. Prehist. Soc. 54, 101–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, F., 1984. Moel Goedog circle I: a complex ring cairn near Harlech. Arch. Camb. 133, 8–50.Google Scholar
Rybnickova, E. and Rybničék, K., 1971. The determination and elimination of local elements in pollen spectra from different sediments. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 11, 165–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. G., Grigson, C., Hillman, G. C. and Tooley, M. J., 1981. The Neolithic. In Simmons, I. G. and Tooley, M. J. (eds), The Environment in British Prehistory 125–29. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Smith, A. G. and Pilcher, J. R., 1973. Radiocarbon dates and vegetational history of the British Isles. New Phytol. 72, 903–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockmarr, J., 1971. Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et Spores 13, 615–21.Google Scholar
Walker, M. F. and Taylor, J. A., 1976. Post-Neolithic vegetation changes in the western Rhinogau, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Trans, lnst. Brit. Geogr. NS 1, 323–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wymer, J. J. (ed.), 1977. Gazetteer of Mesolithic Sites in England and Wales. Norwich: Geo Abstracts (C.B.A. Research Report No. 22).Google Scholar