Neolithic Farming and Wild Plant Exploitation in Western Britain: Archaeobotanical and Crop Stable Isotope Evidence from Wales (c. 4000–2200 calbc)

Abstract

The introduction of agriculture is a key defining element of the Neolithic, yet considerable debate persists concerning the nature and significance of early farming practices in north-west Europe. This paper reviews archaeobotanical evidence from 95 Neolithic sites (c. 4000-2200 cal BC) in Wales, focusing on wild plant exploitation, the range of crops present, and the significance of cereals in subsistence practices. Cereal cultivation practices in Early Neolithic Wales are also examined using cereal grain stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope analysis. The Early Neolithic period witnessed the widespread uptake of cereals alongside considerable evidence for continued wild plant exploitation, notably hazelnuts and wild fruits. The possibility that wild plants and woodlands were deliberately managed or altered to promote the growth of certain plants is outlined. Small cereal grain assemblages, with little evidence for chaff and weed seeds, are common in the Early Neolithic, whereas cereal-rich sites are rare. Emmer wheat was the dominant crop in the Early Neolithic, while other cereal types were recorded in small quantities. Cereal nitrogen isotope (δ 15 N) values from Early Neolithic sites provided little evidence for intensive manuring. We suggest that cultivation conditions may have been less intensive when compared to other areas of Britain and Europe. In the later Neolithic period, there is evidence for a decline in the importance of cereals. Finally, the archaeobotanical and crop isotope data from this study are considered within a wider European context.

What drives biodiversity patterns? Using long‐term multidisciplinary data to discern centennial‐scale change

“…Carvalho et al, 2019;Davies, 2016;Reitalu et al, 2015). More detailed analysis of species characteristics or traits is needed, which will be addressed in future work on the combined analyses of pollen and archaeobotanical data, which provide information about the scale and intensity of land use (Treasure et al, 2019) This has potential to provide answers to questions about the way in which these factors shaped plant assemblages, which can facilitate more efficient communication across palaeo-and neo-ecology and conservation.…”

The earliest farming in Britain:

“…This huge project obtained and synthesised numerous radiocarbon dates, and concluded that agriculture appeared ~4000 cal BC in southern England, the major constructional phase of long barrows and causewayed enclosures appearing ~3750 cal BC. For Wales there is some evidence before ~3750 cal BC, but compared to southern England it is modest (Treasure et al 2019). The Neolithic was also early in southern and eastern Scotland, as Sheridan (2003Sheridan ( , 2010 had already shown, but in their summary map Whittle et al (2011, fig.…”

“…A different pattern emerges from four Welsh sites: Plas Gogerddan, Gwernvale, Cwm Meudwy and Parc Bryn Cegin. Here only a minority of grains revealed much manuring (Treasure et al 2019). The evidence now available is limited and patchy, and more needs to be done.…”

“…19.1 maps the sites directly dated to the eEN in England (from Longford in prep. ), sites that are definitely or probably of eEN date in Wales (from Treasure et al 2019), and all the ScEN samples containing more than 10 cereal grains (from Bishop et al 2009). The criteria for inclusion in fig.…”

The Freston Causewayed Enclosure

“…(wheat) grains and Corylus sp. (hazelnut) remains are typical for a site of this period, with both clearly important components of human diet throughout EN Britain (Treasure et al 2019;Wilkinson et al 2012), with the latter being one of several wild resources that continued to have been exploited from the Mesolithic (Ray, Thomas 2018.59-60). Hazelnut shells dominate many British EN assemblages (Stevens 2007.…”